The stark reality of Notre Dame Basketball and its future
There’s likely more bad news coming for Notre Dame, but you probably already know that with no coaching change.
Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry, center, reacts after being called for a technical foul during a NCAA men's basketball game against Missouri at Purcell Pavilion on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Please don’t make your initial reaction to this post as an overreaction by me following the first two Notre Dame basketball transfer portal defectors.
On the contrary, this is something we have talked about a few times — Notre Dame isn’t paying out the money that other schools are for basketball. The South Bend Tribune’s Tom Noie has been on this situation much longer than I have, and he sent out some interesting tweets following the exit of Garrett Sundra and Sir Mohammed. More: Expect ND transfer portal exodus to continue.
Key guys are being offered far more money to play elsewhere. One example (name withheld for obvious reasons): One rotation guy will make more than $1 million with another team next year. At ND, he made $150,000.
Source: Expect Notre Dame’s roster – from a numbers standpoint – to look a lot like it did when Shrewsberry arrived from Penn State in 2023. That year, the Irish had three returning scholarship players. They may have three returning in 2026-27.