It doesn’t matter.
Doesn’t matter what you did the last time out. Doesn’t matter what you might do the next time out. Doesn’t matter what you might do next week or next month. It’s conference play time, which means all that matters is what happens right here, right now for Notre Dame basketball.
The home league opener starts a big swing for the Irish, who play two Atlantic Coast Conference home games in a four-day window after having most of the week to recover and refocus from the two-game West Coast road trip.
Want to be good in the ACC? Be good at home, something that the Irish can start to do against Clemson. That matters.
Notre Dame basketball (10-5 overall; 1-1 ACC) vs Clemson (13-3; 3-0)
What channel is Notre Dame basketball vs Clemson on?
Series history between Notre Dame basketball and Clemson
Notre Dame leads 9-4 with all games as ACC colleagues. The Irish are 5-1 at home. These teams last met on February 26, 2025, at Clemson, an 83-68 Irish loss. Markus Burton led Notre Dame with 30 points, four rebounds and five assists while Tae Davis added 15 points and five rebounds. The Irish trailed for 38:18 and by as many as 19.
This is the only regular season meeting.
Notre Dame basketball vs Clemson storylines
∎ This starts a stretch of four of the next six league games at home, where the Irish are 7-1 overall this season. Notre Dame was a combined 11-9 at home (5-5, 6-4) in ACC play the previous two seasons under Shrewsberry.
∎ Clemson opened conference play with wins at Syracuse and at Pittsburgh. It marked the first time in program history that the Tigers started league play with two straight road wins. Clemson won its conference home opener Wednesday, Jan. 7 over No. 25 SMU, 74-70.
∎ Basketball is again about to get busy for Notre Dame, which has played three games in 18 days and four in the last 26. The Irish are coming off the first of two off weeks, the second of which won’t arrive until February 15.
Keep an eye on …
Clemson F RJ Godfrey
Turns out the grass isn’t always greener, something the 6-foot-7, 240-pound senior from Suwanee, Georgia learned after the 2024-25 season.
Godfrey spent his first two seasons at Clemson as a reserve. He appeared in all 36 games in 2023-24 and averaged 6.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 15.5 for a Tigers team that went to an Elite Eight and finished 24-12. The next season, he transferred, up in competition some would say, to Georgia, where he started 33 games and averaged 6.4 points, and 3.8 rebounds in 19.4 minutes. That included six points, four rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes in Georgia’s 69-48 victory over Notre Dame.
Godfrey returned to the Upstate region of South Carolina in the offseason as one of six transfer additions. Now a starter, he leads the Tigers in field goal percentage (.664), minutes (24.2) and points (12.0). (24.2). He’s second on the squad in rebounding (5.5) and has had some of his best games ― 19 points against Alabama, seven field goals against Syracuse ― against Power Conference opponents. Godfrey led the Tigers with 17 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes in the Wednesday win over SMU.
Notre Dame WG Jalen Haralson
Turn on any college basketball game from any conference any day of the week and talk inevitably turns to the talented freshmen in the game. Might be the most talented ever, they opine.
That holds true at Notre Dame with wing guard Jalen Haralson, who has quietly started to figure it out. With junior guard Markus Burton out with a broken left ankle, Haralson was handed the Herculean task of working as the team’s primary ball handler/initiator. It’s not easy, and the 6-foot-7, 220-pound freshman from Anderson, Indiana has shown his age at times,
He’s also flourished. Haralson averages 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 25.8 minutes. He’s shooting 48% from the field, 15% from 3 and 63% percent from the foul line. He’s made a team-high 86 visits to the free throw line. After a combined 14 turnovers in consecutive games against Purdue Fort Wayne and Stanford, Haralson shaved that to only two at Cal, where he also connected on consecutive 3-pointers after missing the first 10 this season.
It’s conference play time, which means the elite talents must be every night guys. Include Haralson’s name/game in that group. He’s that elite.
Notre Dame basketball 2025-26 schedule
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Everything you need to know as Notre Dame basketball hosts Clemson
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
