Notre Dame basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry apologized for his actions following a loss at California early Saturday morning.
Shrewsberry, 49, charged at official Adam Flore after the Fighting Irish’s final chance at a win fell short in a 72-71 loss to the Bears. Notre Dame led by three with 9.9 seconds. Logan Imes was trying to foul Dae Dae Ames before he could get a shot off, and Flore called Imes for a foul as Ames rose and hit a 3-pointer.
Flore and the two other officials conversed, waiving off the foul, then reversing course again. Ames hit the free throw to give the Bears the lead and Braeden Shrewberry’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.
Then, Shrewsberry charged toward Flore, who was exiting the court toward the tunnel nearest the Notre Dame bench. Shrewsberry had to be held back by assistants and his players.
“I want to apologize for what took place immediately after the Cal game last night,” Shrewsberry said in a statement posted to social media. “My actions were inappropriate and not symbolic of the leader I strive to be and what Notre Dame expects of its coaches and educators. I will learn from this lack of judgement and be better in the future. I want to apologize to our team, our university and its leaders, to coach [Mark] Madsen and his team, and to the ACC, as my actions were unacceptable.”
Shrewsberry was not made available as part of a pre-planned arrangement that the Fighting Irish coach and players would not do a postgame press conference, a team spokesperson told the South Bend Tribune.
A passionate Shrewsberry has been known to wear his emotions on his sleeve, though usually through his words. He said after a loss at Purdue Fort Wayne after final exams that there “ain’t no Christmas” for him, and that he would do what it takes to start Atlantic Coast Conference play as best as Notre Dame (10-5, 1-1) could.
He previously has mentioned Notre Dame fans in postgame press conferences. Last month, he said he deserved to be booed for the way his team played. Shrewsberry lamented his coaching performance after a 75-60 home loss to Louisville on Feb. 16, 2025, and then the fans.
“I watched more Louisville fans in here than Notre Dame people. And that’s embarrassing. Because I’m the head coach here,” Shrewsberry said. “And yes, I got us in this predicament. But don’t come back when we’re winning, because we’re turning this around. You better believe that.
“Everybody that gave up on me, believe it. Write this date down and believe it, because we’re going to get this thing rolling. I don’t care if you gave up on us or not.”
This season has already been impacted by injuries. Leading scorer Markus Burton, a former Indiana Mr. Basketball, is out indefinitely with a left foot/ankle injury. He led the Irish in scoring (18.5 ppg), assists (3.7), steals (16) and minutes (30.1).
Shrewsberry is an Indianapolis native who played at Hanover College from 1995-99. He largely has coached in the state of Indiana, serving as an assistant at Wabash, DePauw, IU South Bend, Butler and Purdue.
He was director of basketball operations at Marshall from 2003-05. He also was an assistant coach with the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Brad Stevens from 2013-19.
Shrewsberry left Purdue after the 2020-21 season to become the head coach at Penn State, where he was 37-31 before replacing Mike Brey as Notre Dame’s coach ahead of the 2023-24 season. He had losing seasons of 13-20 in 2023-24 and 15-18 in 2024-25. His record at Notre Dame is 38-43 through the loss at Cal, and for his head coaching career is 75-74.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Micah Shrewsberry apologizes for latest Notre Dame basketball tirade
Reporting by Aaron Ferguson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
