SOUTH BEND – Spend time around the Notre Dame basketball program and you’re sure to see him.
There he is, heading into Rolfs Hall to get a few more shots up on the practice court. There he is, trailing the team out of the locker room earlier this month for an exhibition at Butler. There he is, under one basket, helping the current guys rebound 90 minutes before home games.
In many ways, South Bend Saint Joseph High School senior guard Nick Shrewsberry has been a part of the Notre Dame program since his father, Micah, and older brother, Braeden, arrived for their first and freshman seasons in 2023-24.
Micah has been a constant on the sideline; Braeden has been a constant in the lineup. And Nick, still working his way through high school with dreams of playing major college basketball, has been a constant somewhere nearby.
Forget a traditional recruiting route for someone who averaged 13.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.6 steals on a 27-3 Class 3-A state championship team in his junior year. No schools needed to recruit the 6-foot-5 shooting guard. He wasn’t interested in going here or playing there.
It was one school —the one right up the road —that Shrewsberry wanted to play for. Play for his dad. Play alongside his older brother. Play with a group of guys that he already considers brothers, including his brother.
“It was always a thing I wanted to do,” Shrewsberry said. “Over the summer, I was like, that’s where I really want to go.”
On Tuesday, Shrewsberry made official what has been unofficial for weeks. For months. He’s going to attend Notre Dame and play for his dad, play alongside his brother, play for the only school he’s ever wanted to play for since his father was hired in March 2023.
Shrewsberry made official Tuesday something he offered up to the family at dinner “a couple weeks ago.”
“I announced to them that I’m going to Notre Dame,” he said. “The whole time they knew I was coming, but I just wanted to officially commit. I’ve wanted to go there for a long time.”
Go there and nowhere else.
“It was,” Shrewsberry said, “straight Notre Dame.”
Shrewsberry joins a 2026 recruiting class that includes guard Jonathan Sanderson (6-foot-2, 170 pounds) and center Gan-Erdene Solongo (7-foot, 230). Both are teammates this season at La Lumiere School in LaPorte. Sanderson is the son of Notre Dame basketball director of strength and conditioning Jon Sanderson, who is also Solongo’s legal guardian.
Shrewsberry is the second Saint Joe standout since 2021 to make the short trip up Notre Dame Avenue to Notre Dame. Former Husky (then Indian) J.R. Konieczny went from Northern Indiana Conference most valuable player (and walking bucket) in 2021 to four seasons at Notre Dame. He’ll play his final season at Florida Gulf Coast with his younger brother, Chase, Shrewsberry’s former prep teammate.
That the Notre Dame pipeline remains active at Saint Joe matters.
“It’s special,” said Huskies head coach Eric Gaff. “It’s a great deal for the guys who are here to understand that this is a place where they can improve, they can compete, and they can put themselves in position to be seen by big schools.”
Gaff has seen Shrewsberry grow as a player in the past two seasons (and soon to be a third). As a sophomore, he was OK with being another piece to the Saint Joe puzzle. The same was true early in his junior year – until the state title chase, when something flipped for Shrewsberry.
“By the time of our state finals run, it was the juniors’ team,” Gaff said. “They’ve done a great job of pushing the standard for us and setting a new tone.”
Shrewsberry has helped set it.
“Now, he takes over every drill,” Gaff said, “tries to take over every game.”
Gaff was impressed by how Notre Dame recruited Shrewsberry, as if it were any prospective student-athlete. He made an official visit in September, where he stayed in a hotel like any other recruit. When Saint Joe had an open gym one morning this fall, Notre Dame was represented by the coaching staff. The entire coaching staff.
Just because this was a slam-dunk commitment that wouldn’t tax the recruiting travel budget didn’t make it any less important.
Shrewsberry is taller and longer than his older brother. He shoots it like Braeden, who’s made 150 3s in his first two seasons. Shrewsberry isn’t afraid to cut and move and go for offensive rebounds. He’ll compete.
“Just knowing the system can translate my freshman year,” he said.
Knowing the system and knowing how his father flips the switch from being his parent to being his head coach will help. Shrewsberry said the first few times he watched his father at Notre Dame were “eye-opening,” given the intensity with which he approached practices and games.
“That helped me realize how good I have to be to play at that level,” he said.
He’ll be at that level. Soon.
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: Nick Shrewsberry makes public his only college choice all along
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
