SOUTH BEND ― Change is coming, even for Notre Dame basketball.
Change will soon happen for every Division I college basketball program. It will affect teams whose seasons ended in early March. It will affect teams whose seasons were limited to one and done in the NCAA Tournament. It will affect teams whose seasons stretch into April. It will affect the last team standing.
It’s the nature of this college basketball beast.
For the past four seasons, college basketball has seen a record number of players enter their name in the transfer portal with the hope of resetting/recharging their careers. They’re not happy at one school, a fresh start somewhere else might help find happiness.
Last spring, more than 2,300 players went portaling, enough to fill out 15-player rosters for 153 teams. This spring, that number likely will go higher. The transfer portal opens April 7 ― the day after a national champion is crowned ― and runs through April 21.
A trickle of names will become an all-out portal tidal wave. In 2024, the transfer portal was open for 45 days. Last season, it was 30. Now, it’s 14. It’s going to move fast. Light speed fast.
Notre Dame lost players to the portal in each of the two previous seasons under head coach Micah Shrewsberry. In 2024, Carey Booth believed the grass would be greener at Illinois. He lasted one season, where he played less than what he would have played had he stayed at Notre Dame.
In 2025, Tae Davis took a big bag of money to go to Oklahoma while J.R. Konieczny took a bigger role to go to Florida Gulf Coast. Who leaves Notre Dame this spring? It could be just about anyone, and it wouldn’t be a shock.
Especially inside Rolfs Hall.
“The one thing about it with this group is we’re pretty upfront with each other,” Shrewsberry said on the eve of what turned out to be Notre Dame’s last game, a loss at Boston College. “There’s no secrets kept between us. We’re going to know quickly of where we need to go and where we need to maneuver and what we need to do.”
Notre Dame knows it loses power forwards Matthew MacLellan and Carson Towt, both graduate transfers. They’re out of eligibility. As is senior Kebba Njie, who followed Shrewsberry from Penn State in 2023. There have been rumblings that Njie might, in some weird way, apply for a fifth season.
Outside of that, the Irish currently have 14 players (including the three incoming freshmen) with eligibility for 2026-27. Shrewsberry and his staff are smart enough to know all are not likely to stay. Again, someone is leaving, mainly because they can, for myriad reasons.
Might sophomores Sir Mohammed and Garrett Sundra decide it best to reset somewhere else? Might Cole Certa be gifted an NIL offer he can’t refuse from a program with deeper NIL pockets than Notre Dame? Might freshman Ryder Frost find it too tough to see enough minutes for him next season to stay?
Could someone expected to return turn and do the unexpected (Markus Burton, Jalen Haralson) for a program that finished 13-18 overall, 4-14 in the Atlantic Coast Conference?
You can make a case for each player to leave, be it over playing time, personal preference or paycheck. You can make a case for each player to stick it out and stay. That’s college basketball today.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys that do believe in what we’re doing and want to still be here,” Shrewsberry said. “There’s going to be a core group of guys that are ready to help us make the next step next year.
“The guys that aren’t here, I wish them all the best. They’ve been a big part of this, but change always happens.”
Happens to everyone, from teams with winning records to teams with losing records. Somebody from Notre Dame will leave. They just will. A player may even decide to join, especially if that someone plays say, center or power forward.
“There’s no program in America where there’s not going to be any change at the end of the season,” Shrewsberry said.
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: What might portal season have in store for Notre Dame basketball?
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
