Notre Dame men's basketball preparing over the summer

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind - Micah Shrewsberry begins his first year with the Irish, getting his players conditioned over the summer. After 23 years of Coach Mike Brey — it’s a new era of men’s basketball for the Irish. 

Although head coach Shrewsberry has been on campus for a few months, he opened up practice to the media on Tuesday to get a look at the new players and how the team looks so far this summer. 

It’s been nearly four months since Shrewsberry was named the 18th head coach of Notre Dame men’s basketball, replacing a coach with the most wins in program history. 

"It's new for me and I love experiencing this," said Shrewsberry. "It's new for them. So, I think they're enjoying coming to practice every day. Right? Because they're learning brand new things. They're seeing brand new things. So that part of it's been fun."

In his first season, Shrewsberry is encountering players who have spent several years at Notre Dame. These players decided to stay and trust what the Indiana native can bring to the table. 

"I think everything's been going really well," said senior forward Matt Zona. "Summer has been great! Guys have been coming in to work and just...everything's been great. I'm really excited about it." 

Zona is part of the handful of players that stuck around after Brey's departure. 

When Shrewsberry chose Notre Dame, he brought some luggage from Penn State along with him. He even convinced a few players in the transfer portal to jump on board under his leadership. 

"It's very influential," said transfer Kebba Njie. "You know, he's a great person, a great coach. And so easy to listen to him, easy to follow him and everything that he does."

Transfer Julian Roper added that in the two previous years of playing against Shrewsberry's team, "I just loved what he did. I loved just being on the court. I could just hear his voice in the confidence he gave his guys and the freedom he let his guys play with."

The beginning of the season doesn't start until November 28, but you can just feel the anticipation of the team waiting to get started.