Notre Dame Basketball Season Preview 2024-25: Biggest games, key players to watch and more

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish open the 2024-25 college basketball season looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2023-24 campaign where they finished 7-13 in ACC play and 13-20 overall. Second-year coach Micah Shrewsberry worked hard during the offseason, assembling a roster of 10 returnees, four freshmen, and three transfers.

Shrewsberry hopes the latest edition of the Fighting Irish men's basketball squad will make its presence felt in the expanded conference that welcomes SMU, California, and Stanford from the group this season. Here's an inside look into Notre Dame's 2024-25 campaign from its biggest games to the players to watch out for this coming season.

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Notre Dame's biggest games of the 2024-25 season

Notre Dame will play 11 non-conference games this season, beginning with its home opener against Stonehill on Nov. 6. They'll head to Capital One Center in Washington D.C. on Nov. 16 to face Big East foe Georgetown.

The Fighting Irish are set to play in Las Vegas on Nov. 26-30 for the Players Era Festival where they'll meet Rutgers, Houston and Alabama. They will troop to Georgia on Dec. 3 for the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Notre Dame will have 20 games against their ACC foes this season, with Boston College, Georgia Tech and Syracuse playing the Fighting Irish in a home and away format.

They'll play host to California, Louisville, SMU, Stanford, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh and visit Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Miami, NC State, Virginia and Wake Forest.

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Top Notre Dame players to watch out for in the 2024-25 season

Unlike other programs, Notre Dame was fortunate to have most players returning despite a bad record the previous season.

Ten players from last season's roster will run it back and help the Fighting Irish make the postseason. They'll get help from seven new cagers taken from the transfer portal and high school ranks.

Here are the three Notre Dame players to watch out for this season.

#1. Markus Burton

Notre Dame guard Markus Burton (Image Source: IMAGN)

Markus Burton excelled in his freshman year for Notre Dame, tallying 17.5 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. The 5-foot-11 guard shot 42.1% from the field and 82.1% from the free throw line and this was enough for him to win the ACC Rookie of the Year award.

Burton will assume the leadership reins for Notre Dame this coming season and he's expected to lead the team on both sides of the floor.

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#2. Braeden Shrewsberry

Braeden Shrewsberry (Image Source: IMAGN)

Braeden Shrewsberry was Notre Dame's second-leading scorer this past season. The six-foot-three guard averaged 10.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per contest.

Shrewsberry was excellent from the 3-point line, making 2.4 shots per game for a 37.1% clip. His outside sniping would be a factor for the Fighting Irish this season, especially since the extended ACC field is tougher than ever.

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#3. Matt Allocco

Notre Dame guard Matt Allocco (Image Source: IMAGN)

Matt Allocco was acquired from Princeton via the transfer portal. Allocco had his career year last season, tallying 12.7 points, 3.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. Allocco shot 50.8% from the field (42.7% from 3-points) and 90.9% from the free-throw line.

The 6-foot-4 Allocco will bring his long-distance sniping to Notre Dame and form a scoring combo with Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry.

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Predictions for Notre Dame's 2024-25 season

Notre Dame will be competitive this season with some of the players coming back for another stint. With a solid recruitment spree during the offseason, the Fighting Irish would likely win 20-22 games and contend for a berth in the postseason.

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