Basketball Is Back This Friday Night at Butler

INDIANAPOLIS – Basketball in October?! You bet. The Notre Dame men’s basketball program has scheduled two preseason exhibitions to help get fine-tuned for the November 3 season opener. Both exhibition opponents are nearby programs the Irish know quite well. Up first, Notre Dame travels to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Friday night bout against Butler. That match will tip off at 7 p.m. ET (will not be streamed/broadcast, but can be heard live on WSBT Radio with Conor Clingen calling the game).

There have been 103 games played between the Irish and Bulldogs, with the series starting in 1909. The Irish have been pretty dominant overall in the series, up 72-31. However, it’s been 20 years since ND’s last trip to Hinkle – Feb. 15, 1995.

The lowdown on Butler: The Bulldogs enter the 2025-26 season off an appearance in the inaugural College Basketball Crown. Coach Thad Matta added five transfers in Michael Ajayi (Gonzaga), Yame Butler (Drexel), Jalen Jackson (Purdue Fort Wayne), Drayton Jones (South Carolina State), and Yohan Traore (SMU). That group joins returners Finley Bizjack, who averaged 10.3 points per game for the Bulldogs last season; Jamie Kaiser Jr., who missed the entire 2024-25 season with an ankle injury; and Evan Haywood, who started both College Basketball Crown games. Butler also welcomes a Top 25 recruiting class.

Of course, Coach Shrewsberry has a strong connection with Butler, serving as an assistant coach under Brad Stevens during their back-to-back runs to the national championship game in 2010 and 2011. Shrewsberry and Stevens compiled an 87-21 record together with two Horizon League regular-season and two tournament titles.

Up Next: The second exhibition will see the Irish play at home against DePaul on October 24. There have been 106 total games against one another on the hardwood, with the Irish up in the series 62-44. The last time the Blue Demons took the trip down I-90 to South Bend was back on Nov. 24, 2018 – a 95-70 Irish victory.

CORE NUCLEUS INTACT

For Notre Dame and Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry, retention and player development has been key. For the second consecutive year, the Fighting Irish return the highest scoring by percentage of any ACC school at 55.1 percent. The next highest being Virginia Tech at 44.9 percent.

Leading those returners is one of the best backcourt duos in the ACC – junior guards Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry. Approaching their third year together on the court, the duo combined for a league-best 35.3 ppg.

KNOW THE NAME – MARKUS BURTON

If you don’t know the name Markus Burton, you should. The 6-0 junior guard, who is playing in front of his hometown, recorded a sensational sophomore season and is poised to have an even bigger junior campaign.

Burton averaged 21.3 ppg last year, which ranks third nationally amongst returners.

1. PJ Haggerty, Kansas State – 21.7

2. Jaron Pierre Jr., SMU – 21.6

3. Markus Burton, ND – 21.3

4. Terrence Brown, Utah – 20.6

5. Nick Martinelli, NW – 20.5

Before last season, the last Irish player to average 20+ points in a season was Luke Harangody (21.8 ppg) in the 2009-10 season. Furthermore, Burton joined David Rivers as the only Irish players to average 20+ points and 3+ assists in a season. Burton averaged a team-best 3.0 apg last season.

During ACC play, Burton averaged 23.5 ppg, which led the league as well. His 423 points in ACC play broke the program record he set his freshman season. He now boasts 722 career ACC points, which already ranks him fifth all-time at ND.

Furthermore, Burton finished last year as one of the hottest shooters in the country. Over his last four games of the regular season – 31.5 ppg on 46.9 percent shooting, 11-22 (.500) from three & 39-46 (.848) from the line.

MASTER OF THE MIDRANGE

Burton is most dangerous when attacking the basket and utilizing his quickness. He shot 46.9 percent from two-point range overall. More specifically, he was 44.6 percent from the midrange and 46.4 percent from the paint. Burton’s true shooting percentage climbed to 54.8 percent, and his turnover rate dropped to 14.7 percent.

And more likely than not, Burton will get fouled attacking the basket, and last season, he was the team’s best free-throw shooter. He converted 84.8 percent from the stripe, which ranked 6th in the ACC. He drew 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes.

If that wasn’t enough, Burton improved from beyond the arc from year one to year two. He went from a 30.0 percent shooter from three as a freshman to 37.5 percent as a sophomore. In ACC play, Burton converted 40.2 percent from deep.

BRAEDEN, YEAR ‘3’

Braeden’s sophomore campaign was shortened by seven games with a lower-abdomen injury, but he certainly showed the world that he added to his game. He averaged 14.0 ppg, which was up from his freshman year’s 10.2. He also shot 41.3 percent from the floor, which also marked an improvement.

The 6-4 guard connected on 2.8 threes per game on a .369 clip – both ranked third in the ACC. In ACC play, he knocked down 40.0 percent from deep, which ranked fifth. Shrewsberry’s sweet spot? He converted 45.5 percent from corner threes (15-for-33).

Furthermore, Braeden shot 48.7 percent from two-point range. Specifically, he shot 43.2 percent from the midrange and 44.9 percent from the paint.

Like Burton, Shrewsberry ended on an extreme high note. He totaled 49 points over the last three games before his injury. He netted 16 points at BC, 12 points vs Louisville and a team high 21 points vs. SMU. Braeden averaged 16.3 ppg over that three-game span on 16-39 shooting (.410), plus 11-24 from beyond the arc (.458).

BIG PRESENCE INSIDE WITH THE ADDITION OF TOWT

The nation’s top rebounder from last year transferred to South Bend and will be paired with a top-5 scorer in the country in Markus Burton. Transferring in from Northern Arizona, Carson Towt led the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game last season. Notre Dame is the only school in the country to have players on the top-10 returning scorers and rebounders list.

Towt was a 2025 Second Team All-Big Sky selection and a unanimous Big Sky All-Defensive Team member.

Towt set a Big Sky conference single-season rebounding record, grabbing 423 rebounds across 34 games. The 423 rebounds also led the country.

The 6-8 forward averaged a nation’s best 8.9 defensive rebounds per game and 3.5 offensive boards per game – the latter ranked 14th nationally.

Towt broke a 63-year record, reeling in a career 1,044 rebounds. He also amassed 1,199 career points.

Last season, Towt averaged 13.4 points per game and produced 20 double-doubles, which ranked sixth in the nation. He shot .569 overall from the field, which ranked second in the Big Sky and 26th nationally

HIGHEST RATED ND RECRUIT CLASS IN MODERN HISTORY TAKES THE FLOOR

Last November, Coach Shrewsberry made a splash when he signed the highest rated recruiting class in program history (in modern recruiting era). The now freshmen class was ranked fourth in the nation by 247Sports, fifth by ESPN, fifth by Rivals and sixth by ON3. It’s also the top-rated class in the state of Indiana; second overall in the ACC.

The class is comprised of Tommy Ahneman, Ryder Frost, Brady Koehler and Jalen Haralson – the latter (at the time of his signing) was the highest rated recruit for Notre Dame in the modern era.

• Haralson became the 20th McDonald’s All-American in program history and the first of the Shrews Era.
• Frost was on Paul Biancardi’s 2025 top shot-makers list. In 2024, he led the UA summer circuit in three-point percentage, converting 45.2 percent.
• Koehler was a 2025 AP Indiana Boys Basketball All-State First Team selection. He attended Coach Shrews’ high school and averaged 16.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals.
• Ahneman was the top-ranked prospect in the state of Minnesota and led Cretin-Derham to a Class 4A Station runner-up finish as a senior. He averaged 16.3 points and 10.6 rebounds.

A PROGRAM OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

In the first note, we mentioned that Coach Shrews maintained his core nucleus, spearheaded by Markus and Braeden. In this section, we look at the other returners.

• 6-6 guard Sir Mohammed was slowed as a freshman as he worked through a lower-body injury. He ultimately played in 23 games, with eight starts, and shot 51.1 percent from two.
• 6-11 forward Garrett Sundra shot 53.3 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from two in 21 games. He was 8-of-20 (.400) from three-point range.
• 6-5 guard Cole Certa recorded a few clutch moments down the stretch of last season. In a 76-72 win over Pitt, Certa recorded all 12 of his points in the 2nd half but it all stemmed from a 125-second period in which he drained 3 triples. Then, down one with 18 seconds left vs. Stanford, Certa drained a corner three right in front his bench for the eventual 56-54 win.
• Rounding out the returners are senior forward Kebba Njie and junior guard Logan Imes. Njie is the only player on the current roster to play four years under Coach Shrewsberry (freshman year at Penn State). Last season, Njie shot a career-best 55.5 percent from the floor. Imes played in 26 games and shot 46.4 percent from two.   

2025-26 SCHEDULE NOTES

The Blue & Gold will hit the road for the first time of the season when they travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Nov. 16. This marks the start of a home-and-home series, with the Buckeyes traveling to South Bend for the 2026-27 season.

Year three of the ACC/SEC Challenge is approaching and for the first time, Notre Dame men’s basketball will get to host a challenge game inside Purcell Pavilion. The Fighting Irish will host the Missouri Tigers on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Notre Dame trails in the all-time series to Missouri, 2-7. The two programs have not clashed on the hardwood since Nov. 21, 2011. Mizzou has not visited South Bend since Jan. 12, 1994.

Thanksgiving week marks a return to the Players Era Men’s Championship in Las Vegas. The Irish will clash with both Kansas and Rutgers with a third opponent TBD. ND and KU have not squared off since 1988.

The last road non-con will be a trip to TCU on December 5, beginning another home-and-home with the Horned Frogs returning the trip to Purcell for 2026-27. It’ll be the program’s first trip to Fort Worth with a 5-0 mark in the all-time series.

In terms of the ACC schedule – Notre Dame will kick things off with their first West Coast trip, taking on Stanford then Cal. The Irish will also make its first ACC trip to SMU on Feb. 10.

The Irish can receive a big home crowd boost with four of its last six inside Purcell Pavilion. Those home games include Georgia Tech, Duke, NC State and Stanford.

NOTRE NOTABLES.

• Markus Burton was voted a Preseason First Team All-ACC selection. He’s the first Irish player to earn First Team preseason honors since senior forward John Mooney in 2019. Notre Dame was voted to finish 10th in the ACC in the preseason poll.
• USA Today ACC Preseason Poll predicted the Irish to finish in 8th place. They also placed Burton on its Preseason All-ACC First Team.
• The analytics metrics site, Bart Torvik, predicted Markus Burton to finish third in the country in scoring for the 2025-26 season, averaging 20.4 ppg.
• Notre Dame posted a +20 in 876 minutes with Burton on the floor, including an impressive offensive rating of 111.4 points per 100 possessions.
• Notre Dame’s 2026 recruiting class currently ranks 11th in the country by 247 Sports.
• Last season, the 14-point comeback at BC was the largest come-from-behind victory in the Coach Shrews era.
• Last season, Notre Dame earned its first-ever win in Charlottesville after a 74-59 victory over Virginia. Coach Shrewsberry has now defeated Virginia twice in three matchups.

THE BEND

The Fighting Irish basketball programs announced a new black and gold jersey, “The Bend.” A jersey that pays tribute to the characteristics and history of South Bend.

TYING IN TO OUR TOWN

• The “Bend” script across the chest, which was inspired by the marquee “South Bend” wall on the side of Madison Oyster Bar in the heart of downtown.
• The numbers – a custom font inspired by classic Studebaker cars, which got their start here in South Bend.
• The side of the shorts – the lines running up the side of the uniform pull directly from the South Bend flag, which gives a nod to the St. Joseph River.
• The Irish will first wear The Bend jerseys against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 7.

— ND —