By Ben Hicks
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - After Notre Dame’s 2025-26 season ended on March 7 in Chestnut Hill, head coach Micah Shrewsberry and his staff knew they had to attack the transfer portal to revamp the roster ahead of his fourth year in South Bend. What they didn’t yet know was that each of the program’s three leading scorers would also be awaiting the portal to open a month later.
The 2025-26 team enjoyed early success, but was later mired in injury trouble and inconsistent play. To compete in the ACC, Shrewsberry knew he had to establish a post presence. “First priority was getting a big. Somebody older with experience was the first thought,” Shrewsberry said.
To do that, the Irish made a huge splash shortly after the portal opened on April 7. Notre Dame landed fifth-year big Logan Duncomb, a complete two-way forward who won 2026 Big South Player of the Year at Winthrop.
“We haven’t had that since we’ve been here. Just somebody you can just throw the ball to and they can get you a bucket around the basket. He’s a really good rebounder. He draws a lot of fouls. So he had some intangibles that we thought were really good fits for what we wanted,” Shrewsberry said of the Cincinnati native.
Duncomb played at Archbishop Moeller High School, a storied program which also produced fellow Notre Dame newcomer Yoro Diallo. Both Duncomb and Diallo were recruited to Winthrop by new Irish assistant coach Tony Rack, a 2008 graduate of Moeller.
Under Rack’s tutelage, Duncomb finished top-3 in the Big South in both points (18.3) and rebounds (8.9) per game, and also became only the second Winthrop Eagle ever to average a double-double in conference play.
After securing Duncomb to anchor the Irish interior, Shrewsberry turned his focus to the backcourt to fill the void at point guard. Coach noted that Notre Dame had struggled to protect the basketball in recent years, explaining his push for a pass-first point guard to take the reins of the new-look Irish.
Shrewsberry found what he was looking for, signing Gonzaga transfer Braeden Smith late in the cycle to finalize the class. A fellow fifth-year and former Patriot League Player of the Year while at Colgate, Smith joined Duncomb to give the Irish winning experience at the two most important spots on the court.
Smith had impressed the staff with his on-court composure and do-it-all ability, Shrewsberry assessed. “His ability to lead. His ability to score. His ability to think the game has really stood out since he’s been here.”
Shrewsberry also noted Smith’s otherworldly assist-to-turnover ratio of over 2.5-to-1, and the fact that Smith’s teams have reached the NCAA Tournament every year of his career.
The third big addition was another fifth-year with postseason experience; Penn transfer Ethan Roberts was by far the easiest to recruit. “Ethan’s a guy that wanted to be here. And he made it well known that he wanted to be here,” Shrewsberry joked.
Roberts, who grew up a fan of the Blue & Gold, led the Quakers to the NCAA Tournament, averaging over 16 points per game on better than 40% shooting from beyond the arc. Although his frame and raw statistics suggest Roberts is a prototypical wing shooter, Shrewsberry noted that the Illinois native boasts a complete offensive game. “If you don’t watch him and just look at the numbers, you think he’s just purely a shooter, but Ethan’s a scorer. He can score the ball a lot of different ways. He’s a good passer. He’s got a good IQ.”
Notre Dame will also look to experienced leaders in the backcourt to steer the ship this season. Both Logan Imes and Braeden Shrewsberry have been in the Bend for three years, earning 87 starts between them. Shrewsberry has relied on them both to set the standard over the summer. “You can see it in their play on the court. You can see it in their leadership off the court. Every single day, those two guys are really bringing it and pushing everybody else around them.”
Alongside the pair of seniors, Notre Dame’s best all-around player is also a returner, an asset not every ACC team can claim. “Brady Koehler is probably our most talented player. He showed flashes as the year went on. Now it’s just about going from flashes to consistency. If he can do that, he can raise the ceiling of this team because of his ability to handle the ball, to shoot the ball, to play defense, to rebound,” Shrewsberry added.
A consensus top-100 recruit, Koehler started the final 13 games of the season and turned in eight double-digit scoring games throughout his freshman campaign. Duncomb noted that Koehler’s guard skillset and forward frame will make him a difficult cover for any opposing big, as the Winthrop transfer has seen in practice.
Koehler isn’t alone, though, as length and versatility are littered throughout the roster. That skillful flexibility is personified through sophomore transfer Devin Brown, who did a bit of everything en route to earning A-10 All-Rookie Team honors last year at Davidson. Shrewsberry plans to wield Brown as a Swiss Army knife, saying, “His role will be a little different for us this year. He’s a jack of all trades. The best thing he does is playmake, and he does it in a lot of different ways.”