12/03 - Notre Dame *Neutral*
I think this is a win. This Notre Dame team was one of the worst ACC teams in a weak ACC conference last year. They return key rotational players, with the biggest name being Markus Burton. The ACC Rookie of the Year made ACC 3rd team is a good scorer, granted on high not very efficient volume (which you can expect from a freshman), and solid playmaking. Braeden Shrewsberry, a freshman last year who showed good promise and scoring ability, but not much playmaking. They have some depth for bigs and wings, but it feels pretty weak with the names of Tae Davis, JR Konieczmy, Nikita Konstantynovski, Kebba Njie, and Julian Ropper (names you probably aren't familiar with unless you follow ACC basketball or are a junkie). If I had to guess, it seems like the wings and bigs will be a platoon and we will see a lot of different faces thrown at us. Besides the two young guards, Shrewsberry and Burton, the prize of this team should be Sir Mohammed, a 6-7 CG, and top 50 player in the class of 2024. He should be an instant impact and will play minutes early. Besides that, some end of the bench guys and less impactful recruits. I think this Notre Dame team takes a step forward, and has some guards that are skillful and should be able to hold their own against ours, but I think the edge we get will be in our Bigs/Wings. I think we will be much better defensively and on the boards and I think this should allow us to get up and down. I see us winning this game by about 10-12.
Record: 4-2
I think this is a win. This Notre Dame team was one of the worst ACC teams in a weak ACC conference last year. They return key rotational players, with the biggest name being Markus Burton. The ACC Rookie of the Year made ACC 3rd team is a good scorer, granted on high not very efficient volume (which you can expect from a freshman), and solid playmaking. Braeden Shrewsberry, a freshman last year who showed good promise and scoring ability, but not much playmaking. They have some depth for bigs and wings, but it feels pretty weak with the names of Tae Davis, JR Konieczmy, Nikita Konstantynovski, Kebba Njie, and Julian Ropper (names you probably aren't familiar with unless you follow ACC basketball or are a junkie). If I had to guess, it seems like the wings and bigs will be a platoon and we will see a lot of different faces thrown at us. Besides the two young guards, Shrewsberry and Burton, the prize of this team should be Sir Mohammed, a 6-7 CG, and top 50 player in the class of 2024. He should be an instant impact and will play minutes early. Besides that, some end of the bench guys and less impactful recruits. I think this Notre Dame team takes a step forward, and has some guards that are skillful and should be able to hold their own against ours, but I think the edge we get will be in our Bigs/Wings. I think we will be much better defensively and on the boards and I think this should allow us to get up and down. I see us winning this game by about 10-12.
Record: 4-2