NDMBB dollars.

We can and should do waaaaaay better than Shrews. There are roster construction issues, but those seem fixable. I don't see why we can't be a consistently solid team, including a reasonable frequency of Sweet Sixteen appearances.

But I also agree with the notion that we could throw every dollar we can find at that program, and "consistent Sweet Sixteens" is going to be the ceiling. MAYBE we sneak into the 8 every once in a while. And considering financial resources are ultimately finite, I don't really care if we make 3 vs 5 Sweet Sixteens each decade.

But we absolutely should be putting a competent basketball team on the floor, and that is not currently happening.

After the Jackson run, we've been atrocious in the ACC and it isn't even that great of a league after the top teams.

8–10
3–15
10–10
7–11
15–5
3–17
7–13
8–12
4–14

I get that we aren't Duke or UNC, but why can't we even be Cal or Stanford?

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Freeman's got so much riz they need to call him Aura Parseghian

I agree the team who wins the championship is going to look like Duke, but there are several teams playing passionate well-coached basketball who will advance to the sweet 16 without spending as much as ND.

I'm jaded and closer than ever to being out on college sports, but the argument can be made that coaching is worth more than ever if you can't just buy a top tier team every season.

I haven't been paying nearly enough attention to opine on what should be done with Shrewsberry, but the team loses an awful lot and he's had some unprofessional moments.

CU has a coach in waiting in former player, CU assistant, and then High Point head coach (he didn't coach them this year but got them to the NCAA tournament both years he was at High Point) Al Huss.

Creighton had a bad year this year but made the NCAA tournament the prior 5 years, losing once in the round of 32, three Sweet 16 showings, and one Elite Eight.

There's some suggestion that McDermott and the new (as of four or so years ago) A.D. don't get along and Mac wouldn't be the only CU coach.

He's 61 and might not want to quit coaching, unless he gets a cushy studio analyst job. He has definitely succeeded in the NIL/portal era. He has won in what has generally been a very tough Big East so he's not a mid-major flash in the pan.

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"It's our blood and bones and these whistles and phones against Miller's and Noem's dirty lies."

about the very, very, very limited upside of materially increasing MBB spending. So, maybe we sneak into a Final Four once every couple of decades?

As things currently stand, the "get old, stay old" and play heady team basketball with a bunch of good four-year players who probably have pro potential in Europe is dead. It's all about the dominant programs with a combination of the One and Dones and then harvesting the late bloomers/diamonds in the rough that second and third-tier programs actually managed to find/develop but can't afford to keep.

We used to be able to point to programs like Butler under Brad Stevens or VCU under Shaka Smart and say "why can't we do that?" Barring major changes, "that" is dead.

- No text -

Why did I think his name was Gerald? What's next, posting about Charlie Weiss and Tommy Reece?

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At night, the ice weasels come.

That money doesn't exactly cure all ills. There are numbers floating around regarding the programs that spent the most this season. At the top of that list (I believe) are our friends down in Bloomington. Look where that got them...

No AD in his right mind would hire him as a head coach right now, much less a program with a tradition like Butler's.

It basically goes something like, "ND is a football school and an inordinate level of resources get diverted to our breadwinner program such that it is unreasonable to expect ND basketball to be consistently competitive."

Then the collective fanbase (***DRINK!!!***) succumbs to the basketball media apologists who offer up these justifications and then we end up with the worst of all worlds...pure apathy. Can't be mad at the program/coach/players because the administration has decided basketball is simply not a priority.

I listened to Fortuna's interview with Jordan Cornette who proffered this same line of thought. Of course, he has a vested interest in Shrews' hiring (think he introduced him? Vouched for him?).

Everybody posits this theory but nobody puts forward any facts. It's all spun anecdotes.

Here's what I will say, you don't land a consensus top 15 class (2025) without spending some money ( https://247sports.com/season/2025-basketball/compositeteamrankings/ ). You don't land Burton (for multiple years), Haralson (5* '25), or Sanderson (4* '26) without spending money.

And feel free to beat this up but at least it's trying to objectively measure investment in the program. The Office of Postsecondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education publishes collegiate athletic spending by sport and gender every year. Notre Dame men's basketball is comfortably in the top quartile in the ACC (Duke and UNC are clear leaders).

https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/compare/search

People try knocking the source saying the accounting isn't accurate. OK?!?!? Then what else are you putting forward to corroborate this notion that ND doesn't invest?

It just sucks because we are past the point of disappointment and dangerously entered the apathy zone. And too many surrounded by the program twist themselves into pretzels to persuade the public that this is the case.

I'd be looking for other jobs as well.

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Particularly if Shrews drops some bombs on his way out the door.

Just interesting that his name is out there. Wonder who's doing that. Presumably his agent.

Which is why it will never happen.

That Shrews is a candidate for the Butler opening. Not sure exactly what to make of that, but its out there.

until they won last night

Combined, ND and Miami are undefeated in the regular season and conference tournament play

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Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals… except the weasel.

Fuck Danny Ainge.

IIRC The year Michigan State with Magic won, there was a decent chance that 4 IN teams could have been in the final 4. I think there were 4 in the e8 - in different brackets.

But really not that great a chance because MSU beat our ass.

EDIT: I just went and looked at brackets - I am misremembering that 4 IN teams.

What can you do but laugh? The basketball program is always a day late and a dollar short. I think I'm immune to it at this point - we were terrible during my 4 years despite having Monty Williams and Pat Garrity.

until I just checked to see what our performance was like in the ACC tournament. UNDEFEATED! Because 0-0 counts, right?

I know there’s been some chatter here about degree of ineptitude, but i had no idea. 4-14 in ACC play and Micah is still cashing a paycheck. Pete better be planning for the future.