When Notre Dame hired Micah Shrewsberry as its men’s basketball coach last offseason, it did so knowing that it would take time to rebuild the program.
With that being said, seeing the Fighting Irish lose by 20 points to Citadel on Tuesday was alarming, most of all to Shrewsberry, who shredded the team’s overall effort following the 65-45 defeat.
“I apologize to anybody that paid money to come watch that, watch that effort from that team,” Shrewsberry said.
The veteran coach, who came to South Bend off an NCAA Tournament appearance at Penn State, went on to further challenge his players.
“This game was over before we even got here. We had no energy at shootaround. We didn’t have any energy at practice. That’s who this team has been,” Shrewsberry said.
“We’re building a culture, and that ain’t it. That is not the culture we’re trying to build. So a message needs to be sent to some of these guys that if you don’t play hard, then you can sit and rot over there on the bench. I’ll talk to the people in compliance and help you transfer. Because this culture is getting built the right way, and if you ain’t a part of it, you’re out.”
Notre Dame Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry made a BIG statement regarding his team’s effort 😳 pic.twitter.com/DSsHMiZwD4
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) December 20, 2023
In addition to insufficient effort, the Irish were woeful shooting the ball on Tuesday, connecting on just 17-of-64 field goals, 3-of-24 three-point attempts and 8-of-15 free throws.
Notre Dame is now 4-7 on the season heading into Friday’s home game against Marist.