The Irish have added an elite shooter for next season
There has been plenty of transfer movement for Notre Dame basketball this week and it continued on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Irish saw Carey Booth finding his new home at Illinois, but the roles were reversed on Wednesday. Notre Dame landed Princeton transfer guard [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag], giving them their first commit of this cycle.
The 6-foot, 4-inch and almost 200-pound guard was a big time player for the Tigers over the past three seasons. Last year Allocco showed elite shooting tendencies, as he shot 42.7% from three, 50.8% from the field and 90.9% from the free throw line. There aren’t many who can match that kind of efficiency across the country.
The Irish now have seen three players enter the portal and just one come in, so expect more movement in the coming weeks.
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Notre Dame’s freshman All-American Hannah Hidalgo missed a chunk of time during the Sweet 16 loss.
It didn’t seem like a big deal until the referees made it one, and then it still didn’t seem like a major issue.
But following Notre Dame’s 70-65 loss to Oregon State in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA tournament on Friday, Hannah Hidalgo’s nose piercing may have actually had an impact on her performance.
The Fighting Irish’s freshman star wears a small stud in her left nostril, and she’s played with the stud in for a lot of the season, including in the NCAA tournament’s opening weekend. But in the first half of the game against the Beavers, officials insisted she take it out, pointing to the rulebook forbidding jewelry.
Why they decided to enforce it this time when covering it with a Band-Aid likely would have sufficed is beyond us, but they did. And because Hidalgo had to take it out, she missed several minutes of the game itself in what amounted to more than 17 minutes in real time, according to ESPN’s Elle Duncan.
Hannah Hidalgo missed some time in Notre Dame's Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon State to have her nose ring removed. pic.twitter.com/1XF0XCCrjM
That’s not a small amount of time, and after Notre Dame’s loss, Hidalgo slammed the refs for the decision. Via ESPN:
“I thought it was B.S., because I’m on a run, I’m on a roll,” Hidalgo said. “I scored two baskets and then having to sit out for all that time, I was starting to get cold. I think [the officials] were worried about the wrong things. They should have reffed the game.”
Hidalgo said an official told her she would keep the stud in as long as it was covered, but after the first quarter, she was told to take it out or not play, ESPN also reported.
Niele Ivey on Hannah Hidalgo: "She's had a nose ring the entire season. I wish we'd known that earlier."
Said she was told jewelry was a point of emphasis for officials in the Sweet 16.
While Notre Dame’s season is over now with Oregon State advancing to the Elite Eight, Hidalgo said: “I’m going to play with it still until they tell me to take it out.”
The Irish are one of many schools after the talented guard
With the college basketball season nearing an end, it was a big odd for the transfer portal to open but Notre Dame is trying to take advantage of its time off.
The Irish have reached out to Belmont sophomore guard [autotag]Cade Tyson[/autotag] according to a report from Nick Jones. The 6-foot, 7-inch and 205-pound wing had an exceptional season, as he scored 16.2 points-per-game along with grabbing 5.9 rebounds-per-game and 1.6 assists.
Tyson shot 49.3% from the field while hitting 46.5% of his three-point attempts. Numerous schools have also reached out to the transfer, so it won’t be easy for the Irish to land him.
Updated list of schools who’ve been in Contact with @cade_tyson
Kansas Villanova Auburn Michigan Virginia Arkansas Florida Miami Indiana Virginia Tech Oklahoma Wake Forest Nebraska Notre Dame BYU Texas Colorado Oregon Stanford South Carolina Ole Miss Georgia Tech Wisconsin VCU… pic.twitter.com/SY7ZVgZvrZ
If we hear more about a potential visit, then the Irish have turned up the heat on Tyson’s re-recruitment.
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The UNC basketball program clinched at least a share of the ACC regular season title with their win over Notre Dame on Tuesday.
The North Carolina Tar Heels finished seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season, struggling all year long and eventually missing the NCAA Tournament. This year is different.
With North Carolina’s 84-51 win over Notre Dame on senior night Tuesday, the Tar Heels have clinched at least a share of the ACC regular season title. That sets up a showdown with Duke in Durham on Saturday night and a win would mean the Tar Heels are outright champs.
After the Tar Heels and Fighting Irish went back-and-forth to start the game, North Carolina pulled away. Down 18-16, Markus Burton missed a three-pointer in transition that would have given Notre Dame the lead. Instead, North Carolina went on a 23-9 run to end the half and take a 41-25 lead at the break.
In the second half, UNC blew it wide open.
The Tar Heels opened the half on a 16-0 run to grab a 57-25 lead and they never looked back. UNC dominated Notre Dame in the half both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court.
The lead got out to 32 at one point before a little bit of a sloppy stretch by UNC that saw it get down to 20. But still, the game never felt in danger for the Tar Heels.
RJ Davis led the way with 22 points while Armando Bacot and Cormac Ryan both had 14.
Player of the Game
The seniors. All of them. Thank you for it all. Thank you for the memories you have brought to the program. Let’s finish strong!
What’s next?
The rematch. North Carolina heads to Durham to face off against Duke in the regular season finale. A win by UNC means they win the conference outright while a loss means the two share the title and depending on what happens the rest of the week, the Blue Devils could steal the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
J.R. Konieczny had soreness in his right foot and missed Notre Dame’s victory over Wake Forest.
[autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] had soreness in his right foot and missed Notre Dame’s victory over Wake Forest. It was the first time this season he hadn’t appeared in a game. However, that appeared to only be a brief absence as Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports has tweeted the following ahead of the Irish’s home finale Saturday:
Notre Dame's JR Konieczny (foot) is expected to play today against Clemson, per Micah Shrewsberry.
Obviously, it is unknown how much action Konieczny will see against Clemson. He hasn’t played more than 18 minutes over his past five games, none of which he started. He started his previous five games before that and shot 14 of 52 from the field during that stretch (26.9%). Since then, he’s shot a more respectable 11 of 23 (47.8%).
Fighting Irish Wire will be on hand to cover the men’s basketball team’s final home game this season as well as the women’s team’s sold-out home finale Sunday against Louisville. Both teams have being playing well lately, so now is a good time to catch them.
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This would be a huge recruiting win for the Irish hoops team
Although Notre Dame basketball’s first season with Micah Schrewsberry hasn’t gone very well, the foundation is being set for a prosperous future.
One of those players that could be in the Irish’s future is 2025 Iowa small forward [autotag]Jack McCaffery[/autotag]. The 6-foot, 8-inch and 200-pound wing is one of the nations best players, checking in as the No. 13 player at his position and 63rd nationally according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
According to 24/7 High School Hoops, the Irish are one of four schools that are pressing for McCaffery’s commitment. At the current moment, Notre Dame does not have a commit in the class and the Iowan would be a huge get for Shrewsberry.
2025 4⭐️ Jack McCaffery is a name to keep an eye on in the ‘25 class
McCaffery is a 6-8 forward who can really shoot the ball with extended range. Has good vision and playmaking ability with the ball in his hands and is a solid shot-blocker defensively.
Considering he is the son of Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, it’s a bit odd that his father isn’t pressing for him. That could change eventually, but at this moment, the Irish are one of the teams pushing for Jack.
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Justin Pippen, the son of Scottie, and Mercy Miller, son of Master P, lead their respective teams to wins over No. 3 Harvard-Westlake.
Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) was rolling as the best team in California. Coming off a 34-2 championship season, the Wolverines leapt to a 20-1 record and No. 3 spot in the USA TODAY Super 25 national rankings.
All it took to take them down were the sons of two well-known people, one of whom with deep basketball roots and one with music (and a touch in basketball)
Harvard-Westlake lost its second game of the season on Wednesday to Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), a close battle that ended at 59-54. Houston commit Mercy Miller, the son of rapper and producer Master P, scored a game-high 29 points — essentially half of his team’s output — to upset the juggernaut. Miller has been crushing it this year, proving his four-star rating on 247Sports with his school-record 68-point performance on Dec. 11, according to Marca.
Miller may be able to one-up his dad. Master P rose to fame in the 90s through his rapping and producing, and is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, but he also ventured into hoops and came very close to breaking into the NBA — according to Marca, he was on the preseason team of the Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets.
Mercy Miller is working to accomplish what his dad couldn’t.
Harvard-Westlake couldn’t bounce back on Friday, falling to Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) and guard Justin Pippen, the youngest son of Scottie and Larsa Pippen. A three-star guard, he’s taking the mantle from Scotty Jr., the eldest son of the pair who graduated from Sierra Canyon in 2019 and is now on a non-guaranteed contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Justin led the Trailblazers over Harvard-Westlake by scoring 21 points in the second half to finish with 24 overall, helping elevate the team to a 74-68 win. He and Bryce Cofield, who had 15 points, helped the Trailblazers go on an 18-0 run in the fourth quarter to get the lead and the win.
With those victories, there’s a new question about the king of California basketball. Do Notre Dame (22-0) or Sierra Canyon (21-1) take hold of that title for the time being? Is it Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), with a record of 20-1? If we’re including prep schools, perhaps it’s Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), whose record is 19-3.
Luckily for us, we’ll have a stronger answer next week: Notre Dame and Sierra Canyon face off on Jan. 26.
While some players make a name for themselves through shooting, Hidalgo’s defense is what makes her different. Since her debut in November 2023, she has been energy-personified and her activity is a good reason why she leads the country in steals. That is NOT a typo.
In addition to her offensive prowess, Hidalgo has 74 steals this season. The best part of her game is that she has a natural talent for making others look silly.
“I think the whole sequence of picking somebody’s pocket is definitely my favorite,” Hidalgo told The Associated Press by phone.
“Anticipating, making a move like a crossover, just having my hand ready to deflect it, then going on the fast breaking and bringing that energy from my defense.”
“One game,” Hidalgo said, “the girl was like, ‘No, I’m not bringing the ball up if she’s guarding me.'”
Jeff Borzello, who compiled the list, noted that “Burton has been a bright spot,” giving the Irish hope for the future of the program. As a recruit, the in-state star was ranked as a 3-star, the No. 21 point guard and 153rd overall prospect in the country according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
Although he’s on the smaller side, Burton has outperformed his recruiting rankings and has a bright future in South Bend.
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The Virginia Cavaliers took a rare loss against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to move to 1-1 in ACC play.
Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry picked up his first conference win on Saturday in a 76-54 thrashing over Tony Bennett and Virginia.
The Fighting Irish move to 6-7 on the year and 1-1 in ACC play, while Virginia drops to 10-3 overall and 1-1 in conference.
It’s a rare win for Notre Dame, who came into the game trailing the all-time series 17-3 and who had only beat Virginia twice since Bennett took over.
Notre Dame’s 76 points is the second most surrendered by the Cavs and their notoriously excellent defense this season, behind only the 77 scored by Memphis.
Virginia didn’t just struggle on defense, they shot 38% from the field and only attempted 11 three pointers – making just two – despite being behind most of the game.
For Virginia a Quad 4 loss like this one seriously hurts their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes, as the Fighting Irish came into the day a whopping 239th in the NET.
For Notre Dame it’s a reminder that – while this season has had plenty of low points already – the future with coach Shrewsberry is bright.
