SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame basketball lost more than 18 games this past season.
The Irish also lost their identity, a swagger that the year before under then-first year coach Micah Shrewsberry, gave an undermanned roster a chance every night in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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Between that season and this last one, Notre Dame let slip its defensive identity. Instead of being a team that would grind out games, and a few league wins, Notre Dame played like a team that wanted to outscore you to beat you.
That didn’t work.
Transcript: What was discussed in the latest marathon Notre Dame men’s basketball chat?
Noie: Why might this offseason be anything but uneventful for Notre Dame basketball?
After finishing 49th nationally in scoring defense (67.2 ppg.) in 2023-24, Notre Dame was 193rd (72.5 ppg.) last season. Following the last loss to North Carolina in the second round of the ACC Tournament, Shrewsberry pointed to defense, or the lack of it, as a catalyst for the 15-18 showing.
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“I didn’t feel like I did a very good job defensively with this group,” he said. “We were a really tough, gritty, nasty defensive team last year. We spent a lot of the off-season trying to be better offensively, and at times we lost that grittiness. We lost that toughness that we needed.
“I think we need to build that back up with who we are.”
On Sunday afternoon, Notre Dame took a step toward that build back with the addition/commitment of former Northern Arizona power forward Carson Towt, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound native of Gilbert Arizona. Towt, who missed 2023-24 with injury and sat out 2019-20 to preserve a year of eligibility, led the nation in rebounding last season (423 total rebounds in 31 games, 12.4 average).
Towt can tag team in the low post with returning senior/veteran Kebba Njie on the front line until incoming freshman Tommy Anheman is ACC ready. Towt’s addition also will allow rising sophomore Garrett Sundra to play more of his natural stretch-4 position.
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Towt tied for sixth nationally with 20 double doubles for points and rebounds. He grabbed at least 10 rebounds in each of NAU’s final five games. He snared a career-high 19 in early February against Northern Colorado.
Rebounding from a dirty-work veteran is a Notre Dame need. The Irish did not place anyone in the final Top 20 individual rebounding rankings in the ACC. They did not have anybody in the final Top 15 in offensive or defensive rebounding. Forward Tae Davis, second on the squad in rebounding last season (5.3 rpg.), recently announced his transfer to Oklahoma.
In 31 games last season, all starts, Towt averaged 13.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 33.3 minutes. He shot .575% from the field and .387 % from the foul line for an NAU team that finished 17-14 overall, 8-10 in the Big Sky Conference. In 123 career games at NAU, Towt attempted zero 3-pointers.
Towt was a second team all-Big Sky choice and first team all defense. He’ll be the first Arizona native to play for Notre Dame in program history. He announced March 25 plans to enter the transfer portal and had heard from the likes of Baylor, Cal, Iowa, Saint Mary’s and Xavier.
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Towt’s commitment, coupled with an incoming four-man recruiting class ranked as high as No. 7 nationally, puts Notre Dame’s roster at 12 scholarship players (one shy of the maximum) for 2025-26.
The Irish could add one more from the transfer portal, which closes April 22.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame basketball has tapped the transfer portal for a position of need
