Pete Thamel names top candidates to become Notre Dame's next basketball coach

The Mike Brey Era at Notre Dame is over, and the Fighting Irish are now gearing up to replace him. It doesn’t sound like that hire won’t happen quickly, though.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel joined College GameDay on Saturday and listed some potential targets at Notre Dame. Two of them are preparing to play in the NCAA Tournament after securing automatic bids, and one more is gaining traction as a potential at-large team.

“As for Notre Dame, don’t expect the Irish to make a hire soon,” Thamel said. “They have to wait out some targets who are going to be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Those include Penn State’s Micah Shrewsberry and Colgate’s Matt Langel. Shrewsberry’s an Indiana native who was actually the head coach at IU-South Bend in the mid-2000s. Other names to look at here: Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann, Langel of Colgate — the Patriot League champs — and Drake’s Darian DeVries.”

More on the potential candidates at Notre Dame

Shrewsberry is reportedly emerging as one of the top targets at both Notre Dame and Georgetown this cycle after leading Penn State to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals in his second season at the helm. Prior to his arrival in Happy Valley, Shrewsberry worked as an assistant at Purdue from 2019-21 following a six-year run as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.

His ties to Indiana run deep, including a prior stint at Purdue from 2011-13, three years as an assistant at Butler from 2008-11 and assistant coaching jobs at D-III Wabash from 1999-2000 and DePauw from 2001-03. Of course, Shrewsberry also has the South Bend connection from his three years at Indiana-South Bend from 2005-07. At Penn State this year, the Nittany Lions take a 21-12 overall record into Saturday’s Big Ten semifinal matchup with Indiana and could snag an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Langel is wrapping up his 12th season at the helm at Colgate and is preparing for his fourth NCAA Tournament. During his time with the Raiders, he has totaled a 202-173 record, including a 124-77 mark in Patriot League action. He also worked as an assistant at his alma mater, Penn, from 2004-06 and at Temple from 2007-11.

Holtmann has had quite a run at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. This year hasn’t gone well, though, as Ohio State took a 13-18 record into the Big Ten Tournament. But the Buckeyes are red hot, winning three straight games in Chicago to make it to the semifinals.

Holtmann also has a connection to Indiana, coaching at Butler from 2014-17 and making it to March Madness after three years as the head coach at Gardner-Webb. He also worked as an assistant at D-III Taylor in Indiana before a stint as an assistant at Gardner-Webb and two years on staff at Ohio.

DeVries has put together quite a run at Drake over the last five years, taking the Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournaments and their first Arch Madness title since 1998 this season. All told, Drake has a 122-47 overall record under DeVries, who arrived in Des Moines after 17 years as an assistant at Creighton under Dana Altman and Greg McDermott.