Notre Dame guard JR Konieczny enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Notre Dame guard JR Konieczny has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Jamie Shaw. Konieczny spent four seasons with the Fighting Irish, including a redshirt year in the 2022-23 campaign.

Konieczny played in all 32 of Notre Dame’s games this season and made four starts. He averaged 4.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 16.3 minutes per game. He shot 39.7% from the field and 28.8% from beyond the arc.

Konieczny had his best game of the season in Notre Dame’s 69-64 triumph over Syracuse on Dec. 7. In the victory, Konieczny exploded for a season-high 15 points in 29 minutes while shooting 6-12 from the floor.

Konieczny’s best season was his redshirt sophomore year when he averaged career-highs of 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. However, it’s also worth noting he averaged 22.7 minutes per outing, over six more minutes a night than this past season.

JR Konieczny played high school basketball at St. Joseph (IN), where he was an unranked prospect, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. His high school alma mater is less than two miles away from Notre Dame’s home arena, the Purcell Pavilion.

He finished his career at St. Joseph High School as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,996 points. For his efforts, he placed fifth in Indiana Mr. Basketball voting in 2021. Now, Konieczny will look to take his career beyond South Bend.

This season was Notre Dame’s second under head coach Micah Shrewsberry. The Fighting Irish finished the year with a 15-18 record and 8-12 mark in conference play, slight improvements in both categories from Shrewberry’s debut campaign at the helm.

Notre Dame’s season ultimately came to an end in a 76-56 loss to North Carolina in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Konieczny had a solid showing, recording seven points and three rebounds in the loss on 3-7 shooting. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Micah Shrewsberry isn’t oblivious to realities of the transfer portal. After Notre Dame’s season-ending loss, he addressed the potential changes his team may face this offseason.

Nothing is ever guaranteed right now in this world. People are free to leave whenever they want to,” Shrewberry said. “But for us, we have to recruit kids that want to be great basketball players. We’ve only got to recruit kids that that Notre Dame degree means something to them.

“I think we have a great group of that. I’m excited about our guys. I’m excited about the young guys that we had and how they’ve played. You don’t get to March and start building relationships with players; it’s a year-long process. They’re not just guys on our team. These guys are literally — this is our family. But they have choices.”