Notre Dame men’s basketball to visit South Carolina in ACC/SEC Challenge
Notre Dame has its Atlantic Coast Conference/Southeastern Conference Men’s Basketball Challenge opponent for the 2023-24 season, the conferences confirmed Wednesday morning. The Irish will face South Carolina at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28 in Columbia. S.C.
South Carolina finished 11-21 (4-14 SEC) this past season. Matchups are set primarily based on team strength, and the Irish, who also finished 11-21 (3-17 ACC), drew the Gamecocks.
South Carolina struggled, as most expected, in its first year under coach Lamont Paris.
The No. 1 reason to watch the Gamecocks last year, five-star freshman GG Jackson, was drafted at No. 45 overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2023 NBA Draft. Jackson led South Carolina with 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Meechie Johnson leads the returning Gamecocks, scoring 12.7 points per game this past season. He announced his return to the program in late May.
To support Johnson, Paris remade his roster, adding four transfer additions. Power forward B.J. Mack (Wofford), small forward Myles Stute (Vanderbilt), power forward Stephen Clark (The Citadel) and point guard Ta’Lon Cooper (Minnesota) all transferred to South Carolina.
Five players exited Columbia via the transfer portal, too: combo guard Ford Cooper Jr., power forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford, shooting guard Chico Carter Jr., power forward Ja’Von Benson and center Tre-Vaughn Minott.
South Carolina also added a pair of freshmen, one of whom nearly ranked in the top 100 of the class of 2023. Collin Murray-Boyles, a power forward from Columbia (S.C.) Wasatch Academy, stayed home. He’s the No. 104 player in the On3 Industry Ranking.
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Three-star shooting guard Arden Conyers, from Columbia (S.C.) Westwood, stayed home as well.
South Carolina will face a similarly-remade Notre Dame team that only returns three scholarship players under new coach Micah Shrewsberry. The Irish brought in center Kebba Njie (Penn State), shooting guard Julian Roper II (Northwestern) and small forward Tae Davis (Seton Hall) through the transfer portal.
Notre Dame will be a young team this year, with four freshmen: point guard Markus Burton, center Carey Booth, combo guard Logan Imes and shooting guard Braeden Shrewsberry, Micah Shrewsberry’s son. Booth is the highest-ranked among those four, as the No. 59 player on On3’s Industry Ranking.
Notre Dame’s returning players include junior guard J.R. Konieczny, senior forward Matt Zona and senior guard Tony Sanders Jr.
Sanders only played in five games last season, averaging 1.4 minutes per game. Zona averaged 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in limited action.
Konieczny didn’t play in the 2022-23 season, only appearing in seven games as a freshman in 2021-22.
