Notre Dame will open its 2022-23 men’s basketball campaign next week when Radford visits South Bend, Ind., on Nov. 10.

The Fighting Irish returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 for the 1st time in 5 years, and they stuck around a while, too, winning 2 games and upsetting a higher-seeded Alabama team before losing to No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the Round of 32. While Mike Brey’s being fired is unlikely, the NCAA Tournament berth and run certainly took the sting out of those around the program and country who openly wondered prior to the 2021-22 season whether it was time for Brey to step aside. Instead, Brey returns for a 22nd season at the helm of Notre Dame, and he returns enough talent to lead the Fighting Irish to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time this coming March.

Here are 10 things to know about Notre Dame basketball for the 2022-23 season, followed by a prediction as to how things will play out for this program come March.

10. There’s another star freshman waiting in the wings in J.J. Starling

Blake Wesley’s star turn was a huge reason Notre Dame returned to the Big Dance in 2022, but he’s off to the NBA (Round 1, San Antonio) after just 1 year in South Bend. Enter guard J.J. Starling, who spurned Duke to go play for Brey. A top-25 player in the 2022 class, Starling will be the best of a terrific quartet of offensive weapons in Cormac Ryan, Nate Laszewski, and Dane Goodwin. Starling will challenge for ACC Freshman of the Year honors.

9. This is the best shooting team in the ACC

Even without Wesley, the Fighting Irish will shoot it at a high clip. Notre Dame finished 14th nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage in 2021-22 on high volume (73rd in the country in 3-point attempts). They get good shots and make them. Goodwin and Laszewski ranked among the top 100 nationally in effective field-goal percentage, giving the Fighting Irish the only team in the ACC to return such a prolific shooting duo.

8. The ceiling for this squad is all about what they can do defensively

Brey’s 2021-22 team competed on the defensive end, a requirement under Brey. The squad also wasn’t great at defense, finishing just 69th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, per KenPom. Wesley probably was the team’s best defender, and both he and the program’s lone outstanding rebounder, Paul Atkinson, are gone. Whether the Fighting Irish can defend better and rebound as well as last season’s 51st-place national finish will define whether this Notre Dame team is a 2nd-weekend type team or a First Four squad again.

7. Experienced Brey teams always have been his best teams — a good omen

Brey’s best teams at Notre Dame, including the Elite Eight squads in 2015 and 2016, were veteran groups with battle scars who knew how to win. This team, led by graduate students in Ryan, Laszewski and Goodwin, mirrors those groups. In fact, 6 of Notre Dame’s 12 scholarship players are graduate students. That makes Notre Dame among the 2 oldest teams in the ACC (Virginia). At a minimum, that experience will help Notre Dame win the games you have to win to stay on the right side of the bubble.

6. Notre Dame needs the “other” freshman, Ven-Allen Lubin, to make immediate impact

As old as Notre Dame is, the Fighting Irish will need both of their top freshman recruits to play well in 2022-23. Lubin, a 4-star, top-100 prospect in the 247 composite out of talent-rich Orlando, Fla., is a physical-beyond-his-years player with limitless offensive potential. While he grows into a complete offensive player, he can offer defense and rebounds immediately, and he’ll need to, because if he isn’t ready to play come ACC play Brey might need to go with a 6-man rotation in the league. The Fighting Irish are that different at roster spots 8-12 than they are 1-7.

5. Laszewski is capable of an All-ACC season

Why not Laszewski? Yes, he averaged only 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds last season, but his minutes should increase beyond the 29.0 he played in 2021-22, and he hits on 38% of his 3-point shots for his career with 2 years better than 50% from the floor during his career. Starling also will draw a ton of help, which makes life as a stretch 4 much easier in Brey’s pro-style motion offense. One thing Brey wants to see? A bit more aggression from Laszewski. He drew fouls at a career-high rate last season, but they’d love him to attempt closer to 5 free throws a game than 4, especially given he made 85.7% of his charity-stripe efforts last season.

4. There isn’t a lot of meat on the nonconference schedule bone

The Fighting Irish do play Michigan State, which presents a beautiful resume opportunity in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. But beyond the date with the Spartans, there’s very little on the nonconference slate that appears threatening to the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame better hope Marquette, which it will play Dec. 11, is good, or that Lipscomb or Jacksonville, mid-major teams that threatened to make the Big Dance a season ago, offer a surprising Quad 2-type opportunity. Otherwise, the Fighting Irish will need big wins in league play to beef up their NCAA resume.

3. Another 20-win season is likely for Brey

Brey has won 20 games in 16 of his 22 seasons in South Bend, and while this team’s ceiling will depend on defense, there’s too much experience and talent to not finish with 20 wins for a 17th campaign. The only question is how many more than 20 the Fighting Irish can get.

2. Starling and Goodwin give Notre Dame a must-see TV backcourt

Between Starling’s lottery-pick talent and Goodwin having among the best shooting strokes in college basketball, Notre Dame is going to be a fun watch. Goodwin, whose 45.8% 3-point percentage was among the nation’s best a season ago, benefitted from Blake Wesley’s commanding help and will do so again thanks to Starling. As a freshman, Starling mostly will be an off-guard, but he’s a capable passer when in the paint and tremendous at lulling defenders to sleep with his crossover before getting into the paint, where he usually draws help because of his reputation as an outstanding finisher through contact. The combo of his game and Goodwin’s are well-suited for one another, and will make Notre Dame’s guard play must-see TV.

1. A top 5 ACC finish is possible if they can play a legitimate 7-man rotation

As experienced as the Fighting Irish are, they need to be able to rotate 7 to weather ACC play this season. Last season’s 15-win ACC campaign surprised many, and saw the Fighting Irish finish just a game away from being ACC champion. That will be tough to replicate in 2022-23, but the Fighting Irish might be flying under some radars as attention is rightly focused on North Carolina but less rightly focused on Virginia and Duke. Notre Dame doesn’t have UNC or Duke talent, but it does have talent equitable to everyone else in the league, including Virginia, and a top-5 finish is possible so long as Lubin — or someone else on the roster — can give Notre Dame a legitimate 7th man.

Prediction: Round of 32

This feels like a Notre Dame team destined for an 8 or 9 seed that, because of a bunch of seniors playing their last games and a star freshman headed to the NBA, will scare a 1 seed out of its shoes in the Round of 32. Most NCAA bracket projections have Notre Dame safely in the field, though a few see the Fighting Irish as a bubble, First Four-type squad again. Saturday Road is a bit higher on the Fighting Irish, largely because of Brey’s track record with experience and the way the core of last season’s group returns with the benefit of a Round-of-32 run. Expect another NCAA Tournament appearance, and at least 1 NCAA Tournament win, from Notre Dame in 2022-23.