Notre Dame men’s basketball adds fourth commitment to 2025 recruiting round

Notre Dame men’s basketball was coming off a five-day all-ages recruiting streak that saw it reach No. 1 nationally, at least for a few days, two picks as a new week and a new month dawned.

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Go big or go home.

Micah Shrewsberry doesn’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon, except maybe back to the NCAA tournament for some deep runs, so he opted to go big.

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On Monday afternoon, Notre Dame added a fourth Top 100 prospect to the 2025 recruiting class with the official commitment of Tommy Ahneman, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound center with a 7-2 wingspan from Fargo, North Dakota. Ahneman is considered a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and a four-star prospect by 247Sports. He is ranked nationally at number 90 with 247 and even at number 49 with on3.

Ahneman is a multidimensional quantity. He can clear space in the post and score with his back to the basket. He can stretch the floor (the key to the Notre Dame offense) and maybe even shoot the occasional 3.

“You don’t see that very often in North Dakota,” said Sheyenne boys basketball coach Tim Brandt.

After a junior season in which he averaged 20.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.9 assists per game and won a Class 2A state championship for the first time in school history, Ahneman and his family moved 250 miles away to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he will play his senior year at Cretin-Durham Hall High School.

Ahneman scored 28 points with 17 rebounds and two blocks last winter to help Sheyenne High School in West Fargo, North Dakota win the state championship. As a junior, he earned North Dakota Gatorade Prep Player of the Year honors.

“We did that in March and then he’s gone,” Brandt said. “We had a good conversation about it last summer. It’s a good opportunity for the family. It’s not just a basketball thing.”

Considered the best prep in Minnesota, he played AAU for Howard Pulley Basketball. Last summer on the Nike EYBL circuit, Ahneman caught the attention of Shrewsberry and the Irish staff by averaging 20.7 points per game and shooting 75.6 percent from the field.

“Getting out of his North Dakota bubble really helped him,” Brandt said. “He could see what else was out there and what types of guys he would be competing against.”

Notre Dame ramped up its recruitment of Ahneman in June. He will be the first Howard Pulley alum to play for Notre Dame since power forward Mike Broghammer. Former Notre Dame tight end Marcus Freeman (de other Marcus Freeman, not the head coach) also played for Howard Pulley as a high school athlete in Minnesota.

Ahneman’s freshman year was delayed by injuries. When Ahneman got healthy, Brandt said he was the team’s best player the last month of his sophomore year. Then, the breakout season in the juniors, something Brandt could see coming, albeit not to the extent that he would be a top Division I candidate.

“He has made such big strides every offseason,” Brandt said. “He showed flashes that last month of his second season. He started to become a little more confident. It was there a little bit.

“Last year he was a monster.”

Ahneman made his official visit to campus last weekend, where he committed before returning home. He chose Notre Dame over Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin. He made official visits to every school except Wisconsin.

Notre Dame maintained its spot as the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class with Ahneman’s efforts.

Eight days before Ahneman’s commitment, Notre Dame’s recruiting class had zero prospects. No obligations. Then it started and it happened with haste. Shrewsberry added commitments from 6-9 forward Brady Koehler (Indianapolis), 6-7 swingman Jalen Haralson (Anderson, Indiana) and 6-6 shooting guard Ryder Frost (Beverly, Mass.), all within a span of five days.

All three are Top 100 talents. Koehler and Frost are four-star prospects. Haralson is a five-star hotel ranked tenth nationally (ESPN.com).

Notre Dame may or may not be done with its 2025 recruiting class. The Irish have seemingly maxed out their allotted scholarships (four), but Shrewsberry could go as high as six if necessary. The added two grants stem from the NCAA’s decision to increase grant limits for college basketball teams from 13 to 15.

Current Irish greats Kebba Njie (6-10) and Garrett Sundra (6-11) are expected to be on the roster for the 2025-26 season. Njie will be a senior and Sundra will be a sophomore.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI

This article originally appeared on the South Bend Tribune: This was a historic recruiting round for Notre Dame men’s basketball