Notre Dame men's basketball to return to Dayton for charity exhibition vs. Flyers

Notre Dame men’s basketball will return to Dayton, Ohio for the first time since its First Four win in 2022.

The Irish have booked an exhibition game against Dayton, the Flyers announced Thursday morning. It will be Dayton’s annual Spotlight To Shine A Light On Mental Health game, and it’s scheduled for Oct. 17. The Flyers went 25-12 this past season, but they lost in the Atlantic 10 title game to VCU.

The charity exhibition will support Jay’s Light, a foundation that promotes mental health and suicide prevention.

Notre Dame will play two exhibition games ahead of the 2026-27 season, both on the road. The Irish will visit Dayton on Oct. 17 and DePaul on a yet-to-be-announced date, before traveling to Rome, Italy for their regular season opener on Nov. 1 against Villanova.

The Dayton game replaces a planned return trip from Butler, whom the Irish visited for a preseason matchup last season. The known games on Notre Dame’s regular season non-conference schedule include Villanova in Rome, Ohio State at home, an SEC team in the ACC/SEC Challenge and three games in the Players Era Championship during the week of Nov. 16.

The Irish will face some combination of Kansas, Florida, Houston, Auburn, West Virginia, Rutgers and UNLV in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.

Notre Dame last played in Dayton on March 16, 2022, when it defeated Rutgers in an instant classic in the First Four. The Irish won 89-87 in double overtime, behind 26 points on 13-of-15 shooting from veteran forward Paul Atkinson Jr. Atkinson made a put-back layup with 1.4 seconds to go in the second overtime, giving Notre Dame the win.

The Irish, an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament, would beat No. 6 Alabama in the first round two days later. Their season ended in the second round with a loss to No. 3 Texas Tech. The 2021-22 season remains Notre Dame’s last NCAA Tournament appearance in men’s basketball, and indeed its last winning record.

Entering its fourth season under head coach Micah Shrewsberry with a 41-56 (19-39 ACC) record in the previous three, Notre Dame has an uphill battle to make that elusive trip back to March Madness. The Irish lost their three leading scorers, Markus Burton, Jalen Haralson and Cole Certa, to the transfer portal in April.

Shrewsberry put together a portal class led by three graduate transfers: Winthrop big man Logan Duncomb, Penn wing Ethan Roberts and Gonzaga point guard Braeden Smith. Notre Dame hopes those three can combine with returning starters Braeden Shrewsberry and Brady Koehler to form a competitive team in November.