SOUTH BEND, IN – The next domino of Micah Shrewsberry’s staff fell into place on Friday when Mike Farrelly officially came on board as Assistant Coach. Farrelly relinks with Shrewsberry after their successful two-year venture together at Penn State.
“My family and I are thrilled to come to South Bend and become part of the Notre Dame community. Working for Coach Shrewsberry for the last two years has been unbelievably rewarding and I am really excited to help him continue to build on the great tradition of Notre Dame basketball. Notre Dame is a special place and I can’t wait to get started,” Farrelly said.
Farrelly was instrumental in the two-year turnaround that occurred in Happy Valley. In year one, Farrelly helped guide the Nittany Lions to the best scoring defense in the Big Ten, as the squad only allowed just 65.0 points per game. It was Penn State’s best defensive mark in 11 years.
After a year adjusting to the new system, the Nittany Lions took off in 2022-23, achieving just their 12th 20-win season in the 127-year history of the program.
The Nittany Lions were one of the nation’s hottest teams down the final stretch, reaching the Big Ten Championship game as the No. 10 seed. It not only marked the program’s second-ever Big Ten title game appearance, but also just the third double-digit seed to do so and the first since 2008. Penn State then made its first NCAA Tournament since 2011 and later earned its first tournament victory since 2001.
Farrelly was integral in signing the highest-ranked recruiting class in Penn State men’s basketball history in November of 2021, less than eight months into Shrewsberry’s tenure in Happy Valley. The 2022 signing class ranked as a consensus top-30 class in the nation by all major recruiting services. A year later, the same result, marking the first time in program history that the Nittany Lions had signed back-to-back top-30 recruiting classes.
“Mike was a big part of the success that we were able to have at Penn State,” Shrewsberry explained. “Mike’s energy and drive are unmatched. One of Mike’s greatest strengths lies in his ability to build relationships and connect both with his current players and recruits. I know Mike will be a great leader and great addition to our program. We are happy to welcome Mike, Gina, MJ, and Ryan Farrelly to the Notre Dame family.”
Prior to Penn State, Farrelly served eight years on the bench at Hofstra, which included a stint acting…