It did not take long for head coach Micah Shrewsberry to make a major recruiting splash in his time at Notre Dame. On Thursday, the Irish landed one of the elite shooters in the 2024 class in Cole Certa. While Shrewsberry and staff have seen plenty of success recently converting their old Penn State commitments to Notre Dame from the 2023 class, Certa is the start of their 2024 class. 

The recruitment of Certa for Shrewsberry started back before the move to South Bend as Penn State offered him back in December. After making the move to Notre Dame, Certa quickly became a priority for the new staff receiving an offer from Notre Dame in early April and then making his commitment now less than a month later. 

The 6’5” shooting guard is coming off a junior season in which he was named Illinois 2A first team all-state by the IBCA and helped Bloomington Central Catholic all the way to the state championship game. Following his big high school season, his stock has continued to rise this spring as Certa has been one of the top players on the UAA while playing with the Illinois Wolves. 

Notre Dame beat out a long list of other suitors for Certa. Butler, Illinois, Loyola-Chicago, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rice, among several others had all offered the 2024 guard. Certa has the tools to make an immediate impact when he gets to South Bend not just with his high-level shooting ability but also size and length in the backcourt, high IQ, and playmaking with the ball.