Notre Dame Lands A Commitment From Elite 2026 Guard Jonathan Sanderson

Notre Dame men's hoops head coach Micah Shrewsberry remains red hot on the recruiting trail, picking up in the 2026 class where he left off in 2025. Notre Dame has landed its first commitment in the 2026 class and it's a big one, as Top 50 guard Jonathan Sanderson has committed to the Irish.

Sanderson is a 6-2 point guard from La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere High School. He's a consensus four-star recruit by On3, Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN. The talented guard is ranked as the nation's No. 43 overall recruit by ESPN and is the No. 1 player in Indiana on the On3 consensus rankings. Sanderson is a big time recruit, which can be seen by his offer list which included Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon and Purdue. 

He's a very skilled shooter and is comfortable pulling up a few feet behind the three point arc. Sanderson is comfortable taking defenders off the dribble and driving the lane. He also sees the court extremely well and can push the ball in transition. Sanderson plays aggressive defense and has pretty long arms, which bodes well for his perimeter defense.

Kicking off the 2026 class with Sanderson was huge for the Fighting Irish. Outside of point guard Markus Burton, who might not be here when Sanderson arrives on campus, Notre Dame doesn't have any primary ball handlers on the roster. Rising sophomores Sir Mohammed and Cole Certa are mostly wing players while Logan Imes will be heading into his senior season. 

The Irish are still laying the foundation for their 2026 recruiting class. They're still in the hunt for Steven Reynolds, a point guard from South Bend, and 7-0 center Gan-Erdene Solongo from Nashville, Tennessee. Michigan State is currently the leader for Reynolds but Notre Dame is still in the hunt. Solongo's recruitment is still very open and the Irish are well in the mix.

It will be important to see how Shrewsberry follows up the impressive 2025 recruiting class. It's Notre Dame's highest ranked recruiting class in the modern era; Sanderson provides a great start to the 2026 recruiting class. If Shrewsberry and newly hired GM Pat Garrity, a Fighting Irish alum, can continue to build on Sanderson's commitment, Notre Dame will have strung together two very good recruiting classes back to back.

Sanderson's father - Jon Sanderson - was recently hired as the new Director of Strength and Conditioning for Notre Dame.