Notre Dame transfer forward Garrett Sundra commits to James Madison

Notre Dame transfer forward Garrett Sundra has committed to James Madison, he announced Wednesday.

Joining the Dukes with two years of eligibility remaining, Sundra averaged 3.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game throughout the 2025-26 season. JMU is located under two hours from his hometown of Ashburn, Va., so the 6-foot-11 power forward is moving closer to home.

The Irish expected big things from Sundra as a sophomore out of Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI Catholic, believing he made significant progress during his first full offseason in South Bend. He started 16 of Notre Dame’s first 17 games, but he was eventually relegated to a reserve role.

Freshman forward Brady Koehler took Sundra’s place in the starting lineup and kept it for Notre Dame’s final 13 games. Despite being one year younger, Koehler quickly passed Sundra on the depth chart at power forward, and he’s one of four scholarship players from the 2025-26 roster who opted to remain in South Bend.

The Irish coveted Sundra as a stretch four, despite his three-star status as a high school recruit. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry and his staff believed that Sundra would develop into a versatile role player who could rebound, shoot 3s and serve as a connecting piece for their high-volume scorers.

He did show flashes of that, such as Notre Dame’s 96-90 overtime win over NC State on Feb. 28. Sundra gathered 3 offensive rebounds and finished +10 in 13 minutes. He executed his help defense assignments, rarely turned the ball over and was considered a high-effort player, which is why the Irish were higher on him than the majority of the fanbase.

“I thought he was great, man, just his energy,” Shrewsberry said after the NC State game. “I thought he really fought and battled guys in the post. Hard hedges, whatever it may be. The three offensive rebounds, chasing them down, especially early in the game when we were struggling. I thought he came in and gave us a good spark there.

“He cares about winning, and when you have that attitude, good things are gonna go your way.”

However, Sundra didn’t develop into the threat from beyond the arc that Notre Dame believed he could be, shooting 30.8 percent on 52 attempts. He also struggled to rebound or defend in the post as well as he needed to at his size. In what Shrewsberry and company thought would be his breakout season, Sundra only played 17.8 minutes per game.

Sundra originally chose Notre Dame over Butler, Miami, Providence and Virginia Tech.