Notre Dame 2023-24 Season (merged)

[Geew1992]

Well deserved

 

[Dillon77]

KK Bransford Enters Portal out of Notre Dame.

Sophomore guard KK Bransford entered the portal out of Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, I can see why. With Olivia Miles and/or Hannah Hidalgo probably both moving into the starting line-up in ND's backcourt season, they'll take starting position-availability away from KK, as does Sonia Citron, who is returning for her senior year at wing. KK has two years of eligibility left and wants to get prime responsibilities. (Of course, one might say she was playing like a starter, but I can see the other point of view.)

Even off-the-bench minutes were not guaranteed, with Cass Prosper and Emma Risch both coming back from injury.
Prosper is know for her all-around athletic ability which leads to good defense and open-court rushes, while Emma Risch is a 6'1" sharpshoote.

Is Jenna Brown coming back for another year? Even if she is, Irish are, once again, running low on roster numbers and it could be time to scout the portal: I'd suggest looking at Saylor Poffenbarger who could play a tough and ready wing, who could allow Soni to shift over to the two from time to time. Or Maddie Scherr, who is a combo guard, who may want to play for a championship. Lastly, if Cass Prosper will play the "tough" guard role that Bransford filled, how about a younger form of Anna DeWolfe, like MacKenzie Hare from Marquette or Shay Ciezki, long-range bombers, to pare with Emma Risch, another shooter?

While it would be great to keep the whole gang together at ND for a big run in 2024-25, I can see why KK would want to get some guaranteed prime=time opportunity in this day and age.

 

[Vowelguy]

Is DeWolfe done?

With brown westbeld watson TBD, Irish are at 7, correct?

 

[Dillon77]

Is DeWolfe done?

With brown westbeld watson TBD, Irish are at 7, correct?

Yes, that was Anna DeWolfe's last year.

If KK Bransford goes somewhere else, Irish currently at 6:
1) H Hidalgo
2) 'Liv Miles
3) Soni Citron
4) Cass Prosper
5) Emma Risch
6) Kate Koval
with word to be heard on:
7) Maddy Westbeld
8) Kylee Watson
9) Nat Marshall
10) Jenna Brown.

 

[Dillon77]

It looks like Ms. Hidalgo is not in the transfer portal. Straight from her (initially on her Instagram Story).
Ok, now to move onto the matters at hand: getting that roster from 7 scholarship players to, say, 10?

 

[Reypl21]

It looks like Ms. Hidalgo is not in the transfer portal. Straight from her (initially on her Instagram Story).
Ok, now to move onto the matters at hand: getting that roster from 7 scholarship players to, say, 10?

How about to 12 or 13? Tall task obviously.
Thanks Hannah, for shutting all of that down.

 

[Dillon77]

How about to 12 or 13? Tall task obviously.
Thanks Hannah, for shutting all of that down.

They're at 8, assuming Maddy is indeed coming back and including Kylee Watson, who is injured and probably won't play.
So, really 7. Niele hasn't played that many people and is very particular about who she wants on her team, so finding more than 3 folks in the transfer seems about as much as one will get.

 

[Dillon77]

One of my favorite ND players and alums is one Kayla Mcbride; a.k.a. K-Mac.
She's been named to the All EuroLeague first team and just helped Fenerbahce to the Finals of the Euro Tournament. Her performance was top-shelf.

 

[Bone Dog]

They're at 8, assuming Maddy is indeed coming back and including Kylee Watson, who is injured and probably won't play.
So, really 7. Niele hasn't played that many people and is very particular about who she wants on her team, so finding more than 3 folks in the transfer seems about as much as one will get.

My prediction is Iriafen chooses South Bend and Niele’s biggest headache is figuring out how to best use one of the best backcourts in D1. The sky is the limit with Hannah Olivia and Soni healthy. It should be a great season!

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I think Koval is the non-SC recruit that has surprised me the most in all star games. I think she'll make a strong impact next year. If you should also get Iriafen that would be a tremendous frontcourt upgrade.

 

[Dillon77]

Maddy Westbeld (Finally) Announces She's Coming Back to Play for Irish in 2024-25

Key player to return to Notre Dame women's basketball for fifth season

Notre Dame is retaining one of its best players for one more season in South Bend.

www.on3.com

In any case, huge and positive news for the Irish who now project a starting lineup of:

• Olivia Miles
• Hannah Hidalgo
• Sonia Citron
• Maddy Westbeld
• Kate Koval

and
- Cass Prosper, Emma Risch: coming off the bench

With Kylee Watson injured and rehab time unknown, the Irish still need to hit the portal hard for depth.

 

[Dillon77]

Olivia Miles Back with Irish Full-Time; Here She's Practicing with Hannah Hidalgo

If you take a look at the "'Liv" video within the X boxes, she throws one of what I consider her signature moves: a sidearm skip pass to the three-pt. line shooter (in this case, Hannah Hidalgo). Great to see those horn-rim glasses back on the court.

 

[jdote33]

 

[Sifaka]

 

[Dillon77]

Hey, thanks for posting!

Glad KK decided not to "go out the door" and stay in Joyce Center.
She brings a lot of versatility to the backcourt, from rebounding and defense to the ability to attack the basket and spell one of the lead guards by bringing up the ball from time to time.

So, this probably means that Coach Ivey is not going to be looking for any more guards at this point.
Here's the current roster make-up for ND.

1) H Hidalgo
2) 'Liv Miles
3) Soni Citron
4) Cass Prosper
5) Emma Risch
6) Kate Koval
7) Maddy Westbeld
8) KK Bransford
9) Kylee Watson (apparently staying for Covid year, but injured due to ACL injury suffered in ACC Playoffs)

 

[Reypl21]

Happy for KK and for Niele. Hopefully the current boot situation isn't long-term and heals relatively fast. She could use a summer of health and growth. She lost some of her explosiveness from her freshman year. I'm sure she'd like to get back to that, and develop a more consistent shot. If she can be a double digit scoring threat off the bench I think it's sets her up nicely to start her senior year.

 

[Dillon77]

Happy for KK and for Niele. Hopefully he current boot situation isn't long-term and heals relatively fast. She use a summer of health and growth. She lost some of her explosiveness from her freshman year. I'm sure she'd like to get back to that, and develop a more consistent shot. If she can be a double digit scoring threat off the bench I think it's sets her up nicely to start her senior year.

Here's an article on both KK Bransford and the overall Irish roster situation.
BTW, Kylee Watson has had surgery on that ACL injury.

InsideNDSports - Guard KK Bransford makes transfer portal U-turn, returns to Notre Dame WBB

Key reserve guard had entered the portal on April 7 after playing in 33 games for the Irish (28-7) this past season.

notredame.rivals.com

 

[Dillon77]

(courtesy of Raoul)

Want to give both a thank you and wish Nat Marshall a lot of luck in her next stop at Miami.

She committed to ND and promptly suffered an ACL injury to her knee senior year at Christ the King. Both sides stuck to their commitments and she worked very hard to get back, suffered some other setbacks and found a lot of other players in front of her.
All the while, she was a great and popular teammate and embraced her role as a student athlete at ND, often representing ND women's hoops at various student gatherings. Very inquisitive and self-assured, she reminds me a bit of Bri Turner, who also dealt with an ACL injury.

On the court, Marshall was a constant presence for the Irish this season, being the prime front-court substitute all season until, suddenly, she because the starter when Kylee Watson went down with her own ACL injury. I believe it was that taste of being a starter that led to Marshall entering the portal: she wanted to continue starting and probably wasn't going to get that opportunity at Notre Dame, with 5-star post Kate Koval arriving in June.

Marshall will leave campus as an ND grad in May and fly down to a Miami team that lost two of its centers (Lattimore, Oldacre) to the transfer portal, so she'll have ample opportunity to start for new coach, Tricia Culloup. (Culloup is friends with former ND coach Muffet McGraw, who recruited Nat, so I'm sure a call transpired there.)

In any case, thanks to ND and Nat Marshall for making her four years an eventual success and best of luck to my soon-to-be-fellow Domer (ND talk for alum). Good luck!