Notre Dame 2024-25 Season

[Geew1992]

All I'll say is, Hidalgo has to know the demographics of the professional sport she wants to play, and the fans who watch (and pay for) that sport. Whatever your views of morality are, biting the hand that feeds you is mighty foolish. My enthusiasm about HH has been tempered accordingly, and I'm just a little bit more excited to see OM's next step.

 

[GamecockFam]

When did she declare that some others' marriages are sinful?

I had no idea until I just looked this up a few moments ago.

I probably held very similar beliefs when I was 19 and still regurgitating my parent's beliefs as if they were my own. So I tend to not hold people accountable for their opinions at 19 because opinions are still forming at that age and there is still a lot of the world she is just starting to come in contact with. I doubt she was around many openly LGBTQ while growing up, so being around openly gay people at Notre Dame was probably a shock to her system. As far as my situation, my opinions drastically changed over the years. I am now an openly gay man who has been married to the man of my dreams for the past 5 years. So people can change and I bet her opinions will be drastically different as she gets used to being around a bunch of out and proud lesbians in the basketball world.

 

[cancontent]

All I'll say is, Hidalgo has to know the demographics of the professional sport she wants to play, and the fans who watch (and pay for) that sport. Whatever your views of morality are, biting the hand that feeds you is mighty foolish. My enthusiasm about HH has been tempered accordingly, and I'm just a little bit more excited to see OM's next step.

Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But if you're not mindful of others' feelings, it's not gonna be great for team chemistry.

If you're on a team in a deep red political area, you should realize that saying negative things about the president is probably not going to go over well with many of your teammates.

No arguments there on both points however the assumption that this is primary reason is what I'm pushing back on because we don't know the full story.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I had no idea until I just looked this up a few moments ago.

I probably held very similar beliefs when I was 19 and still regurgitating my parent's beliefs as if they were my own. So I tend to not hold people accountable for their opinions at 19 because opinions are still forming at that age and there is still a lot of the world she is just starting to come in contact with. I doubt she was around many openly LGBTQ while growing up, so being around openly gay people at Notre Dame was probably a shock to her system. As far as my situation, my opinions drastically changed over the years. I am now an openly gay man who has been married to the man of my dreams for the past 5 years. So people can change and I bet her opinions will be drastically different as she gets used to being around a bunch of out and proud lesbians in the basketball world.

First, congrats to you personally for finding your bliss. Love to hear it. But I think I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of 19-year-olds - at least when it comes to 19-year-olds making bank off their "name, image, and likeness." If HH is enough of a established public figure to try to sell me State Farm insurance, then she's enough of an established public figure to be held accountable for everything else associated with her "name, image, and likeness" that she promulgates to the public. I feel very differently for the average college student who's not trying to monetize their NIL, but if you're presumed sophisticated enough that no one would say "she only likes State Farm because she's regurgitating her parents' views," then the same applies to everything else posted publicly.

It's her informed choice to put it out there, and it's my informed choice to think it diminishes her NIL in my view.

 

[Sifaka]

If a teammate holds different opinions, that's ok with me.

If a teammate finds my opinions “wrong” or even unpalatable, and chooses not to share them, I can accept that, perhaps even with grudging respect.

If a teammate declares my stance to be “immoral and evil”, don't be surprised if I choose to no longer be their teammate.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Twitter is the source you want to reference?

The devil’s den.

 

[TheFarmFan]

The devil’s den.

What are we to reverse infer about a certain electronic vehicle magnate?

 

[Sifaka]

What are we to reverse infer about a certain electronic vehicle magnate?

He should be charged with

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Mostly, I just find it sad that every highly touted freshman these days seems to think she deserves 30 minutes a game from day one or else she'll bounce. But wish her well wherever she lands.

I don't know enough about Koval's situation to know what she's thinking but I agree with the sentiment of players walking if they don't start and play most of the game immediately. It makes me wonder how Dawn has managed to keep her youngsters content during the last few years while the upperclassmen mainly started.

 

[my2cents]

The rest of the women's basketball world, when we are having a bad day have come up with a new mantra, "It could be worse, we could be Notre Dame Fans"

 

[Frankus]

Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But if you're not mindful of others' feelings, it's not gonna be great for team chemistry.

If you're on a team in a deep red political area, you should realize that saying negative things about the president is probably not going to go over well with many of your teammates.

I don't know if you're referring to ND in your "deep red political area", but Notre Dame and South Bend are hardly "deep red" territory.

I think there's a lot of gossip about HH's immature and foolish social media re-post, but that's the kind of thing that should easily be taken care of by a coach who has social media rules, and communication skills, to help young adults grow in the complexities of adult life.

I'm not pointing the finger at you personally, but there's a lot of people-who I presume are adults- that are acting like gossipy teenagers instead of seeing it for what it is: A teaching moment to a group of young ladies.

 

[Vowelguy]

I don't know if you're referring to ND in your "deep red political area",

No. Just a separate example.

 

[Frankus]

Well, it's been quite an April Fool's Day...ugh.
I covered what I thought of Olivia Miles' departure in the Olivia Miles thread and that of Emma Risch on the transfer portal.
Now, regarding Ms. Kate Koval:
We're never going to know all the reasons for this decision, but on the fan looking in face of it:

• Kate started the first 10 games of the year and while doing so, ND had a solid record. She was among the top blockers in the country and rebounding at a respectable level, while blocking out forwards for Liatu King and the guards to swoop in.
• Once ND's two power forwards, Liza Karlen and Maddy Westbeld, came back, Koval not only didn't start, she was relegated to playing 10 minutes per game at best. Unfortunately for ND (in the long run), the Irish went on a roll and Ivey went with what was working. When they lost to NC State, FSU and Duke, Ivey started getting Koval some minutes, realizing -- hey, Kate does help in the middle -- and she was in the rotation in the NCAA's.
• Now, Koval was probably slated to start next year...and/or play major minutes with returning center (we hope) Kylee Watson.

But she is leaving. For what, I don't know for sure, but if it's related to the cha-cha developmental dance Ivey put her through, I can't say I blame her.
- Koval needs to get her stamina down and work on some basics, but that was something Carole Owens was supposed to supply. I was hoping a Natalie Achonwa might come back and work with her. Ace is younger, perhaps easier to relate to, yet is a taskmaster.

Maybe, ND will get lucky like it did with KK Bransford, who entered the portal, but decided to stay. But I'm not optimistic. End of this day can't come soon enough.

Excellent post. I too was critical of how Koval's minutes were handled, but one thing stuck out to me in the TCU post game press conference. Nielle thanked OM, Maddy and Sonia for (I'm paraphrasing) sticking with "her vision" of ND basketball. I think her vision was a wide open, read and react offense, with minimal structure and a dependence on accurate 3-point shooting. Unfortunately, one of her cogs in her vision went 3-24 (12%) on 3-point shots down the stretch, and in the TCU game we had a severely injured OM (read Tom Noie's article about the injury) and an uncharacteristically bad shooting night by Sonia.

Now should Nielle have forseen the danger that one of the keys to her vision was in jeopardy, and developed a contingincy plan? Absolutely. There's no reason why Koval's minutes should have been cut that much. It also (apparently) was a strategic long term mistake if Koval doesnt return to the fold, and if Koval is willing to put in the work to reshape her body into the athletic specimen that she is not right now. I'd prefer that we have her, but I also watched Texas' 6'6" Kyla Oldacre steal the ball at half court against TCU and dribble half the court to score a layup. Will KK ever be that athletic? Is there a seasoned player in the portal like Oldacre in the portal that we can get to augment Kylie? We'll see. I wish it was Kate, but if it isn't, in the short term there are players that can be bought, and ND has money and fan support that can average between 7K to a sellout per night, in a legacy program with prime time matchps.

I know the sky is falling, particularly for our foes, and the lurkers on The Bench- a few who migrated from Rock's House where there were people who were quick to suggest Freeman was in over his head after the Cincinnati loss, but I'm in the "give coach a chance" mode, because except for MM, nobody has done as much as NI to put our program where it is in the national spotlight.

 

[Frankus]

First, congrats to you personally for finding your bliss. Love to hear it. But I think I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of 19-year-olds - at least when it comes to 19-year-olds making bank off their "name, image, and likeness." If HH is enough of a established public figure to try to sell me State Farm insurance, then she's enough of an established public figure to be held accountable for everything else associated with her "name, image, and likeness" that she promulgates to the public. I feel very differently for the average college student who's not trying to monetize their NIL, but if you're presumed sophisticated enough that no one would say "she only likes State Farm because she's regurgitating her parents' views," then the same applies to everything else posted publicly.

It's her informed choice to put it out there, and it's my informed choice to think it diminishes her NIL in my view.

I think your being too harsh on her, but I sincerely hope she has learned her lesson that being a highly paid public figure comes with social responsibilities. It must be difficult being 20 years old and receiving so much social media scorn, but this is the age we live in.

I suspect this is one of the unforseen consequences of the NIL era, where 20 year old's are given millions of dollars to represent company's that used to be reserved for older adults. But let's not forget that even adults in these positions sometimes say and do stupid things that are counterproductive to themselves and their teammates.

 

[Dillon77]

Question Everything needs to be Notre Dame WBB coach Ivey's mantra, too

After a NCAA Tourney Sweet 16 thud and lots of roster turnover, Niele Ivey has much to confront in a critical offseason

notredame.rivals.com

This article by long-standing Nd beat reporter Eric Hansen looks at Critical Issues in a measured, straight-Forward manner...
...which I appreciate, from the decision on how to develop/use Kate Koval to the very fair point that Coach Ivey and staff either wouldn't or couldn't adjust their offense/defense when running into top-notch coaching from other teams.

And, of course, a need to question the recruiting approach of both high schoolers and transfers. The latter is going to have to be in real time because ND needs to fill out a roster.

First things first: Need to see if Hannah Hidalgo, Cass Prosper and KK Bransford are on board for 2025-26. Will Kylee Watson return to what would now pretty much be a starting role? And what is the physical status of the sole incoming frosh, Leah Macy?
If those players come back, that's some top-notch talent to build around.

Based on who comes back and agrees to come, would like to see an offense geared to their talents. Yes, Hannah Hidalgo can read and react until she graduates, but it would be good to arrange sets/plays for others who aren't as gifted at creating their own shots.

As for the transfers, I've gone from looking at specific positions to realizing ND needs a talent influx of the right players at all positions. This should include at least two players that can shoot from distance.

Stay tuned.

 

[Dillon77]

Excellent post. I too was critical of how Koval's minutes were handled, but one thing stuck out to me in the TCU post game press conference. Nielle thanked OM, Maddy and Sonia for (I'm paraphrasing) sticking with "her vision" of ND basketball. I think her vision was a wide open, read and react offense, with minimal structure and a dependence on accurate 3-point shooting. Unfortunately, one of her cogs in her vision went 3-24 (12%) on 3-point shots down the stretch, and in the TCU game we had a severely injured OM (read Tom Noie's article about the injury) and an uncharacteristically bad shooting night by Sonia.

Now should Nielle have forseen the danger that one of the keys to her vision was in jeopardy, and developed a contingincy plan? Absolutely. There's no reason why Koval's minutes should have been cut that much. It also (apparently) was a strategic long term mistake if Koval doesnt return to the fold, and if Koval is willing to put in the work to reshape her body into the athletic specimen that she is not right now. I'd prefer that we have her, but I also watched Texas' 6'6" Kyla Oldacre steal the ball at half court against TCU and dribble half the court to score a layup. Will KK ever be that athletic? Is there a seasoned player in the portal like Oldacre in the portal that we can get to augment Kylie? We'll see. I wish it was Kate, but if it isn't, in the short term there are players that can be bought, and ND has money and fan support that can average between 7K to a sellout per night, in a legacy program with prime time matchps.

I know the sky is falling, particularly for our foes, and the lurkers on The Bench- a few who migrated from Rock's House where there were people who were quick to suggest Freeman was in over his head after the Cincinnati loss, but I'm in the "give coach a chance" mode, because except for MM, nobody has done as much as NI to put our program where it is in the national spotlight.

I don't know if Kate Koval's decision is final or if there's some give and take, as there was with KK Bransford last year, which led to her coming back to ND.

Right now, I hope the bleeding has been stymied and that Kylee Watson will join Hannah Hidalgo, Cass Prosper, KK Bransford and Leah Macy in the summer. If so, that's not a bad group to build around/on top of. However, the group needs to be doubled to have a functioning roster. Like you, I think finding another post would be really helpful; as well as some outside shooters. While Ivey has usually tended to go after grad transfers, I think she needs to open up the viewfinder this time around: it's doubtful she'll land 5 or 6 recruits from the Class of '26 after getting one in the last two years.

Stay tuned and keep our faith, right?

 

[TheFarmFan]

I don't know if Kate Koval's decision is final or if there's some give and take, as there was with KK Bransford last year, which led to her coming back to ND.

Right now, I hope the bleeding has been stymied and that Kylee Watson will join Hannah Hidalgo, Cass Prosper, KK Bransford and Leah Macy in the summer. If so, that's not a bad group to build around/on top of. However, the group needs to be doubled to have a functioning roster. Like you, I think finding another post would be really helpful; as well as some outside shooters. While Ivey has usually tended to go after grad transfers, I think she needs to open up the viewfinder this time around: it's doubtful she'll land 5 or 6 recruits from the Class of '26 after getting one in the last two years.

Stay tuned and keep our faith, right?

Jzaniya Harriel reporting for duty? Y'all have grabbed like half a dozen of our prior grad transfers, and she's a sharpshooting guard that can play off of HH and score treys in bunches? If I'm Ivey, I'm making a call to a 650 number pronto.

 

[Dillon77]

Jzaniya Harriel reporting for duty? Y'all have grabbed like half a dozen of our prior grad transfers, and she's a sharpshooting guard that can play off of HH and score treys in bunches? If I'm Ivey, I'm making a call to a 650 number pronto.

Thanks for thinking of us! I noticed she started 13 of 21 games....did she get injured or get put in the starting lineup midway through the season?

Also, didn't Tess Heal just transfer in? And now she's out? Thought she we'd work well with you....

 

[BobbyJ]

Fair enough.

• No doubt she needs to work on a lot of things, from conditioning to receiving the ball and getting it to the next step (shooting, passing) to decision-making.
• But it became very apparent that she could anchor the Irish defense with her sheer size (see Betts, Lauren) and an ability to block shots.

That, too, is very important to Ivey's transition defense....you need the ball to run in unsettled situations.
- I agree with you regarding the state of operations when frosh/underclassmen bolt after a year or two because they think they should be on the court now, regardless of the actual contributions.
but
- Ivey spent a lot of time and effort recruiting this center, played her early and often and then shut it down. That may have been a cause for the departure. Maybe not. Let's hope Kylee Watson returns to offer her rebounding and defensive prowess...not to mention her leadership abilities.

(BTW, we'll have something in common if Koval ends up at U$C, joining her Lutheran High School teammate Kayleigh Heckel.)

If this happens wouldn't they both spend the rest of their careers watching Watkins play the same way that Hidalgo does? If they want to play meaningful minutes and have somewhat major roles, what attracts them to big time programs that are already controlled by "one man bands"? I'd be very surprised if players at the level of Koval and Heckel get big money anywhere so why not go to a slightly lower profile school together and make their own mark?

 

[Dillon77]

If this happens wouldn't they both spend the rest of their careers watching Watkins play the same way that Hidalgo does? If they want to play meaningful minutes and have somewhat major roles, what attracts them to big time programs that are already controlled by "one man bands"? I'd be very surprised if players at the level of Koval and Heckel get big money anywhere so why not go to a slightly lower profile school together and make their own mark?

Well, Heckel -- so far - isn't in the portal. And, given that Watkins is probably going to miss next season, she could very well be the starting point guard. Both Heckel and Koval played on a high school team in which all the starters and top subs are already or will be playing on P5 programs, so they're used to playing with top-level athletes.

As for the money, schools allocate NIL in various manners, so I have no idea of knowing what is available in endorsements here or virtual "pay to play" there. I'll leave that to whomever deals with the player's finances.

Koval will command a good NIL deal simply because 6'5" players don't grow on trees. She needs to get into a conditioning program for sure, but contributed well to the Irish defense and rebounding this year. Another place I could see her is Michigan. Former Irish center Natalie Achonwa -- a center herself -- is the player development coach at Ann Arbor and she is relatable and tough.

Stay tuned.

 

[BobbyJ]

Well, Heckel -- so far - isn't in the portal. And, given that Watkins is probably going to miss next season, she could very well be the starting point guard. Both Heckel and Koval played on a high school team in which all the starters and top subs are already or will be playing on P5 programs, so they're used to playing with top-level athletes.

As for the money, schools allocate NIL in various manners, so I have no idea of knowing what is available in endorsements here or virtual "pay to play" there. I'll leave that to whomever deals with the player's finances.

Koval will command a good NIL deal simply because 6'5" players don't grow on trees. She needs to get into a conditioning program for sure, but contributed well to the Irish defense and rebounding this year. Another place I could see her is Michigan. Former Irish center Natalie Achonwa -- a center herself -- is the player development coach at Ann Arbor and she is relatable and tough.

Stay tuned.

1) Does this mean they were looking forward to playing with ball dominant guards and accepting limited roles?
2) I agree. I'm sure ND had a top notch conditioning program available last summer/fall and I would assume that Ivey knew she wasn't getting a finely tuned gazelle in Koval. To me, that would have been a high priority.
3) After watching Michigan this year, it looked like that would have been a good place for them both in the first place.
4) On edit, gulp, you'll need to get to work on finding out what's going on over there in South Bend. Watson is gonzo too!

 

[TheFarmFan]

Thanks for thinking of us! I noticed she started 13 of 21 games....did she get injured or get put in the starting lineup midway through the season?

Also, didn't Tess Heal just transfer in? And now she's out? Thought she we'd work well with you....

Yes, she has been battling an injury most of the season, and thus why she had almost no minutes by the end.

And yes, Heal's out transfer is a mystery to me. Stick it out one year and get your Stanford degree! Plus she must have initially told Kate she was staying, because Kate pretty confidently said they could not use the portal since they would have no scholarships. No idea what that was about, but Heal was a real defensive liability down the stretch and it did impair her minutes, and I can't imagine that would have gotten better next season with Swain stepping onto the scene.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Who is the recruiting coordinator for Notre Dame? Because...wow. Maybe they're not up for the task?

 

[Frankus]

Congratulations to the UCONN Huskies! That was a magnificent team performance of a group of great players led by the incomparable Geno.

 

[Dillon77]

In today's Athletic, Sabreena Merchant writes about her most recent predictions for the WNBA draft next Monday and she thinks Sonia Citron will go third overall to the Washington Mystics.

In her blurb, she writes "With all the talent on Notre Dame’s roster in 2024-25, it was (Sonia) Citron who had the best on-off differential; the Irish were 8.6 points per 100 possessions better with her on the court."

Call her the glue, the Swiss Army Knife or even Coca-Cola back in the day ("things go better with...Soni"), this is not a particular surprise to ND fans. How many Irish fans -- watching on our TV sets or computer screens -- have "suggested" to Coach Ivey: "ok, put Soni back in. Now." It was a catch-all phrase since she first hit the court.

She'll now fill that role for other teams: WNBA, (hopefully) the U.S.A. International team (they'll just play better).