Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2018 73 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL McGraw won't go as far as to say Nixon is as advanced as 2013-17 point guard Lindsay Allen — who immediately stepped into the start- ing lineup as a freshman during a 2013 trip to Europe while succeeding the graduated Skylar Diggins — but the head coach did learn that Nixon is more vocal, highly analytical and a film junkie. "She watches film of every game — nobody does that on a foreign tour," McGraw said with a laugh. "I feel really good about her." In what McGraw anticipates be- coming a regular eight-person ro- tation, freshman guards Nixon and Katlyn Gilbert likely will be the first off the bench to join Vaughn, who will be in the frontcourt. Freshmen Abby Prohaska at guard and Danielle Cosgrove at forward will need to bide their time with sophomore forward Danielle Patter- son, although McGraw does like the instant defensive energy Prohaska can provide. "I think the biggest thing I learned was that if we play our game, we're going to be tough to beat — but we can beat ourselves," McGraw said. "We can be lackadaisical defensively, complacent. "… When you're not a team that loves to defend, you can get beat." Playing mainly with a rotation of six last year on an injury-besieged unit, McGraw admitted some bad habits on defense carried over. "There were so many times last year where we went, 'Let them go. Them getting two points is not going to hurt us as much as you getting two fouls,'" she said. "We didn't have a shot blocker last year. Now, when you do get beat, you've got Brianna back there to help you out. "That's going to be the thing that determines how far we go — that and rebounding." With a deeper bench, McGraw said she will also need to recalibrate as a coach. "It's going to be difficult for me to get back to trying to be patient and allowing them to make mistakes," the 2017 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee explained. "I think the beauty for them last year was they could make a bunch of mistakes, and they knew they weren't coming out. There's something to be said for that as a player. "Offensively, we'll be patient, but defensively you can't make mis- takes." Having graduated the consum- mate glue player also is on McGraw's mind, as is the high-low post game with Shepard and Turner. "The thing we really miss that we haven't figured out yet is Kathryn Westbeld's spot — press breaker, in-bounder, just general facilitator stuff," McGraw said. "People hardly ever pressed us, and she was a big part of that. "She could handle the pressure. Bri has to handle the ball, Jess is willing to handle the ball more." Defensively, McGraw likes the idea of Turner guarding the perimeter on occasion. And offensively, she likes the muscle of Shepard underneath. "Another question I had was, 'Are we going to be able to run the Princ- eton offense?'" McGraw said. "Jess is so good in the high post, Bri was so good in the pick-and-roll. If Bri's on the perimeter, are they going to guard her? Is that going to kind of jam up the offense? That we still don't have an answer to." They are problems 99 percent of the basketball world would like to experience. ✦ 2019 Class Sets Official Visits In September A half-dozen of the nation's top prospects — two of them already committed to Notre Dame — will take their official visits to the campus over two weekends in September. Already verbally pledged to Notre Dame and slated to come in for the Sept. 1 Michigan weekend will be 6-2 forward Samantha Brunelle and 5-10 point guard Anaya Peoples. From Ruckersville, Va., Brunelle is rated as the nation's No. 1 player in the senior class by ESPN Hoop- Gurlz, and No. 5 by Prospects Nation. This July she was on USA Women's FIBA U17 World Cup team that won the gold medal in Minsk, Belarus. Peoples, who hails from Danville, Ill., is No. 19 in the ESPN HoopGurlz rankings, but is No. 8 according to Prospects Nation. The USA Today All-Illinois Player of the Year was named to the 2018 USA Basketball U18 National Team that won the gold medal over Canada in Mexico City Aug. 7. In 22 minutes of play in the title game, Peoples led the squad in assists (five) and steals (four). Originally making the cut with Peoples on team USA were current Notre Dame rookie guards Jordan Nixon and Abby Prohaska, but both forfeited their spots while going to summer school and then travel- ing with the team to Europe from July 31-Aug. 8. Head coach Muffet McGraw and her staff are targeting only four more players in the 2019 class, with two apiece making separate visits: Aug. 31-Sept. 2 Aliyah Boston — 6-4 forward from Worcester (Mass.) Academy. National Rankings: No. 7 by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 11 by Prospects Nation. The Skinny: Notre Dame wants to sign two post players in the 2019 haul to complement Brunelle and Peoples. The positive is Boston has been teammates in various tournaments and is friends with Brunelle and Nixon. The concern is UConn is scheduled for the final visit in November, right before the early signing period. Malu Tshitenge-Mutombo — 6-3 forward from St. John's College High in Washington, D.C. National Rankings: No. 29 by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 51 by Prospects Nation. The Skinny: She's the niece of eight-time NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year who blocked 3,289 shots. Reportedly, her only other visit will be to North Carolina the week before Notre Dame. Sept. 28-30 Laeticia Amihere — 6-3 forward from King's Way Christian in Ontario, Canada. National Rankings: No. 4 by ESPN HoopGurlz (Prospects Nation does not include Canadian players in its rankings). The Skinny: She is being recruited by everyone from coast to coast. Notre Dame does have past Canadian experience with 2010-14 center Natalie Achonwa, the No. 9 pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft. Haley Jones — 6-1 wing from Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif. National Rankings: No. 2 by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 1 by Prospects Nation. The Skinny: The lone junior on USA Today's 2018 All-America team, she can play virtually any posi- tion on the floor, had a tremendous summer for the United States U17 team and can sign with any school she wants. Landing any combination of two among the uncommitted quartet would put Notre Dame near the top for the best 2019 recruiting class. — Lou Somogyi