Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1143622
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2019 49 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL As a junior in 2017-18, Sniezek av- eraged 5.5 points, 4.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 32 starts, and the Pac-12 coaches named her an honorable mention selection for the league's All-Defensive squad. "The things she does, you can't teach," Stanford's Hall of Fame head coach Tara VanDerveer told The San Jose Mercury News during Sniezek's freshman year. "Her sense, her passes, her understanding of where other people are on the floor is some- thing you learn as a kindergartner." Like Walker, who missed virtually all of the past two seasons with a torn ACL and then a hip injury, Sniezek was sidelined in 2018-19 while recov- ering from ulnar collateral ligament surgery, and also had torn ligaments in her right thumb. In addition to her exploits in bas- ketball, Sniezek was the 2015 Wash- ington (D.C.) Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year and an NSCAA High School Soccer All-American. She has eight siblings, including six older brothers, one of whom, John Paul, played football at Navy. Interestingly, the first graduate transfer under McGraw also was a Stanford point guard, Lili Thompson in 2017. Thompson started the first two months before tearing her ACL on Dec. 31 for the eventual national champs. MOVING ON Don't expect Notre Dame's staff to do much recruiting at Mary Louis Academy in New York City for a while. Both products from the school on last year 's roster — then-soph- omore forward Danielle Patterson and Nixon — have departed to In- diana University and Texas A&M, respectively. On May 20, Nixon was named to the 2019 USA Basketball Women's U19 World Cup Team that would first practice in Colorado Springs and then travel overseas to Japan and Bangkok much of July. That meant that Nixon would not be in summer school and with the Fighting Irish program, but it became inconsequential when she entered the transfer portal. Projected to be a major figure in the guard rotation, Nixon was hampered early during the 2018-19 season by an early concussion and later dealt with hamstring issues. She appeared in 26 of the team's 39 games, and started two early season contests when senior Marina Mabrey was recovering from an injury, plus a third in an upset loss at North Caro- lina when junior Jackie Young also was sidelined with an injury. Nixon averaged 14.5 minutes and 2.5 points in the games she played, and finished with 34 assists and 46 turnovers. Named Miss New York Basketball in 2018 and a McDonald's All-Amer- ican, she was ranked the No. 16 over- all player in the country by Prospect Nation and was No. 38 overall ac- cording to ESPN HoopGurlz. "It just wasn't the right fit for me," Nixon told AggieSports.com. "Noth- ing against Notre Dame, it's just sometimes you're going through a phase and once you're in it, it doesn't quite fit right. And I really don't know how else to explain it." ✦ Oregon Becomes Nemesis In Recruiting Connecticut might be Notre Dame's top rival on the basketball court, but its more recent bane on the recruiting trail has been the Oregon Ducks. In much the same way Clemson football began to gradually ascend to superpower status the past five years, Oregon women's basketball — which made the Final Four this spring and is a favorite to win the national title next season — has done likewise, much to Notre Dame's expense. It began in the spring of 2017 when former Notre Dame forward Erin Boley transferred after her freshman year to enroll with the Ducks. The Irish went on to win the national title the ensuing season anyway. Next, 6-3 New Jersey forward Kylee Watson tentatively set up an official visit to Notre Dame this June — but verbally committed to Oregon first and cancelled the trip to north- ern Indiana. Watson is ranked as the nation's No. 17 overall prospect by ESPN HoopGurlz, and is No. 29 according to Prospects Nation. Finally, this June, highly coveted 6-7 Sedona Prince, a medically redshirted freshman at Texas this past year who was ranked as the No. 6 overall recruit in the land by Prospects Nation and No. 8 by ESPN HoopGurlz in 2018, narrowed her choices to UConn, Notre Dame and Oregon after leaving the Longhorns. After first visiting the Hus- kies, she was on Notre Dame's campus June 27-28, and then followed with a trip to Oregon the next day. About a week later, she announced for the Ducks. The one missing link from Notre Dame's past few recruiting cycles has been landing a prominent "big" or post player, a la top-five players such as the graduated Jessica Shepard and Brianna Turner. Had Notre Dame been able to land Prince, the Irish could have become Final Four caliber again sooner rather than later. With Prince, they would have potentially had a four-year nucleus of guard/wing Katlyn Gilbert (side- lined last season after shoulder surgery), forward Samantha Brunelle, guard/wing Anaya Peoples and Prince — all top-five to top-15 prospects — who might have come close to rivaling the senior class of Shepard, Turner, Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey that departed this spring. Some ground now will have to be made up because of the paucity of premier post players. The good news is the 2021 Notre Dame class has received a verbal from New York's 6-5 Natalija Marshall, ranked No. 16 by Prospects Nation and No. 35 by ESPN HoopGurlz, and Pennsylvania guard Allison Campbell, No. 20 according to ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 27 per Prospects Nation. Narrowing her choices down to Louisville, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee and UCLA was 6-2 wing Madeline Westbeld (No. 24 Prospects Nation and No. 31 ESPN HoopGurlz) of Kettering (Ohio) Fairmont, whose sister Kathryn captained and started for the 2018 national champs. Also slated to visit this fall with 2020 prospect Westbeld are two top point guards, Iowa's Caitlin Clark (No. 4 ESPN HoopGurlz, No. 7 Prospects Nation) and Texas' Deja Kelly (No. 19 ESPN HoopGurlz, No. 31 Prospects Nation). — Lou Somogyi Madeline Westbeld — a 6-2 rising senior wing from Ohio — has Notre Dame among her final five choices with Louisville, Ohio State, Tennessee and UCLA. PHOTO COURTESY CINCINNATI ANGELS