Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 FEBRUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA T he best moments are usually cap- tured when the camera stops rolling. Flanked between two freshmen, Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey turned to her left and muttered, "good job" to the younger of the duo, Cassan- dre Prosper, within seconds of the con- clusion of a postgame press conference. Coaches don't generally offer up praise for a player completing a presser. It's part of the process. But coaches aren't generally sitting next to players who skipped their last semester of high school to enroll early and start play- ing college ball several months ahead of schedule, either. That's what Prosper did. Just the second early enrollee in pro- gram history following current sopho- more point guard Olivia Miles, Prosper had just played in the second game of her career when Ivey doled out encour- agement. In 17 minutes against Bos- ton College Jan. 1, Prosper had 7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. That came after she registered a rebound and a block in 4 minutes at Miami Dec. 29. She officially joined the team Dec. 26. "I felt like I had done everything I need to do in high school," Prosper said after Notre Dame's 85-48 victory over Boston College. "I wanted a new chal- lenge. Coach [Ivey] was so confident and positive in me to go and do this." The 6-foot-2 Prosper, a five-star Ca- nadian prospect from Capital Courts Academy in Montreal, Quebec, gives Ivey a unique skill set. She's more ath- letic and rangy than 6-3 junior forward Maddy Westbeld. She has a bigger build and is more suited to post up and play defense in the paint than 6-1 guard So- nia Citron. She can pop out and hit pe- rimeter shots. Her first career points came on a splashed three. Quite frankly, Prosper adds a little bit of everything — on and off the court — to a team that already had big plans for March prior to her arrival. Notre Dame (12-1, 3-0 ACC) rose to No. 4 in the Week 9 Associated Press Top 25. "She fits in perfectly," Ivey said. "She gives us more depth at the guard posi- tion. She's sweet off the court, but on the court she's so fierce. She's long and athletic. She can score at three levels. She's a great player." Opponent and score will dictate Prosper's playing time. In a tight battle at Miami that was tied going into the fourth quarter, Prosper played less than five minutes. In an Irish blowout of Bos- ton College that was over in the first half, Prosper played upward of 20 min- utes. The best thing for Notre Dame is to keep taking care of foes convincingly so Prosper can continue gaining valuable time on the floor. The other freshman sitting to Ivey's right in the Boston College postgame press conference knows what that is like. Guard KK Bransford arrived in the traditional way, over the summer prior to the start of the fall semester, but she still had to assimilate. A short bench afforded her opportunities beginning with the season opener, and they have only increased in number with more reps and the trust she has built with the coaching staff. She scored a career-high 17 points versus BC. "Everybody around me has been en- couraging me with my confidence," Bransford said. "They know I have the potential. It's just going out there and being confident and doing it." Bransford scored in double figures in five of Notre Dame's first 13 games. She said that was a result of hunker- ing down defensively and letting the offense come to her. Prosper can glean something from that. Her first big moment at the college level was an earth-shattering rejection of a block versus the Hurricanes. One of her best sequences against Boston College was securing a steal at the top of the key and racing all the way down the floor for a layup attempt. She missed, but the result wasn't as important as the effort in a game that was ultimately decided by 37 points. Prosper was able to ease into her first two Notre Dame appearances. She didn't have an in-game, "Welcome to the next level, rookie" type of experi- ence in either of those matchups. One could come soon. But one week in, she said the acclimation period was "not as hard as [she] thought it was going to be." That's partly a byproduct of how much she has prepared to make an im- mediate impact. She didn't just show up with a "happy to be here" attitude. Her aforementioned fierceness outweighs the sweetness in competitive situations. She wants to succeed. She does every- thing she can so that she does. "She's picked up everything," Ivey said. "She asks a lot of questions. She studies. She writes things down. We watch film. She's always in the gym. You're looking at somebody who is hungry to get better. She's only going to make us a better team." ✦ Early Enrollee Cassandre Prosper Already Making An Impact Prosper, who left high school in Canada a semester early to join the Irish as a freshman Dec. 26, scored 7 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in her first career home game versus Boston College Jan. 1. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS