Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1535097
6 SUMMER 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED DETAILS PLEASE Just finished the May 2025 BGI issue and was disappointed and surprised as usual over the lack of detail regarding why so many of our athletes leave ND (and btw, this issue had a snippet touting ND as the 8th most popular football team). Of particular concern were women's basketball players Olivia Miles and Kate Koval. Miles because she didn't choose the WNBA and is going to a program not on the radar of "most popular" and Koval because she just experienced ND and as a highly recruited high school player had plenty of time to consider many, many programs before picking the 8th "most popular." Is there some sort of "gentlemen's agreement" that prohibits reporters/ the media from probing. Is it always $?? Can we find out if the academics are too demanding, coaching staff issue, absence of chemistry?? Generally enjoy B&G but hire some nosy reporters. Thomas Mudd Mr. Mudd, college athletes enter the transfer portal for a variety of reasons. Typically it is some combination of play- ing time, closer proximity to home, style of play, a fresh start, etc. More often than not these days, it's to pursue op- portunities for better Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals. This has become increasingly impor- tant for college athletes, as evidenced by the fact that 2,499 Division I men's and 1,468 women's basketball players entered the 2025 transfer portal, per VerbalCommits.com. Those numbers represent roughly 45 percent of the total players on men's rosters (5,607) and 29 percent of the total players on women's rosters (5,048) last season. Notre Dame's four outgoing transfers are far more indicative of the current cli- mate of college basketball and not neces- sarily an issue within head coach Niele Ivey's program. With that said, BGI can report that the NIL situations for both basketball programs at Notre Dame are very much a work in progress. Considering the amount of money being thrown around this year — CBS Sports reported that 10 men's programs had budgets of at least $10 million dollars for their rosters — it has been challenging for the Irish hoops teams to be competitive on that front. No doubt, losing Olivia Miles to an- other college program and not the WNBA Draft stung. In retrospect, her comments at the end of the season make it sound like she was ready for a fresh start somewhere else. "I love college. I think I've outgrown it a little bit, though, so that makes my decision tougher to stay," Miles said. The move from Notre Dame to TCU could also help Miles with her personal brand building. Hannah Hidalgo, Miles's backcourt partner in South Bend this past season, is the Fighting Irish's best player. By transferring, Miles has the op- portunity to raise her profile as another program's top star — akin to Hailey Van Lith's move to TCU last season. FAN FORUM BE HEARD! Send your letters to: sdowney@comanpub.com or mail to: Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 With the spring departure of senior quarterback Steve Angeli, who transferred to Syracuse in April, Notre Dame was left without a veteran presence in its quarterback room. During his April 23 press confer- ence, head coach Marcus Freeman told the assembled media that he and his staff were considering mov- ing current walk-on wide receiver and former Irish signal-caller Tyler Buchner back to his original position. Irish fans seemed to love that idea. Here's a sampling of their feedback on our message board at BlueandGold.com: dcwflyca: I think this makes a ton of sense. I hope it happens. What a full circle story it would be! Jack Soble: I think it's also important to note that Riley Leonard has said how important Buchner's advice and guidance was last season. The "mentor" thing is significant, IMO. MegaZutar: I love this for him. It's super cool that a guy was willing to bet on himself. Fail. Recognize that, and return to the place where he was the happiest. Accept whatever role he was given and excel as a content contributor and possibly be rewarded (a bit) by getting back into the QB room and having the opportunity to provide value to the team. mphil333: Not a terrible 3 until [freshman Blake] Hebert is ready. He could possibly be the best 3rd string in the country who has big time game experience and humble. I'm good with it. shortrower: The real question is whether he is better than Hebert right now? Most likely. So, if he can provide support in the room and be ready to be an emergency option until Hebert is ready to take that role, it seems like a no-brainer. Buchner is already there just to help the team and live the dream, seems like the QB room is where he can do the first part the best. BlessedMother: At the end of the day, considering Buchner's humility, work ethic and passion for the university, it would be a positive development for the QB roster. And let's just say he is needed to play, he'll be ready, he'll have the courage/composure and if something good comes from his efforts, ND football will have another legend/underdog story to share with the world. B'MoreIrish: Buchner will be a great addition to the QB room in this situation with Angeli leaving. Java65: Buchner is doing nothing as a WR. He offers a ton in the QB room even if he never takes a snap. FROM THE WEB .com .com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! Sign up for just $1 for the first 7 days! Current walk-on wide receiver Tyler Buchner (above) could make the move back to quarterback for Notre Dame after the departure of senior Steve Angeli. PHOTO BY MATT RUDOLPH