Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2025 73 BY TYLER HORKA N otre Dame lost a lot of starting experience to the WNBA and trans- fer portal. It hadn't got- ten much to come in on that front in return. That changed in May with the addition of a multi-year starter from the SEC. Former Vanderbilt start- ing guard Iyana Moore is on her way to South Bend. She started 80 of the 100 games she has appeared in at the college level. Notre Dame's first three portal pulls had a combined 16 starts in 2024-25. Moore had 30. Moore is coming off her third consecutive season averaging at least 12 points. She hit that mark as a true freshman in 2021-22 be- fore missing the 2022-23 campaign with a knee in- jury. Coming back from re- habbing her knee, she hit a career-best 14.2 points per game in 2023-24. This past season, she put up 12.4. Moore has also averaged between 2.5 and 2.8 assists per game in every season she's suited up. Moore made 13 of 25 field goal at- tempts against South Carolina and Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. She scored 16 and 23 points against those opponents, respectively. Notre Dame was in desperate need of another guard who can fill it up as a scorer, and that's what Moore is. She went 13 games in a row scoring at least 10 points last season, many of those games being against SEC opponents. She matched her season high of 23 on the road at LSU. Moore's career-high is 37 points against Ken- tucky two seasons ago. That's more than Notre Dame junior guard Han- nah Hidalgo's career-high of 35. Moore has also been at least a 33 percent three- point shooter and an 80 percent free throw shooter in every year of her career. In 2023-24, she impres- sively made 110 of her 133 (82.7 percent) free throw attempts. She bettered that percentage last year by making 64 of 77 (83.1 percent). Moore joins Wake Forest forward Malaya Cowles, K a n s a s S t a te f o r wa rd Gisela Sanchez and Duke guard Vanessa de Jesus as incoming Notre Dame players from the transfer portal. Notre Dame lost four players to the portal to necessitate the largest number of portal takes the Irish have ever had in the Niele Ivey era. Moore's addition brings Notre Dame up to eight scholarship players currently on the 2025-26 roster. ✦ Fighting Irish Fortify Their Roster With Vanderbilt Transfer WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Iyana Moore, a guard who started 80 of the 100 games she has appeared in at the college level, averaged at least 12 points for the Commodores each of the past three seasons. PHOTO COURTESY VANDERBILT ATHLETICS In many ways, Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2026 is the most important of the Niele Ivey era. The Fighting Irish don't want to be in the same spot a year from now that they're in now — not being any- where close to filling up all of their roster spots. They got one step closer to a full 2026-27 roster May 22 — in a major way. Class of 2026 recruit Bella Ragone committed to Notre Dame. Ragone, a 6-foot-2 wing from Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek High School, is considered a four-star prospect and the No. 28 overall player in her class in the espnW rankings, while ProspectsNation.com ranks her No. 18 in the nation. She was tabbed as the Georgia Player of the Year as a junior after averaging 23.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. She committed to Notre Dame over offers from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Illinois, TCU, Louisville, Baylor, UCLA and many others. Ragone visited Notre Dame in April. She called her time in South Bend "amazing," per a social media post, and said she was "so appreciative of the staff and girls for making it an awesome experience." Ragone has good ball skills and a nice jumper. She could play the two in a pinch, but she projects as more of a wing than a shooting guard. Her primary position at the college level would ideally be the three, and she's even played some four in high school given her comparatively tall stature for the preps ranks. She's versatile, which is always a good fit for Ivey's transition-heavy system at Notre Dame. This is a big recruiting cycle for the Irish, who need to bring in three to five signees knowing that four of the eight players on the 2025-26 roster will ex- haust their eligibility after the upcoming season. Ragone is a good start, and 22 of the top 25 recruits in this class have not committed yet. The Irish have also hosted the No. 2 player in the class, 5-foot-10 point guard Kate Harpring, on a visit. That took place back in October. She has also visited Duke, North Carolina, USC, UCLA and South Carolina since then. — Tyler Horka NOTRE DAME'S PORTAL ADDITIONS FOR 2025-26 Player Pos. Ht. Cl. Previous School(s) Vanessa de Jesus G 5-8 Gr. Duke Malaya Cowles F 6-3 Gr. Wake Forest Iyana Moore G 5-8 Gr. Vanderbilt Gisela Sanchez F 6-4 Gr. Arizona/Kansas State Notre Dame Lands First 2026 Commit Bella Ragone