Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2026 39 BY TYLER HORKA AND ERIC HANSEN T he exhaustion of eligibility of four graduate transfers, Cassandre Pros- per going to the WNBA and KK Brans- ford leaving Notre Dame via the transfer portal left one player from the seven who appeared on the floor for the Fight- ing Irish in the Elite Eight in March on their 2026-27 roster. Hannah Hidalgo. That's it. A 2026 recruiting class consisting of five signees plus redshirt freshman Leah Macy making her Notre Dame debut this fall offsets the six departures numbers- wise, but none of those six players have any collegiate experience. Notre Dame needed to add some via the transfer por- tal to adequately supplement the roster, and the Irish secured two portal com- mitments during this offseason cycle — Anaya Hardy and Madison St. Rose. Here is a detailed look at each player. LOUISVILLE FORWARD ANAYA HARDY A raw, unranked prospect coming out of Detroit Renaissance High in the 2024 recruiting cycle, Hardy started to show this past season why Cardinals head coach Jeff Walz rolled the dice with her. A month into the 2025-26 season, Hardy cracked Louisville's starting lineup as a sophomore. And while she averaged a modest 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Cardinals (29-8), the fact that she did so while averaging just more than 11 min- utes per game points to the upside Irish head coach Niele Ivey sees in her. As does Hardy's 66.7 percent shoot- ing from the field and her ability to dunk in practice, something she's determined to do in a game next season. Hardy is also determined to work on her flaws, including a 38.2 percent mark from the free throw line and the ten- dency to pick up quick fouls. As a fresh- man, Hardy saw action in only 11 games as a reserve, and averaged 0.9 points and 0.7 rebounds. It's been a bit of a slow build for Hardy in the first half of her college career, but she does have a chance to blossom in the second half at Notre Dame. "They just have a vision of me grow- ing to be a great player," Hardy said of Notre Dame coaches. "And the potential of me in the draft, they think that I have the potential to do it. I know my game still has a lot of room to grow, and they seem to see that as well. The room to grow just gets better, my shot, ball han- dling and everything. I feel like I could be a way better player." PRINCETON GUARD MADISON ST. ROSE St. Rose visited Notre Dame April 16. It was a critical face-to-face meetup between her and the Irish considering on the same day, On3's Talia Goodman reported St. Rose was down to decid- ing between Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. In the end, Ivey and the Irish won the day. Notre Dame should do more winning this upcoming season than it would have if St. Rose was not added to the roster. She's that level of difference-making player. Sure, she spent four years in the Ivy League, but her ability shouldn't be dis- counted just because she's been a ca- reer mid-major player. Princeton played plenty of high-major opponents during St. Rose's time there, including Okla- homa State in the NCAA Tournament this past season, and St. Rose tended to perform just fine in those matchups. She scored 17 points against the Cow- girls, albeit in a Tigers defeat. St. Rose, a 5-10 guard from Old Bridge, N.J., averaged 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this past season. She shot 47.9 percent from the field. She's not a three-point sniper, shooting 29.6 percent from long range for her career, but she is a scorer who's proved to be lethal from inside the arc. She can hit the midrange while also utilizing an athletic arsenal that allows her to get to the rim. On possessions in which Hidalgo needs a break from being her do-it-all self, St. Rose is a viable second option. That's just what Notre Dame was look- ing for in the portal with so much of last year's roster on the way out and an influx of unproven true freshmen on the way in. Vanessa de Jesus and Iyana Moore equated to Hidalgo's backcourt help last season. Essentially, Notre Dame is swapping those two for St. Rose and the signee in the recruiting class, Jacy Abii, a McDonald's All American who has a similar all-around offensive game to that of St. Rose. If Abii can translate her dominant preps career into being a right-away as- set at the college level, Notre Dame has a very productive trio of go-to guards for the season ahead. St. Rose is exactly the player Notre Dame needed to sign to give Hidalgo some reliable help. ✦ Notre Dame Lands Two Players In The Transfer Portal WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Louisville forward Anaya Hardy (left) and Princeton guard Madison St. Rose (right) join standout Hannah Hildago to give the 2026-27 squad three players with previous college experience. PHOTOS COURTESY LOUISVILLE AND PRINCETON