Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/216396
Sustained Excellence The talent influx continues at an all-time high for the Irish T By Lou Somogyi here is not much mystery to what it takes to be a top-five basketball program: recruit an elite five-star talent on almost a yearly basis and then develop a cohesive unit through a proven system and leadership. Many schools can sign a top-10 or top-20 talent in a given year, but few can do it consistently every season. The ones that do become perennial Final Four contenders — which is where Notre Dame has finished its season each of the last three years. By the looks of its recent recruiting success, it might continue to do in the future as well. This November, 27th-year Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw signed her third consecutive top-five class, one that is ranked as high as No. 3 by All-Star Girls Report. Headlining the group is 6-3 forward Brianna Turner from Manvel High School in Pearland, Texas. She is rated the nation's No. 1 player by Blue Star Basketball and No. 2 by ESPN HoopGurlz. Complementing Turner are 6-2 wing Kathryn Westbeld from Kettering (Ohio) Fairmont High and 5-8 point guard Mychal Johnson from Huntington (W.Va.) St. Joseph's High. Both are also rated among the top 20 players in the country by Blue Star Basketball — Johnson is No. 17 and Westbeld No. 16. ESPN HoopGurlz ranks Westbeld 21st and Johnson 80th. That trio will replace the graduating triumvirate of guard Kayla McBride and forwards Natalie Achonwa and Ariel Braker. "When you lose three senior starters from your roster, you'd better have a good class coming in to replace them, and we certainly do have that," said McGraw, who credited her staff of associate head coaches Carol Owens and Beth Cunningham and assistant/recruiting coordinator Niele Ivey for the sustained excellence on the recruiting trail and on the hardwood. Top-Five Talent This is the 18th consecutive year that Notre Dame has had a top-25 recruiting class, a streak matched only by the past and present dynasties at Tennes-