Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/514677
BY LOU SOMOGYI T hroughout the 2014-15 season in which Notre Dame advanced to its fifth straight Final Four and fourth title game in five years, head coach Muffet McGraw indicated that the three-person freshman class with center Brianna Turner, forward Kathryn Westbeld and guard Mychal Johnson might be her strongest overall rookie group in her 27 seasons with the program. She might be repeating similar sen- timents with the next two incoming Fighting Irish classes. For the first time in McGraw's career, Notre Dame in 2015-16 will welcome three McDonald's All-Americans in one recruiting class: 5-11 point guard/ wing Ali Patberg of Columbus (Ind.) North, 5-10 wing Marina Mabrey of Manasquan (N.J.) High and 5-9 guard Arike Ogunbowale of Milwaukee (Wis.) Divine Savior Holy Angels. All three led their teams to state titles as seniors and all three were named Miss Basketball, or the like, in their re- spective states. In the espnW individual rankings for the top 100 players, Ogun- bowale was No. 10, Patberg No. 13 and Mabrey No. 24 — yet it was Mabrey who received the co-MVP honors in the McDonald's All-America Game April 1, just like Turner was awarded MVP the previous year. Patberg led Columbus North to a 99-9 record during her career, highlighted by the state title this March when she scored 31 of her team's points in the 62-56 Class 4-A title win. Described by McGraw as possessing an "unparal- leled" work ethic, Patberg averaged 25.9 points during the 28-1 campaign and was named the MaxPreps National Player of the Year. With All-American guard Jewell Loyd's early entrance into the WNBA, junior Lindsay Allen — the starting point guard the past two years — could move to the off-guard position to help make room for Patberg in the lineup. However, Ogunbowale and Mabrey also will attempt to vie for action. Named the Associated Press' top girls' player in Wisconsin each of the past three seasons, Ogunbowale av- eraged 27.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 steals while leading the Angels to their first WIAA state title this spring. Included was a 55-point performance in the semifinal victory over Middleton, prompting her coach, Jeff Worzella, to call her the greatest female basketball player ever produced in the state. Finally, Mabrey averaged 26.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, THE RISING BAR A top post player is the final needed piece to the 2016 recruiting class