Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/605097
BASKETBALL RECRUITING BY LOU SOMOGYI I t says something about a basketball program's recruiting prowess when a top‑10, five‑star player is maybe your second‑best prospect in your class. Such is the case at Notre Dame, whose 2016 two‑woman haul was officially an‑ nounced Nov. 16 with the addition of 6‑2 for‑ ward Erin Boley from Hodgenville, Ky., and 6‑0 guard Jackie Young from Princeton, Ind. Because Notre Dame will graduate two of its best perimeter shoot‑ ers on this year 's team, starting guards Michaela Mabrey and Madison C ab le, McG raw an d her staff sought two su‑ preme shooters/scorers to compensate for them in next year's lineup. She landed them in Boley and Young, versatile figures who rank among the nation's top 10 high school seniors, if not top five. A two‑time Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and Associated Press Player of the Year — the first sopho‑ more ever in the state to win both — Boley is ranked as the No. 5 overall player in the nation by espnW Hoop‑ Gurlz (which is prepared by Dan Ol‑ son Collegiate Girls Basketball) and All‑Star Girls Report. She also is listed No. 6 by Prospect Nation and No. 8 by Blue Star Basketball. Through three seasons at Elizabeth‑ town High, Boley — who also ranks No. 1 academically in her high school class — is one of the rare players in men's and women's basketball who has reached the coveted "180" shooting figure in which her field goal per‑ centage, three‑point per‑ centage and free throw percentage add up to 180 points. While aver‑ aging 19.4 points and 9.0 rebounds in her career, Boley has shot 54.6 per‑ cent from the floor, 42.7 percent beyond the arc and 82.9 percent from the foul line for a 180.2 total. N o t re D a m e h e a d coach Muffet McGraw believes Boley can ulti‑ mately rank with cur‑ re n t a s s o c i a t e h e a d coach Beth Morgan Cun‑ ningham (1993‑97) and Alicia Ratay (1999‑2003) among the best pure shoot‑ ers who have ever played for her. Cun‑ ningham is the second all‑time leading scorer for the Irish and helped them to the 1997 Final Four, while Ratay was a sophomore starter for the 2001 national champs. "We got the best shooter in the coun‑ try in Erin Boley," McGraw declared. "She is hands down the best perimeter player out there that can shoot the ball Irish Add Star Power Again H e a d c o a c h M u f f e t M c G r a w believes Erin Boley — who inked her National Letter of Intent to Notre Dame Nov. 11, with her family looking on — is the nation's best shooter in her class. PHOTO COURTESY ERIN BOLEY