players that have transferred to Notre Dame under the Ivey regime and, I would argue, have excelled in this environment. I don't think that the guard-heavy coaching staff or offensive strategy has hindered their development but I can't say that I know for sure how a prospective post player in the transfer portal right now views the ND opportunity.
Other board members have speculated on some of the challenges of recruiting to ND for both high school and transfer players. For the general student population Notre Dame has(d) a policy of not admitting transfers in their junior year but that has been relaxed, I think, for scholarship athletes. Jess Shepard, Dara Mabrey, and Kylee Watson are recent examples of players transferring in after completing two years at another school.
I also wonder what the official policy is about accepting grad transfers into a degree program or whether athletes are offered a non-degree graduate studies program that allows them to take enough classes to remain eligible to play. Ebo and Dodson both received MS in Management from Mendoza so the precedent is surely there for an academically minded player to achieve both on court and in classroom success.
Not to be too cynical but I wonder whether the Irish are competing on equal footing in the NIL part of the equation. In an era in which some high school recruits reportedly require NIL compensation just to make an official visit to a school, I suspect that the transfer portal is not immune from this. Also, head coaches are salesmen as much as they are athletic teachers and, as any fan of Glengarry Glen Ross knows the first rule of sales is ABC: Always Be Closing. If you get a highly desirable recruit onto campus you don't let them leave without trying to close them. After rolling out the red carpet for the prospective transfer player the final pitch of "You've met the players and coaches and feel at home here, we really think that you are just what our team needs to succeed next year and just to show you how highly we think of you we can offer you an additional NIL bonus of $___K if you announce before you leave here".
I've never heard anyone suggest that this occurs, I just think that within the current environment it is likely to occur. Does this sound like something that Notre Dame is likely to do? I don't honestly know but the lack of success lately in attracting some of the elite transfer prospects makes me wonder.
Just as an aside, Maya Dodson is currently playing in Spain and Lauren Ebo is playing in Turkey and will be a member of the Nigerian Olympic team playing in Paris, their first game will be July 29th against Australia.
she couldn't refuse. According to TheFarmFan, a Stanford alum who posts on Stanford boards and the Boneyard, Iriafen "... was reportedly receiving $700k collective offers mid-season, and her stock only rose during the tournament after the 41-point ISU game. I'd be shocked if U$C didn't offer her at least that."
That's serious "pay to play" incentive, if true. Geesh.
Other factors in the middle: climate, teammates, minutes, social life
Do you know of specific (I don't want names) examples of this? Color me skeptical. That means that Mary Johnson requires $1000 to visit Iowa and is free to go anywhere else she wants. Does that really happen?
I'd read somewhere that it was being discontinued, much to the chagrin of coaching staffs. Or was that being floated?
As for the NIL thoughts, that's a viable thought. I've got to think that there were NIL opportunities at both USC and UCLA: those schools suddenly didn't start drawing players merely on their coaches' tactical abilities.
The ABC of selling (Always be closing) is also interesting. Has NIL helped take the teeth out of the ability to do that, combined with Ram's points that grad students and needed positional players are like primo grads with multiple offers from corporations: they can afford to be choosy.
Lastly, in the case of Iriafen: she gets to play at home.
..for this kind of transfer.
(Sorry...I usually check for these things, but had to rush to play hoops myself.)
I think her progression during the one season she was here, was extraordinary. The fact she was not given an additional year was unfortunate. She is an exceptional athlete. Lauren over achieved. I'm glad to hear she is still playing.
waiver for another season was denied by the NCAA. The Lynx gave her a WNBA Training Camp contract in 2023 but she did not make the team. I do not see her listed on any WNBA training camp this season which does not bode well for her playing in the WNBA one day as normally you want a training camp contract every season to finally play for a team full-time.
I'll post a link to it if you're interested...have to cook dinner now!
I’ll be very interested to see if Niele goes with just grad transfers or underclassmen. Feels like the 2025 class gets more important by the day.
any conclusions, but there does seem to be some issues, issues that do not seem to apply to the various guard/combo positions. A couple of comments. Yes ND isn’t for everyone, but that has not impeded ND accumulating and keeping top talent in the past and recently. Secondly, I don’t buy the “lack of guaranteed playing time” as a reason in every case for why ND appears to be having a hard time landing a Big out of the portal. It’s not like the post position is well defined with solid depth. What happened to the top talents who come to compete or can see the opportunity that curently exists at that position ?
I think was a late edition and never got off the bench. It seems to me that Niele may be down to a couple of desperation moves, just to add two bodies, but I certainly hope that is not the case.
We'll know in the not too distant future.
A seller’s market even moving up from mid tier.