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BREAKING: Notre Dame transfer Kate Koval commits to LSU

On3 imageby:Shea Dixonabout 20 hours

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LSU recruited Notre Dame transfer Kate Koval out of high school one year ago (Photo: © MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
LSU recruited Notre Dame transfer Kate Koval out of high school one year ago (Photo: © MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The LSU Women’s Basketball program has landed a commitment from one of the NCAA Transfer Portal’s top players in Notre Dame’s Kate Koval.

Koval, who was heavily recruited by LSU one year ago as a 5-star recruit in the 2024 class, is leaving South Bend for Baton Rouge to suit up for the Tigers next season, sources tell The Bengal Tiger’s Matthew Brune.

Koval is coming off a freshman season at Notre Dame that saw her start 10 of her 32 games played, averaging 5.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 18.3 minutes per game. Koval averaged just over 15 minutes per game during Notre Dame’s run to this year’s Sweet 16.

Koval, the No. 5 overall prospect in the ESPN rankings for the 2024 recruiting cycle, brings size to the LSU roster. At 6-foot-5, she was the lone Top 20 prospect in her class who was taller than 6-foot-2, and she was dominant at Long Island Lutheran High as New York’s three-time Gatorade Player of the Year.

Koval averaged 15.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game on 60.7 shooting from the field as a senior was a semifinalist for the Naismith Girls Basketball National Player of the Year.

​​“Kate is truly one of a kind—an excellent teammate, she’s grown into a tremendous leader,” said Christina Raiti, Koval’s head coach at Long Island Lutheran. “She has elite footwork with her back to the basket, but also has the ability to step out and knock down shots behind the arc. Kate performs against the best of the best and her performance never wavers.”

Koval entered the NCAA Transfer Portal as part of a run on Notre Dame players choosing to leave the program, joining senior guard Olivia Miles and junior Emma Risch as notable departures from a Fighting Irish team that went 28-6 this past season as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Stay tuned to The Bengal Tiger and On3 for more on the addition of Koval and LSU’s continued push to add talent from the transfer portal.

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