Five-star post player Kate Koval commits to Notre Dame women's basketball
Notre Dame women’s basketball has been waiting to land a recruit who can rewrite the narrative of what the Fighting Irish are or aren’t relative to being a hard-nosed program in the paint. Wednesday, head coach Niele Ivey and company might have secured that player.
Kate Koval, a 6-5 center who’s ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in the class of 2024 according to ESPN, committed to Notre Dame. Koval is from Ukraine but plays her preps basketball at Long Island Lutheran High School in New York. Koval was the 2022-23 Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year for averaging 15.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. She shot 60.7 percent from the field.
“Kate is truly one of a kind, Long Island Lutheran head coach Christina Raita said in a press release. “An excellent teammate, she’s grown into a tremendous leader. 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.”
Ivey told Blue & Gold in an exclusive interview on Sept. 7 that recruiting, signing and home-growing a post player was “absolutely” at the top of her list of priorities as the head coach at Notre Dame. The last three seasons, including the one coming up, the Irish have relied on transfers to occupy the post, from Maya Dodson in 2021-22 to Lauren Ebo and Kylee Watson in 2022-23 and Watson and Becky Obinma in 2023-24.
Starting in 2024-25, Koval could be a four-year starter in a Notre Dame uniform.
“That’s my recruiting pitch,” Ivey said. “I want to grow with my team.”
Koval is the first commit in Notre Dame’s class of 2024. In the most recent class that came in this year, the Irish inked three top 20 players according to ESPN. Guard/forward Cassandre Prosper enrolled early and played in 22 games last season, and guards Hannah Hidalgo and Emma Risch arrived over the summer and will contribute immediately for Ivey.
Hidalgo will probably be the team’s starting point guard when the season starts in November with junior Olivia Miles coming back from knee surgery performed in April.
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A core group of Miles, Sonia Citron, Prosper, KK Bransford, Hidalgo, Risch and Koval makes for an elite group of seven for Ivey to tinker with in 2024-25. Forward Maddy Westbeld could be back for a super senior season, and Watson has another year of eligibility to play with too.
And with the way Ivey has been recruiting in the last two cycles, Notre Dame probably isn’t done adding to the class of 2024. She has a profound vision for what she’s building with her program.
“I want to be able to develop somebody coming in as a 17-18 year old and see their improvement and watch them turn into the best versions of themselves through our program,” Ivey said. “That’s number one for me, to be honest. I have that with ‘Liv and Sonia.
“They are my first examples of that. They came in with me. Maddy and [Natalija Marshall] as well. Sony and Olivia have grown with me and developed with me, and it’s really important. Especially in the post position, the forward position. I’m hoping that happens.”
