Well, you know she'd say that

SOUTH BEND — Division I women’s college basketball players have ventured into the NCAAtransfer portal nearly 2,500 times over the last two years.



Head-spinning comings and goings have become the norm all over the country.



Nevertheless, third-year Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey never wanted her program to be one of the ones that would pad the transfer stats, and she certainly doesn’t intend for such an active revolving gate at Purcell Pavilion going forward.



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Still, with the Irish losing four players by way of transfer for a second straight offseason, Ivey was busy replenishing her roster, and was willing to be busy this week discussing it two days before practice officially tips on a promising 2022-23.



“I honestly walked into some new rules,” Ivey said Monday afternoon of the NCAA in 2020 granting most players an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic and in 2021 relaxing its transfer guidelines by allowing all athletes at least one-time movement without sitting out a season.



“It’s not something you can be fully prepared for,” Ivey said, “but I’ve tried to navigate it the best I can. It’s part of the college landscape now.”
Departing ND since the end of last season to play elsewhere are Sam Brunelle (Virginia), Anaya Peoples (DePaul), Abby Prohaska (San Diego State) and Katlyn Gilbert (Missouri), who all had spent at least three years in the Irish program.



“I felt like I had good relationships with those that left after last season, but everybody has to do what’s best for them,” Ivey said. “I also wanted them to have an opportunity to graduate, so I made sure I honored that.”

Prohaska, Gilbert and Brunelle each left campus with degrees already earned, Brunelle getting hers in just three years.



In contrast to the four individuals who severed playing ties with the Irish in 2022, three out of the four the year before — Alli Campbell (Penn State), Alasia Hayes (Mississippi State) and Amirah Abdur-Rahim (SMU) — were coming off just their freshman seasons. They were joined in leaving by Danielle Cosgrove (St. John’s), who moved on after three years aboard.



Part of a recurring theme, Cosgrove and Campbell each landed at schools in their home states, as did Brunelle and Peoples a year later, while Hayes was reunited with two sisters.



“I feel like everyone has their own personal reasons,” Ivey said of whether the traditional reason of insufficient playing time was a factor for the majority of the eight players moving on, “but that’s definitely part of it. You never really have to worry about that (meeting playing-time desires) as an assistant, but now you’re the decision maker in charge of minutes. Roles on the team were probably a factor. Players wanted bigger roles.”



For all the movement the Irish program has experienced the last two offseasons, there’s also this — Ivey still has not lost any player to transfer that she’s brought aboard since becoming head coach in April 2020.



“Knock on wood,” the coach said with a slight laugh.



In fact, knock hard, because she says she’ll never add any player with the intention of losing theplayer to transfer.



“No coach wants to,” Ivey said. “What I want is that everyone who chooses to come to this university has a great experience. That’s something I’m always striving for. My biggest wish is that nobody wants to leave. But I’m going to be 100% supportive if they do, and I’m going to continue to work on building my roster with the right fits.”



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