Notre Dame Basketball Recruiting: 5-Star Point Guard Olivia Miles commits to the Irish

Niele Ivey didn’t take long in her new job of being the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team to light a gigantic fire. Olivia Miles, a 5-Star point guard from Blairstown, New Jersey committed to the Irish on Friday.

Miles is the #2 player in the country for the 2021 class according to ESPN, and the 5-10 player chose the Irish over a long list of programs.

The Irish had an extremely disappointing season in 2019-2020 going 13-18 overall with an 8-10 record in the ACC. It was a far cry from what the heights that the program had seen over the last 20 years with Final Four appearances and National Championships. One of the issues plaguing the Irish was a lack of overall talent and playmakers on the team. Miles, it appears, would help that cause tremendously.

According to ESPN:

Poised playmaker with a potent scoring punch; handles and distributes with flair, precision in uptempo game; executes in half-court game with unselfish persona; offensive arsenal off the dribble complemented by range beyond the arc; an elite floor general with international experience, battle tested, a gamer.

The legendary Muffet McGraw announced her retirement this week, but Notre Dame took all of about 15 minutes to announce her replacement in Niele Ivey, a former Irish player and coach that had been coaching as an assistant with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. It was a hire that was universally praised as not only the right one — but an outstanding one at that.

Welcome to Notre Dame Olivia!