It’s not rare for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team to recruit only one or two players in a single class. This trend has become quite routine for Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey, who prioritizes the quality of recruits over quantity on national signing day.
This year, Ivey’s sole signee for the class of 2025 is five-star forward Leah Macy, with the official announcement made on Wednesday. According to ESPN, Macy ranks as the 19th player overall and 4th forward in her class.
At 6-foot-3, the Elizabethtown, Ky. native averaged 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds during her junior season at Bethlehem High School. She played a key role in leading the Banshees to a 27-9 record before their defeat in the state quarterfinals against the eventual champions of Kentucky.
This past summer, Macy represented the United States as a member of the 2024 FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup team, which won a Gold medal under Ivey’s coaching in Columbia. She is the fifth five-star recruit that Ivey has brought in over the last three recruiting cycles. Macy joins current freshman Kate Koval, along with Hannah Hidalgo and Emma Risch as part of this elite group.
Hidalgo and Risch were the only freshmen in last year’s class, with Hidalgo recently being named ACC Freshman of the Year, making her the third Irish player to receive this honor in four years. Maddy Westbeld, now in her fifth year, claimed the award in 2021, followed by current senior Sonia Citron, who won it in 2022.
