Five-star signee Cassandre Prosper will join Notre Dame roster in January
The Notre Dame women’s basketball program won’t have to wait until next season to see how five-star signee Cassandre Prosper fits on its roster.
That’s because Prosper, a 6-foot-2 Canadian, will enroll at Notre Dame in January and join the Irish for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. Spring semester classes begin at Notre Dame on Jan. 17.
Prosper and Notre Dame announced the news Monday on social media after she spent the weekend on campus.
“I can’t wait to start with my teammates and my new coaches,” Prosper said in part of a video released by the program. “I’m so excited and blessed to be a part of this environment and this community. I’m ready for this new chapter. I can’t wait.”
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Prosper signed with Notre Dame in November during the early signing period. She will leave her classmates at Cairine Wilson Secondary School and teammates at Capital Courts Academy in Orleans, Ontario, just outside of Ottawa, to become the second-ever early enrollee for Notre Dame women’s basketball. Current sophomore guard Olivia Miles enrolled early in January 2021.
Miles played in six games and averaged 9.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the back half of Notre Dame’s 2020-21 season. That Irish team finished the season 10-10 and lost four of the six games in which Miles played.
The current Notre Dame team is in much better shape to use Prosper as a complementary piece rather than someone who needs to be relied upon to score and facilitate. The No. 5 Irish are 8-1 heading into ACC play with their only loss coming on a buzzer beater by No. 20 Maryland’s Diamond Miller.
“We are thrilled about adding five-star guard and Canadian superstar Cassandre Prosper to our Notre Dame family,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said in a statement released by the program. “She is an explosive, dynamic guard with an incredible motor and skill set that is unmatched. Her international experience, athleticism, and scorer’s mentality will be an immediate asset to our program. Words can’t describe the excitement that I have for our future.”
Prosper attended Notre Dame's 108-44 home win over Merrimack on Saturday. Her older brother, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, scored 14 points for Marquette men's team in Sunday's 79-64 victory at Notre Dame.
The espnW 100 ranked Cassandre Prosper as the No. 2 forward and No. 16 overall in the 2023 class.
“She’s got a small forward game,” Dan Olson, owner and director of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, previously told Inside ND Sports. “She can shoot the 3. She can beat you off the dribble into the lane. She can jump over you. She’s a special player.
“She’s not as aggressive in going to the basket or on the glass, but she’s still pretty impressive. She may be 6-2, 6-3, but she plays like she’s 6-4, 6-5.”
Prosper was joined in Notre Dame’s 2023 class by Hannah Hidalgo, the No. 1 point guard and No. 5 overall prospect in the espnW 100, and Emma Risch, the No. 8 guard and No. 20 overall. All three are among the 24 prospects given five-star ratings.
Hidalgo, a senior at Paul VI High in Haddonfield, N.J., and Risch, a senior at Palm Bay Magnet High in Melbourne, Fla., are expected join the Irish in the summer ahead of the 2023-24 school year.
Notre Dame will resume play Sunday at No. 7 Virginia Tech (10-0) in its first ACC game of the season.
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