Advertisement
basketball Edit

Notre Dame Women's B-Ball Notebook: Destinee Walker Plans 6th-Year Return

With only four regular season games remaining in this reconstruction era of Notre Dame women’s basketball (10-16 overall, 5-9 in the ACC), the eyes are much more on the future than present.

SPECIAL OFFER: Receive $49.50 gift card to Rivals Fan Shop with new annual subscription

Advertisement
Destinee Walker leads the Irish with a 14.5 scoring average.
Destinee Walker leads the Irish with a 14.5 scoring average. (Mike Miller)

That future is expected to include current leading scorer Destinee Walker (14.5 points per game) returning for a sixth season in 2020-21. The North Carolina graduate transfer was sidelined all of 2017-18 with an injury, and played in only four early-season contests in 2018-19 before sitting out with another injury.

“It’s already been approved by NCAA,” head coach Muffet McGraw stated prior to Wednesday’s practice. “She won’t be going through Senior Night (versus North Carolina on Feb. 27).”

A Notre Dame spokesman noted afterwards the decision actually hasn’t been made official yet by the NCAA, but the prevailing attitude is positive.

“When I got here I applied for it right away,” said Walker, who will be in the prestigious MSA program in the Mendoza College of Business. “To be approved, I’m very grateful for that. I love this program, I love this school in the few months that I’ve been here already.”

A former McDonald’s All-American who starred earlier in her career for the Tar Heels, Walker has had a sporadic shooting season at 38 percent this season, but in the last four games has averaged 20.3 points. Her put-back basket at Boston College put the Irish ahead by one with 1.2 seconds left — but Notre Dame managed to lose that one as well.

“It took a while for me to be more consistent,” Walker said. “…I’ve just been in the gym a lot more lately trying to work on my consistency and providing what I can for my team every night instead of every other night.

“I’ve gotten a lot better with my reps, play longer and not try to find ways to rest on the court.”

With Walker’s return, an incoming five-woman freshman class led by recent 6-2 McDonald’s All-American selection Maddie Westbeld, and a return to health of sophomore guard Abby Prohaska (pulmonary embolism) and freshman guard Anaya Peoples (shoulder surgery), Notre Dame could have 12 scholarship players available next season.

The starting lineup could feature at least four McDonald’s All-Americans with Walker, Peoples — who averaged 12.6 points and a team high 8.1 rebounds per game in the 17 games she played — sophomore guard Katlyn Gilbert (13.5 points per game) and freshman forward Sam Brunelle (13.0 points per game), plus 6-3 center Mikki Vaughn, who has bounced back from an early season knee injury to average 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game so far.


PROHASKA PRACTICING AGAIN

Cleared to practice since the end of January, Prohaska will preserve her medical redshirt season this year by not playing in any games.

“She’s really added a lot of intensity to practices,” McGraw said. “She had a little scare about a week ago, had some tests done and was fine.”

A couple of days off have helped Brunelle rest an ailing knee, but for tonight’s game against Virginia Tech, it is Gilbert who is listed as “questionable” because she was diagnosed with having the flu.


MABREY VS. MABREY II

During last year’s 80-51 win by Notre Dame at Virginia Tech, then Irish senior guard Marina Mabrey (now in the WNBA and also playing professionally in Latvia) scored 14 points to go with five assists, while freshman sister Dara Mabrey had five points on 2-of-14 shooting for the Hokies.

This time, first year Notre Dame assistant coach Michaela Mabrey — who is six years older than Dara — will face a much better Hokies team, one that is 19-6 overall (9-5 in the ACC). She did the scouting report on Virginia Tech, but said it’s not the same as actually competing on the court against her sibling.

“It will be a little weird,” the elder Mabrey said. “It’s a very unique situation… I do know her tendencies, so I do have a little bit of an edge. Hopefully [the team will] follow it.”

The younger Mabrey is the second-leading scorer with a 12.6 average and has converted 66 threes this season.

Two vital additions to the roster were Georgia graduate transfer point guard Taja Cole (the nation’s No. 26-ranked prospect as a high school senior, per ESPN), who is averaging 9.8 points and 6.5 assists per game, and 6-5 freshman center Elizabeth Kitley (the nation’s No. 33 prospect last year, per ESPN), who is averaging 11.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots per contest.

The game will be telecast on the Raycom Sports Network, with a tip-off shortly after 8 p.m.

----

Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @CoachDeDario and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement