Liatu King got a taste of the momentum building for the Notre Dame women’s basketball program when she took an official recruiting visit the same night as the Irish awards ceremony.
Less than two weeks later, on Monday, the 6-foot forward from Pitt decided she wanted to be a part of it and signed with the Irish as a grad transfer.
She will join Marquette grad transfer forward Liza Karlen as a June enrollee on a team that already had Final Four aspirations and projections for the 2024-25 season.
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The ACC’s Most Improved Player in 2024 joins a team with four returning starters, a 2023 All-America guard returning from a one-year hiatus in Olivia Miles, and that adds the nation’s top center prospect in the 2024 freshman class — 6-5 Ukraine native and McDonald’s All-American Kate Koval to a team that went 28-7, won the ACC Tourney and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Irish also this summer get back two guards who like Miles also qualify for medical redshirt seasons — defensive stalwart Cass Prosper and 3-point sharpshooter Emma Risch — and a versatile junior-to-be guard who made a transfer portal U-turn, KK Bransford.
What King and Karlen bring are needed frontcourt presences on a guard-heavy roster to join All-ACC forward Maddy Westbeld, Koval and eventually incumbent starting post player Kylee Watson, who’s recovery timeline from a March 9 ACL tear in the ACC Tourney semis is expected to extend beyond the start of next season.
King averaged a double-double last season — 18.7 points and 10.3 rebounds — as well as 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocked shots — all career highs. She was a first-team All-ACC selection and has been named to the ACC All-Academic team twice.
She averaged 35.5 minutes a game, shot .523 from the field and .711 from the free-throw line. She has never attempted a 3-point shot in college.
In a near upset (71-66) of visiting ND in January, King put up 34 points and 13 rebounds on the Irish. A month late in South Bend, Notre Dame had an easier time with the Panthers (78-53), but King still recorded a double-double — 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Without King, ESPN’s Charlie Creme last week projected Notre Dame as an early No. 1 seed in next spring’s NCAA Tournament, along with defending national champion South Carolina, USC and UConn.
King, from Washington, D.C., attended Bishop McNamara High in Forestville, Md.
Karlen, who committed Sunday, was a unanimous All-Big East selection averaged 17.7 points and 7.9 rebounds this past season.
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