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Texas center Lauren Ebo commits to transfer to Notre Dame

Texas center Lauren Ebo (1) tries to catch a pass between Ohio State's Tanaya Beacham, right, and Taylor Mikesell.
Texas center Lauren Ebo (1) tries to catch a pass between Ohio State's Tanaya Beacham, right, and Taylor Mikesell. (James Snook-USA TODAY Sports)
Tyler James • InsideNDSports
Publisher
@TJamesND
Covering Notre Dame football, recruiting and other Irish sports. Email: tjames@insidendsports.com

Head coach Niele Ivey needed roster reinforcements for the Notre Dame women's basketball program.

The Irish addressed those needs in a major way this week by shopping in the NCAA's transfer portal. On Friday, Texas center Lauren Ebo became the third player to commit to transfer to Notre Dame in a four-day span.

Stanford guard Jenna Brown and Oregon forward Kylee Watson announced their decisions to join the Irish on Tuesday. Brown will be a graduate senior. Watson will be a junior.

The 6-foot-4 Ebo averaged 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a senior last season for the Longhorns. She started 30 games for a 29-7 Texas team that was ranked No. 6 in the AP poll after winning the Big 12 Tournament. The Longhorns fell just short of a Final Four trip in the NCAA Tournament with a loss to Stanford in the Spokane Regional final.

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Ebo began her college basketball career at Penn State after being rated as a three-star recruit by espnW and ranked as the No. 17 post player in the 2018 class out of Upper Marlboro (Md.) Riverdale Baptist. She signed to play for Penn State head coach Coquese Washington, a Notre Dame graduate who is now the associate head coach for the Irish.

Washington and Penn State parted ways following Ebo's freshman season. After playing in 59 games in two seasons at Penn State, Ebo left the Nittany Lions to transfer to join the Longhorns.

Ebo's scoring and rebounding averages last season were the best of her career as she played 26.6 minutes per game. She will complete a graduate transfer and use the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to play one season immediately at Notre Dame.

ESPN's Charlie Creme ranked Ebo as the 10th-best remaining player in the transfer portal earlier this week.

The additions of Ebo and Watson (6-4) will give the Irish a boost in the frontcourt. Notre Dame only had two forwards returning from last season's roster: juniors Maddy Westbeld (6-3) and Natalija Marshall (6-5). The Irish only signed one player in their 2022 class: McDonald's All-America guard KK Bransford.

As of Friday night, the Irish currently have nine scholarships accounted for on their 2022-23 roster. The NCAA limit is 15. Notre Dame played last season, which ended with a 24-9 record and a heartbreaking loss to No. 1 seed NC State in the Bridgeport Regional semifinal, with 10 scholarship players.

Projected 2022-23 Roster
Player Position Class

Jenna Brown

Guard

Graduate

Lauren Ebo

Center

Graduate

Dara Mabrey

Guard

Graduate

Natalija Marshall

Forward

Junior

Kylee Watson

Forward

Junior

Maddy Westbeld

Forward

Junior

Sonia Citron

Guard

Sophomore

Olivia Miles

Guard

Sophomore

KK Bransford

Guard

Freshman
The players listed above are expected to be on scholarship for Notre Dame women's basketball in the 2022-23 season.

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