The one week early signing period for women’s basketball begins today. Two top recruits have already announced their verbal commitments, and Notre Dame is hoping that two more highly rated seniors will join them on campus next year.
There is no chance that the two commits will change their mind at the last minute. Forward Samantha Brunelle from Virginia will attend a signing ceremony at her high school later today.
Point guard/off guard Anaya Peoples from Illinois also seems certain to sign her letter of intent at her school tomorrow.
The Irish are among the finalists for two other top players scheduled to enroll in 2019. However, the Irish may be left on the outside looking in for both.
Aliyah Boston is a 6’4” post, who plays for Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. UConn has been considered the front-runner for Boston for months, and she visited Storrs recently with 6’1” wing Haley Jones of California. Many rating services list Jones as the number one recruit in the class.
In addition to Notre Dame and UConn, Jones also lists Stanford, Oregon and South Carolina among her final five. There a number of reports that Jones will choose to remain out West. Jones attends Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose.
Unless Muffet McGraw and Niele Ivey have convinced one or both to attend Notre Dame, the Irish will settle on a class of just two, unless they have a surprise commitment in hand. However, a number of other recruits who listed the Irish as a finalist have already announced verbal commitments to other schools.
If there are only two commits, the Irish would have only nine scholarship players on the roster next season opening the possibility to a graduate transfer or two after this season.
