The Notre Dame women’s basketball team landed a major commitment from Leah Macy, a top-20 5-star recruit and one of the nation’s elite high school prospects. Macy, the No. 14 recruit in the class of 2025, chose the Fighting Irish over UConn, Louisville and Kentucky, among other schools.
Macy, a standout forward from Bethlehem High School in Bardstown, Kentucky, announced her commitment to Notre Dame on Monday on social media. The 6-foot-3 forward averaged 25 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season despite missing a month early in the season due to a sprained ACL and a bone bruise in her knee.
Her exceptional play helped lead her team to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament. Macy, who had taken an unofficial visit to Notre Dame before last summer, had narrowed her list of schools to “eight or so” by January.
The commitment is a notable win for Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach Niele Ivey, whose team finished the 2024 season with a 28-7 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Irish also clinched the ACC Tournament title after finishing second to Virginia Tech during the regular season. The title was Notre Dame’s sixth ACC championship, and first since 2019.
Ivey, who excels in both recruiting and coaching, continues to guide the program toward its former heights under Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw. Macy’s commitment is the first for Notre Dame’s 2025 class, adding to a roster that will include freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo, scorer Sonia Citron, veteran forward Maddy Westbeld and standout recruit Kate Koval.
Leah Macy participated in Breanna Stewart camp
In addition to her impressive high school and AAU performance, Macy’s offseason has been eventful. She participated in the first-ever Stewie 30 Elite Camp, a two-day basketball camp in Brooklyn established by UConn legend and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. Macy also recently transitioned from the Nike EYBL-affiliated Kentucky Premier to the Under Armour GUAA program West Virginia Thunder, where she earned First-Team All-GUAA honors, averaging 17.4 points per game on 54 percent shooting from the field in five games.
Macy’s impact extends beyond the court, as her AAU coach Danny Riego noted.
“Of course Leah is a special talent,” Riego said, as reported by Carolina Makauskas of the Lexington Herald. “But the way she’s impacted our culture, especially with the young kids, off the floor here at West Virginia Thunder is something that will outlast her time here. Positively affecting the culture is something I expect her to do at Notre Dame as well.”
She is also set to try out for USA Basketball later this month.
Macy is one of three highly ranked prospects in the high school class of 2025 from Kentucky, joined by Sacred Heart Academy guard ZaKiyah Johnson and George Rogers Clark forward Ciara Byars.
