Notre Dame Women's Basketball Transfer Portal Update

The women's college basketball transfer portal closed on Tuesday, and as expected, the Irish didn't sign. Who did they get?

Mar 29, 2026; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey reacts on the sidelines during the first half against the UConn Huskies at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The women's college basketball transfer portal closed at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, and as expected, Notre Dame didn't sign too many transfers.

Regardless of the sport, the Irish have never signed a ton of players via the portal, and that proved to be true once again after they officially signed two transfers.

Notre Dame women's basketball transfer portal signees

Anaya Hardy was the first of Notre Dame's two signees to join the Irish after the Louisville transfer officially signed the dotted line on Friday.

couldn’t be more excited for what @AnayaHardy2 is bringing to our Irish family! ☘️#GoIrish // @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/LkrVtVU550

— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) April 17, 2026

Hardy started 27 games for a Louisville team that made it all the way to the Sweet 16 this year and is likely going to start right away as a junior. Hardy averaged 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and shot just under 67% from the field (66.6%). She has two more years of eligibility and can play multiple positions in the post.

Notre Dame's other transfer signee is Madison St. Rose. St. Rose played each of the last four seasons at Princeton and has one more year of eligibility.

coming to our backcourt with three-level scoring ability and leadership@nat_strose will further add to our dynamic group of guards#GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/L9DWvOBI7l

— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) April 21, 2026

St. Rose started 83 of the 92 games she played at Princeton and averaged 13.2 points per game and 1.3 steals per game. St. Rose was a two-time All-Ivy League selection and helped the Tigers make the NCAA Tournament in each of her four seasons.

St. Rose is a solid shooter -- career 29.6% from beyond the arc and 79.6% from the free-throw line -- and has a chance to start alongside Hannah Hidalgo in the backcourt after the Irish lost Cassandre Prosper to the WNBA Draft and Vanessa De Jesus to graduation.

Who did Notre Dame miss out on the most in the portal?

This year's transfer portal was loaded with talent, but no one was better than Audi Crooks. Crooks was hands down the top player in the portal and would have complemented Hannah Hidalgo perfectly in the post and pick-and-roll game. However, you can't blame ND for not signing her.

Crooks ultimately chose to transfer to Oklahoma State, and the Cowboys really had to open their checkbook to sign her.

Reports say Iowa State transfer Audi Crooks is in for a $1.4 Million payday at Oklahoma State.

That would make Crooks the Third HIGHEST PAID Women's Basketball player IN THE WORLD this year (behind A'Ja Wilson & Aliyah Boston) (via @SkimMilkey) pic.twitter.com/D17Fi60RXG

— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) April 20, 2026

Regardless of the sport, $1.4 million is a ridiculous amount of money for any student-athlete. I'm not even sure Riley Leonard made that much when he transferred to Notre Dame, and that's saying something considering he was the starting quarterback for an ND team that made it all the way to the national championship game his senior year.

Not only is Crooks reportedly the highest-paid player in women's college basketball, but she's the third-highest-paid women's basketball player in the world. And she's not even a professional yet.

Good for Crooks for getting paid, but there's no way ND was ever going to pay her that kind of money.