High School

Notre Dame Lands an Elite Four-Star Girls Basketball Star Out of Texas

Notre Dame’s 2026 recruiting class continues to soar with its fourth commitment — a top-25 national prospect from Texas who adds more size, skill, and versatility to an already loaded group.

Edith Noriega

A view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo on a pair of official game shorts in the semifinals of the Lexington Regional of the women's 2017 NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena. Notre Dame won 99-76.
A view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo on a pair of official game shorts in the semifinals of the Lexington Regional of the women's 2017 NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena. Notre Dame won 99-76. / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

One of the most heavily recruited high school basketball players is the fourth to announce her commitment to Notre Dame for the class of 2026.

A Rising Star from Texas

Amari Byles, a 6-foot-2 forward, announced her commitment Saturday on social media. The four-star standout chose Notre Dame from a list of Division I offers to 15 schools, which included Duke, South Carolina and UCLA.

Byles is the No. 23 recruit in the nation, according to 247Sports. She is also the No. 8 forward and the No. 3 player from Texas.

The start of Amari Byles' high school career

Originally from Racine, Wisconsin, Byles moved to DeSoto, Texas, where she played her first two years of high school at DeSoto. As a sophomore, she averaged 17 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 4.5 steals.

Byles and North Carolina State University commit Kamora Pruitt were former teammates for DeSoto, which finished as state runner-up during their freshmen year.

During her junior season at Faith Family Academy of Oak Cliff, Byles averaged 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. She will play for Kingdom Collegiate Academy in her senior year.

Amari Byles is the fourth to commit to Notre Dame

Byles marks the fourth to join the Fighting Irish 2026 class and third top 25 national recruit, joining 6-foot-1 versatile guard Jacy Abii (No. 16) from Frisco, Texas, and 6-foot-2 forward Bella Ragone (No. 19) from Hoschton, Georgia.

Both Byles and Abii were former teammates for the 2024 USA Women's U17 National Team trials in Colorado Springs.

Prior to transferring, Abii won two state titles at Frisco Liberty High School. She scored 30 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the state title win as a sophomore. Abii announced her commitment early October over Texas, UCLA and LSU.

Ragone, a four-star standout, was named as the Georgia High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year as a junior. She averaged 23.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Abii announced her commitment in May over UCLA, Duke and Louisville.

Also committed to the Irish is two-sport standout Isabella Sangha, who will also play volleyball. The 6-3 forward averaged 27.5 points and almost 12 rebounds per game as a junior for Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She chose Notre Dame over Iowa State.

-- Edith Noriega | noriega0101@gmail.com | @noriega_edith

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Edith Noriega
EDITH NORIEGA

Edith Noriega is an award-winning sports journalist who came to the Seattle area after three years in Oregon with the Eugene Register-Guard and its sister newspaper, Salem Statesman Journal, where her focus was high schools and local colleges. Noriega previously covered high schools with the Southern California News Group. She also worked as a Tokyo Olympic Games researcher for NBC Sports, focusing on baseball and softball. She is a proud two-time graduate of Arizona State University’s Cronkite School and Riverside City College. She’s also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. When not writing, she enjoys playing tennis, yoga, concerts and is currently reading “The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw.” She began contributing to High School On SI in 2025.

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