Five-star wing Jacy Abii commits to Notre Dame women's basketball

Notre Dame football is generally solely in the South Bend spotlight on Saturdays in the fall. Today, though, Marcus Freeman‘s Fighting Irish share it with Niele Ivey‘s.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball program picked up a surprise commitment from the No. 9 player in the recruiting class of 2026, Frisco (Texas) Legion Prep Academy’s Jacy Abii. She chose the Irish over other perennial powers Tennessee, Texas, LSU and UCLA.

Abii is a two-time state champion in Texas as the star player for Frisco Liberty. In her most recent state title run as a sophomore, she averaged 20.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and nearly 4 assists per game. She tore her ACL in the summer of 2024, though, forcing her to sit out her junior year. Since then, she transferred to Legion Prep ahead of her senior season.

It doesn’t matter what jersey Abii puts on. Her track record speaks for itself. Before the knee injury, the Dallas Morning News put out the following headline in February of 2024: “Frisco Liberty’s Jacy Abii could be the best player to ever come out of the Dallas area.”

Yep. She’s that good.

ESPN published an article in July of this year comparing the top 2026 recruits to current stars in the collegiate game. The outlet’s comp for Abii was Addy Brown of Iowa State. Brown, like Abii, is a 6-2 wing with a versatile game. She averaged 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game as a sophomore this past season.

“Abii is quite valuable as an all-around forward who brings stat-stuffing effort to the floor nightly, along with a winning pedigree,” ESPN’s Shane Laflin wrote. “Both she and Brown can play a point forward role, desirable in today’s game of positionless basketball, and both are legitimate 3-point threats. Both can also call their own number, or pick apart a defense by making their teammates better, and they allow their respective matchups to dictate their decision-making.”

Positionless basketball is the name of Ivey’s game. She coaches a free-flowing style of play led by All-American and ACC Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo, who will have one season to team up with Abii in 2026-27. It could be a season Ivey and Co. are building toward with who will be returning and who Notre Dame currently has committed in the class of 2026.

Abii is Notre Dame’s third commit of the cycle. She joins 6-3 forward Isabella Sangha from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Bella Ragone, a 6-2 forward from Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Ga. Ragone is ranked the 30th overall player in the class according to ESPN. Sangha is 81st.

The Irish are still looking for one or two more recruits to fill out their class, but so far, so good. Scratch that — so far, so great. Abii is an incredible get for Ivey and Notre Dame.