Forward Amari Byles the latest to join the Notre Dame women's basketball recruiting wave

The Notre Dame women’s basketball program continues to flex its recommitment to building from the high school ranks.

Elite small forward prospect Amari Byles is the latest cornerstone in that movement.

The 6-2 senior from DeSoto, Texas, became the fourth verbal commitment in the 2026 Irish class on Saturday and the second this month from the state of Texas. Byles, who will play at Family Faith Academy in Dallas this season, is the No. 22 player nationally in the class.

She chose coach Niele Ivey’s Irish over fellow finalists Oregon and Baylor.

And the Irish may not be finished yet, with Ivey hoping to add a fifth high school prospect before the early signing period for women’s hoops (Nov. 12-19). Notre Dame has five players with expiring eligibility after the 2025-26 season, including four of the five transfers the Irish added this summer.

“In Amari Byles, the Irish are getting an athletic wing who’s got size and who can make shots,” said Dan Olson of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. “I mean, she easily lifts, drains jumpers to the 3-point line. She’ll mismatch you. She’s got superior size for a player who has backcourt skills.

“She can exploit you. She can rebound off the weak side. She can score off of pressure defense. This kid’s been a model of consistency over the long haul of me watching her.”

Byles joins two other top 25 national recruits in the Irish class, and two-sport aspirant Isabella Sangha from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who will also play volleyball. The 6-3 Sangha is No. 78 in the Rivals Industry Top 100.

Bella Ragone, a 6-2 forward from Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Ga., committed in May. She is the No. 25 recruit in the class. Jacy Abii made her pledge to the Irish on Oct. 4. The versatile guard from Frisco, Texas, is the No. 12 player in the class.

After missing the 2024 season with an ACL tear, Abii will play for Legion Prep Academy in Dallas, three miles down the road from Byles’ high school.

Byles and Johnston, Iowa, guard Jenica Lewis took official visits to Notre Dame the weekend of Oct 11. She’s the nation’s No. 21 recruit in the 2026 class.

Lewis is among the prospects still in play with Notre Dame, as is guard Addison Bjorn, a 6-2 guard from Park Hill South High in Riverside, Mo. She took her official visit to Notre Dame last month on the Purdue football weekend (Sept. 20). Bjorn is the No. 14 player in the class.

Meanwhile, two top 10 players from the 2027 class took unofficial visits to Notre Dame this recently. The nation’s top center and No. 5 player overall in that class, 6-5 Caroline Bradley of Oak Grove, La., was in South Bend for a weekday visit on Oct. 13.

The No. 8 player in the class, 6-3 forward Eve Long from Olathe, Kan., is visited last weekend as did 2028 standout Janaya Cooper, a 5-11 wing from Fort Wayne, Ind.

The Irish are coming off a 28-6 season in which they shared the ACC regular-season title with NC State but stalled in the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16 round.

Notre Dame will open this season ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll. The Irish take on Div. II school Purdue Northwest at home on Thursday night in an exhibition game before opening the season for real on Nov. 5 at Purcell Pavilion against Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Knights went 29-4 last season, and, like the Irish, were eliminated by TCU in the NCAA Tournament.