Injuries are stacking up already
Notre Dame junior guard KK Bransford announced via X (formerly known as Twitter) that she will miss the 2024-25 women’s basketball season while rehabbing a lingering leg injury.
“Over the last couple of years, I have been dealing with a lower leg injury that has hindered my play at Notre Dame,” Bransford said. “I want to thank the coaches, the medical staff and the fans who have stuck with me while I’ve tried to play through it. But I have decided it is in my best interest to red shirt this season to get back to full strength.”
God’s timing pic.twitter.com/IJZk0ORqwh
— KK Bransford (@Ballislifekk14) October 7, 2024
Bransford entered the transfer portal on Apr. 7 but withdrew her name and elected to return to South Bend for her third collegiate season. She will have two years of eligibility remaining after redshirting the upcoming year.
What this means for Notre Dame
A thinner backcourt behind an elite starting unit. Bransford has played a sixth-man role her first two seasons in an Irish uniform, starting 19 games out of 66 career appearances. She’s averaged 7.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game for her career. Transfer Bransford has also been a Swiss army knife, played every position except center for the Irish last season.
The 5-foot-11 guard and No. 29 overall player in the 2022 class per ESPN, Bransford was a two-time Ms. Ohio Basketball. She upped her averages virtually across the board from her freshman to sophomore campaign, although her overall field goal percentage took a slight dip last season. Her absence isn’t a death knell for an Irish backcourt featuring All-Americans Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles and All-ACC guard Sonia Citron, but it raises concerns about the depth behind those three stars.
Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
Aside from Bransford, Notre Dame’s starting trio is backed up by former five-star recruits Emma Risch and Cassandre Prosper. However, both Risch and Prosper missed the majority of last season with lower body injuries. Additionally, Miles missed all of the 2023-24 season while rehabbing a knee injury she suffered at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. It’s also worth mentioning that graduate student forward Maddy Westbeld will miss some time to start the upcoming season while nursing an untreated foot issue, which might prevent Notre Dame from shifting to a bigger lineup by moving Westbeld to the perimeter.
Ultimately, depth isn’t usually an issue until injuries make it one. The situation isn’t quite “tenuous” just yet, but an Irish program seemingly plagued by devastating injuries to key players the last few years has cause for concern when the strength of its team is stretched thinner and thinner.