Saturday began with the hope that injured Notre Dame All-American guard [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] would play this season. Before the Irish’s 82-67 upset of UConn, Miles was spotted taking shots on the court. There even was speculation that she would play in this game, but she soon changed back into the bench garb she’s worn all season.
While the game still was going on, the Fox announcing team of Gus Johnson and Stephanie White casually let it slip on the air that Miles had told them she wouldn’t play at all this season. This fueled speculation about how true that was. Although [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] didn’t confirm it in her postgame news conference, a Notre Dame official soon confirmed to several Irish beat reporters that the worst fears were in fact true:
Olivia Miles is out for the season, an @ndwbb official has just confirmed.
The All-American suffered a knee injury near the end of last season and has not played since.— Anthony Anderson (@AnthonyAnders11) January 28, 2024
This obviously puts a damper on a great night and is a tough blow for the player who was the face of the program until [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] started turning heads this year. The good news is Miles will have two years of eligibility remaining, so she and Hidalgo still will have time to be teammates on the court. Still, Irish fans can’t help but wonder how differently this season would have gone had she been able to play.
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