notre dame: HC Niele Ivey hypes up ex-Notre Dame stars Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young for WNBA preseason game

The preseason game between the Dallas Wings and Las Vegas Aces had a special flavor, with three former Notre Dame standouts going back to Purcell Pavilion in South Bend.

Arike Ogunbowale, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd went back to the place where they played their home games during their college career. Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey made sure to let people know on social media by posting Instagram stories of pregame introductions for Ogunbowale and Young.

Niele Ivey hyped up former Notre Dame players during introductions. - Source: Instagram/@irishcoachivey

Now a guard for the Wings, Ogunbowale is one of the biggest names in Notre Dame basketball lore. She was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Fighting Irish's national title run in 2018 after scoring buzzer-beating shots against UConn in the national semifinals and Mississippi State in the title game.

Arike averaged 22.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Wings last season. She will now team up with top WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers.

Jackie Young was a teammate of Ogunbowale in the national title run. She now plays for the Las Vegas Aces, where she scored 15.8 points per game last season. She also averaged 4.4 boards, 5.3 assists and one steal for the Aces.

A former first overall pick, Jewell Loyd will enter her 11th season in the WNBA and first at Las Vegas after spending her past 10 years in the League with the Seattle Storm.

Niele Ivey led Notre Dame to a 28-6 record and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They made it to the Sweet 16, where they lost to the TCU Horned Frogs.

Jackie Young shines in return to Notre Dame

In her return to Purcell Pavilion, former Notre Dame guard Jackie Young led all scorers with 28 points and nine assists as the Las Vegas Aces tipped off the WNBA preseason with a 112-78 win over the Dallas Wings. Young added three steals and scored on all 13 of her free throws. A'ja Wilson was second on the team with 19 points.

Teammate Jewell Loyd, who also played college basketball for the Fighting Irish, scored 10 points in her preseason debut with the Aces. At the same time, Arike Ogunbowale, the other Notre Dame product, had a discreet night with five points, two boards and three assists.

First overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers, made her preseason debut, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds.

Since it was the first preseason matchup for both teams this season, both teams spread out minutes on the floor for most of their roster as they are still figuring out rotations and what the final regular season squads will look like.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Debasish