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Notre Dame lands Princeton guard Madison St. Rose in game-changing transfer portal conquest

IMG_9992by: Tyler Horka04/19/26tbhorka

Notre Dame needed another guard with college experience to take some pressure off Hannah Hidalgo in the same way Vanessa de Jesus did last season. The Fighting Irish checked that box with another transfer portal success story.

Former Princeton guard Madison St. Rose is headed to South Bend, Blue & Gold can confirm. On3’s Talia Goodman first reported the news.

St. Rose visited Notre Dame on April 16. It was a critical face-to-face meetup between her and the Irish considering on the same day, Goodman reported St. Rose was down to deciding between Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. In the end, head coach Niele Ivey and Co. won the day. And the Irish should do more winning this upcoming season than they would if St. Rose was not added to the roster.

She’s that level of difference-making player.

Sure, she spent four years in the Ivy League, but her ability shouldn’t be discounted just because she’s been a career mid-major player. Princeton played plenty of high-major opponents during St. Rose’s time there, including Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament this past season, and St. Rose tended to perform just fine in those matchups. She scored 17 points against the Cowgirls, albeit in a Tigers defeat.

St. Rose, a 5-10 guard from Old Bridge, N.J., averaged 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this past season. She shot 47.9 percent from the field. She’s not a 3-point sniper, shooting 29.6 percent from long range for her career, but she is a scorer nonetheless who’s proved to be lethal from inside the arc. She can hit the midrange while also utilizing an athletic arsenal that allows her to get to the rim.

On possessions in which Hidalgo needs a break from being her do-it-all self, St. Rose is a viable second option. That’s just what Notre Dame was looking for in the portal with so much of last year’s roster on the way out an an influx of unproven true freshmen on the way in.

De Jesus and Iyana Moore equated to Hidalgo’s back court help last season. Essentially, Notre Dame is swapping those two for St. Rose and the signee in the recruiting class, Jacy Abii, a McDonald’s All American who has a similar all-around offensive game to that of St. Rose. If she can translate her dominant preps career into being a right-away asset at the college level, Notre Dame has a very productive trio of go-to guards for the season ahead.

Notre Dame’s front court is a bigger question mark, as has been the case for a while during Ivey’s tenure. The coaching staff has worked to rectify that via transfer portal acquisitions as well, though, and help is also on the way in the form of Louisville transfer Anaya Hardy, a 6-3 forward who prides herself on rebounding length and tenacity. She averaged 4.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in 11.3 minutes per game for the Cardinals last season.

Notre Dame also has redshirt freshman forward Leah Macy, 6-2, and true freshman signee Isabella Sangha, 6-3, for front court purposes. Macy missed the 2025-26 season rehabbing a knee injury. Sangha is a wild card, the lowest rated freshman in ND’s class but potential contributor nonetheless. Anything Ivey can get out of that pair will go a long way in the Irish holding up in the post.