"There's a lot of questions at Notre Dame": Analyst brings up Fighting Irish's transfer portal exodus as factor in Kayleigh Heckel's decision
USC Trojans guard Kayleigh Heckel has narrowed down where she is heading to play for in the 2025-26 season. On Apr. 3, Heckel made the decision to enter her name into this offseason's transfer portal after just one year of playing for coach Lindsay Gottlieb's squad.
Since then, she has narrowed down her options to either the defending national champions UConn Huskies or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coached by Niele Ivey. During a recent episode of the Hoops Cap Podcast on Youtube on Saturday, May 17, co-host and college basketball anaylst Tee Baker weighed in on where Heckel could be headed, alluding to the recent exodus of Notre Dame players.
"You got to also give credit to Niele Ivey, the program she's built. There are a lot of question marks at Notre Dame, and I think that could be something she’s weighing, right? Like this past season, a lot of players entered the transfer portal. Olivia Miles left, then returned from the transfer portal," he said. (1:45)
"There are reports or gossip, or whatever you want to call it of tension between her and Hannah Hidalgo. Is Notre Dame a team that can share and have more than one star? That’s the question for me, and maybe that’s part of the equation here. I think it’s about fit. These are also student-athletes who want to have a good college experience," Baker added.
Baker then went on to discuss how because of the internal dynamics going in with the Fighting Irish currently, UConn might end up snagging Heckel.
"You meet the team, you see if it’s a good dynamic. I think that’s definitely playing a part in it. And also, just the potential for a national championship. UConn is closer now to a national championship team than I believe Notre Dame is and, you know, you only got a short window in college. You got to get that ring when you can," he concluded. (2:18)
In her freshman campaign of college basketball, Heckel put up 6.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals in around 16.9 minutes in 34 games played.
Kayleigh Heckel and the USC Trojans were eliminated by the UConn Huskies in the 2025 national tournament
If Kayleigh Heckel does end up joining the UConn Huskies for her sophomore stint of collegiate hoops, then she will be joining the squad that eliminated her and the rest of the USC Trojans in this year's March Madness. On Mar. 31, USC matched up against the Huskies in the Elite Eight of the national tournament, where they were defeated by 14 points, 78-64.
In what became her last game as a member of the Trojans, Heckel tallied just five points and a lone rebound in 18 minutes off the bench. USC finished the 2024-25 season with an overall record of 31-4, 17-1 during Big Ten conference play earlier this year.