Notre Dame Checked the Right Boxes for Leah Macy

Leah Macy (USA Basketball)

Leah Macy had her choice of big-time college offers.

The 6-2 Bethlehem junior had over 40 college scholarship offers that included Connecticut, Louisville, North Carolina, LSU and many, many others. However, she recently made her college choice and picked Notre Dame. She cited the relationship she had with the entire coaching staff as a  key reason for her choice.

“We went there a few times and saw different parts of the university at basketball games, football games, going to classes,” said Macy. “Everybody was so nice and welcoming and I had a relationship with every coach on the staff.

“You also cannot do much better than a Notre Dame degree. I know basketball will stop at some point and that degree is worth so much. Academics are big in my family and I know getting a Notre Dame degree will really pay off in the long run after basketball ends.”

Macy averaged 24.9 points and 13.9 rebounds per game last season. She already has scored over 2,000 points and should reach 2,000 rebounds this season making her the first Kentucky girl to reach the 2,000 scoring-rebounding double.

ESPN has Macy rated as the 14th best player in the 2025 recruiting class. She can play both forward positions, handle the ball, pass and score inside or outside — reasons she also recently made the USA Basketball U17 team that will play in Colombia this summer.

Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey is an assistant coach on the USA U17 team that Macy will be part of.

“The relationships I had built with everybody at Notre Dame were huge. I felt so comfortable at Notre Dame with coach Ivey,” Macy said. “UConn was high up there but Notre Dame checked all the boxes with me. The main thing really was the relationship with coach Ivey and the rest of the staff. Some programs you only know one coach and assistant but at Notre Dame I got close to them all.”

Verbally committing to Notre Dame means Macy could have a relatively stress-free senior season without having to spend so much time talking to college coaches and planning recruiting trips.

“This year we will be kind of a young team beside Tessa (Miles) and I,” Macy said. “Last year we did not play much of a bench. We were all seniors and juniors who gave good minutes. We will have a fairly new team this year but it will be fun with these young girls. I am always going to have a really big role on the court but I think this year is going to be so much fun.”