Irish Women’s Basketball: Highly Recruited Arike Ogunbowale Picks Notre Dame

One of the most highly recruited girls basketball players in the country made her college choice on Friday, as guard Arike Ogunbowale of Divine Savior Holy Angels chose the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as her destination.

Ogunbowale had her choice among the best in college basketball. Louisville, Notre Dame, UCLA, Ohio State and her home state school of Wisconsin rounded out her top five. But her faith helped the choice as she chose Catholic-based Notre Dame.

She made her announcement in front of a packed announcement ceremony in the DHSA auditorium.

"“I’ve been going to religious schools my whole life,” said Ogunbowale, maybe the most talented female basketball player to emerge from the state. “I went to a Lutheran grade school and a Catholic high school. I wanted to keep my faith base strong. h/t  Michael Hunt, Journey Sentinel"

She also showed she was beyond her years in talking about her reasoning for her choice.

"“It’s a great school, Hall of Fame coach (Muffet McGraw), great academics. I wanted to go into business and they have the No. 1 business school. It’s an all-around great system.”"

At the announcement, she was surrounded by her family, including her brother Diamond Stone, who is one of the most highly recruited boys basketball players. her brother, Dare, who was unable to make the event, is a running back for the Wisconsin Badgers. Another cousin, Ryan evans, once played basketball for Wisconsin.

As for not choosing Wisconsin, Ogunbowale had this to say.

"“Wisconsin is a great school. My brother goes there. I have a lot of ties with that school. I just wanted to stay with my religion. It’s an amazing school. Wisconsin is a great place. I’m always going to be a fan of the Badgers. It just wasn’t my choice. I love the school, love the coach and everything about it.”"

As far as her accolades, they are numerous. The 5-foot-9 senior has won four Gold Medals for USA Basketball, and is a two-time AP state player of the year. Last season she averaged 22.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 steals per game while she led DSHA to the Greater Metro Conference title.