Notre Dame Basketball: Arike Ogunbowale is killing it in the WNBA
By J.P. Scott
Former Notre Dame women’s basketball star Arike Ogunbowale is having a phenomenal rookie season in the WNBA.
I’ll be the first to admit, it’s hard to pay attention to the WNBA in the months leading up to Notre Dame football. As a result, we’ve let the ball drop in terms of covering the sport and the noise Arike Ogunbowale has made in it during the 2019 season.
It’s time to show her some love.
The former Notre Dame guard and UConn-killer is having a tremendous rookie season, putting herself in the conversation for Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
She’s currently fourth in the WNBA in scoring with 543 total points. She has also drained 51 3-pointers — good enough for ninth in the the league.
Her team — the Dallas Wings — currently sit dead last int he Western Conference by a considerable margin. Although they did make the playoffs last season, they underwent a coaching change and are dealing with life without another former Irish star, Skylar Diggins-Smith, who is out for the season on pregnancy leave.
The end result has been Ogunbowlale — recently the face of college basketball — having to become the face of the 2019 Dallas Wings. She’s leading the club in both points and assists per game.
Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw recently took to Twitter to lobby for Arike as WNBA Rookie of the Year, calling her the most exciting player in the WNBA.
Arike is absolutely the ROY. When was the last time a rookie made such an impact in the WNBA? She was asked to carry the scoring load and she responded, Leading her team in scoring AND assists while Getting the opponents best defender every game! Most exciting player in the W👊🏼
— Muffet McGraw (@MuffetMcGraw) September 3, 2019
Regardless of whether or not she wins the award, Arike Ogunbowale has already placed her stamp on the WNBA landscape, just as she did at Notre Dame during her college basketball career.
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With a rare combination of speed, strength, ability to get to the hoop, and the confidence to pull the trigger from anywhere, the sky is the limit for the former Notre Dame star as her first season as a professional player comes to a close.