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Notre Dame WBB: Sam Brunelle named to Naismith Watch List

By Brad Weiss

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - FEBRUARY 06: Sam Brunelle #33 of the University of Notre Dame holds the ball during a game between Notre Dame and Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on February 06, 2020 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - FEBRUARY 06: Sam Brunelle #33 of the University of Notre Dame holds the ball during a game between Notre Dame and Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on February 06, 2020 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame WBB sophomore Sam Brunelle is one of the best in country, and was recently named to the Naismith Watch List for 2020.

The Notre Dame WBB team heads into the 2020 season with high hopes, this after a tough 2019-20 campaign that saw them finish with a record below .500. New head coach Niele Ivey takes over for Muffet McGraw, who ran the program since the 1987-88 campaign,

Ivey will try to lead the Irish back to the top of the ACC, and she has an incredible talent at her disposal in sophomore forward, Sam Brunelle. The product of William Monroe (VA) High School dominated as a freshman last season, becoming one of the few bright spots in what was a disappointing season.

The two-time ACC Player of the Week heads into her second season with the Irish with plenty of expectations on her, and she was recently named to the Watch List of the most prestigious award in the country.

One of 50 players to earn the honor

Brunelle was one of 50 players in the country to earn the honor, and rightfully so, after she put on a display during her freshman season with the Irish. Brunelle was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team after scoring in double figures 23 times, while scoring 20-or-more points on six occasions, including a 31-pt career-high effort against DePaul.

She is one of only five members of the ACC to be named to the list, and was also recently named to the Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason All-ACC Team for the upcoming season. Brunelle is looking to get the program back on track, and will be joined in the frontcourt by incoming freshman Maddy Westbald, who is a newcomer to watch this season.

Next. Four Notre Dame football players headed to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. dark

We have already touched on the program bringing in one of the top-5 recruiting classes for the 2021-22 college basketball season, so the future is definitely bright. Brunelle is a leader on and off the court, and this season, she plans to lead the Irish back to the NCAA Tournament after missing out for the first time since the 1994-95 season.