Madison St. Rose Commits to Notre Dame; Forms New Jersey Backcourt Duo

Brenden Duffy
3 hours ago
4 min read

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball has received its second transfer portal commitment, this time coming from Princeton Senior Madison St. Rose.

Photo via Princeton Athletics

The Princeton Graduate transfer currently ranks as the #15 overall transfer, according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme. St. Rose joins the Irish as a 5-10 Guard with one year of eligibility remaining.

St. Rose has called New Jersey home her whole life. She attended St. John Vianney HS where she was rated as the #46 overall recruit in the 2022 ESPNW High School Player Rankings. St. Rose took home plenty of hardware during high school days, including the ‘22 NJ Gatorade Player of the Year, two-time NJ MaxPreps Player of the Year, three-time NJ.com Player of the Year, and three-time State Champion. The highly-touted recruit had her run-ins with the ‘23 Gatorade Player of the Year, Hannah Hidalgo, as in-state rivals and St. Rose even bested Hidalgo’s squad on her way to her third consecutive title.

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Despite having her pick of some of the top programs nationally, St. Rose made the choice best for her and stayed home with the Ivy League powerhouse Princeton Tigers out of high school. She impressed in her freshman season where she was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year after posting 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.9 steals per game in 25 minutes per game across 30 games played, including 21 starts.

St. Rose took an impressive jump in her sophomore season as a full-time starter, averaging 31.1 minutes per game and not missing a contest. She was named Second Team All-Ivy after averaging 14.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, & 1.7 steals per game. St. Rose was later named to the Ivy League All-Tournament Team after leading the Tigers with 18 points in the Championship. She also led her squad with 22 points in their NCAA Tournament appearance despite falling to West Virginia in a 1st Round matchup.

The guard’s junior season did not go as smoothly as her first two years after suffering a season-ending torn ACL in the team’s fourth game. Before her injury, St. Rose recorded her first career double-double with a 22-point and 12-rebound performance on the road at Duquesne.

If you watched St. Rose this past season, you probably would not have guessed she underwent major knee surgery the year prior. The senior started all 28 games she played and did not miss a beat, averaging a career-high 31.8 minutes per game while posting an All-Ivy First Team season. St. Rose averaged 15.8 points (48% FG%), 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game this year. Again, she led the Tigers' scoring efforts in their NCAA Tournament appearance with 17 points as they fell to Oklahoma State in the 1st Round. St. Rose’s best scoring night came in a regular season win against Brown where she recorded 30 points on 9-15 shooting from the field, 3-5 from three, and 9-9 from the free throw line.

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As with most Princeton Women’s Basketball players for about the past 16 years, the Tigers have a winning aptitude and St. Rose brings some of that to a Notre Dame roster that only returns one active player from this season’s Elite Eight squad. During her time at Princeton, St. Rose’s squads compiled a 96-23 overall record with four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

The assumed backcourt starting duo of Hidalgo and St. Rose should see massive success together. Obviously, both of these New Jersey guards are capable of creating offense by themselves. However, with Hidalgo expected to draw the toughest defender each night, this opens the door for St. Rose to benefit from some open looks she likely has not seen since her freshman season. Defensively, good luck to opposing guards with these two trying to pick your pocket every single possession.

The biggest tool St. Rose could add to her bag, in my opinion, is a more consistent three-point shot. She is a career 30% shooter from deep and shot just under 28% this past season. Notre Dame’s offense was at its best this season when shooters like Vanessa de Jesus and Iyana Moore were able to get hot from three and force defenses to extend themselves. Regardless, St. Rose has the skills and motor to pursue a WNBA career following her final campaign. At the same time, she will also hold an Ivy League Bachelor's and a potential Notre Dame Master's, so her future opportunities should be boundless.

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