Basketball Star Olivia Miles Has Decided to Leave Notre Dame, and Fans Want to Know Why
The decision came on the heels of Olivia's year-and-a-half-long break from playing professionally, due to a knee injury.
Published March 31 2026, 2:49 p.m. ET
Olivia Miles has been a Notre Dame staple since 2021. However, the point guard has decided to part ways with her team in 2025. Some fans expressed disappointment with Olivia's decision, while others believed she made the right choice, but everyone was asking the same question: Why did Olivia Miles leave Notre Dame?
Olivia's career began at Blair Academy, where she led her team to a Prep A state title. After that, Olivia's name was on the map, and she played for the Philadelphia Belles, earning herself a Nike Elite Youth Basketball League title. She then signed with Notre Dame after being ranked a five-star recruit by ESPN.
Why did Olivia Miles leave Notre Dame?
Despite a successful career at Notre Dame and an option to enter the WNBA draft, Olivia has decided to transfer to Texas Christian University. The move came on the heels of Olivia's year-and-a-half-long break from playing professionally, due to a knee injury.
It seems that something within Notre Dame wasn't working out for Olivia, either professionally or personally, as she made some cryptic comments about her transfer. According to Yahoo, Olivia said about TCU, "I’ll have great teammates and a great coach around me. I’ll have a lot of fun, so I’m just very excited for that. Ultimately, I really just wanted to go somewhere where I’d be able to showcase my abilities the best that I can."
Olivia's fans don't fully understand her decision.
As with any major career choice, people have their doubts. Fans are less skeptical about Olivia's decision to leave Notre Dame and more confused by her lack of interest in the WNBA. One fan took to Reddit to perfectly sum up how we all feel. They wrote, "I expected a lot of potential draftees to stay an extra year because of the new CBA agreement happening. The biggest shock for me is that she entered into the portal. I never expected that at all, but I wish her the best."
Comments defending Olivia's choice included, "I did see a lot of comments in the last few weeks about the chemistry being off within the team, so I'm wondering if there was truth to those observations," and the backhanded compliment of, "I think this year showed that she has the tools to be a good pro, but I also don't think she would've been able to fast-track the rookie guard learning curve."
Olivia is thriving at TCU.
Despite fans' initial concern, Olivia is thriving at TCU, showing talent is talent, regardless of where it goes. Just this past year, she earned both Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, on top of leading her team to its very first Elite Eight.
Clearly, Olivia is happier as well. She gushed about TCU to ESPN, saying, "I feel the people around me have helped me to love basketball again. ... TCU helped me with my own confidence, so that's all I could ask for."