Standout junior guard Prohaska commits to Notre Dame women's hoops program

SOUTH BEND – Another piece of the Notre Dame women's basketball program's future came into focus on Wednesday,

Junior Abby Prohaska of Lakota West High School in West Chester Township, Ohio, announced her verbal commitment to the Irish at the high school on Wednesday, a day after she called coach Muffet McGraw to tell her of her intentions.

She joins Indianapolis Heritage Christian point guard Katlyn Gilbert in the 2018 class. Gilbert committed to the Irish in September.

Prohaska is a 5-foot-10 left-handed guard who earned a bronze medal for the USA Basketball Women’s under-17 world championship team this past summer. She was a 13-point scorer and solid defensive player as a sophomore, and the Lakota West coaching staff is expecting a lot of growth in those numbers this season.

”She is a great person,” Lakota West coach Andy Fishman said. “She is fun to be around and enjoys competing at anything. ... I have known her since second grade, and she always tends to outperform expectations. She is a relentless competitor on the court.''

According to Fishman, Prohaska has some attributes of a number of former Irish players.

“She is a dynamic playmaker like Skylar Diggins,” he said. “She is a scrapper like Megan Duffy and has a bit of Kayla McBride in her in that she can hit the big shot at big times,”

That's why schools like Tennessee, UCLA, Florida State, Indiana and others were interested.

“If you you take a typical above-average kid who plays hard, you would need to throw a souped-up 350 engine on top of that to match Abby's effort level," Fishman told ESPNW.

"She can jump over 6-2 girls and grab rebounds, dive on the floor for a loose ball, throw a full-length baseball pass on the money, catch the ball like a wide receiver. ... She's a do-everything player.”

In an interview with Mike Dyer of WCPO, Prohaska said that after a visit to Notre Dame a week ago she felt connected to the players and coaches.

“The atmosphere is pretty special,” she said.

Prohaska can’t officially sign her letter of intent until November, 2017.

“Notre Dame academics speak for themselves, but the coaching staff and players are remarkable. I felt an atmosphere much like that of a family. Many have told me that you’ll know when it's right, and they are telling the truth,” Prohaska told ESPNW.

This past month the Irish announced the signing of two players for next year’s freshman class — 6-foot-2 Danielle Patterson of Brooklyn, N.Y., and 6-3 Mikayla Vaughn of Fairfax, Va.

Prohaska shared her announcement via Twitter.

The Lakota West High School standout first became familiar with Notre Dame when she attended camp two years ago.

“She is 4.0-type student,” said Fishman. “She is an avid writer and is interested in journalism, communications, marketing and more.”

Fishman said that Prohaska did her homework before making her college selection.

“She knows the players that will be leaving then, and how the coaching staff works. She recognizes the opportunities she will have at Notre Dame.''