Kentucky high school basketball star Leah Macy picks a college. She’s leaving the state.

One of Kentucky’s top recruits is off the board.

Bethlehem star forward Leah Macy, the No. 14 national recruit in the class of 2025 and the second-ranked high school prospect in the state of Kentucky, announced her commitment to Notre Dame on Monday afternoon from a final four that also included UConn, Louisville and Kentucky.

Though Macy and her family were relatively private regarding her recruitment process, Macy did take an unofficial visit with the Fighting Irish prior to last summer. In January, Macy told the Herald-Leader she wanted to take the recruiting process slowly, but that she had narrowed her list of schools to “eight or so.” Macy made herself clear, her main focus was the high school season.

That high school season proved successful, as the Banshees, based in Bardstown, reached the quarterfinals of the 2024 Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament before falling to eventual champion Sacred Heart Academy. Bethlehem finished the year 27-9, and the 6-foot-3 Macy (who missed a month early in the season because of a sprained ACL and bone bruise in her knee) averaged a team-high 25.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest.

Macy is the first 2025 commitment to choose Notre Dame, a great start for head coach Niele Ivey. This season, the Fighting Irish ended the year 28-7, falling 70-65 in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 to Oregon State. Notre Dame also hoisted the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament trophy after finishing second in the league to Virginia Tech during the regular season. The ACC Tournament title was Notre Dame’s sixth ACC championship, and first since 2019.

Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class includes 6-5 post Kate Koval, the No. 5 prospect in her class, out of Long Island Lutheran in Brookeville, New York. The Fighting Irish also return freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo, high-powered scorer Sonia Citron and veteran forward Maddy Westbeld, plus welcome back highly touted guard Olivia Miles from injury. Ivey, who excels in both recruiting and as an X’s and O’s coach, is ensuring the continued upward trajectory of a program that hasn’t yet returned to the extreme highs pioneered by Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw.

In addition to her commitment, Macy’s had an eventful offseason. The talented forward traveled to Brooklyn in late March to participate in the first-ever Stewie 30 Elite Camp, a two-day basketball camp established by UConn legend, two-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist and current New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart in partnership with Puma.

“My mission for this camp was to bring the top 30 sophomore and junior high school players together to be immersed in a two-day experience that included on-court training sessions and off-court workshops,” Stewart wrote in a social media post. “These players came to New York with the intention of getting better, and they did just that. Thank you to my first Stewie 30 Elite class for making this such a memorable experience. I hope that you left with a new perspective and motivation to continue to get better.”

Macy also recently made the move from Kentucky-based Nike EYBL-affiliated AAU program Kentucky Premier to the Under Armour GUAA program West Virginia Thunder under head coach Danny Riego. West Virginia Thunder 17U has two teams, the other of which features Sacred Heart Academy guard and three-time Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year ZaKiyah Johnson.

After Session I on the Under Armour Circuit, Macy earned First-Team All-GUAA honors; she averaged 17.4 points per game on 54 percent shooting from the field in five games and nailed all 10 of her free-throw attempts, in addition to grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. She ranks fifth in offensive efficiency on the circuit.

Riego told the Herald-Leader that he expects Macy to positively affect the culture at Notre Dame.

“Of course Leah is a special talent,” Riego said. “But the way she’s impacted our culture, especially with the young kids, off the floor here at West Virginia Thunder is something that will outlast her time here. Positively affecting the culture is something I expect her to do at Notre Dame as well.”

Riego added that Macy is going to Colorado to try out for USA Basketball the weekend of May 17. Ivey is slated to be an assistant for USA Basketball at this summer’s 2024 FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup in June.

Macy is one of three in-state prospects ranked among the best in the high school class of 2025. She is joined in the top 40 by Johnson (No. 7) — who has named a final 13 of Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Southern California, South Carolina, Tennessee and UCLA — and George Rogers Clark forward Ciara Byars (No. 37), who has yet to issue a list of finalists.

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