The hype surrounding the Notre Dame women’s basketball team’s game against UConn was unreal. That tends to happen when you bring together not only two national championship contenders, but teams that have battled it out many times in the past while being among the best in the country then, too.
A game like this deserved to have some of the more prominent names connected to Notre Dame and beyond in attendance, and that’s exactly what happened. Although Niele Ivey reserved her praise for what she said was the biggest student body turnout ever for a women’s basketball game on campus, the presence of one famous face after another showcased how big this game was.
Here are the notable names who showed up for the Irish’s 79-68 victory. While most of these names have some relation to Notre Dame, you might be surprised by the presence of at least one of them:
Arike Ogunbowale
Not only did Arike Ogunbowale welcome Hannah Hidalgo to the Red Bull family, but she also showed up to practice. She spoke to the team after the game, too.
Skylar Diggins-Smith
Skylar Diggins-Smith congratulated Hidalgo after the victory. She also was at practice the day before.
Jewell Loyd
It was great to see Jewell Loyd at the game even in the middle of trade talks during her own career.
Marina Mabrey
Marina Mabrey rounded out the list of former Irish players in attendance.
Marcus Freeman
Marcus Freeman has attended his fair share of Irish basketball games, and there was no way he was missing this one.
Riley Leonard
As the football team’s starting quarterback, Riley Leonard is one of the faces of the team. He simply had to be there.
Xavier Watts
Xavier Watts is one of the more prominent defensive players on the Irish football team, and he had to like some of what he saw.
Benjamin Morrison
Just like Watts, Benjamin Morrison is one of the faces of the football team’s defense and had to like what was on display.
Greg Oden
This one might be surprising, but Greg Oden played at Ohio State at the same time as Freeman. The two obviously have a relationship as evidenced by an embrace they shared at the game.
This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Famous faces turn out for Notre Dame women’s basketball win over UConn
