Notre Dame officially welcomed graduate student Destinee Walker to the women’s basketball program Monday. The transfer guard from ACC rival North Carolina will immediately be eligible to play and should expect to help fill the vacancies left by this year’s starting unit, all of which were top-20 selections in the WNBA draft.
Walker, a native of Orlando, Florida, was a five-star recruit out of Lake Highland Prep where she averaged nearly 25 points and over eight rebounds per game as a senior. Walker chose the Tar Heels over the Irish four years ago, but after sitting out the past two seasons in the Dean Smith Center due to hip and knee injuries, Walker has elected to spend her final season with reigning conference champions.
In her rookie season with the Tar Heels, Walker was named to both the ACC All-Freshman Team and the ACC All-Academic Team. She averaged 13.9 points per game and led the ACC in average minutes played per game at 37.3. She followed up with a solid sophomore season, averaging 12.4 points and 3.7 rebounds, but was sidelined for the final 10 games of the season due to injury.
Walker announced her intention to transfer to Notre Dame in April via Instagram. However, the University didn’t release an official statement until Monday.
