Not many people expected Cassandre Prosper to be wearing a WNBA uniform 12 months ago.
With two more years of eligibility with Notre Dame women’s basketball at the time, it would have been easy to either say Prosper was going to return for a fifth and final year with the Irish or take her talent to play professionally overseas.
After all, she was coming off a 2024-25 season in which she played in 34 games but only started in four, averaging 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds.
While there was doubt from the outside, Prosper knew as soon as her 2025 college season ended that 2026 would be her last. She was going to go all in on making her dream of playing in the WNBA come true.
Prosper stayed in South Bend rather than playing for her home country of Canada like she had done in the previous two offseasons. She started working consistently with a mental coach.
She bet on herself, and she won.
Prosper started all 36 games for a Notre Dame team that made its first NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance since 2019, averaging 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. Prosper was named the ACC Most Improved Player and delivered the game-winning points in No. 6 seed Irish’s 67-64 Sweet Sixteen victory vs. No. 2 seed Vanderbilt.
Without Prosper, Notre Dame would not have gotten over the hump.
Making an impact in the WNBA
Seven days after the Irish were eliminated by No. 1 seed UConn, Prosper bet on herself again by forgoing her final year of eligibility and declaring for the WNBA Draft.
A week later, Prosper was selected with the 19th overall pick by the Washington Mystics. Thanks to some feelers sent out by a few teams around the league, Prosper knew she was going to be drafted, she just didn’t know when or by which organization.
“In order for me to get to the WNBA, there were moments when I had to make myself uncomfortable so I could grow, and if I wasn’t going to do it last year it just wasn’t going to happen,” Prosper said. “I was like, ‘Ok, you’re doing this for future Cass.’ Looking back, I don’t know how I did it. It just didn’t look like it was going to happen, but I really put my mind to it.
“It felt exactly how I wanted it to feel, and not every moment was, ‘It feels amazing,’ but when I look at the entirety of it, it’s what I had planned for it to be.”
Even if she wasn’t going to be a first-round pick, it was a no-brainer for Prosper to attend the draft in New York City. Her family, Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey, former Notre Dame teammate KK Bransford and many others joined her for what she called one of the best days of her life.
“The way I had pictured me getting drafted has always been me on the stage with my jersey and shaking Cathy’s hand,” Prosper said. “In a way, I was like, ‘I really don’t care what pick I am. I’m going to get my picture. I’m going to put on my fit. I’m going to be in New York celebrating with all my friends and family.’ When I got there, I was like, ‘Ok, this is the day your life is going to change.’
“It was just surreal. I would want to relive that night a million times.”
Sonia Citron was the first person to text Prosper after she was drafted. After all, the two played alongside each another for three seasons at Notre Dame and are now teammates once again with Washington. Citron has quickly blossomed into one of the WNBA’s brightest young stars as a 2025 WNBA All-Star and All-Rookie Team honoree. Washington is the youngest team in the WNBA, and Prosper said that has helped her adjust to the professional game.
When Prosper got to training camp, she said her mindset was that she had nothing to prove. Her internal dialogue was constant reminders that the Mystics drafted her for a reason, and if she put herself in a position to achieve that dream, she had what it takes to adjust well to the WNBA.
Fast forward 19 days and she was a starter in Washington’s season opener in her home country against the Toronto Tempo. What’s more, Prosper scored the first points of the game.
Prosper has played in all nine Mystics games so far this season, with her best performance being seven points, five rebounds and two steals in a double-digit win vs. the Skylar Diggins-led Chicago Sky on Tuesday, June 2.
Prosper, always one to simultaneously be present while also looking to improve, said making it to the WNBA was her end all, be all just two months ago. Now that she has done it, she’s already asking herself what other goals could she accomplish.
She isn’t one for material things; the prospect of winning awards isn’t what gets her into the gym every day. Prosper’s new end all be all is reaching her full potential — professionally, yes, but more so personally.
“Seeing continuous growth from myself is what I love. One day I would love to be an all-star and all those things, but I feel like right now is just about enjoying the peace I feel around basketball,” Prosper said. “I don’t feel like it’s too serious to the point that I’m beating myself up, and I’m grateful for that, because there was a time when it was that serious.”
When asked if 2026 is Prosper’s year, she replied with the type of insight that made her a team captain and locker room favorite with Notre Dame. The same type of attitude that has helped her fit in so seamlessly with Washington.
“I feel like every year is my year,” Prosper said. “I’m living my dream. Regardless of how it goes, I’m very proud of myself and that’s good enough. That [mindset] has helped me see basketball as part of my life, but not my whole life, and that has helped me alleviate the pressure of having to perform or having to put on a show.
“Now, it’s more something that I enjoy doing and something I found love for again.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Cass Prosper’s bet on herself has paid off with Washington Mystics
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
