CHICAGO — Humbling.
That describes the last 22 months of Maddy Westbeld’s basketball life. She has seen success during that time, being selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky after five seasons at Notre Dame.
She has also faced many challenges.
Foot surgery in August 2024 caused her to miss the first 13 games of her fifth and final year of eligibility with the Irish.
Then came an unexpected late season collapse for what was, at one time, a 2024-25 Notre Dame team ranked No. 1 in the country, failing to win the ACC Tournament or advance past the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.
She then watched closely this past winter as her alma mater get over the hump to make the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019 — the season before Westbeld came to South Bend.
Five weeks later, the Sky waived her, only to be re-signed three days later to a developmental contract, which only allows Westbeld to play a maximum of 12 regular season games.
One month and 14 regular season games later, she is yet to make an appearance despite practicing and traveling with Chicago. Rather than sulking, Westbeld is using this time to work on her game and stay healthy.
“I’m trying to disregard my feelings, in a sense. I’m trying to be unemotional about the process [to get] back on the court,” Westbeld said in an exclusive interview with the South Bend Tribune June 16. “I’m trying to look at the game with a different perspective — with a different pair of eyes — and be a student of the game, but at the same time, put my body first. That’s something I’ve never really done.”
Humbling is how Westbeld described this period of her basketball career, which up to that point had been so dominant. As a senior at Fairmont High School, Westbeld was named the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American.
The five-star recruit was the SC NEXT100’s 20th-ranked player in the Class of 2020. She committed to her dream school of Notre Dame, following in the footsteps of her favorite WNBA player Skylar Diggins, who she is now teammates with on the Sky.
Westbeld made an impact for the Irish right away, averaging 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in a 2020-21 ACC Rookie of the Year and All-ACC First Team season. Over the course of her tenure in South Bend, her 138 starts are tied for third most in Irish history, her 940 career rebounds rank seventh, her 145 career blocks rank eighth and her 1,710 career points rank 13th.
She and her sister, Kathryn, are also the only siblings in Notre Dame history to score more than 1,000 points each. She even played alongside fellow WNBA draftees Sonia Citron, Olivia Miles, Cassandre Prosper and Liatu King, as well as rising senior and likely 2027 WNBA draft pick Hannah Hidalgo.
Yet it all traces back to 20 months ago when Westbeld had surgery on her left foot. She hasn’t been quite the same player since that surgery, and the stats back it up.
In 21 games played with the Irish in her final season, Westbeld averaged just 7.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest. In 26 games as a rookie with Chicago, she put up 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game on 36.2% shooting from the field, 39.5% shooting from the 3-point line and 13.6 minutes per contest.
Westbeld hasn’t played a regular season basketball game since Sept. 11, 2025. Despite all of that, she remains optimistic about her future.
“There has to be a triumph past this feeling that I have,” Westbeld said. “I’m really faithful right now, and I’m excited. I think that’s the switch in mindset that you have to have. Instead of like, ‘I have to get back on the court right now, right now, right now,’ I feel as though I’m on my own way to greatness. It’s an inevitable process, and the only thing that’s going to stop me from getting there is being impatient.”
The big picture
Westbeld said this mindset has been developing over the past few years as her maturity does the same. Perhaps the genesis of it came ahead of her fifth season at Notre Dame, even before she decided to undergo foot surgery in August.
Westbeld was coming off a 14.4-point, 8.7-rebound per game season in which she was named Second Team All-ACC. It was her fourth straight year she averaged at least 11.2 points per game, and she knew her goal of playing in the WNBA was more tangible than ever.
Always a fan, Westbeld watched more WNBA games than she ever had before in the summer and fall of 2024. Irish assistant coach Carlos Knox urged Westbeld to watch those games as if she was watching film, studying the players in a league she hoped to be a part of just a few months later.
“I told him what my goal was, so he held me accountable to that every day,” Westbeld said. “He told me, ‘Approach every day as a pro; Approach everything you do as a pro. It’s so underestimated how important somebody holding you accountable every day is, because as an athlete, it’s hard for us to see the big picture. You have a court right in front of you.”
Two years later, Westbeld feels like she is starting to see the big picture.
Even in an admittedly mentally challenging situation, Westbeld is still living her dream. However, she isn’t content with just being happy to have a roster spot in the league.
She has been thrilled to see former Notre Dame teammates and close friends like Citron, Miles and Prosper thrive with their respective teams, but she wants to soon join them in that success.
“I’m more so proud to be alongside them … It’s cool to be a part of, because it’s something you could never truly understand or explain until you experience it,” Westbeld said. “They’re my dogs — all three of them — they’re my dogs for life. Of course it’s motivating, but I’m a believer that everything happens in the correct timing.”
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: Maddy Westbeld trying to be ‘student of the game’ as WNBA career starts slow
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
