Iowa lands Illinois Ms. Basketball Kathleen Doyle to finish class

Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder landed the spring recruit she was after Tuesday when Kathleen Doyle committed to the Hawkeyes, the Naperville (Ill.) Sun and others have reported.

Doyle, a 5-foot-10 point guard who was named Ms. Basketball in Illinois after leading her Benet team to back-to-back state championships, had originally committed to Nebraska. She reconsidered after Cornhuskers coach Connie Yori, who grew up in Ankeny, resigned last month. Nebraska remained interested in her, but released her from her national letter of intent last week.

Doyle had narrowed her choice of schools to Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska and Vanderbilt.

Bluder found herself with two open scholarships this spring after a pair of player transfers. She said two weeks ago that there was one player she was pursuing but that she was otherwise content to hold on to the scholarships one more year. That player was Doyle.

Doyle completes a recruiting class that also includes point guard Makenzie Meyer of Mason City, forward Amanda Ollinger of Linn-Mar, wing Bre Cera of Wisconsin and point guard Alexis Sevillian of Michigan.

Also Wednesday, it was announced that the Hawkeyes will host Notre Dame on Nov. 30 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The men’s basketball team plays at Notre Dame on Nov. 29. The Fighting Irish finished last season ranked No. 6 nationally with a 33-2 record. The Hawkeyes are 3-6 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, coming off of an 85-73 victory at Virginia in 2015-16.