It is my opinion, and to use football analogy, we need Riley Leonard type of transfer to start at the 5 and bring Koval in rotationally at the 4 or 5. By Riley, this is a conversation and understanding between the recruit, coaches, existing players, (Maddy, Kate) that this is a premium player that we need to that will take us to the next level. I think it works to assume that Koval will start at 5, but the year that we won the national championship, we did not rely on an incoming freshman - quite the contrary.
A top 5 recruit is recruited to start as a freshman unless there is a star incumbent at the same position. That was Juju Watkins, Mikaylah Williams, Jadyn Donovan, Ciera Toomey, and Hannah Hidalgo this past season. Toomey is the only one who wasn't a starter because she was injured and didn't play at all.
Or you can consider the most recent seniors who were the top 5 recruits - Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso. Only Reese wasn't a starter her first year.
Koval is a top 5 recruit. I expect her to be the starter. I'm fine having her as the starter. She needs a reliever to play the post, not a starter. Both post players' jobs will be rebounding and defense with points being gravy.
Maddy Westbeld needs a reliever, too... a forward reliever. Cass Prosper will be fine when Westbeld is taking a breather.
Finally, regarding the 2018 team and freshmen... There were only two on the team (plus walk-on Nicole Benz). Mikayla Vaugn got hurt; and while Danielle Patterson played in most games, she was not a top 5 caliber recruit who was expected to make a difference.
Niele - In my opinion - has NOT done a good job of rotating non starting players and giving them needed developing minutes.
I cvompletely disagree. On the 2023 team, Prosper played 22 minutes per game after joining the team at midseason. KK Bransford averaged 24 minutes playing in 33 games. There was much discussion about Nat Marshall not getting enough time, but a 10 minute average playing in 28 games isn't nothing especially when Kaylee Watson and Lauren Ebo are on the team.
Back up a year to bringing Sam Brunelle, Anaya Peoples, and Abby Prohaska off the bench for 17, 20, and 12 minutes per game respectively. As experienced players we might not consider those development minutes; but if you take that position, you have to acknowledge that Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron got 30+ minutes of development time on the court.
Going back to my Riley Leonard Analogy, the only way a quality 4/5 like that comes in is if they are "promised" a starting spot and the team is onboard.
That wasn't the case with Lauren Ebo who certainly was a quality post player. She started 30 games at Texas the year before she came to Notre Dame to be an important non-starter in the playing rotation.
There are quality players who might not be high WNBA draft picks (with only 12 teams drafting) but would like to be part of a Final Four team. Being an important player on the sport's biggest stage, even if not a starter, has appeal to many players.