“Little bit surprising naturally”: Olivia Miles gets 100% real on Notre Dame’s 3rd seed

Notre Dame women's basketball standout Olivia Miles made an honest admission of her team's seeding for the NCAA tournament. Miles joined ESPN's Elle Duncan on "SportsCenter" to discuss the 2025 NCAA Tournament, which saw the Fighting Irish earning the No. 3 seed on Selection Sunday.

"Yeah, I mean it was a little bit surprising naturally," Miles said of the seeding in a YouTube video released Thursday (Timestamp: 0:57). "You know, when you expect something, and then it doesn't happen. You know, your first reaction is, "Oh, my gosh." But, you know, we knew what the job was. You know, we went straight to work, started scouting the team we're going to be playing.

"At the end of the day, you just have to beat your opponent and whoever that may be whatever seed they may be. You know, you have to go through us. So, we are confident and we are prepared."

Notre Dame (26-5), which is ranked eighth in the AP Poll, will host No. 14 Stephen F. Austin (29-5) at Purcell Pavilion on Friday. The Irish are 73-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and will be making their 30th appearance. Meanwhile, SFA will appear in the tournament for the third time in the last five editions and first since 2022.

Olivia Miles undecided on basketball future

Olivia Miles has yet to make a decision about her basketball future. Miles has been projected as the No. 3 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft despite being eligible to play for one more year.

“I think about it here and there,” Miles said to Inside ND Sports on Thursday. “I don’t have a definite decision right now. There are a lot of factors that go into it. So, I’m speaking with my agent, speaking with whoever needs to be involved, taking that step by step. But I really want to focus on winning right now. That’s all that matters.”

Miles has been phenomenal for Notre Dame after returning from an ACL injury. The Fighting Irish guard was named to the All-ACC first team and became the third player in program history to hit 1,000 points, 500 assists and 500 rebounds. Miles also won the ACC's Kay Yow Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.