“Why he sniffing the mic like that?”: Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles reacts to pet's debut appearance on podcast

Olivia Miles introduced her/Maddy Westbeld's cat, "Bean," to podcasting as it accompanied the Notre Dame guard for Tuesday's episode of "Wake Up the Echoes: The Official Show of the Fighting Irish." Bean's appearance was teased with an Instagram post and the caption read:

"Bean’s podcast debut is officially live 🚨."

Miles spoke about the cat, sharing that he was six months old and was a little antsy. She also revealed that she is a cat person, more specifically a Bean person. The first picture showed the guard holding up her cat. Miles commented on this, writing:

"lol why he sniffing the mic like that."

Olivia Miles' comment (Credits: Instagram/@ndwbb)

In the podcast, Olivia Miles talked a bit more about the effect Bean has had on her everyday life.

"I mean, what Bean means to me is just indescribable," she said (26:27). "I think Maddie and I talk about this a lot. You're able to just come back to a little cute, precious animal who doesn't really know what's going on in the world.

"His only main concerns are to eat, sleep and play, like he's doing right now. So he doesn't care if you miss 10 shots in your game or if you win the game by 20, he's going to have the same energy and he's going to be there for you and be at the door when we come back from a long road trip with the same energy."

Olivia Miles talks about her recovery from ACL injury

This is Olivia Miles' fourth year of playing with the Fighting Irish, as she missed the 2023-24 season with an ACL tear. The guard hurt her right knee during the ACC regular season finals against Louisville in February 2023.

She had to wait 617 days before making a healthy return for the 2024-25 season. Talking about this long wait and the recovery process, Miles said:

"I honestly don't remember any of it because it was such a blur. I remember recovering and I just remember it being so difficult every day to just get up and be motivated to rehab, especially when you're not playing a year."

"I'm not, you know, motivated to come back to play this year, so who am I exactly who am I doing it for and what am I doing it for," she added.

Olivia Miles is averaging (career-best) 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.5 steals since her return this season.