2026 Forward Bella Ragone Commits To Notre Dame Women's Basketball

Notre Dame women’s basketball has landed a commitment from an elite 2026 recruit. Four-star small forward Bella Ragone posted her commitment to the Fighting Irish on her TikTok bio. She is the first commitment for Irish head coach Niele Ivey in the 2026 class.

Ragone was named both the Georgia High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year and the Georgia Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year after her junior season at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Ga. She had a long list of offers from other schools, including UCLA, Louisville, Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State.

Notre Dame offered Ragone in September of 2023. She made an official visit to Notre Dame, which she shared on her social media accounts, this April. Her frame and her game is reminiscent of former Irish wing Sonia Citron, who was a first round pick of the WNBA's Washington Mystics last month (although Ragone is left-handed)

The 6-2 wing is rated as the No. 25 overall player in the ESPN HoopGurlz “Super 60” rankings for the 2026 class. She is the No. 5 wing in the rankings. 247Sports ranks her as the No. 6 small forward and the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of Georgia in the 2026 class.

Ragone has averaged more than 20.0 ppg in each of her three seasons at Mill Creek. She averaged career-highs of 23.2 points and 11.1 rebounds as a junior this past season. Ragone averaged 20.2 points and 7.3 rebounds as a freshman and followed that by tallying 20.2

Ragone comes from a family with an athletic background. Her father, Dave Ragone, is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams. He was the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator from 2021-2023. The former quarterback was a 3rd round pick out of Louisville by the Houston Texans in 2003, playing for three other NFL teams before his career ended in 2007.

Ragone’s mother, Marju Ragone, was a college basketball player at Miami (Ohio) as well as Louisville. She was a two-time Conference USA All-Conference player for the Cardinals.