IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa women’s basketball program gained another prep standout today, adding Illinois Miss Basketball Kathleen Doyle to its incoming recruiting class. The LaGrange Park, Illinois, native chose the Hawkeyes over three other programs after reopening her search.
“We are thrilled to add Kathleen Doyle to our Hawkeye family,” UI head coach Lisa Bluder said. “She is a tremendous basketball player, evidenced by her outstanding awards including being named Illinois Miss Basketball.
“We are equally excited about the type of young woman that Kathleen is; she is hard working, passionate about the game and is a woman of high integrity. Her ability to play the point guard will be a wonderful asset to our team.”
Doyle attended Benet Academy, where she guided the team to back-to-back 4A Illinois State Championships and a 66-6 record in her final two seasons. The 5-foot-9 point guard is ranked 28th at her position by ESPN HoopGurlz and 97th overall in her class. She is also rated No. 20 by Blue Star, No. 68 by All Star Girls Report, and No. 108 by Prospect Nation.
Voted Benet Academy Most Valuable Player by her teammates as a senior, Doyle completed her career with 1,636 points (second all-time at Benet, two points shy of tying the school record), 516 rebounds, 442 assists, 297 steals, and 119 blocks. She was named a Max Preps All-American (6th team), Esmark All-American, East Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year, Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year, Daily Herald Player of the Year, and Naperville Sun Player of the Year in 2016. Doyle also garnered first team all-state honors from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, and Champaign News-Gazette.
As a junior in 2015, Doyle earned Daily Herald Player of the Year and Naperville Sun Player of the Year accolades, in addition to being named first team all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, Chicago Sun-Times, and Champaign News Gazette.
Doyle, who compiled five tournament MVP selections in her prep career, is a member of the National Honor Society and the recipient of the 2016 Brad Webb Scholar Athlete Award. She was named to the first honor roll all eight semesters of high school and is interested in pursuing communications and Spanish majors at Iowa.
The addition of Doyle, jumps Iowa’s recruiting class from No. 18 to No. 7 nationally by Blue Star. She joins Bre Cera (Mukwonago, Wisconsin), Makenzie Meyer (Mason City, Iowa), Miss Iowa Basketball Amanda Ollinger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), and Alexis Sevillian (Goodrich, Michigan), bringing the class total to five student-athletes. All five were McDonalds All-American nominees.
“The addition of Kathleen raised this recruiting class rank to No. 7 ranking in the nation,” Bluder said. “We are thrilled with the entire incoming class and are excited to see what they bring to the program this year.”
The Hawkeyes return four starters, including Tania Davis, Ally Disterhoft, Chase Coley, and Megan Gustafson, and nine letterwinners for the 2016-17 season.
