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“The Finale.”
If this were a movie, that’s exactly what Olivia Miles would call this next chapter in her basketball career. But ever since the news dropped that she was transferring from Notre Dame to Texas Christian University, the narrative surrounding her—and her decision—has sounded more like a dramatic script than some sort of fairytale ending.
What the world wants to know is why: Why she decided to leave the same program that recruited her out of Blair Academy (Miles and then-Irish teammate Sonia Citron, now a rookie on the Mystics, were part of head coach Niele Ivey’s first-ever recruiting class).
In South Bend, Miles set records, bounced back from an ACL injury that left her sidelined for the entire 2023-24 season and emerged as one of the best players in all of college basketball. She graced the cover of SLAM alongside Hannah Hidalgo, and together, they were deemed the most lethal duo in the country.
With her name on every mock draft board as a projected top-three pick, many thought her next move was the WNBA, but when Shams Charania clicked publish on that news-breaking tweet, a lot of people also wondered: Why, out of all of the programs Miles could’ve transferred to, did she choose TCU?
“My plan was to go to the draft,” Miles revealed to WSLAM in late-April, on the same day as the draft. “That's kind of what I had been leaning toward all [last] year. Then I thought about my injury, and I also hurt my ankle in the [NCAA] tournament, and I really wasn't feeling [like] myself. My plan up into that last game was to go to the draft, and then I kind of started to think.”
Following the Irish’s Sweet 16 exit in the 2025 NCAA tournament, Miles, who only had two days to decide, spoke with her agents, family and those closest to her about what to do. As much as everyone wants to think there’s tea, Liv makes it clear there wasn’t. “It’s not like I was premeditated to go and transfer somewhere,” she emphasized. “It kind of just made sense at that time for what I needed and what I thought my body needed and my mental as well…Ultimately, I feel like this was the best decision for me.”
While her choice might have left some people shook, it’s exactly what she needed going into her fifth year. The number five itself—also her jersey number—symbolizes freedom, adventure and change. For her, the timing couldn’t be more divine, and now, she’ll get the chance to develop her pro-ready game under head coach Mark Campbell, all while experiencing a new team and a new city. “I'm very much at peace with my decision,” she added. “I'm ready for this new growth and new journey.”
Miles was even thinking of writing “The Finale” as an Instagram caption if she posted herself in her new TCU uniform. She later chose “realignment” for her photo dump, but the sentiment is fitting. In her final season, she’s ready to put on a performance before the curtain closes on her college career. “It’s my last year in college, it's gonna be a show. I'm just excited to get out on the floor and show my talents one last time before I go pro.”
While to some, Miles suiting up for the Horned Frogs might seem to have come out of nowhere, that’s not how the story goes. In high school, Olivia was the No. 8 player in the Class of 2021 (according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz) and was recruited by Campbell but never got to take any official campus visits because of the pandemic. Fast forward five years later, the first time she stepped onto TCU’s campus in Fort Worth, TX, was her first visit, ever. “It was pretty surreal, getting to do all the visit things. I felt like a youngin’. As an upperclassman, you take so many recruits on visits at your school, so I was the one going on the visit…It was fun to kind of relearn everything and see a new system, see a new environment, see a new campus, new people, new weather—which was nice. It was a great time.”
When she put on her No. 5 TCU jersey for the first time—which she later revealed to the world in a now viral Tik Tok—it felt like, in her own words, the perfect fit. “When I was in the bathroom getting changed, putting it on for the first time, I was like, Yeah, this fits perfectly. Since I got on campus, I knew it was the right fit…I'm just excited to be in that space and wear that jersey for [this] season.”
The addition of Miles couldn’t be any more perfect for the Horned Frogs, too. After going on a Cinderella run all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history last season, they’re getting a poised floor general who approaches the game more like an artist. The court, as she once told me, is her canvas; from making dazzling plays to dishing out absurdly accurate dimes, knocking down stepback threes and then hitting a celly afterward, Miles approaches the game with the creativity of a basketball savant. TCU saw that firsthand when they faced Notre Dame in the Sweet 16; Miles had 10 points, 2 boards and 3 dimes in 23 minutes.
As much as she’s a leader who can facilitate and set up her teammates, Miles, who averaged a career-high 15.4 ppg last year, is ready to get deep into her bag and carry herself like the pro she is.
“Getting back to Liv looks like being a pro and developing pro habits every day,” Miles elaborated. “I made a promise and commitment to myself that the first time I step on campus, I'm going to be a pro, and that's going to translate and carry over to the season and then to the W. I ultimately just want to really focus on myself because I really haven't gotten a chance to do that. You know, I feel like a lot of my career has been making other people feel good, and I don't say that selfishly, I'm just ready to kind of show myself more love and just be within myself and train and do what I know that I can do, and do it with great people around me who are going to support me and push me to my limits.
I'm just excited, like I said, [I] can't wait to give myself an opportunity to just go hoop. That’s what Coach Mark and I always talk about, just go hoop. Like, just go play.”
When Miles is playing with joy, hitting the shimmy shake or adjusting her goggles mid-play like it’s nothing, that’s when her creativity is on full display. And that’s exactly what she wants fans to get ready for, too.
“I guess my message to [the fans] is just to have fun. You see these great players and a great coach, he's gonna spread the floor and let us be us…Everyone's their best when they're optimizing their own talents and when it comes together and we play as one and play the right way. It's going to be a lot of fun.”
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