January 05, 2017

Lili announces chapter 2

Notre Dame will swap veteran point guards in 2017.

Though senior Lindsay Allen departs this spring, former Stanford point guard Lili Thompson announced on Twitter on Thursday that she will join Notre Dame as a graduate transfer in the 2017-18 season.

"I'm SO excited to announce the next step in my journey!" Thompson wrote. "I have decided to postpone my entry into the WNBA Draft and make a return to College Basketball. For the 2017-2018 season, I will be joining the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!

"I'm excited to join what is already a stellar team, and to get to work on winning a National Championship. Thanks to everyone, past and present, who has been a part of this process and supported me. Go Irish!"

The 5-foot-7 Thompson — a Mansfield, Texas, native — will arrive in South Bend with an extensive resume, including All-Pac-12 honors in her sophomore and junior seasons and a spot on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team in 2014.

She started 96 of 104 career games at Stanford, averaging 12.0 points per game while racking up 295 assists. Last season, Thompson was named Pac-12 Player of the Week three times and averaged 14.7 points and 3.5 assists per game.

In Stanford's 90-84 Sweet Sixteen upset victory over Notre Dame last March, Thompson scored 11 points and added nine assists in 37 minutes.

The former Timberview High School standout, who has one season of eligibility remaining, chose to leave Stanford's program prior to her senior season this fall, though she remained enrolled at the university.

In South Bend, Thompson will have to compete for playing time with a slew of talented guards, including current sophomores Arike Ogunbowale and Ali Patberg, junior Mychal Johnson and freshman Jackie Young.

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