Cassandre Prosper (born June 25, 2005) is a Canadian college basketball player for Notre Dame and a member of Canada women's national basketball team.
| No. 8 – Notre Dame Fighting Irish | |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| League | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | June 25, 2005 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | Notre Dame (2022–present) |
Medals | |
High school career
editProsper attended Cairine Wilson Secondary School in Ottawa, Ontario and Capital Courts Academy. During the 2022 season she averaged 25.1 points to lead the league in scoring while also recording 13.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.6 blocks and led the team to its first ever OSBA championship. At the 2022 Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association Final 8 championships she was named finals MVP after scoring 33 points, 15 rebounds and two assists. Following the season she was named the 2022 Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association season MVP and First-Team All-Star.[1] She was also named the 2022 Biosteel Player of the Year.[2]
During the 2023 season she averaged 23.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game over 10 games. She was a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 16 overall recruit per the ESPN HoopGurlz recruiting rankings.[3]
College career
editOn November 14, 2022, Prosper committed to play college basketball at Notre Dame. [4] On December 12, 2022, she announced she would enroll early at Notre Dame.[5] She joined the team after Christmas and made her collegiate debut on December 29, 2023, in a game against Miami. During the 2022–23 season, in her freshman year, she played in 22 games and averaged 22 minutes, 5.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.8 steals per game.[2]
During the 2023–24 season, in her sophomore year, she appeared in five games, with three starts, before missing the remainder of the season with a lower leg injury on November 29, 2023.[6] On November 21, 2023, she scored a career-high 19 points in a game against Chicago State.[7] Prior to her injury she averaged 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game with nine steals and three blocks.[2]
National team career
editProsper represented Canada at the 2021 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship where she averaged 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.2 blocks and won a silver medal. During the gold medal game against the United States she scored 13 points and five rebounds. She led team Canada in scoring, and ranked second in the tournament behind JuJu Watkins, and was subsequently named to the 2021 FIBA Americas Cup All-Star Five team.[8]
She represented Canada at the 2022 FIBA Under-17 Women's Basketball World Cup where she started in all seven games, and averaged 14.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 4.6 steals and 3.0 blocks. During the bronze medal game she recorded 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. She stole the ball and scored on a layup with eight seconds remaining in the game to bring Canada within two points, however, they ran out of time, and lost to France 82–84.[9][10][11] Following the tournament she was named to the all-tournament team.[12]
She made her senior national team debut for Canada at the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup where she averaged seven points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 19.8 minutes per game and won a bronze medal.[13]
She represented Canada at the 2023 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup where she averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game and won a bronze medal.[14] She led the team in scoring and steals and ranked second in assists and blocks, and ranked fourth among all players in the World Cup in blocks. She missed the bronze medal game due to an undisclosed reason.[15][16]
She represented Canada at the 2024 FIBA Women's Americas Pre-Qualifying Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where she averaged eight points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in three games.[17][18] After going undefeated during the tournament, Canada qualified for the 2024 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.[19] On July 2, 2024, she was named to team Canada's roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[20][21]
Personal life
editProsper is the daughter of Gaetan and Guylaine Prosper.[22] Her parents both played college basketball at Concordia University and were both multiple-time RSEQ All-Stars. Her mother also competed for Canada women's national basketball team.[23] Her brother, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, played college basketball at Marquette and is a professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks.[24][25]
References
edit- ^ "2022 OSBA Final 8 Championship Recap & Awards". ontariosba.ca. March 11, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Cassandre Prosper". fightingirish.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "ND women's basketball: 5-star recruit Prosper to enroll in January". South Bend Tribune. December 13, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Irish ink five-star guard Cassandre Prosper". fightingirish.com. November 14, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Five-star signee Cassandre Prosper to enroll early". fightingirish.com. December 12, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Noie, Tom (November 29, 2023). "Notre Dame women's basketball down another key player for Tennessee tussle". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Irish match second-largest margin of victory in program history with 113-35 win over Chicago State". fightingirish.com. November 21, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "USA's Watkins takes home MVP honors from tournament's All-Star Five". fiba.basketball. August 30, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Pascal, Randy (August 9, 2022). "That Sudbury Sports Guy: Swords sisters surging this summer — with plenty more to come". The Sudbury Star. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Canada's under-17 women finish fourth in World Cup after narrow loss to France". Times Colonist. July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ MacKenzie, Holly (July 17, 2022). "Canada falls to France, finishes fourth at FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2022". basketball.ca. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Watkins named TISSOT MVP, leads All-Star Five". fiba.basketball. July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Prosper helps lead Team Canada to FIBA AmeriCup bronze". fightingirish.com. July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Ibrahim, Abdulhamid (July 28, 2023). "Bronze medal at U19 World Cup shows bright future for Canadian women's basketball". CBC Sports. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Hidalgo wins gold, Prosper bronze at U19 World Cup". fightingirish.com. July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Cody (July 23, 2023). "Cassandre Prosper, Canada win bronze medal in FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ MacKenzie, Holly (November 10, 2023). "Canada defeats Puerto Rico to go undefeated at FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament". Canada Basketball. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Prosper, Achonwa Begin Play in FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament". fightingirish.com. November 9, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Canadian women wrap up Olympic pre-qualifying basketball tournament with 3-0 record". CBC Sports. November 12, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ "Achonwa, Prosper Named To Canadian Olympic Team". fightingirish.com. July 2, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Byrne, Pete (July 2, 2024). "Irish guard Prosper makes Canadian Olympic team". WSBT-TV. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Anderson, Anthony (March 19, 2023). "Prosper parents juggling kids' NCAA basketball schedules". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Ibrahim, Abdulhamid (January 25, 2023). "Montreal's Olivier-Maxence Prosper inches closer to NBA dream while helping star sister". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Canadian Press. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Weisfeld, Oren (February 3, 2023). "Canadians Abroad Roundup: Prosper siblings helping each other find success in NCAA". Sportsnet. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Cobey, Cam (June 23, 2023). "Mavs rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper ready to thrive in NBA". NBA.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.