DePaul Lands Talented Notre Dame Transfer Anaya Peoples
4/15/2022 11:38:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Former McDonald's All-American guard arrives with two years of eligibility
CHICAGO – This really is a Good Friday for Doug Bruno and his women's basketball program.
The women's basketball coach addressed one of his team's biggest needs two days before Easter announcing that talented Notre Dame guard Anaya Peoples has transferred to the Blue Demons.
A junior with two years of eligibility remaining, Peoples has been a forceful rebounding guard pretty much her entire career in addition to a consistent scorer.
After leading Schlarman Academy in Downstate Danville to back-to-back state titles, the McDonald's All-American made an immediate impact on the NCAA scene averaging 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds as a freshman.
The 8.1 rebounding average ranked 10th in the nation among true freshmen guards and was third all-time for a Notre Dame freshman. Peoples was also fifth in the ACC in steals.
There were only five true freshmen in the country averaging over 12.5 points and eight rebounds that season---Anaya Peoples, South Carolina's Aliyah Boston, Southern Cal's Alissa Pill, Abby Feit (Evansville) and Ila Lane (UC Santa Barbara). Boston led South Carolina to the national title this season and was the consensus National Player of the Year.
Playing all 20 games with 19 starts in her COVID-19 sophomore season, Peoples was the only player in the ACC to average at least nine points, six rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals. She ranked 10th in the conference in steals and 15th in defensive rebounds.
Peoples played in 32 games with 17 starts for the Fighting Irish this season, averaging 3.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. She had 10 points and nine rebounds against Purdue-Fort Wayne and came through with 11 rebounds against Georgia.
No doubt she made a strong impression on Bruno back on Dec. 11, 2019 when the Notre Dame rookie had career highs of 22 points, 15 rebounds and 11 field goals in a 105-94 Blue Demon win at Notre Dame.
Peoples was selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team and the 2019 Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team after averaging 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in Cancun. She was named to the ACC All-Academic Team in 2021.
After averaging 18.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 steals as a high school senior, ESPNW ranked her No. 21 in the nation and No. 4 at her position in the class of 2019. USA Today honored her as the Illinois Player of the Year.
Playing for her father Keith Peoples at Schlarman, Anaya scored 2,086 career points and also won a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Americas with the U18 USA team.
"Anaya is one of the greatest players in the history of Illinois basketball, and we recruited her coming out of high school," Bruno said. "When she became available on the transfer portal, we jumped on it right away.
"Anaya will give us ACC experience and great versatility as a big guard as we look to shore up our backcourt.
"She is a great rebounding guard---something that recent DePaul teams have been missing."
The women's basketball coach addressed one of his team's biggest needs two days before Easter announcing that talented Notre Dame guard Anaya Peoples has transferred to the Blue Demons.
A junior with two years of eligibility remaining, Peoples has been a forceful rebounding guard pretty much her entire career in addition to a consistent scorer.
After leading Schlarman Academy in Downstate Danville to back-to-back state titles, the McDonald's All-American made an immediate impact on the NCAA scene averaging 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds as a freshman.
The 8.1 rebounding average ranked 10th in the nation among true freshmen guards and was third all-time for a Notre Dame freshman. Peoples was also fifth in the ACC in steals.
There were only five true freshmen in the country averaging over 12.5 points and eight rebounds that season---Anaya Peoples, South Carolina's Aliyah Boston, Southern Cal's Alissa Pill, Abby Feit (Evansville) and Ila Lane (UC Santa Barbara). Boston led South Carolina to the national title this season and was the consensus National Player of the Year.
Playing all 20 games with 19 starts in her COVID-19 sophomore season, Peoples was the only player in the ACC to average at least nine points, six rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals. She ranked 10th in the conference in steals and 15th in defensive rebounds.
Peoples played in 32 games with 17 starts for the Fighting Irish this season, averaging 3.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. She had 10 points and nine rebounds against Purdue-Fort Wayne and came through with 11 rebounds against Georgia.
No doubt she made a strong impression on Bruno back on Dec. 11, 2019 when the Notre Dame rookie had career highs of 22 points, 15 rebounds and 11 field goals in a 105-94 Blue Demon win at Notre Dame.
Peoples was selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team and the 2019 Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team after averaging 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in Cancun. She was named to the ACC All-Academic Team in 2021.
After averaging 18.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 steals as a high school senior, ESPNW ranked her No. 21 in the nation and No. 4 at her position in the class of 2019. USA Today honored her as the Illinois Player of the Year.
Playing for her father Keith Peoples at Schlarman, Anaya scored 2,086 career points and also won a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Americas with the U18 USA team.
"Anaya is one of the greatest players in the history of Illinois basketball, and we recruited her coming out of high school," Bruno said. "When she became available on the transfer portal, we jumped on it right away.
"Anaya will give us ACC experience and great versatility as a big guard as we look to shore up our backcourt.
"She is a great rebounding guard---something that recent DePaul teams have been missing."
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