Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles is the best passer in the country and almost guaranteed to be the number two overall pick.
The 2025 WNBA Draft is coming up, so I’ll be scouting some of the draft prospects the Washington Mystics could select with their three top-six picks. I took a look at Paige Bueckers the other day, so next up is Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles.
Olivia Miles profile
- College: Notre Dame
- Position: Point guard
- Height: 5’10
- Where she is likely to be drafted: Second overall to the Seattle Storm (via a trade with the Los Angeles Sparks)
- Likelihood that the Mystics will draft her: If the Mystics are absolutely in love with Miles, they could feasibly package two of their top-six picks to move up to second and draft her.
Scouting report
Miles is not the best point guard in the class — that would be Paige Bueckers. A common observation is that Miles is the best “true” point guard in the class, and while I do not necessarily disagree with that distinction, I feel that it sells her short as an all-around player.
Miles is the most creative and confident passer in college basketball, especially in the open court. She knows where everyone on the court is at all times, and she has an ability to hit her teammates ahead in transition that should make her the engine of a perennial top-five offense in the WNBA.
When Miles is dribbling the ball up the court, she is liable to make a play the minute she steps past her own team’s three-point line. She makes reads — particularly in the open court — faster than defenses can possibly react. She also seems to decide whether to shoot or pass the ball at the last possible second, making her a defcon 1 offensive threat so long as the basketball is in her hands.
Miles is so much more than arguably the best passer in the nation, however. She is a fantastic scorer, even despite her raw numbers having been eaten into by virtue of sharing a backcourt with Hannah Hidalgo, the third-leading scorer in the nation.
Miles has steadily improved her scoring average over her career all the way up to 15.5 points per game. She’s also evolved from a total non-threat from deep (24.6% from three on 3.1 attempts per game in her first three seasons) to a genuine sniper (40.1% from three on 5.4 attempts per game this year). She is likely to come back down to earth a little bit, but that sort of jump in both volume and efficiency are strong indicators of a good shooter at the professional level.
Miles is also an incredible finisher who uses her physicality really well on drives to the rim despite not having the positional size advantage of a player like Bueckers.
Miles’ scoring ability is merely a bonus, as her playmaking prowess is beyond sufficient to keep her on the floor when her shot isn’t falling. In her first two NCAA Tournament games, she recorded more assists than points as her Fighting Irish cruised to two easy victories.
Notre Dame fan’s perspective
My best friend Kyle is a senior at Notre Dame, so I texted him to get a student and die-hard hoops fan’s perspective on Miles’ game: “If Miles was [the] #1 option she’d be close to, if not at, a triple double [average] imo,” he told me.
Kyle’s only qualm with Miles’ game is her tendency to jack up threes early in the shot clock, though I’d imagine this habit is largely a product of her feeling her dramatically improved shooting touch and will subside in the WNBA. (I should also specify here that Kyle is an idiot and doesn’t know what he’s talking about a lot of the time).
Conclusion
Miles is not quite a generational prospect like draft classmate Bueckers, but she projects as a franchise guard and future All-Star. The Mystics should strongly consider packaging two of their top-six picks to move up and select Miles second overall.