Freshman McBride follows in older sister’s footsteps

Freshman Karlee McBride admits there’s a sibling rivalry between her and her older sister, Kayla, a senior at Notre Dame. The rivalry isn’t as big as it used to be though, and Karlee can tell why.

“Our mom doesn’t let us play against each other anymore,” Karlee said. “We’re just very competitive, and it can lead to some altercations.”

Despite this, Karlee says her sister remains a great role model and someone she always looks up to.  

“It’s always been a rivalry, but we’re very close,” Karlee said. “It’s more of a love thing than a hate thing.”

Kayla also gave her advice before she began her collegiate career at IU.

“You just have to keep working hard, it gets rough everyday, but you just have to keep pushing through,” Karlee said.

She said the biggest adjustment in the transition from the high school to the college level has been the conditioning.

“Every little thing is a big aspect of the game,” Karlee said. “Just being focused all day and in every practice is huge.”

Karlee is from Erie, Pa. She said basketball is huge in her hometown and it’s always been competitive.

“I thought my town was a big basketball town, but it’s huge here,” she said. “Everyone knows you here, everyone knows you’re on the women’s basketball team, the men’s basketball team.”

Karlee originally committed to Bowling Green when IU Coach Curt Miller was a head coach there. After IU hired Miller, she decommitted from Bowling Green and committed to IU.

“I remember getting a phone call from Coach Miller saying that he was coming here,” she said. “I always wanted to play for Coach Miller. He’s the reason why I’m here today.”

Karlee is one of seven freshman and nine total first-year players on IU Coach Curt Miller’s roster this season. She said it’s a good feeling being one of the first-year players.

“It’s good to see all that we can bring to the team,” Karlee said. “It’s actually quite nice to follow the seniors and their positivity and their leadership.”

“It really helps us get through the hard times that we think that we can never get
through.”

In the fifth grade, Karlee was a cheerleader. However, after seeing her older sister play basketball, she said she decided to play, too.

“I wanted to be just like my sister,” Karlee said. “Watching my sister play definitely made me want to play basketball, too.”

Basketball runs in the McBride family. In addition to her sister playing at Notre Dame, Karlee’s Olivia Schmidt from Buffalo, N.Y., who is already being recruited as a freshman in high school.

“She’s gonna get there,” Karlee said. “She’s really good, she’s a good athlete — that’s on my mom’s side.”

She said that basketball mostly runs on her mom’s side of the family.

“But my dad is our coach,” Karlee said.

Players and coaches both praised Karlee for her efforts as a freshman. Senior Tabitha
Gerardot said Karlee has a nice touch when she’s comfortable with her shot and sees a lot of potential in her.

“She’s shown a willingness to do extra work,” Gerardot said.

Miller said the team has been affectionately referring to her as the microwave.

“She’s on the white team a lot, and that second unit provides the offensive spark,” Miller said. “She can really warm up.”

Follow women’s basketball reporter Stuart Jackson on Twitter @Stuart_Jackson1.