Notre Dame basketball player trades the hardwood for dance shoes

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Notre Dame Women's Basketball player, Arike Ogunbowale will join the special edition season of Dancing with the Stars. This season features notable names in sports. 

ABC57 News got a behind the scenes look at the special reveal.

And now, Ogunbowale is trading the hardwood for the dance floor.

The 21-year-old college junior decided to try something new. 

"I'm really excited," she says.

So is her partner, Russian-born dance pro, Gleb Savchenko.

"Arike is fun. She's great. She has a great personality and great energy and she knows how to work hard," he says. "That's the most important thing for me. We work really, really hard, but at the same time you have to have fun.:

This season especially, the competition will be fierce.

All of the contestants are athletes and household names. 

"Athletes are used to training. Dancers train too. They know how to work hard, how tro focus, and how to prepare themselves," he says. It's a huge advantage but at the same time, dancing is very different."

It may be very different, a require a separate set of shoes, but Ogunbowale is looking forward to the new challenge, and making some new friends. 

"To be out there dancing and meet all of the other contestants as well, and all of them are Hall of Famers and greats, so I'm excited to meet them," she says.

But the person she's looking forward to meeting them osT?

"Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He's another basketball player and a Hall of Famer," Ogunbowale says. "He's so amazing, I just want to talk to him and say hi."

So how is the college basketball player planning on balancing school, life, and now Dancing with the Stars?

With the help of her partner.

"He's an amazing dancer. I saw a little bit and we did a little bit, like 15 minutes yesterday," she says."I'm excited. I think he'll be able to teach me well, and I'm excited to learn from him."