She will be replaced by Niele Ivey, an assistant coach for the N.B.A.’s Memphis Grizzlies who was an all-American point guard for the Irish.
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| Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw is retiring after 33 seasons with the Fighting Irish. |
Muffet McGraw, the Hall of Fame coach who won two national championships with the Notre Dame women’s basketball team, is retiring, university officials said Wednesday.
McGraw, 64, spent 33 of her 38 seasons coaching at Notre Dame, and was expected to speak with reporters on Wednesday afternoon.
She was replaced by Niele Ivey, who played for and was an assistant coach under McGraw, Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said. Before taking the head coaching job, Ivey was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the N.B.A. Ivey played five seasons in the W.N.B.A.
“I am grateful to have worked with the best assistant coaches in the business, and I have been blessed to coach so many phenomenal women,” McGraw said in a statement.
McGraw won her first national title with Notre Dame in 2001, with Ivey as a player, then won again in 2018 coaching Arike Ogunbowale, who burst to mainstream stardom with game-winning shots in the semifinal and final of the N.C.A.A. tournament.
“Winning over 900 games and two national championships make Muffet a legendary coach; nurturing strong confident women who are not afraid to use their voice and take a stand makes Muffet a teacher who made a difference in the lives of every student-athlete she taught,” Swarbrick said.
Notre Dame reached seven national title games under McGraw, including six in the past decade. But the Fighting Irish underachieved in the 2019-20 season with a 13-18 record, including a loss to Pittsburgh in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Her string of 24 consecutive N.C.A.A. tournament appearances would have ended this year had the men’s and women’s tournaments not been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ruth Riley, who led Notre Dame to the 2001 title and won both the Naismith and Associated Press Player of the Year Awards that season, called McGraw one of the “greatest influences” in her life.
