How did ND get so good?

[paisan]

ND coaching has done a great job. Muffet is a really good coach. Finally they have done a better job of recruiting . They have recruited to their needs UConn has not. They also have not lost as many players.

 

[UConn82]

Good info from all. Thank you.

No one has done what ND has: have a rivalry with us. All the other teams -- Stanford, Baylor, SC, Maryland, Louisville, et al. -- with rare upsets, we beat them time and again.

Curious to see how the rivalry plays out the next few years. ND loses 4 of their starters next year.

 

[Ozimoto]

They have good coaching, a well developed system and team identity, and they recruit players that are a good fit for their system.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Good info from all. Thank you.

No one has done what ND has: have a rivalry with us. All the other teams -- Stanford, Baylor, SC, Maryland, Louisville, et al. -- with rare upsets, we beat them time and again.

Curious to see how the rivalry plays out the next few years. ND loses 4 of their starters next year.

Well other than Tennessee you mean?

 

[BroadwayVa]

Since Maya graduated, ND has just about played us even head to head, if memory serves me correctly. Moreover, they have beaten us 3 out of 5 in the Final Four.

Now, yes, we have won 4 NCs and they but 1, during this time. Nonetheless, no other program has had anywhere near the success against us that they have. I mean South Carolina has not beaten us once in this time period. Baylor once for sure when Stewie was a freshman, but that is all, I believe. Etc.

Before that, we routinely beat ND.

What is different? Is it Niele Ivey, their assistant coach? I mean, Muffet McGraw didn't all of a sudden become a much better coach.

Thoughts?

ND has been really good for a long time. The beat a Maya led team in the FF. The Big East Conf was always UConn Vs ND head to head. Go back to ND with Ratay, Riley, Simons (sp), and before Uconn and ND battled. Many write about Tenn and Uc only because Tenn was the Tiger Uconn took down. But ND was the panther Uconn battled twice every season. A top rated top playing ND is not new.. I don't remember routinely ever beating ND, even with Stewie (Ms everything BB) ND beat Uconn, even with Bird, and company ND beat Uconn. I'M A UCONN FAN FOR YEARS, but truth is the truth.

 

[bballnut90]

ND has been really good for a long time. The beat a Maya led team in the FF. The Big East Conf was always UConn Vs ND head to head. Go back to ND with Ratay, Riley, Simons (sp), and before Uconn and ND battled. Many write about Tenn and Uc only because Tenn was the Tiger Uconn took down. But ND was the panther Uconn battled twice every season. A top rated top playing ND is not new.. I don't remember routinely ever beating ND, even with Stewie (Ms everything BB) ND beat Uconn, even with Bird, and company ND beat Uconn. I'M A UCONN FAN FOR YEARS, but truth is the truth.

Prior to Diggins, Notre Dame was consistently good but their only great team was in 2001. The 2001 team handily beat a fully loaded UCONN team in the regular season and went on to win the title that year led by 3 seniors and 2 juniors. Besides that year though, Notre Dame only advanced beyond the Sweet 16 once from 1988-2010.

The real contender from the Big East during the 2000s was Rutgers. They played an ugly brand of basketball, but they had some really standout defensive teams. Rutgers was very good between 1998-2008, winning the Big East 3x with players like Ajavon, Pondexter, Carson, Vaughn and Prince.

 

[JonathanXIV]

ND has been really good for a long time. The beat a Maya led team in the FF. The Big East Conf was always UConn Vs ND head to head. Go back to ND with Ratay, Riley, Simons (sp), and before Uconn and ND battled. Many write about Tenn and Uc only because Tenn was the Tiger Uconn took down. But ND was the panther Uconn battled twice every season. A top rated top playing ND is not new.. I don't remember routinely ever beating ND, even with Stewie (Ms everything BB) ND beat Uconn, even with Bird, and company ND beat Uconn. I'M A UCONN FAN FOR YEARS, but truth is the truth.

Then you are not going back far enough. UConn is 38-12 lifetime against ND. Consider that ND won 6 out of 7 games at one point, it's pretty clear that UConn did beat ND routinely for years. In fact, UConn historically has had a harder time with Stanford (11-7) than ND.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

April 2007 - Gail Goestenkors leaves Duke for Texas.
May 2007 - ND hires Niele Ivey as an assistant coach.

As I explained a few months ago, it is my belief that had Gail Goestenkors stayed at Duke, the Blue Devils would have emerged as the new rival for UConn. Follow me through this...

1) When Gail Goesteknors left Duke in 2007, her teams had made 4 Final Fours and 7 Elite Eights in the previous 10 seasons.

2) When Gail left Duke in 2007, her record was 2-2 against Geno Auriemma (winning the last two matchups, both in Connecticut).

3) When Gail left Duke, her record was 5-4 against Pat Summitt (including winning the last three matchups, winning the last two matchups in Knoxville, and going 3-0 against the recruiting class of Parker/Hornbuckle/Fuller/Anosike).

4) Had Goestenkors stayed at Duke, Nneka Ogwumike would have attended Duke (info from Nneka to Alana Beard to my source).

5) Had Nneka gone to Duke, Chiney Ogwumike would have gone to Duke (info from Nneka to Beard to my source).

6) Had G stayed at Duke, Skylar Diggins likely would have gone to Duke (per my source). But Muffet McGraw and Niele Ivey had targeted and recruited Diggins for years; getting her was the beginning of something truly great for the Irish.

The two biggest beneficiaries of Gail Goesktenkors leaving Duke were Muffet McGraw and Tara Vanderveer.

And let me repeat - that is what is so frustrating for me, as a Duke grad/fan - to see where the program was, where the program is, and what the program should have become but did not.

@triaddukefan
@ucbart
@EricLA
@bballnut90
@CocoHusky

 

[BobbyJ]

April 2007 - Gail Goestenkors leaves Duke for Texas.
May 2007 - ND hires Niele Ivey as an assistant coach.

As I explained a few months ago, it is my belief that had Gail Goestenkors stayed at Duke, the Blue Devils would have emerged as the new rival for UConn. Follow me through this...

1) When Gail Goesteknors left Duke in 2007, her teams had made 4 Final Fours and 7 Elite Eights in the previous 10 seasons.

2) When Gail left Duke in 2007, her record was 2-2 against Geno Auriemma (winning the last two matchups, both in Connecticut).

3) When Gail left Duke, her record was 5-4 against Pat Summitt (including winning the last three matchups, winning the last two matchups in Knoxville, and going 3-0 against the recruiting class of Parker/Hornbuckle/Fuller/Anosike).

4) Had Goestenkors stayed at Duke, Nneka Ogwumike would have attended Duke (info from Nneka to Alana Beard to my source).

5) Had Nneka gone to Duke, Chiney Ogwumike would have gone to Duke (info from Nneka to Beard to my source).

6) Had G stayed at Duke, Skylar Diggins likely would have gone to Duke (per my source). But Muffet McGraw and Niele Ivey had targeted and recruited Diggins for years; getting her was the beginning of something truly great for the Irish.

The two biggest beneficiaries of Gail Goesktenkors leaving Duke were Muffet McGraw and Tara Vanderveer.

And let me repeat - that is what is so frustrating for me, as a Duke grad/fan - to see where the program was, where the program is, and what the program should have become but did not.

@triaddukefan
@ucbart
@EricLA
@bballnut90
@CocoHusky

Did she go to Texas just for more money or were there other reasons?

 

[EricLA]

April 2007 - Gail Goestenkors leaves Duke for Texas.
May 2007 - ND hires Niele Ivey as an assistant coach.

As I explained a few months ago, it is my belief that had Gail Goestenkors stayed at Duke, the Blue Devils would have emerged as the new rival for UConn. Follow me through this...

1) When Gail Goesteknors left Duke in 2007, her teams had made 4 Final Fours and 7 Elite Eights in the previous 10 seasons.

2) When Gail left Duke in 2007, her record was 2-2 against Geno Auriemma (winning the last two matchups, both in Connecticut).

3) When Gail left Duke, her record was 5-4 against Pat Summitt (including winning the last three matchups, winning the last two matchups in Knoxville, and going 3-0 against the recruiting class of Parker/Hornbuckle/Fuller/Anosike).

4) Had Goestenkors stayed at Duke, Nneka Ogwumike would have attended Duke (info from Nneka to Alana Beard to my source).

5) Had Nneka gone to Duke, Chiney Ogwumike would have gone to Duke (info from Nneka to Beard to my source).

6) Had G stayed at Duke, Skylar Diggins likely would have gone to Duke (per my source). But Muffet McGraw and Niele Ivey had targeted and recruited Diggins for years; getting her was the beginning of something truly great for the Irish.

The two biggest beneficiaries of Gail Goesktenkors leaving Duke were Muffet McGraw and Tara Vanderveer.

And let me repeat - that is what is so frustrating for me, as a Duke grad/fan - to see where the program was, where the program is, and what the program should have become but did not.

@triaddukefan
@ucbart
@EricLA
@bballnut90
@CocoHusky

Totally feel ya Barry. I like Duke women and root for them to do well, but I don't think Joanne McCallie is the right person, for reasons you've told us and also what we discussed in the past. Any chance a new coach is possible?

 

[Dillon77]

Maddy Cable was ranked ~#50, but ended up being an All-ACC performer in her 5th season. ND is starting to get more of the "McBrides" rather than the "Cables." Every few seasons they will get a top 5 guard. She turned some average players to really good, and now she has been getting to work with the already really good players.

They have good coaching, a well developed system and team identity, and they recruit players that are a good fit for their system.

I took most of the weekend off to be a football fan (ND vs. Syracuse, NY Giants vs. Tampa Bay) and found an ND thread on the Boneyard!
Great reads and would just like to add a few points to these two comments.

- MM had that great team in 2001 with Ruth Riley, Niele Ivey, Alica Ratay (still one of my favorite shooters ever) and Kelly Siemon, but she didn't get back to that kind of level until Skylar ...and others...came aboard.

- And in that early segment, they were still trying to get players who could be coached into becoming solid contributors. While Niele Ivey has taken this to a superb level as recruiting coordinator, Jonathan Tsipis held that role for awhile and was responsible for bringing in a lot of Sky and McBride's running mates, including
Tsipis’ success stories including Lindsay Schrader, Natalie"Nasty" Novosel, Brittany Mallory and Maddie Cable who was a Graduate Assistant for him at Wisconsin.

Once Tsipis left for George Washington, Niele Ivey took over the recruiting side and jacked it up to another level. And while Jewel Lody, Arike O., the Mabreys and Jackie Young are leading the way, ND still looks for the player who can help do the things that keep the ND style of play going, such as Hannah Huffman or Mychal Johnson. This year's model is ND's lowest-rated incoming guard, Abby Prohaska, who played 26 minutes against Depaul, had 0 turnovers and led the team in assist and steals while showing a defensive work rate that would make Mallory and Hufman proud.

I fully hope and expect ND to get top guards in 2020 (hope to turn a paige), but MM will always be on the lookout for the Alli Campbell's of the world, too, to join forces.

 

[bballnut90]

Just to piggy back off of this, she is probably the second best coach for developing players. Specifically guards. Players like Diggins and Loyd would have been great anywhere they went. McBride is an example I think of, she was ~#20 out of HS. She ended up being the 3rd pick of her draft. Maddy Cable was ranked ~#50, but ended up being an All-ACC performer in her 5th season. ND is starting to get more of the "McBrides" rather than the "Cables." Every few seasons they will get a top 5 guard. She turned some average players to really good, and now she has been getting to work with the already really good players. Diggins really lifted the profile for them.

I think she's proven to be on par with Geno, or anyone else, when it comes to developing players. At least in the last 10 years, she hasn't had a single top 30-40 kid who didnt outperform her HS ranking. The only exception was Taya Reimer who had her own unique situation and transferred after two years.

 

[bbsamjj]

Prior to Diggins, Notre Dame was consistently good but their only great team was in 2001. The 2001 team handily beat a fully loaded UCONN team in the regular season and went on to win the title that year led by 3 seniors and 2 juniors. Besides that year though, Notre Dame only advanced beyond the Sweet 16 once from 1988-2010.

The real contender from the Big East during the 2000s was Rutgers. They played an ugly brand of basketball, but they had some really standout defensive teams. Rutgers was very good between 1998-2008, winning the Big East 3x with players like Ajavon, Pondexter, Carson, Vaughn and Prince.

While RU and ND both would threaten UConn in the Big East, and occasionally come out on top, the best rivalry in the Big East was actually ND-RU. Since CVS got to RU, the teams are 13-13 against each other. In fact during ND's first championship run in 2001, RU gave ND its only regular season loss (while Tammy Sutton-Brown was maddeningly inconsistent in college, she seemed to always turn it on against Ruth Riley). Niele Ivey/Tasha Pointer match-ups were also highly entertaining, and both are now respected coaches.

 

[bballnut90]

While RU and ND both would threaten UConn in the Big East, and occasionally come out on top, the best rivalry in the Big East was actually ND-RU. Since CVS got to RU, the teams are 13-13 against each other. In fact during ND's first championship run in 2001, RU gave ND its only regular season loss (while Tammy Sutton-Brown was maddeningly inconsistent in college, she seemed to always turn it on against Ruth Riley). Niele Ivey/Tasha Pointer match-ups were also highly entertaining, and both are now respected coaches.

Did they have any major games of note aside from the 2001 game? Rutgers best seasons were when ND was down and vice versa so I don't think we saw these teams both competing at a high level head to head besides in 2001 when Rutgers was strong and Notre Dame had a championship squad. I don't have results in front of me, but I'd guess that CViv dominated the first part of the rivalry while Muffet did better the last 4-5 years until the Big East crumbled.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Did she go to Texas just for more money or were there other reasons?

During the height of Beard vs. Taurasi, the two UConn-Duke games during that time (Feb. 2003, won by UConn at Duke, and Jan. 2004, won by Duke in Hartford), and the postseason performances in 2003 and 2004, there were many, many posters on this forum and on The Summitt (and the ESPN board, for those who remember that forum) who repeatedly posted a variation on: "Gail can't coach. All she can do is recruit. She is an average in-game coach at best, who can't win the big one." And to be fair, she did not always deal well with the pressure (though the "can't coach" comments were harsh, even if they were hyperbolic). A few posters even predicted that once Beard graduated, Duke would fade into oblivion and Goestenkors would "exposed."

For your consideration, this is what Goestenkors did after Beard, the best player in Duke WBB history, graduated:

-- In 2004-05, Duke lost Alana Beard, Iciss Tillis, and Vicki Krapohl (all three to graduation), Brittany Hunter (transfer), and Lindsey Harding (suspension). Duke had 8 healthy players (and had to play Wanisha Smith as the starting point guard), but went 30-5 and made the Elite Eight, where it lost to LSU (with Augustus, Fowles, and Johnson) by nine points​

​

-- In 2005-06, Duke went 31-4 and lost, in overtime, to Maryland in the national championship game. UNC also made the Final Four that year, so that was an amazing accmoplishment given the uber-talent in the ACC. That year, Goestenkors' team blew out Tennessee (the freshman year of Hornbuckle, etc., plus very good upperclassmen) by over 20 points, then beat UConn in the Elite Eight in overtime in Bridgeport.​

​

-- In 2006-07, Duke lost Monique Currie, Jessica Foley, and Mistie Bass (all to graduation) and Chante Black (injury), but went undefeated in the regular season and finished 32-2 overall.​

Gail built Duke from nothing (literally, the bottom of the ACC). She made the Elite Eight in her sixth year and made the NCAA Championship game in her seventh season. Over the last ten years of her tenure at Duke, her teams made 7 Elite Eights, 4 Final Fours, and 2 National Championship games.

And over the last seven years (2000-01, Alana Beard's first season, through 2006-07, when Gail left), these were her numbers:

Overall record: 220-25 (89.79 percent )
ACC record: 98-8 (92.45 percent )
NCAA record: 23-7 (one NCAA runner-up, three Final Fours, five years at least making the Elite Eight, all seven years at least making the Sweet 16 )
Against Top 5 Opponents: 14-14 (50.00 percent )
Against Top 10 Opponents: 25-14 (64.10 percent ), but 11-0 (100.00 percent) against teams ranked #6-#10
Against Ranked Opponents: 60-20 (80.00 percent )
Against UConn: 2-1 (both wins in the State of Connecticut )
Against Tennessee: 4-3 (including going 3-0 against the recruiting class of Candace Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Alex Fuller, and Nicky Anosike)

Jody Conradt retires, and Texas courts Gail. While she was being recruited by Texas, then-AD Joe Alleva completely disrespects her and devalues all of her accomplishments, by saying this (in March 2007):

Compared to the top tier of coaches in the women's game, however, Goestenkors' salary does not stack up. Tennessee's Pat Summitt is the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball at an average of $1.125 million guaranteed over six seasons, and Geno Auriemma's contract with Connecticut guarantees him $988,000 per year.

"They've both won a lot of national championships and are part of programs that make money for their institutions. They bring in profit for their athletic departments, and that's not the case for our women's program," Alleva said. "I'm sure some of these other institutions will offer significantly large packages to encourage her to go.

LINK

This was the icing on the cake. Texas offered a lot more money. Duke later offered a package that basically matched Texas financially, but the damage was done. AD Alleva's comments stung Goestenkors on a personal level. Rather than discuss her accomplishments, he went in on why she should not be paid more and why other schools might want her.

As an aside, Alleva was later "encouraged" to look for another job and he left the next year for LSU.

Joanne P. McCallie replaced Goesteknors. In her 11 years, Coach P has made four Elite Eights, but zero Final Fours. Coach P also missed the NCAA Tournament one year and has lost three times in the second round of the NCAAT. And @EricLA , Duke gave Coach P a contract extension this summer, adding two more years to her current deal.

 

[Tex-Lager93]

I'd argue that playing in the Old Big East provided the necessary learnings toward becoming great. Casual fans like to hammer UConn for being bad for the game (like Bama in football), but I believe that it forced others to raise their game. Notre Dame took on the challenge - as did Louisville - and Depaul. And near the end, Notre Dame won the conference twice and has gone on to win every ACC championship since. And playing in the ACC has helped them sustain the success - decent competition on a regular basis versus UConn playing in AAC, which doesn't provide the same gauntlet. Ultimately, it's been great for the game.

 

[SVCBeercats]

What is different? Is it Niele Ivey, their assistant coach? I mean, Muffet McGraw didn't all of a sudden become a much better coach. Thoughts?

Combination of McGraw always having been a really, really, really good coach and ND having a depth of seriously high quality players. As of today I'd say ND's overall team talent is better and much deeper than UCONN's and anyone else's.

 

[oldude]

Keep in mind that 3 of those ND victories over UConn took place in the 2012-13 season by 1 pt, 2 pts & 9 pts in triple OT. But the best part, UConn and ND met a 4th time that year in the national semifinals with the Huskies hammering the Irish by 18 on their way to the national championship with Stewie walking away with her 1st of 4 MOP’s.

 

[bballnut90]

April 2007 - Gail Goestenkors leaves Duke for Texas.
May 2007 - ND hires Niele Ivey as an assistant coach.

As I explained a few months ago, it is my belief that had Gail Goestenkors stayed at Duke, the Blue Devils would have emerged as the new rival for UConn. Follow me through this...

1) When Gail Goesteknors left Duke in 2007, her teams had made 4 Final Fours and 7 Elite Eights in the previous 10 seasons.

2) When Gail left Duke in 2007, her record was 2-2 against Geno Auriemma (winning the last two matchups, both in Connecticut).

3) When Gail left Duke, her record was 5-4 against Pat Summitt (including winning the last three matchups, winning the last two matchups in Knoxville, and going 3-0 against the recruiting class of Parker/Hornbuckle/Fuller/Anosike).

4) Had Goestenkors stayed at Duke, Nneka Ogwumike would have attended Duke (info from Nneka to Alana Beard to my source).

5) Had Nneka gone to Duke, Chiney Ogwumike would have gone to Duke (info from Nneka to Beard to my source).

6) Had G stayed at Duke, Skylar Diggins likely would have gone to Duke (per my source). But Muffet McGraw and Niele Ivey had targeted and recruited Diggins for years; getting her was the beginning of something truly great for the Irish.

The two biggest beneficiaries of Gail Goesktenkors leaving Duke were Muffet McGraw and Tara Vanderveer.

And let me repeat - that is what is so frustrating for me, as a Duke grad/fan - to see where the program was, where the program is, and what the program should have become but did not.

@triaddukefan
@ucbart
@EricLA
@bballnut90
@CocoHusky

I do enjoy "what ifs" like this. Duke would've been loaded in 2009-2011 when UCONN really didn't have a peer. In 2009, the likely starting 5 is:
C-Chante Black
F-Nneka Ogwumike
F-Joy Cheek
G-Jasmine Thomas
G-Abby Waner

with Krystal Thomas, Karima Christmas and Carrem Gay coming off the bench. A couple of things to note:
1. Abby Waner performed much better under GG than JPM. She went from being an AA candidate as a sophomore to a 32% shooter under P. She seemed on track to be Duke's next star one Bales/Harding graduated, and likely does become Duke's go to player under GG. As a senior, she could've been a POY candidate, or at the very least, an All-ACC performer.

2. Jasmine Thomas and Krystal Thomas were very good defenders in college, but both were very mediocre offensively. GG likely gets (a lot) more out of both of those players than P was able to. GG also recruited (and landed) both players...P walked in with both as incoming freshmen.

Fast forward to 2010 and your roster could be:
C-Krystal Thomas, Jr
F-Nneka Ogwumike, So
F-Karima Christmas, Jr
G-Jas Thomas, Jr
G-Skylar Diggins, Fr
Bench:
Joy Cheek
Bridgette Mitchell
Keturah Jackson

The roster without Nneka and Skylar still nearly made the Final Four. They shot 23% from the floor against Baylor in the Elite 8 and still almost won the game (had an 8 point lead late before losing it). Not sure they squad could beat UCONN with Charles/Moore, but I think they would've been in the title game opposite UCONN and it would've been a good battle.

Fast forward again to 2010-11 and this is where you have a title team. Keep in mind, all of these players are being developed by GG instead of P:
C-Krystal Thomas, Sr
F-Nneka Ogwumike, Jr
F-Karima Christmas, Sr
G- Jasmine Thomas, Sr
G-Skylar Diggins, So

Plus anyone GG recruits from 2008, 2009, and 2010 aside from Diggins/Nneka.

 

[bbsamjj]

Did they have any major games of note aside from the 2001 game? Rutgers best seasons were when ND was down and vice versa so I don't think we saw these teams both competing at a high level head to head besides in 2001 when Rutgers was strong and Notre Dame had a championship squad. I don't have results in front of me, but I'd guess that CViv dominated the first part of the rivalry while Muffet did better the last 4-5 years until the Big East crumbled.

The 2000 season saw them play two great games, both went to OT. ND won at RU after a dagger Ratay 3-pointer sent the game to OT, and then RU won in OT during the Big East Tourney in CT.

I would say most games were largely very competitive through 2010, though you are right there were few "classics."

Also a reminder that for a few seasons during this time period, BC was very good.

 

[bballnut90]

During the height of Beard vs. Taurasi, the two UConn-Duke games during that time (Feb. 2003, won by UConn at Duke, and Jan. 2004, won by Duke in Hartford), and the postseason performances in 2003 and 2004, there were many, many posters on this forum and on The Summitt (and the ESPN board, for those who remember that forum) who repeatedly posted a variation on: "Gail can't coach. All she can do is recruit. She is an average in-game coach at best, who can't win the big one." And to be fair, she did not always deal well with the pressure (though the "can't coach" comments were harsh, even if they were hyperbolic). A few posters even predicted that once Beard graduated, Duke would fade into oblivion and Goestenkors would "exposed."

For your consideration, this is what Goestenkors did after Beard, the best player in Duke WBB history, graduated:

-- In 2004-05, Duke lost Alana Beard, Iciss Tillis, and Vicki Krapohl (all three to graduation), Brittany Hunter (transfer), and Lindsey Harding (suspension). Duke had 8 healthy players (and had to play Wanisha Smith as the starting point guard), but went 30-5 and made the Elite Eight, where it lost to LSU (with Augustus, Fowles, and Johnson) by nine points​

​

-- In 2005-06, Duke went 31-4 and lost, in overtime, to Maryland in the national championship game. UNC also made the Final Four that year, so that was an amazing accmoplishment given the uber-talent in the ACC. That year, Goestenkors' team blew out Tennessee (the freshman year of Hornbuckle, etc., plus very good upperclassmen) by over 20 points, then beat UConn in the Elite Eight in overtime in Bridgeport.​

​

-- In 2006-07, Duke lost Monique Currie, Jessica Foley, and Mistie Bass (all to graduation) and Chante Black (injury), but went undefeated in the regular season and finished 32-2 overall.​

Gail built Duke from nothing (literally, the bottom of the ACC). She made the Elite Eight in her sixth year and made the NCAA Championship game in her seventh season. Over the last ten years of her tenure at Duke, her teams made 7 Elite Eights, 4 Final Fours, and 2 National Championship games.

And over the last seven years (2000-01, Alana Beard's first season, through 2006-07, when Gail left), these were her numbers:

Overall record: 220-25 (89.79 percent )
ACC record: 98-8 (92.45 percent )
NCAA record: 23-7 (one NCAA runner-up, three Final Fours, five years at least making the Elite Eight, all seven years at least making the Sweet 16 )
Against Top 5 Opponents: 14-14 (50.00 percent )
Against Top 10 Opponents: 25-14 (64.10 percent ), but 11-0 (100.00 percent) against teams ranked #6-#10
Against Ranked Opponents: 60-20 (80.00 percent )
Against UConn: 2-1 (both wins in the State of Connecticut )
Against Tennessee: 4-3 (including going 3-0 against the recruiting class of Candace Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Alex Fuller, and Nicky Anosike)

Jody Conradt retires, and Texas courts Gail. While she was being recruited by Texas, then-AD Joe Alleva completely disrespects her and devalues all of her accomplishments, by saying this (in March 2007):

Compared to the top tier of coaches in the women's game, however, Goestenkors' salary does not stack up. Tennessee's Pat Summitt is the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball at an average of $1.125 million guaranteed over six seasons, and Geno Auriemma's contract with Connecticut guarantees him $988,000 per year.

"They've both won a lot of national championships and are part of programs that make money for their institutions. They bring in profit for their athletic departments, and that's not the case for our women's program," Alleva said. "I'm sure some of these other institutions will offer significantly large packages to encourage her to go.

LINK

This was the icing on the cake. Texas offered a lot more money. Duke later offered a package that basically matched Texas financially, but the damage was done. AD Alleva's comments stung Goestenkors on a personal level. Rather than discuss her accomplishments, he went in on why she should not be paid more and why other schools might want her.

As an aside, Alleva was later "encouraged" to look for another job and he left the next year for LSU.

Joanne P. McCallie replaced Goesteknors. In her 11 years, Coach P has made four Elite Eights, but zero Final Fours. Coach P also missed the NCAA Tournament one year and has lost three times in the second round of the NCAAT. And @EricLA , Duke gave Coach P a contract extension this summer, adding two more years to her current deal.

Piggy backing off that:
-In 2005 when they lost to LSU, it was a 3 point game with 4 minutes left to go. That alone was a huge accomplishment. LSU was the title favorite and #1 overall seed entering the tournament. They had the POY in Augustus, arguably the best PG in the country in Temeka Johnson, and the most imposing presence in freshman Sylvia Fowles. Duke really had no business being there.

-In 2006, it was actually Hornbuckle's sophomore year. Even so, Tennessee was #1 and undefeated at the time. Duke and Tennessee were the consensus #1 and #2 entering that season, and Duke destroyed Tennessee that night.

-In 2007, Duke was #6 preseason and no one thought they were a viable title candidate. That year they blitzed through the ACC when it was at its peak (North Carolina had Little/Latta/Larkins and Maryland had their starting 5 back from their title team), plus beat Tennessee in Knoxville. That squad definitely overachieved, but they peaked too early. They ended up losing on a pair of missed free throws by Harding in the Sweet 16, losing to Rutgers..a team they beat by 40 earlier in the year. I still think to this day, watching Harding go out way she did has to be one of the most painful moments in women's basketball history...that was brutal, especially after she had been brilliant all season.

 

[bballnut90]

The 2000 season saw them play two great games, both went to OT. ND won at RU after a dagger Ratay 3-pointer sent the game to OT, and then RU won in OT during the Big East Tourney in CT.

I would say most games were largely very competitive through 2010, though you are right there were few "classics."

Also a reminder that for a few seasons during this time period, BC was very good.

That would've been fun to see. I loved that 2000 Rutgers team.

 

[boontonbomber]

Being in the same conference helped ND. It results in familiarity with a teams tendencies.

McGraw knows UConn as well as she knows her own team. Offensively, I don't think Geno has done anything differently for years.

 

[Bajan Best]

Oh please!! you guys make the rivalry seem so close....
Overall it's 36 -12 in favour of UCONN. that's a 3-1 win ratio...
And if you are just referring to the past decade, it's a 2-1 ratio of 16-8

*** UCONN Notre Dame Rivalry ***

 

[triaddukefan]

Totally feel ya Barry. I like Duke women and root for them to do well, but I don't think Joanne McCallie is the right person, for reasons you've told us and also what we discussed in the past. Any chance a new coach is possible?

If I would have won that big lottery a few weeks ago..... Duke WCBB definitely would have gotten a new head coach starting in April 2019 ....