It's official - Cunningham joins ND staff

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[Icebear]

Wow, I do not remember her at all.

 

[meyers7]

The name Beth Morgan sounds somewhat familiar.

 

[LesMis89]

She was a red-headed menace and that's said in an admiring way. Remember her well.

 

[grizz36]

Wow, I do not remember her at all.

She played for ND before global warming drove you south.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Outstanding player. Also, an outstanding coach.

 

[rjp172]

All time leading scorer at ND. Dad was longtime baseball coach at IU. ND only had one previous NCAA tourney victory before she led them to the 97 Final Four.

 

[speedoo]

And

All time leading scorer at ND. Dad was longtime baseball coach at IU. ND only had one previous NCAA tourney victory before she led them to the 97 Final Four.

ND had a frontcourt stud that year too. What was her name? Katrina McClain?

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

And
ND had a frontcourt stud that year too. What was her name? Katrina McClain?

Katrina Gaither, IIRC.

 

[rjp172]

And
ND had a frontcourt stud that year too. What was her name? Katrina McClain?

Gaither is ND's second all-time scoring leader. That was a great 1-2 punch for ND.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Beth Morgan was an outstanding player at Notre Dame. Notre Dame has had some outstanding players come through their program. It looks as if their bench will be populated with a couple of them. This new hire means that Niele Ivey gets to sit closer to the head coach which means more television exposure which, in turn, means that Notre Dame is a must see WCBB regardless of how well the team performs.

Note: A quick look at the Notre Dame site indicates that Beth Cunningham is coming in as an associate coach, jumping right over Niele Ivey. I hope Ivey gets a raise...

 

[VAUConnFan]

Outstanding player. Also, an outstanding coach.

I have no doubt that she is probably an outstanding coach having always beleived that a coach is only as good as the player he/she coaches. but, if Ms Cunningham is going to be graded on the same Boneyard curve as Carolyn Peck is graded, then the jury is still out.

Now, is Ms Cunningham the coach in waiting? One would have to believe so considering that she resigned her head coaching position at VCU and has been immediately installed as an associate coach.

 

[rjp172]

MM already stated that she wouldn't be surprised if it's just a couple year stint before she leaves for another HC job. Cunningham get's associated with a coaching at a top program and experience recruiting players a few notches above VCU talent level. Although, Hollingsworth turned out to be special and I think still has great upside in the WNBA. She was so young when she graduated from VCU. Cunningham interviewed for the IU job and was passed over, despite being a Bloomington native and father's status with the athletic department. Not that she was the best hire, but all of that combined with the fact IU doesn't really even care had to give her pause about what was the best move to get to a BCS school. MM drew a comparison to former ND men's asst Fran McCaffery who was head coach at Siena before returning to be an asst at ND. He then took the HC job at Iowa. If Cunningham want to be "the coach in waiting" she needs more experience and individual success to jump over McGuff and probably Tsipis very soon.

 

[speedoo]

MM already stated that she wouldn't be surprised if it's just a couple year stint before she leaves for another HC job. Cunningham get's associated with a coaching at a top program and experience recruiting players a few notches above VCU talent level. Although, Hollingsworth turned out to be special and I think still has great upside in the WNBA. She was so young when she graduated from VCU. Cunningham interviewed for the IU job and was passed over, despite being a Bloomington native and father's status with the athletic department. Not that she was the best hire, but all of that combined with the fact IU doesn't really even care had to give her pause about what was the best move to get to a BCS school. MM drew a comparison to former ND men's asst Fran McCaffery who was head coach at Siena before returning to be an asst at ND. He then took the HC job at Iowa. If Cunningham want to be "the coach in waiting" she needs more experience and individual success to jump over McGuff and probably Tsipis very soon.

Is McGuff still highly thought of in South Bend? I was not impressed with his coaching at Xavier.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Is McGuff still highly thought of in South Bend? I was not impressed with his coaching at Xavier.

Really?

Since you are one of the few (I suspect) with that opinion, could you elaborate??

 

[DaddyChoc]

Beth Morgan was an outstanding player at Notre Dame. Notre Dame has had some outstanding players come through their program. It looks as if their bench will be populated with a couple of them. This new hire means that Niele Ivey gets to sit closer to the head coach which means more television exposure which, in turn, means that Notre Dame is a must see WCBB regardless of how well the team performs.

Note: A quick look at the Notre Dame site indicates that Beth Cunningham is coming in as an associate coach, jumping right over Niele Ivey. I hope Ivey gets a raise...

good point... (even with the new hire jumping over her)

 

[speedoo]

Really?

Since you are one of the few (I suspect) with that opinion, could you elaborate??

I'll turn the question a round and ask what did he do at Xavier that was impressive?

When he went to Xavier 10 years ago people were talking about him as the next rising star in WCBB. Supposedly because he was primarily responsible for ND's win over UConn in the 2001 national semi on their way to the NC.

So he went to Xavier and won a lot of games in the A10, but I don't recall that they played a very tough OOC schedule, and I can't recall that Xavier team actually beating any top ranked teams. So, as I said, I was not impressed. Maybe I should have said that, relative to the hype, I was not impressed.

What would impress me is another turnaround job at Washington, and a rise to the top of the Pac 10, with a win or two over Stanford and a regular appearance in the sweet 16 or better in the NCAA. Then, the hype would be justified.

 

[rjp172]

To be honest if ND is going to go the route of former assts returning to take over he has the largest profile. There isn't much else besides him and Co. Washington as this point. The past few assts that left for head coaching jobs have returned to be assts. Bill Fennely is a former asst, but that was before ND's rise. He's in the same age bracket as MM so not likely going to be a replacement. McGuff can't help but turn Washington around. He has managed to get a few higher ranked players to commit to teams off the radar. He was very close to having a F4 of his own a few years ago. Believe his wife is a former ND basketball player and asst coach too.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

So he went to Xavier and won a lot of games in the A10, but I don't recall that they played a very tough OOC schedule, and I can't recall that Xavier team actually beating any top ranked teams. So, as I said, I was not impressed. Maybe I should have said that, relative to the hype, I was not impressed.

What would impress me is another turnaround job at Washington, and a rise to the top of the Pac 10, with a win or two over Stanford and a regular appearance in the sweet 16 or better in the NCAA. Then, the hype would be justified.

McGuff inherited a team that had gone 12-19 the year before and led them to six NCAA Tournament berths. He made the Elite Eight in 2010 and was a Dee Dee Jurnigan missed layup away from the Final Four.

He won 20 games in his first year at Washington, inheriting a team that won 11, 13, 8, and 13 games in the previous four years.

 

[UConnCat]

McGuff benefitted greatly from the coaching changes at Purdue (Curry out, Versyp in; and the firing of asst coach Katrina Merriweather). Three Purdue recruits -- Amber Harris, Ta'shia Phillips and Dee Dee Jernigan -- backed out of commitments to Purdue and ended up at Xavier, though I think Jernigan had a brief layover at Rutgers. Harris and Jernigan were released from their NLIs, while Phillips was a year younger and backed out of her verbal commitment to Purdue. Former Purdue asst coach Katrina Merriweather was fired by Purdue after an NCAA investigation revealed violations (e.g., academic fraud). Merriweather is the daughter of the AAU coach of Harris and Phillips and many expected to see her on the Xavier staff but the NCAA imposed a 3-year show cause on her hiring so that ended that speculation.

After the heartbreaking loss to Stanford in 2010, Xavier had a fine 2010-2011 season (29-3) but lost to Louisville in the 2nd round of the NCAAs. Harris and Phillips graduated and McGuff moved on.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

In general, WBB folks seem to look at the A-10 as the ultimate "tweener" between a mid-major and the power conferences. But it still is, in the end, not likely to produce FF teams. It is just a reality.

I think McGuff did quite well at Xavier, and I can't "blame" him for getting really good players. Jernigan was, indeed, a transfer from Rutgers, and we "almost" got one of the other two, Phillips I think, from Purdue. Oh, well. Jernigan was, IIRC, on our Final Four team in 2007.

He should do well at Washington, although, I think upsets of Stanford "might" be optimistic.

 

[jsloanjr]

Beth was a great player for ND and I remember being at Gampel for the ND game and ND was staying they were going to beat UCONN and lost by 20........She was a player...

 

[VAUConnFan]

good point... (even with the new hire jumping over her)

Why did you have to do that, Man? And that's not even her best side.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Why did you have to do that, Man? And that's not even her best side.

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