Muffet McGraw stepping down (merged threads) | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Muffet McGraw stepping down (merged threads)

GRIFFBIFF20 said:
Anyone thinking Sam Brunelle might want to jump ship now and head to UCONN, given Coach McGraw is no longer there and she might not want to play for Coach Ivey?
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Sam just started a new video series on the NDWBB twitter account: "Quarantime with Sam" I think they called it.

First guest? Niele Ivey. I wonder if that was intentional.

I think that the all the kids on on the current roster will stick around having stuck it out to this point.
 
EricLA said:
This was all so fast! Muffet goes, and within the hour, Ivey is named the new head coach. Obviously this was in the works for a while. I don't see any drop off with Ivey as the HC. In fact, with all the problems/issues at ND, I think she will stabilize the team and take ND back to the top 10.

UCONN should take note - I don't see any drop off any time soon for ND as far as future recruiting. Ivey was a huge force in them landing a bunch of top kids when she was there and is the perfect replacement.

We will have the same challenge when Geno chooses to retire... I hope we do it like ND did, and that the next UCONN HC is as respected and has as many WCBB contacts as Ivey.
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I'm listening to Jack Swarbrick, ND's AD, talking to ND alums about a range of events, but he touched on Muffet's retirement and Niele's ascension to the top spot. As many have surmised, this seems to have played out over an extended period of time.

Safe to say, given how seamless this appears, the Niele was the successor-in-line for quite some time.

Safe to say that she knows all of the current players and I'll be she laid the groundwork for a number of the upcoming prospects in '21 and possibly '22. Given her point guard background, I'll be particularly interested in how that plays out with prospects such as Olivia Miles and Ari Wiggins. (And in retrospect, I wonder if her presence in any capacity would've helped at all with Caitlin Clark?).

Next things on my mind:
- Will current assistants - Carol Owens, Beth Morgan Cunningham and Michaela Mabrey -- be kept?
My gut: probably for the latter two. Owens is nearing retirement age, but she's a great post coach. Could be a good person to keep for a few years.
- Transfers. ND's relative lack of movement on this can probably be traced to this transition.

Great ride by MM, to to say the least. Enjoy the next stage. Welcome to the "hot" seat Niele!
 
TheFarmFan said:
Holy cow - that's crazy. I wonder how much she was influenced by the possibility that next season will be reduced/cancelled, and thus the rebuild project would be at least another 2-3 seasons? Not going to lie, if I was even close to 50/50 on staying or retiring, now would be an excellent time to retire, because college sports is in for a few seasons of brutal financial cutbacks.

And smart of ND to secure Niele and do the retirement/hiring as a package announcement. Their AD was very savvy in how they managed this, and keeping it 100% LEAKPROOF prior to the announcements.
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I’ll bet their first choice to replace Muffet was Niele, and they didn’t have to twist her arm. A promotion to HC, and a hefty pay raise got it done. As others here have predicted, 3 years minimum to become seriously competitive again. Ivey is a good judge of talent, and an excellent recruiter.
 
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Orangutan said:
Sam just started a new video series on the NDWBB twitter account: "Quarantime with Sam" I think they called it.

First guest? Niele Ivey. I wonder if that was intentional.

I think that the all the kids on on the current roster will stick around having stuck it out to this point.
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Owe me a beer/coke ;)
 
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Heytherego said:
Wow. Wonder what that means for her recruits and players. Think we’ll see any enter the portal?
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This might actually be better for recruiting , Coach Ivey was the key to ND getting all those good talented players. Once she left they sank , now shes back .
 
pvdoggy said:
Since Niele Ivey is known as a strong recruiter, perhaps the first major coup for her is to snatch Azzi Fudd away from Uconn's strong grasp.
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tenor 2.gif
 
GRIFFBIFF20 said:
Anyone thinking Sam Brunelle might want to jump ship now and head to UCONN, given Coach McGraw is no longer there and she might not want to play for Coach Ivey?
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Coach Ivey is the one that recruited her and Azzi Fudd.
 
Question - is anyone surprised that they passed over Beth Cunningham? She's been at MM's side for a few years, but chose Ivy instead. Wondering if Ivy had more of an impact as an assistant before she left, and could that be a factor as to the sub par last season?
 
pvdoggy said:
Since Niele Ivey is known as a strong recruiter, perhaps the first major coup for her is to snatch Azzi Fudd away from Uconn's strong grasp.
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Wonder all you want but just don't bet any money on it. ;)
 
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Since ND is a private school.... it will probably be a few years before we know what they are paying Ivey... but curious as to what the contract is. I'm sure they will be saving alot of money though.


Orangutan said:
I see now that you beat me to the point.

Anyhow, I already owe you several beers should our paths ever cross.
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don't you owe me a few slices of giordano's pizza.... some fried chicken.. and some Italian beef sandwiches? :cool:
 
triaddukefan said:
Since ND is a private school.... it will probably be a few years before we know what they are paying Ivey... but curious as to what the contract is. I'm sure they will be saving alot of money though.




don't you owe me a few slices of giordano's pizza.... some fried chicken.. and some Italian beef sandwiches? :cool:
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I sure do.
 
I must confess to mixed emotions. There are a lot of things about MM’s personality that are not particularly endearing. But she sure could get a basketball team ready to compete. Just as with Pat/TN, the matchup between UConn and ND will never feel quite the same.

It was all too obvious that this past season took a tremendous toll on MM. When she broke down during one of her postgame pressers, even some UConn fans felt bad for her. I suspect that she and her husband had some time to reflect after the end of a terribly disappointing season.

There are generally three main reasons to leave coaching: 1) You get fired. 2) You have a health problem. 3) It’s no longer fun. In MM’s case it certainly appears to be #3.
 
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I am absolutely shocked. McGraw is at the top of her game, with many more great seasons to go. Yes, this past season was tough. But it resulted from graduations, serious injuries, and some defections. Having said that, for a team that lost- what?- all of its starters and its key reserves, it and she fought hard, and performed credibly. And with several strong recruits about to arrive on campus, ND would have been a formidable competitor once again.

For the record, Notre Dame under McGraw was a tremendous force, a fearsome opponent, and the team, above all others for years, which gave Coach Geno his toughest games year in and year out. This WCBB and Connecticut fan salutes her for her accomplishments, and for her tremendous competitiveness.

She deserves a round of applause as she leaves. She was one of the finest.
 
pvdoggy said:
You may hate it, and while I would hate it as well but I suspect the odd has gone up for that to happen.
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Really? I was just getting ready to write this. Where is this rep of Ivey "master recruiter" coming from?
For Azzi level of player (#1) in the class she has had far more misses than hits. She Missed on Megan Waker, KLS, Lauren Cox, Christyn Williams). To ND's credit they done well without snagging a number 1 player.
 
BRS24 said:
Question - is anyone surprised that they passed over Beth Cunningham? She's been at MM's side for a few years, but chose Ivy instead. Wondering if Ivy had more of an impact as an assistant before she left, and could that be a factor as to the sub par last season?
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Ivey had a longer tenuer with ND and "out-ranked" Cunningham in title, responsibility, and accolades while at ND. While Cunningham did have head coaching experience at VCU before returning to ND her real success there and in their conference coincided with eventual WNBA level talent in Q. Hollingsworth. Once Hollingsworth graduated VCU's standing did as well.
 
triaddukefan said:
Since ND is a private school.... it will probably be a few years before we know what they are paying Ivey... but curious as to what the contract is. I'm sure they will be saving alot of money though.




don't you owe me a few slices of giordano's pizza.... some fried chicken.. and some Italian beef sandwiches? :cool:
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True. They didn’t have to empty the coffers to “lure” Ivey back. They would have had to - to entice a big name coach to come in.
 
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Bet there will be some recruit harvesting in all of this. Hard to keep every recruit and have players not to take another look some where else. Expect one or two to leave. Even though it is stable some recruits choose a certain head coach.
 
triaddukefan said:
Since ND is a private school.... it will probably be a few years before we know what they are paying Ivey... but curious as to what the contract is. I'm sure they will be saving alot of money though.




don't you owe me a few slices of giordano's pizza.... some fried chicken.. and some Italian beef sandwiches? :cool:
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My latest intel has MM at $1.4 mil per year....updated since I posted a few days ago...I expect Ivey to get $750K estimate on what other Top 1st year P5 coaches get with prior HC experience. Ivey has ND experience to compensate for that lack of HC. IMO...:)
 
Figurehead said:
Bet there will be some recruit harvesting in all of this. Hard to keep every recruit and have players not to take another look some where else. Expect one or two to leave. Even though it is stable some recruits choose a certain head coach.
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Interesting point. All of ND’s signed recruits are now free agents per NCAA rules. Ivey’s first order of business will be to personally contact each of them to secure a recommitment. She will be limited by the fact that she can’t actually see them and their families in person.
 
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