Olivia Miles to Irish | The Boneyard

Olivia Miles to Irish

JordyG

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Not very surprising. In my mind they weren't going to get Fudd anyway. A great get for ND and a great get for their new coach. The rapidity of this after Ivey's ascension is curious though. Maybe there is something to the idea that some recruits were turned off by Muffet herself. I hope ND fans are ecstatic about this early return on their new investment, their first African American women's head coach.
 
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Not very surprising. In my mind they weren't going to get Fudd anyway. A great get for ND and a great get for their new coach. The rapidity of this after Ivey's ascension is curious though. Maybe there is something to the idea that some recruits were turned off by Muffet herself. I hope ND fans are ecstatic about this early return on their new investment, their first African American women's head coach.
How does this have any effect on if Fudd goes there?
 
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Great get for ND. Blending Olivia with 2020 class is a good mix. Olivia is a floor general and sets the table so everyone can eat. Believe coaching change was necessary move for ND yet a scary move for the competition.
 

eebmg

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Great get for ND. Blending Olivia with 2020 class is a good mix. Olivia is a floor general and sets the table so everyone can eat. Believe coaching change was necessary move for ND yet a scary move for the competition.


Bring it on. Our playmaker(s) vs anyone.

Remind me, is the ND vs UConn series still going strong into the future
 
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Bring it on. Our playmaker(s) vs anyone.

Remind me, is the ND vs UConn series still going strong into the future


I agree with you. I like it better when ND puts up fight and takes the L. Last year beat down was great but it lacked that wow factor.
 
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Great get for ND. Blending Olivia with 2020 class is a good mix. Olivia is a floor general and sets the table so everyone can eat. Believe coaching change was necessary move for ND yet a scary move for the competition.

I agree about the coaching change. I can't ever recall a time where a head coach left only two seasons removed from a national championship, save for illness or age. ND's ascension from a long time top 8-20 program to consistently top 5 was really just in the last 8-10 years. It seemed as if Muffet was in the peak of her coaching career and it is still baffling to me that she left.

The rate of transfers & early departures resulted in this losing season and there is no way to know if the coaching was the reason they left. This commitment could show that players weren't attracted to the ND coaching staff, and in order for a true rebuild, they needed to bring in a new look & younger coach. All speculation of course. Who knows, ND may have had her hold her commitment announcement until they announced Ivey as the coach to bring good PR to the program.

It will be interesting to watch ND's recruiting, and see if Ivey can string a few years of good classes together. A formidable ND team is a good thing for WCBB.
 
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I agree about the coaching change. I can't ever recall a time where a head coach left only two seasons removed from a national championship, save for illness or age


You don't consider 64 years old and 33 years at the same school age related? They were already trending toward top 15 and NCAA tournament (neither a huge hurdle in WBB) but Miles is a big get. Something they didn't have during their NCAA title runs in 2018 and 2019. With Huskies fans quick to try and spin it as no big deal. Just like old times. Her and Stanley are going to be formidable recruiting adversaries.
 

DefenseBB

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Not very surprising. In my mind they weren't going to get Fudd anyway. A great get for ND and a great get for their new coach. The rapidity of this after Ivey's ascension is curious though. Maybe there is something to the idea that some recruits everyone were is turned off by Muffet herself. I hope ND fans are ecstatic about this early return on their new investment, their first African American women's head coach.
There, I fixed it for you...:rolleyes:
 

cabbie191

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It seemed as if Muffet was in the peak of her coaching career and it is still baffling to me that she left.

Trying to decipher her reasons without the benefit of her sharing it in an autobiography or in depth interview is fun but pure speculation.

Possibilities that cross my mind: 1) She's been personally impacted by Covid - family member, close friend, work associate. 2) Her narrow escape of not being on the United plane that crashed in the World Trade Center on 9/11, combined with the pandemic, tells her it's time to hang it up, relax, and enjoy her years as a bball elder statesman. 3) She just woke up one morning and realized that the energy drain of recruiting, coaching, administering, media responsibilities, etc was more than the energy boost she got from the job.
 

DefenseBB

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I agree about the coaching change. I can't ever recall a time where a head coach left only two seasons removed from a national championship, save for illness or age. ND's ascension from a long time top 8-20 program to consistently top 5 was really just in the last 8-10 years. It seemed as if Muffet was in the peak of her coaching career and it is still baffling to me that she left.

The rate of transfers & early departures resulted in this losing season and there is no way to know if the coaching was the reason they left. This commitment could show that players weren't attracted to the ND coaching staff, and in order for a true rebuild, they needed to bring in a new look & younger coach. All speculation of course. Who knows, ND may have had her hold her commitment announcement until they announced Ivey as the coach to bring good PR to the program.

It will be interesting to watch ND's recruiting, and see if Ivey can string a few years of good classes together. A formidable ND team is a good thing for WCBB.
Carolyn Peck, Purdue left right after their Title in 1999. But to be fair, the NCAAT has only been around since 1983 and 5 Coaches own 26 of those titles so it's not like there are a lot of chances for other coaches to win and then retire shortly thereafter.
 
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And yes. I believe that the Miles verbal was orchestrated for effect. Ivy has been the "coach in waiting" a decade. Recruits knew.
 

Plebe

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And yes. I believe that the Miles verbal was orchestrated for effect. Ivy has been the "coach in waiting" a decade. Recruits knew.
Yes, agreed. The timing is too coincidental.
 

Dillon77

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You're right. This resident ND Boneyard poster is pleased.
As many of you know, I pull together a recruting tracker for McGraw's Bench (it's up at the top).
Olivia Miles has been on that update for the last two+ years.

The main affiliation, I believe, is the Philly Belles, which ND is tight with. In 2021, Ms. Miles could be the fourth Philly Belle on the roster, along with Mik Vaughn, Danielle Cosgrove, Alli Campbell and herself.
(BTW, Sonia Citron had just joined the Belles this year...another reason to swear at the virus: would love to see those U.S.A. teammates together in South Bend).

Thus, Muffet, Niele Ivey and Beth Morgan Cunningham have all seen her over the years. I'm sure Niele was in touch with her a lot, given that she coached PG's for Muffet before going to hang with Ja' Morant in Memphis. ;)
.
Niele likes uptempo ball and a point guard who is unselfish. And she says she'd like to bring some aspects of what she learned at Memphis to ND's offense. I'm betting she talked to Miles about that yesterday (in her initial presser, she said she was calling "some recruits" that afternoon). Whether Miles was already in the door, halfway through or very much thinking of crossing the portal, I'm sure that conversation helped.

I can see Miles really helping Alli Campbell (a fine spot-up shooter) and Sam Brunelle with her ability to keep defenses honest. Kick-out passes will be hitting open three point shooters.

Point Guard was the #1 need/target for 2021. Check.
A bruising forward would help, too. U.S.A. teammate Aaliyah Moore?*
And probably one more guard....hmmm. :rolleyes: ;)

* Edit as of 4/25. Forget Ms. Moore: off the UT. ND has had some contact with Teonni Key, but her sister is at Tennessee and she lives in Cary so all the Carolinas must be after her. Wonder if Niele would look at Jersey Wolfenbarger as an "all purpose" offensive threat?
 
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McGraw appeared to be very happy, really relieved, not to be coaching anymore. I don.'t remember her with such a big smile lately. She was very open about not being happy with the effort of many of her players, And valid or not, it had to affect team morale and recruiting. Who would want to be coached by such a sourpuss.
 
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If the right position,in a warm climate,(both she and her husband play golf whenever possible),came along at the right salary,look for Muffit to get back into coaching.If the U.of Florida for instance was to get serious about wcbb and made Muffit the right offer i think she would bolt from Indiana. At the age of 64 she is still young enough to give coaching another fling.Also,i think her competitive nature wants her to be in the rarified air of a 1,000 win coach. After maybe a year away from coaching,the competitive juices may ratchet up to a very high level.
 

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