Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Ivey one of 10 Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalists

ATLANTA, Ga. — Ten days after earning her first ACC Coach of the Year honors, Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top men’s and women’s head coaches, ones who “achieve tremendous on-court success,” per the website.

To date, Ivey has led her team to a 25-5 record and Notre Dame’s first ACC regular season title since 2019. The Irish fell to Louisville in the semifinals of last week’s 2023 Ally ACC Tournament, although they did avenge a loss to NC State earlier this year by topping the Wolfpack in the quarterfinals last Friday.

Notre Dame posted multiple notable victories this season under Ivey’s leadership. The Irish knocked off rival UConn at home in early December before opening up ACC play with a road win against Virginia Tech. Both the Huskies and the Hokies went on to win their respective conference tournaments, and they remain top-10 teams in the most recent AP Poll. 

After the winter holiday, Notre Dame continued finding ways to win against conference foes. The Irish battled back in games against Clemson and Florida State and won in hostile environments like Syracuse and Louisville. Notre Dame’s 83-43 win at Pittsburgh on Feb. 19 and 76-53 victory over Georgia Tech four days later was the first time the Irish have won back-to-back ACC games by 20+ points since 2019. 

In addition to the big wins, Ivey and her staff have overcome interruptions brought by several injuries. Dara Mabrey suffered a season-ending knee injury against Virginia, Lauren Ebo was out for five games with a lower body injury, and Olivia Miles went down with a knee injury at Louisville on Feb. 26. In the face of adversity, Ivey challenged each member of her team to step up. They answered the call and brought the ACC trophy home from Louisville as a result. 

Should Ivey win the Naismith Award, she would join Muffet McGraw as the only other Notre Dame head coach — male or female — to earn the honor. McGraw won it in 2001, 2013 and 2014.

The only other ACC coach on the list this season is Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks. The complete set of semifinalists can be found here.