July 2, 2002
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw has signed a four-year extension to continue as coach of the Fighting Irish women’s basketball program through the 2008-09 season.
McGraw, who begins her 16th season with the Irish in 2002-03, had been in the middle of a five-year contract that took her through the 2004-05 season. Her 15 seasons at Notre Dame have been highlighted by 13 20-win campaigns (including a current string of nine straight), nine NCAA tournament appearances (including a current streak of seven straight) and the 2001 NCAA title. She has posted a 342-127 (.729) record during her tenure at Notre Dame, and owns a career mark of 430-168 (.719) in 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
“Quite simply, we believe we have the best coach in women’s college basketball right here at Notre Dame in Muffet McGraw,” says Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin White.
“She is a great fit for Notre Dame, and she has taken us where we want to go in the women’s basketball world. The NCAA title in ’01, the ongoing successes we’ve had in the postseason and her recruiting efforts overall have cemented Notre Dame’s position as one of the elite programs in the country. There are many more great days ahead for our women’s basketball program, and I’m very pleased to know that Muffet will continue to lead us in the right direction.”
“I’ve been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to coach at the University of Notre Dame. I’m so grateful for the support of (University president) Father (Edward) Malloy and (director of athletics) Kevin White, not to mention the entire administration. I couldn’t be happier right now. I love Notre Dame and I have the best job in the world,” says McGraw.
After Notre Dame won that first NCAA crown, McGraw’s next assault on college basketball’s summit began in 2001-02. After losing three starters and five monogram winners from that title-winning squad, and adding six untested freshman to the mix, McGraw deftly guided a youthful Irish team to a 20-10 record and a spot in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Along the way, the Irish showed signs of maturing into another potential championship unit. Forward Jacqueline Batteast put together one of the finest rookie seasons in school history, earning national freshman-of-the-year honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
The night of April 1, 2002 will be one McGraw will never forget. On that memorable evening in St. Louis, Mo., Notre Dame defeated Purdue 68-66 as McGraw’s 14th Irish team won the school’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship. It was the second Final Four appearance in five years for McGraw’s squad, which became the only NCAA champion to erase double-figure deficits in both of its Final Four contests.
Having coached the Irish to their best ever regular-season record at 26-1 and a school-record 34 wins (the second 30-win campaign in school history), and having guided Notre Dame to its best record (34-2) and season winning percentage (.944), McGraw earned numerous national awards for her efforts. For the first time in her 20-year career, she won national coach-of-the-year honors from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, Sports Illustrated for Women and the Associated Press, as well as the Atlanta Tipoff Club, which named her the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year. All-American Ruth Riley joined McGraw for the latter two honors, earning AP and Naismith player-of-the-year laurels. Riley also was honored as the nation’s top student-athlete when she was named the Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year.
In addition, the New York Athletic Club honored McGraw with the Winged Foot Award, which is presented annually to the coach of the NCAA champion. She also was selected as the WBCA District I Coach of the Year and was voted the BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the first time. She has earned coach-of-the-year honors in all four conferences with which she has been associated during her head coaching tenure — the East Coast Conference, North Star Conference, Midwestern Collegiate Conference and BIG EAST.
Under McGraw’s guidance, the last seven years have been the most successful in Notre Dame’s history as the Irish have compiled an impressive 183-47 (.796) record, including a sparkling 102-18 (.850) regular-season mark in BIG EAST play, the best winning percentage in league history. Notre Dame also has averaged better than 26 victories per campaign, with two 30-win seasons to its credit. The Irish have won at least one NCAA tournament game every season over that time, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen four times (1997, 1998, 2000, 2002), the Final Four twice (1997, 2001).
Success for McGraw also has meant coaching great players. Riley, the 2001 BIG EAST player of the year, became the third Notre Dame player to earn AP All-America honors when she was named in ’99 to the third team. Riley, who was a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST selection in 2000 and was the ’99 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, also earned KODAK honorable mention honors.
Prior to Riley’s arrival, two players whose names forever will be linked to elevating the Notre Dame program to national prominence are ’97 graduates Beth Morgan and Katryna Gaither. The two-time Kodak and AP honorable mention All-Americans both scored more than 2,000 points during their careers, becoming the first two players from the same team in NCAA history (male or female) to reach that milestone. After stints in the now defunct American Basketball League (ABL), both played in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Thanks to McGraw’s ability to always get the best out of her players, Notre Dame has developed a solid presence in the WNBA in recent years. In addition to Gaither, Coquese Washington, a ’93 graduate and current Irish assistant coach, is on the roster of the Houston Comets. In the ’01 WNBA draft, three starters from Notre Dame’s national championship squad — Riley, Niele Ivey and Kelley Siemon — were chosen. Riley was the fifth pick overall and is now the starting center for the Miami Sol; Ivey was a second-round pick of the Indiana Fever, and has been a mainstay in Indianapolis the past two seasons; and Siemon was drafted in the third round by the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2002, a fourth starter from that title-winning team — Ericka Haney — was chosen in the third round by the WNBA’s Detroit Shock.
Fourteen of her former players and/or assistant coaches currently are serving as coaches at either the high school or college level. In addition, five of her former pupils are presently collegiate head coaches, including Kevin McGuff who accepted the top spot at Xavier in June.
McGraw received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) in 1977. Following graduation, she coached for two seasons at Philadelphia’s Archbishop Carroll High School where she guided her teams to a 50-3 record.
McGraw then played point guard for one year with the California Dreams, a team in the since-folded Women’s Professional Basketball League (WPBL). She returned to her alma mater in 1980, serving as an assistant coach under Jim Foster.
Two years later, McGraw was named head coach at Lehigh University, her teams finishing 88-41 (.683) during her five-year tenure. She was named East Coast Conference coach of the year following her first season as a collegiate coach in 1982-83.
Born December 5, 1955 in Pottsville, PA, McGraw in 1997 was named an honorary alumna by the Notre Dame Alumni Association and received an honorary monogram from the Notre Dame National Monogram Club.