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Notre Dame to honor Patricia McAdams ahead of Merrimack contest

At the midway point of Notre Dame’s home contest against Merrimack on Dec. 10, the Irish will take a moment to honor the life and legacy of Patricia McAdams, who served as the Lead Volunteer for the women’s basketball team for 30 years.

McAdams, a native of Philadelphia, began her collegiate education at Chestnut Hill College. After a year of schooling in Southeastern Pennsylvania, she made the decision to join the Immaculate Heart of Mary religious order in West Chester, Pa.

Always interested in technology, McAdams received a master’s degree in mathematics from Notre Dame in 1967 and in 1977 became the first woman to receive a PhD from the University of Missouri. A longtime friend of Father Ted Hesburgh, with whom she became friends while in South Bend, McAdams began working in Notre Dame’s Office of Information Technology in 1992. 

In addition to her day job, McAdams devoted her spare time to a lifelong hobby — basketball. Eventually, McAdams worked her way up to being the main fan engagement representative. She helped sell tickets, coordinate volunteers and assisted with promoting anything and everything related to the Irish women’s team. Notre Dame’s first sellout women’s basketball game, which occurred against UConn in 2001, was due in part to the efforts of McAdams.

In January 2008, the Irish’s No. 1 fan was returning from an away women’s basketball game against West Virginia. She pulled over on the side of the road during a snowstorm and placed a 9-1-1 call to alert authorities of a nearby accident. While there, another vehicle lost control, hit McAdams’ car, and sent it flying over the guardrail. 

“It was a miracle I lived,” McAdams said in a 2011 Strong of Heart profile. 

McAdams lost both of her legs as a result of the incident; one was severed at the site of the crash, while the other was amputated during a future surgery. She nearly lost her left arm as well, although doctors were able to save it. Thankfully, McAdams was spared from any major internal injuries. 

She returned to work for Notre Dame six months later; confinement to a motorized wheelchair could not stop her from her call to serve. McAdams learned to drive with one hand and continued to volunteer for the Irish women’s basketball team. You’d almost never see her courtside for the first half of games, however. McAdams would be taking tickets at the gate by herself, determined to allow her employees to see that first half. 

On Aug. 1, 2022, McAdams passed away due to health complications. While she retired from her technology job with Notre Dame five years ago, she remained a basketball volunteer until three weeks prior to her death. A funeral was held on Aug. 29, 2022. 

While she will not be physically present this season, her kindness, generosity and crowd-drawing methods will forever be a part of Notre Dame basketball. With the honoring of McAdams on Dec. 10, so, too, will be a plaque in her honor. 

As part of the ceremony, Notre Dame will create the Patricia McAdams Volunteer of the Year Award, and the plaque will hang in the Joyce Center by Gate 8, right next to the volunteer headquarters in the building. 

In her generosity, Patricia dedicated a tree outside the Women’s Basketball facility in honor of the McAdams family. Her ND colleagues and family request donations for a memorial bench to be placed under the McAdams Tree. Donations can be directed to The Office of Development, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556.