MEET THE STAFF…
KAREN & KEVIN KEYES HEAD WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH, MUFFET MCGRAWUnder McGraw’s guidance, the past two decades (1995-96 to the present) have been the most successful in Notre Dame’s history, reflecting the program’s remarkable BIG EAST Conference era and transition to its current home, the Atlantic Coast Conference. During that time, the Fighting Irish have compiled an impressive 606-147 (.805) record, including an impressive 294-66 (.816) mark in conference play, finishing their 18-year BIG EAST tenure with the second-best winning percentage (232-64, .784) in that league’s history.
During this 22-year span, Notre Dame has averaged 28 victories per year, with four 35-win seasons, nine 30-win campaigns and 14 25-win seasons to its credit. What’s more, the Fighting Irish have one NCAA national championship (2001), five NCAA title game appearances (2001, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015), seven NCAA Women’s Final Four berths (1997, 2001, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) and 15 Sweet 16 showings since the 1995-96 season, which began the program’s current run of 22 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances.
McGraw is the first Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee from the Irish women’s program and the seventh from the school overall.
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH, CAROL OWENSOne of the nation’s premier coaches, Carol Owens enters her 18th season on the Notre Dame women’s basketball coaching staff, and her ninth as associate head coach for the Fighting Irish, having originally been elevated to that position by head coach Muffet McGraw prior to the 2002-03 season (holding that role through the 2004-05 campaign), and then again in the summer of 2012.
Throughout her tenure at Notre Dame, Owens has focused on working with the Fighting Irish post players, while also assisting with the program’s nationally-ranked recruiting efforts (Notre Dame has attracted 20 consecutive top-20 recruiting classes from 1997-2016 something only two other schools achieved). In addition, she has played a key role in the Fighting Irish scouting efforts, helping create the game plans for some of the program’s highest-profile wins, including seven over Connecticut and five against Tennessee in the past seven seasons.
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH/RECRUITING COORDINATOR, NIELE IVEYEntering her 11th season at Notre Dame in 2017-18 (she added the title of recruiting coordinator in 2012 and was promoted to associate coach in the summer of 2015), Ivey is the common link between all seven of the school’s Final Four appearances (five as a coach, two as a player). The St. Louis native works closely with the development of the Fighting Irish point guards, while serving as the architect of the program’s remarkable recruiting success. In addition, Ivey makes major contributions to game scouting, practice planning and summer camp coordination.
Since joining the Notre Dame coaching staff 10 years ago, Ivey has helped the Fighting Irish post a 316-48 (.868) record, including five NCAA Women’s Final Four berths, four NCAA title game appearances and 11 conference championships (six regular season, five tournaments split between the BIG EAST and ACC). Over the span over the last six years, Notre Dame has ranked in the top-12 in field goal percentage (led the country in 2013-14 season), scoring offense and assists. In fact, the 2013-14 season was punctuated with a school-record 86.1 points per game (second in the nation), 765 assists (second in the nation) and 1.39 assist/turnover ratio (fifth in the nation).
ASSOCIATE COACH, BETH CUNNINGHAMBeth Cunningham, a former two-time All-America guard at the University of Notre Dame and the program’s second all-time leading scorer, enters her sixth season as associate coach for the Fighting Irish for the 2017-18 season. At Notre Dame, Cunningham’s primary focus is working with the Fighting Irish wing players, as well as coordinating future game schedules and constructing game strategy and scouting reports. She also helps develop daily practice plans and assists with the program’s nationally-ranked recruiting efforts.
Cunningham has helped mold Notre Dame’s perimeter offense into one of the nation’s best. During the past four years, the Fighting Irish have ranked in the top 10 in the country in three-point percentage, finishing second in 2013-14 (.402), seventh in 2014-15 (.383) second in 2015-16 (.412) and third last season (.395). In addition, the Irish are not only coming off of breaking the program record for most made three-pointers in 2016-17 season (217), but also have now claimed the top-four spots in the record book in the past four years (190 in 2013-14; 186 in 2014-15 and 207 in 2015-16).
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, KATIE CAPPSKatie Capps enters her third year on the Notre Dame women’s basketball staff for the 2017-18 season, having joined the Fighting Irish program as its Director of Basketball Operations in May 2015. In October 2016, Capps took on additional responsibility as the sport administrator for the Notre Dame cheerleading team.
At Notre Dame, Capps is responsible for the team’s business operations, management of the support staff and student managers, and coordination of team travel. She assists with on-campus recruiting and serves as the program’s liaison to various departments in the athletic department and on campus. Capps is also charged with coordinating the popular Notre Dame women’s basketball summer camps, and helps organize the program’s numerous community engagement and student-athlete development projects.
VIDEO COORDINATOR, ERICA WILLIAMSONErica Williamson enters her second season on the Notre Dame women’s basketball staff for the 2017-18 season, after returning to her alma mater as video coordinator in June 2016. A member of the Fighting Irish program from 2006-2010, Williamson’s new role with the program consists of coordinating all program technology and video needs, assisting the coaching staff with their recruiting and scouting efforts and managing the program’s social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. She also assists with the planning and coordination of youth summer camps.