Niele Ivey has taken Notre Dame a long way from when she took over for Muffet McGraw five years ago. Now, she finds herself on the watch list for the award McGraw won three times with the Irish, most recently in 2014.
Ivey has been named to the watch list for the Naismith College Coach of the Year, which is given to the best coach in the country. Having coached the Irish to their first No. 1 ranking in six years as well as wins against programs like USC, Texas and UConn, there was no reason for her to be left off this list. What’s more, the Irish are showing no signs of slowing down, putting them squarely in the national championship conversation.
The fact that Ivey had to take over after the Irish had their worst season under McGraw shows how much she had to build the program from the ground up. Every program would kill to have a turnaround in that little time, and she’s done it:
Here’s hoping a national championship isn’t far away.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Niele Ivey named to watch list for Naismith College Coach of the Year
