ND Women's BB '15 - '16 Season

[BGIF]

Notre Dame Recruit Jackie Young Named Naismith Player Of The Year

By Susie Arth | Mar 10, 2016
espnW.com

Jackie Young had a record-breaking senior season at Princeton (Indiana). Now it's time to haul in the hardware.

Young, a 5-foot-11 senior guard and Notre Dame signee, was named the Naismith girls' basketball national player of the year on Thursday, the same day she was named the Indiana Gatorade player of the year. She will play in the McDonald's All American Games later this month.

Young became Indiana's all-time leading scorer as a senior, first topping Shanna Zolman for the girls' mark and then surpassing the legendary Damon Bailey for the all-time record. Young finished her career with 3,268 points.

Young follows in the footsteps of Skylar Diggins, the 2009 Naismith player of the year who also hailed from Indiana and went on to star at Notre Dame. Other notable recipients of the annual award include Katie Lou Samuelson (2015), Breanna Stewart (2012), Elena Delle Donne (2008), Maya Moore (2006-07) and Candace Parker (2003-04).

In addition to Young, the 2016 finalists were Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut), Lauren Cox (Baylor), Erin Boley (Notre Dame) and Joyner Holmes (Texas).

 

[military_irish]

Not a bad way to stock the cupboards with the winner and a finalist for the National Player of the year.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Boley's 6'2" will be MUCH appreciated. Hopefully Turner will stay around four years to create a more formidable multi-headed back line than Muffet usually can field.

 

[arrowryan]

Boley's 6'2" will be MUCH appreciated. Hopefully Turner will stay around four years to create a more formidable multi-headed back line than Muffet usually can field.

OMM, do you follow WBB recruiting? And if so, what site do you use?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Boley's 6'2" will be MUCH appreciated. Hopefully Turner will stay around four years to create a more formidable multi-headed back line than Muffet usually can field.

Amen!

 

[texbender]

Coach McGraw seems to reload every year with great talent. Down here in Texas, Baylor has 2 great players recruited, both POY candidates. They will be another strong team for years to come.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Arrow: I don't follow it, as I am only interested in what our girls are doing ... and following WBB recruiting is a depressing thing given what Connecticut does without even working for it --- sort of like hoping you'll beat Saban on players. Plus the thuggish coach at South Carolina is doing the same thing now. My view of WBB recruiting is to leave it all up to faith in Muffet and even when she can't get the bigs she wants, trust her brain to make up {most of} the difference. ... I have a similar attitude about Coach Kelly and defensive studs {though in FB I have to count on Coach's Offensive genius and Harry's hogs to close the gaps.}

The other thing about following the recruiting is egotistical and lazy: I've spent so much time on the court and on the bench that assessing things comes easily [and especially since I was a defensive and hustle plays guy, so I watch things other than the ball --- tells you rapidly when a flashy eye-test player is actually poisoning the function of the team.] So, I see who Muffet brings in, and know that she will out-think, and out-adjust everyone else, and get the girls to understand that defense and creating turnovers and loose-ball acquiring wins games --- and cheer her and the Maddy's and Lindsay's and Hannah's that she cultivates.

... she has a terrific coaching challenge in Arike, by the way. Here is a player who, even more than Jewell Loyd, will become unstoppable. BUT... she is REALLY bad in terms of defensive intensity and understanding of help defense. Most folks, I believe, see Arike as an unconscious gunner [which she is --- Ruth said on the air: you need to have the will to be a scorer, and does she have a lot of will.] but my opinion is that Muffet will get this into better synch with college ball more easily than the defensive stuff. Arike FEELS offense. She does not seem to feel defense. Muffet flatters her every chance she gets [keeping her upbeat], but she must be riding her butt hard about these flaws in practice and at halftimes. What will happen? Arike lose a chance at excellence due to being hard-coached or Arike developing into a first team AA and player of the year candidate in two years?

Why do we care about being a crummy defender when you can score? When I was helping Ron Stewart in a small way at WMU, we had a bomber. One game she hit three threes in a row --- hot net-rippers. Two plays later Ron benched her. Ignorant crowd people murmured. So did one other player. But the defensive play by this person was so half-a$$ed that the opponent found gaps in our patterns every play, AND the other girls lost their defensive edge because of the toxicity of a teammate not doing her share, and sending everything down the drain. Sometimes this toxicity is not obvious to the casual fan. It's obvious to Muffet. That's why you see some quick hooks.

 

[arrowryan]

Arrow: I don't follow it, as I am only interested in what our girls are doing ... and following WBB recruiting is a depressing thing given what Connecticut does without even working for it --- sort of like hoping you'll beat Saban on players. Plus the thuggish coach at South Carolina is doing the same thing now. My view of WBB recruiting is to leave it all up to faith in Muffet and even when she can't get the bigs she wants, trust her brain to make up {most of} the difference. ... I have a similar attitude about Coach Kelly and defensive studs {though in FB I have to count on Coach's Offensive genius and Harry's hogs to close the gaps.}

The other thing about following the recruiting is egotistical and lazy: I've spent so much time on the court and on the bench that assessing things comes easily [and especially since I was a defensive and hustle plays guy, so I watch things other than the ball --- tells you rapidly when a flashy eye-test player is actually poisoning the function of the team.] So, I see who Muffet brings in, and know that she will out-think, and out-adjust everyone else, and get the girls to understand that defense and creating turnovers and loose-ball acquiring wins games --- and cheer her and the Maddy's and Lindsay's and Hannah's that she cultivates.

... she has a terrific coaching challenge in Arike, by the way. Here is a player who, even more than Jewell Loyd, will become unstoppable. BUT... she is REALLY bad in terms of defensive intensity and understanding of help defense. Most folks, I believe, see Arike as an unconscious gunner [which she is --- Ruth said on the air: you need to have the will to be a scorer, and does she have a lot of will.] but my opinion is that Muffet will get this into better synch with college ball more easily than the defensive stuff. Arike FEELS offense. She does not seem to feel defense. Muffet flatters her every chance she gets [keeping her upbeat], but she must be riding her butt hard about these flaws in practice and at halftimes. What will happen? Arike lose a chance at excellence due to being hard-coached or Arike developing into a first team AA and player of the year candidate in two years?

Why do we care about being a crummy defender when you can score? When I was helping Ron Stewart in a small way at WMU, we had a bomber. One game she hit three threes in a row --- hot net-rippers. Two plays later Ron benched her. Ignorant crowd people murmured. So did one other player. But the defensive play by this person was so half-a$$ed that the opponent found gaps in our patterns every play, AND the other girls lost their defensive edge because of the toxicity of a teammate not doing her share, and sending everything down the drain. Sometimes this toxicity is not obvious to the casual fan. It's obvious to Muffet. That's why you see some quick hooks.

I've never had any coaching experience but I have paid close attention to the girl's basketball team ever since Skylar was a freshman. After watching Jewel her freshman year and see her transform into probably the best player in the country, I think Arike is right where she needs to be in order to be the next Jewel Loyd. If I remember correctly, Jewel's defense wasn't that good when she was a freshman either. I can't wait to see Arike next season; I think she'll be much better on defense because she'll have a year under her belt and she is the best athlete on the roster. Also, we can complain all we want about Arike and Marina on defense but I wouldn't trade our group of freshmen for any other group in the country.

 

[NDgradstudent]

Arrow: I don't follow it, as I am only interested in what our girls are doing ... and following WBB recruiting is a depressing thing given what Connecticut does without even working for it --- sort of like hoping you'll beat Saban on players. Plus the thuggish coach at South Carolina is doing the same thing now. My view of WBB recruiting is to leave it all up to faith in Muffet and even when she can't get the bigs she wants, trust her brain to make up {most of} the difference. ... I have a similar attitude about Coach Kelly and defensive studs {though in FB I have to count on Coach's Offensive genius and Harry's hogs to close the gaps.}

I don't think UConn's advantage is recruiting- it is having perhaps the best coach in basketball history. Next year ND will probably be the best team in the country, and UConn will be good but not as good as the past couple years.

 

[BGIF]

I don't think UConn's advantage is recruiting- it is having perhaps the best coach in basketball history. Next year ND will probably be the best team in the country, and UConn will be good but not as good as the past couple years.

Did I miss the press release where Gino and Muffet swapped jobs for next season?

If it's not talent then it's status quo until they swap jobs.

 

[BGIF]

I've never had any coaching experience but I have paid close attention to the girl's basketball team ever since Skylar was a freshman. After watching Jewel her freshman year and see her transform into probably the best player in the country, I think Arike is right where she needs to be in order to be the next Jewel Loyd. If I remember correctly, Jewel's defense wasn't that good when she was a freshman either. I can't wait to see Arike next season; I think she'll be much better on defense because she'll have a year under her belt and she is the best athlete on the roster. Also, we can complain all we want about Arike and Marina on defense but I wouldn't trade our group of freshmen for any other group in the country.

Don't go there, nobody was calling for a trade.

What's been mentioned is they, particularly Arike, play like she's still in H.S. being THE TEAM. She hasn't learned she's PART of a team.

It's not just defense, it's the sheer stupidity of driving into 3 and 4 defenders, college defenders not 5'-1' 10th graders, and not dishing off the ball as the defenders collapse on her. She is a very talented athlete but she is not remotely a complete player. Her best days are in front of her IF she learns.

When she learns to dish off to Turner or kick out to the 3 point aces, she'll find her driving attempts are at a much higher percentage shot than it is now. In the ND offense the ball gets moved around not hogged.

 

[BGIF]

McGraw Finalist For Naismith Coach of the Year :: Notre Dame Women's Basketball :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of Notre Dame Athletics

March 16, 2016

By Chris Masters

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — For the fourth time in five seasons, and the eighth time in her storied career, Notre Dame’s Karen and Kevin Keyes Head Women's Basketball Coach Muffet McGraw has been selected as a finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award, it was announced Wednesday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. McGraw is a three-time Naismith Award recipient (2001, 2013, 2014) and also was chosen as a finalist in 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2012.

McGraw, who already has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in three years, is one of 14 finalists in the Class of 2016 for induction in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as well as a leading candidate for every major national coach-of–the-year award this season.

...

Now in its 29th year, the Naismith Award is among the most prestigious national honors presented annually to the women's college basketball coach of the year. This year's recipient will be announced in early April.
...

 

[Irish#1]

I don't think UConn's advantage is recruiting- it is having perhaps the best coach in basketball history. Next year ND will probably be the best team in the country, and UConn will be good but not as good as the past couple years.

I don't follow women's BBall recruiting, but from what I've read and heard, you can akin UConn's recruiting to Bama's in football. They get who they want.

As far as freshmen playing defense, rarely do you find a freshman who is great at playing defense. Most of that is learning how much more effort you are required to give compared to HS.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Auriemma is a very good coach, and I give him his due. After building the program, however, his job has been merely to not get lazy and screw the superior talent he "automatically" gets up ... his job is much easier than Saban's in that, partly due to the extremely thin girl's talent pool at the elite top.

Muffet's job is different. She has to raise the skills of her team markedly higher than Auriemma does, AND make do with thin benches every year, rather than second teams which could finish in the top ten.

Geno's good. Muffet's better. That's why when the award is close, the experts pick her. Sadly, sometimes ND just doesn't have enough firepower to allow them to choose her over someone else.

 

[aubeirish]

The way I see it, there is only one thing that disallowed ND from multiple National Championships in the past 3-4 years and that's Breanna Stewart. She is that good. It's not fair to say that UConn gets whoever they want and we get the crums. We have been dominating on the recruiting front since Skylar Diggins was here. Muffet has pretty much gotten whoever she wanted in the past few years aside from perhaps 1 big for the 2016 cycle(Cox or Joyner). In fact, once Breanna Stewart leaves for the WNBA, things are going to get real interesting. The program is better than it has ever been. Stay tuned. Amazing things are coming.

 

[BGIF]

Print Edition of Irish Insider for NCAA Basketball Tournaments 2016 // The Observer

6 pages of articles from the Observer about ND WBB.

 

[BGIF]

NCAA Championship - Lexington Region/First Round
#2/3 [#1 seed] Notre Dame Fighting Irish (31-1 / 16-0 ACC) vs. [#16 seed] North Carolina A&T Aggies (19-11 / 12-4 MEAC)
DATE: March 19, 2016
TIME: 6:30 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind. - Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
SERIES: First meeting
TV: ESPN2/ESPN3/WatchESPN (live) (Dave Pasch, p-b-p / Debbie Antonelli, color)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1)/WatchND (watchnd.tv) (live) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p / Ruth Riley, color)
LIVE STATS: UND.com

 

[Old Man Mike]

Just watched the Indiana game on computer --- Indiana is a pretty good collection of talent and it was good for our girls.

Brianna Turner doesn't ever play a "bad" game, but she played about as poorly as she could and we still won big. Madison Cable never plays even a mediocre game [due to her crazy hustle] but today she was nearly absent offensively until the final quarter. ... and we still won big.

Why? Lindsay Allen. Fantastic show offensively. ... and: "Muffet just good." Coach got Lindsay to hammer Indiana where they were having troubles play after play. On defense, she hounded the outside shooters and trusted that Indiana couldn't do enough inside. One overt example: we were in a zone and Indiana was doing well to close the gap. Marina lost conscious awareness of what-the-heck we were doing and wandered over towards Lindsay's player who was trying to penetrate --- the ball went to the Indiana star, Buss, and she buried the three. Muffet called time-out immediately, had a little talk to Marina, and sent her out there man-to-man in-her-shirt on Buss. Marina was "motivated."

The commentators were once again impressed that Muffet has gotten everything out of this team that one could manage. Hail to our great Coach, whether the girls get to Connecticut and win or not.

Damm it's nice watching a genius at work......

 

[BGIF]

Notre Dame recruit Erin Boley named Gatorade national player of year for girls' basketball

Susie Arth espnW.com
3/23/16

Erin Boley is following in the footsteps of Brianna Turner and Skylar Diggins, in more ways than one.

Boley, who is headed to Notre Dame next season, was named the Gatorade girls' basketball national player of the year Wednesday. Turner, a current Irish star, won the award in 2014; Diggins, an Irish legend, won it in 2009.

Boley, who averaged 24.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.7 assists per game during her senior year at Elizabethtown (Kentucky), also was named a McDonald's All American. The 6-foot-2 forward is the No. 5 national prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100. She finished her career with more than 3,300 points and nearly 1,500 rebounds. She was named the Gatorade Kentucky player of the year as a sophomore, junior and senior and was named Miss Kentucky Basketball earlier this month.

Minnesota Lynx star Maya Moore, the 2007 Gatorade player of the year, presented the award to Boley, who carries a 4.0 GPA, at a school ceremony Wednesday morning.

"I had no idea it was coming," said Boley, who was spending the period as an office aide when she got the phone call from Moore, who then showed up in the office.

Moore said she was impressed with Boley's humility.

"I love the way she received the award," Moore said. "She was truly shocked and thankful."

A year after Katie Lou Samuelson, now of UConn, swept the major national awards, four different recipients were honored this year.

Jackie Young, who will be Boley's teammate at Notre Dame next year, won the Naismith; Crystal Dangerfield, bound for UConn, won the Morgan Wootten; and Lauren Cox, who is headed to Baylor, won the Women's Basketball Coaches Association player of the year.

All four were named McDonald's All Americans. Boley and Young will play on opposite sides next week in Chicago.

Boley said she is excited to see Young next week and beyond.

"I think we're a great class," she said. "Hopefully we'll be able to come in next year and both really contribute. We're both hard workers on and off the court."

 

[Old Man Mike]

Boley is intriguing to say the least. I was surprised that her stats are so similar for sophomore, junior, AND senior years --- not sure what that says. It probably says that she's a team player and maxed out her stat stuffing due to staying in a team context, properly.

The most intriguing thing for me, though, was that her senior year three-point shooting percentage was 47% --- Maddy Cable at 6'2"?

Jackie Young, on the other hand, sounds more like Arike --- a physically punishing go-to-the-basket driver, and at 5'11", a bit taller.

These two sound like they might be ready right away. With Allen at point and Turner at deep post, Young at scoring guard, and Boley at power forward with both inside and outside game, THAT's already REALLY offensively formidable without even adding in Arike and Marina [and Kate --- who better get more aggressive if she wants to keep her spot.] I believe that there is still a vital need for Mychal's defensive intensity, and I feel that she'll develop more offense. Plus the injured player sounds like she should be very good as well. [apologies for forgetting her name.] All of a sudden Muffet may have a second team.

I still worry about leadership/aggression and defensive savvy. If the new girls can and want to play defense the Muffet way, we're "gonna be beast" [as a late lamented FBall transfer once said.]

 

[arrowryan]

Boley is intriguing to say the least. I was surprised that her stats are so similar for sophomore, junior, AND senior years --- not sure what that says. It probably says that she's a team player and maxed out her stat stuffing due to staying in a team context, properly.

The most intriguing thing for me, though, was that her senior year three-point shooting percentage was 47% --- Maddy Cable at 6'2"?

Jackie Young, on the other hand, sounds more like Arike --- a physically punishing go-to-the-basket driver, and at 5'11", a bit taller.

These two sound like they might be ready right away. With Allen at point and Turner at deep post, Young at scoring guard, and Boley at power forward with both inside and outside game, THAT's already REALLY offensively formidable without even adding in Arike and Marina [and Kate --- who better get more aggressive if she wants to keep her spot.] I believe that there is still a vital need for Mychal's defensive intensity, and I feel that she'll develop more offense. Plus the injured player sounds like she should be very good as well. [apologies for forgetting her name.] All of a sudden Muffet may have a second team.

I still worry about leadership/aggression and defensive savvy. If the new girls can and want to play defense the Muffet way, we're "gonna be beast" [as a late lamented FBall transfer once said.]

Agree with all of this. I'm excited to see what kind of progression Marina and Arike will make in the off-season. And the injured player is Ali Patburg

 

[BGIF]

Niele Ivey Named National Assistant Coach of the Year :: Notre Dame Women's Basketball :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of Notre Dame Athletics

Ninth-year Fighting Irish aide receives inaugural award from WBCA.



March 25, 2016

By Chris Masters

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- University of Notre Dame women's basketball associate coach/recruiting coordinator Niele Ivey has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division I Assistant Coach of the Year award, it was announced Friday by the WBCA.

The WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year award is presented to the recipient who demonstrates commitment to the program, to their student-athletes and head coach, their impact coaching on court, mentorship and impact on other coaches, as well as their professional manner and attitude.

"It's an absolute honor to be recognized by my coaching colleagues for this award," Ivey said. "I couldn't even be considered if not for the opportunity given to me by my boss and mentor, Coach McGraw. I am so grateful to her for teaching me the game, believing in me and giving me the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame. I feel truly blessed and so appreciative for all the support from my family, friends and all the players I've worked with."

"Niele is a rising star in the coaching profession," said Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame's Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Women's Basketball Coach. "She does so many things for us, from recruiting to working with our guards, and every year she continues to grow and develop as a coach. She is an integral part of crafting our offensive and defensive philosophy, and continues to expand her knowledge by going out and talking to other coaches about different aspects of the game.

"Niele is our recruiting coordinator and has become one of the best recruiters in the country, working tirelessly to add quality people to our program," McGraw added. "She does a phenomenal job with our point guards, having been one of the great point guards to play at Notre Dame. I think Niele is one of the top assistant coaches in the country and we are lucky to have her at Notre Dame."

Ivey is in her ninth season on the Fighting Irish coaching staff, having been promoted to associate coach last summer. A 2000 Notre Dame graduate, she has played an integral role on all seven Fighting Irish women's basketball Final Four teams, the first two as a player and the past five as an assistant coach. During her nine seasons on McGraw's staff, she has helped Notre Dame to a 283-43 (.868) record, along with nine conference championships (five regular-season conference titles and four league tournament crowns) and five Final Four appearances.

Ivey's coaching success has extended to player development as well, with the former Notre Dame point guard tutoring the next generation of Fighting Irish backcourt greats, a roster that includes first-team All-Americans, WNBA first-round draft picks and USA Basketball Olympic Team finalists Skylar Diggins and Jewell Loyd, as well as current Notre Dame junior guard Lindsay Allen (Mitchellville, Md./St. John's College), an honorable mention All-American, first-team all-ACC choice and two-time Nancy Lieberman Award finalist.

What's more, Ivey has emerged as a rising star on the recruiting trail with a sharp eye for young up-and-coming talent. In fact, she has helped Notre Dame attract top-10 incoming classes the past seven years, with top-five groups during the past five seasons (incoming classes of 2012-16). Most recently, she played a leading role in the addition of next year's historic freshman class that is the first ever to feature two different national high school players of the year in Gatorade National Player of the Year Erin Boley and Naismith Award selection Jackie Young.

...

 

[BGIF]

Notre Dame more diverse scoring team than in past years (Mar 24, 2016) | FOX Sports

Mar 24, 2016 at 3:31a ET

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Notre Dame's women's basketball team has a decidedly different look than past years as it heads to its seventh straight appearance in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal:

There's no Jewell Loyd, Kayla McBride or Skylar Diggins that opponents need to worry about.

''We've had a superstar on our team ever since I've been here, but it's a different feel this year,'' senior Michaela Mabrey said.

The Irish are a more diverse scoring team, with Brianna Turner, Madison Cable, Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey each averaging in double figures. Lindsay Allen is averaging 10.8 points against ranked opponents and two others have led the Irish in scoring in games this season. Turner is the leading scorer at 14.5 points a game, their lowest leading-scorer since Diggins averaged 13.8 points as a freshman during the 2009-10 season.

The Irish don't have the ''go-to'' player they usually have.

''The great thing about this team is it isn't one person. If one person is having an off night, you can rely on the person next to you,'' McGraw said. ''We're playing a lot of people, so there's no pressure on any one person.''

...

 

[BGIF]

TODAY 5:30 CT ESPNU McDonald's All-Star Game

TODAY 5:30 CT ESPNU McDonald's All-Star Game

Incoming ND Freshmen G Jackie Young, 5-11, #3, plays for the West Team while F Erin Boley, 6-2, #22, plays for the East Team.


5,161.08www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/aag/en/MediaCenter/2016/2016-game-materials/Final-Teams-Roster-Num.html

 

[BGIF]

"I can bring a new perspective and some leadership"

"I can bring a new perspective and some leadership"

One of the keys to leadership is showing up.


Notre Dame transfer to join MSU women's hoops

By Brian Calloway, Lansing State Jourial




Good bye.