After a very successful career as a player with Notre Dame women’s basketball, and a handful of years with the Indiana Fever, Phoenix Mercury and Detroit Shock, Niele Ivey stepped into the coaching ranks as administrative assistant at Xavier in 2005. Ivey returned to her alma mater two years later, when she began her tenure as an assistant coach, before climbing her way to the head coaching position prior to the 2020-2021 season. Her ascendancy made her the first Black woman to lead a varsity program at Notre Dame.
Facing COVID-19 repercussions in the inaugural year of her tenure allowed for that 2021 season to be full of developmental priorities and helped lay a foundation. Despite not reaching the postseason, the Irish utilized that year of rebuilding and rebranding. The following two campaigns was when Notre Dame began to find their footing and found postseason success after being omitted from the Big Dance in 2021. Years two and three for Ivey both ended in the Sweet 16, where the Irish fell to North Carolina State and Maryland, respectively, but not before winning an ACC regular-season title in 2023.
The 2023-2024 season was the beginning of a new reign for the Irish, spearheaded by then-freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo. Hidalgo led the team to their sixth ACC title, which helped the program earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Although they once again bowed out in the Sweet 16, Hidalgo was named ACC Tournament MVP and Rookie of the Year. The season after was a similar story, with Hidalgo tacking on two new honors: ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She ranked amongst collegiate basketball’s best in scoring and steals, but Notre Dame experienced a late-season slide after reaching the pinnacle of the polls, ending their season in the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight year.
After many of the program’s key contributors exited to the WNBA or transfer portal last offseason, the Irish have struggled to compete with the upper echelon of the ACC in 2026. While the future of the program remains strong, it is fair to question if the final year of Hidalgo’s tenure is being wasted in a “rebuild.” Hidalgo is objectively one of the most talented athletes to wear the Irish jersey, having already eclipsed the 2,000 career-point ceiling and Skylar Diggins’ all-time steals record.
Despite these accomplishments, the team is only 14-8. The lack of depth has caused the offensive strategy to revolve around Hidalgo controlling the court and creating plays. There are many examples of sequences like this throughout the season; however, one that stands out is from the Michigan matchup from November. Notre Dame was down by 20 points with two minutes left in the second quarter and 20 seconds left on the shot clock. Despite Hidalgo having other teammates open from multiple positions on the court, she decided to isolate on multiple defenders, ultimately missing the shot. Hidalgo ended that evening 4-21 from the field and 0-8 on three-pointers, which only displays how her style of play sometimes struggles against solidified defensive teams. To worsen matters, when Hidalgo doesn’t have a great game, the team goes down with her. Strong point guards have to make their teammates better; they cannot beat teams on their own.
Since the Irish are a one-player oriented team, it makes it easy for the opponents to scout and come up with gameplanning strategies. In prior seasons, Notre Dame boasted talent that could recover from these matchup problems; however, Olivia Miles, Kate Koval, Emma Risch and Kylee Watson all entered the transfer portal before this season. Whether it was turnover, admissions regulations, or just the general NCAA landscape, Ivey failed to compensate for the exits, leaving Hidalgo all alone.
The Irish sitting at 14-8 is not “progress,” especially when in years past, the team has held the No. 1 seed and made Final Four berths. Aside from records and rankings, the program has not made it past the Sweet 16 round under Ivey, which demonstrates the pattern of struggle against the sport’s most premier teams. In order for Ivey to bring the program back to the standard she set as a player, her coaching must not only prioritize raising one superstar, but creating a cohesive, multi-faceted team with stars left and right. It is not a miracle on the court that Notre Dame needs, it’s a coach that can prove her tenure is worth more than the stars she can recruit.
