Twenty-five years ago, Notre Dame hoisted its first national championship in program history under head coach Muffet McGraw and behind all-American point guard Niele Ivey. The trophy came after five of 23 consecutive Irish tournament appearances and was followed by a second title in 2018. Now, Ivey sits at the helm in her sixth season as head coach — and for the past two, she has been blessed with arguably the greatest player in Notre Dame history in junior point guard Hannah Hidalgo. However, though the Irish earned tourney berths in five out of Ivey’s six years and each of Hidalgo’s first-team All-American seasons, the program has not displayed the same level of excellence that McGraw made characteristic of the program. Thus far in this campaign, the trend of “good but not great” continues.
McGraw turned water into wine with Notre Dame women’s basketball. In her 33-year tenure, she took an unfledged program and transformed it into a national powerhouse, amassing a 77.1% win percentage and nine Final Four appearances. Granted, Ivey assumed the team after a difficult last season under her legendary predecessor, but she inherited the resources McGraw fostered to build back to an elite level.
To her credit, Ivey has proven to be an excellent recruiter capable of ensuring a high level of talent is on the roster. Just last year, Notre Dame boasted a plethora of elite ability arguably equal to some of McGraw’s most successful teams. In addition to Hidalgo, the Irish had senior guard Sonia Citron, a future top-three WNBA draft pick, and graduate forwards Maddy Westbeld and Liatu King, both of whom also heard their names called last April. That even fails to mention second-team All-American Olivia Miles, who decided to transfer for her senior season. Yet, the Irish struggled down the stretch and bowed out in the Sweet 16 in a 71-62 defeat to Texas Christian. Though the fact that the Irish made it past the opening weekend for the fourth straight time under Ivey should not be discounted, they certainly did not achieve success commensurate with their overall ability, and yet again could not get over the hump to advance any further.
Entering this season with Hidalgo, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, leading the way, the Irish held high preseason expectations and a Top-15 ranking. Hidalgo has been sensational as expected, currently leading the ACC with 24.9 points per game and the country with an astounding 5.6 steals per contest. Despite yet another likely first-team All-American selection, the team sits at an unremarkable 18-9 and a pedestrian ninth-place 10-6 ACC record. Now, while Hidalgo merits the praise she garners, not all of Notre Dame’s glory rests with her, nor do its relative failures fall on her teammates, who may not be as talented as the 2024-25 unit but still rate highly. Rather, I pose a question concerning a trend of success but not greatness under Ivey about whether the inability to take the next step relates to her ceiling as a coach or inevitable growing pains similar to McGraw’s struggles to break through as an NCAA tournament force.
Along with Hidalgo, Notre Dame maintains an elite guard trio rounded out by senior Cassandre Prosper and graduate Iyana Moore; the three are averaging a combined 51.5 points per game. I would argue that there is not an issue of depth, but one of chemistry. As aforementioned, last year, the Irish seemed out of sync by the end of the season, culminating in the loss of Miles to the Horned Frogs, another blow from TCU. The same type of consistent cohesion issues seem to be a problem this season. With the talented trio, there is no reason the Irish should fall so hard when they do. In their nine losses, the average margin is 16.1 points.
The returns from Ivey’s first five seasons are certainly commendable, given her initial need to develop on the sideline. But now she should have enough experience to lead the Irish back to their prior standard of ACC champion and Final Four threat. Currently projected to be a seventh seed on ESPN Bracketology for next month’s Selection Sunday, the Irish will not be in many predicted Final Four brackets and the lack of outstanding interior play could limit them in the wrong matchup. However, a fifth straight trip to the regional semifinals would be a sweet end to an inconsistent campaign.
