May 27, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Danielle Green, a standout women’s basketball player at the University of Notre Dame from 1995-2000, was wounded earlier this week while on duty with the United States Army in Baghdad, Iraq. Green, 27, suffered significant injuries to her left arm and left leg and currently is recuperating at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
“We were stunned and saddened to learn of Danielle’s injuries over in Iraq,” Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. “We had been talking to her through e-mail during her time in Iraq. Until recently, we were under the impression she would be working in a non-combat environment, but as we have all come to learn, that part of the world is a very dangerous place.
“Danielle has always been a strong-willed and courageous person who has faced numerous challenges throughout her life,” McGraw continued. “Everyone in the Notre Dame athletics community, and especially the Irish women’s basketball family, is praying for her complete recovery.”
Green averaged 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game during her tenure with McGraw’s Irish, finishing her college career with 1,106 points (17th on the school’s all-time list). She also was the team’s third-leading scorer in each of final two seasons with the Irish and was instrumental in Notre Dame’s advancement to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1998 and 2000. As a junior in 1998-99, she averaged a career-best 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, including a 15.5-ppg. average in the NCAA Tournament. A year later, she closed out her career by averaging 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the NCAA Tournament, including 16 points and seven rebounds in a second-round win over George Washington.
Green also was a member of Notre Dame’s first NCAA Final Four squad in 1997, although she did not play that season after suffering a torn Achilles’ tendon on the first day of practice.
A native of Chicago, Ill., Green graduated from Notre Dame in May 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of Arts and Letters. She was a two-time selection to the BIG EAST Conference Academic All-Star Team and was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Nov. 23, 1998.
Following her graduation from Notre Dame, Green spent time as an assistant girls’ basketball coach at Washington High School in Chicago, and later as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Chicago State University. In January 2003, she enlisted in the U.S. Army and was part of the 571st MP Company, based on Fort Lewis, Wash. Her unit was deployed to Iraq five months ago.
Those persons looking to offer notes of support and other get-well wishes to Green may send their thoughts to: Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Office, C113 Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556. All items of correspondence will be passed along to Green during her recovery.
— ND —
EDITOR’S NOTE: An article about Danielle Green from the May 27 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times may be accessed here.