May 17, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Niele Ivey (first name pronounced knee-L), a former All-America point guard at Notre Dame and a starter on the school’s 2001 NCAA national championship team, has been named an assistant women’s basketball coach for the Irish, head coach Muffet McGraw announced Thursday. Ivey returns to her alma mater following two seasons as an administrative assistant on the women’s basketball staff at Xavier University, where she served under former Notre Dame assistant coach and current XU skipper Kevin McGuff. Ivey fills the vacancy on the Irish coaching staff created when another Notre Dame graduate, former associate head coach Coquese Washington, departed April 23 following an eight-year tenure to become the head women’s basketball coach at Penn State University.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Niele coming back to Notre Dame and rejoining the Irish women’s basketball program,” McGraw said. “It’s a real advantage to have someone with her championship background and WNBA experience, on our staff. She’s played in our program, she understands the system, and she knows what it takes to be successful and prepare players to reach the next level. Niele also has a tremendous competitive spirit and drive, as well as a passion for Notre Dame that will not only inspire and energize our current players, but many future Irish players to come.”
“I’m very blessed and excited about the opportunity to return to my alma mater and learn under Coach McGraw,” Ivey said. “Having been a part of this program as a player for five years, and winning a national championship, I know exactly what is expected of this program on an annual basis, and I can’t wait to pass those championship-level expectations and my past experiences at Notre Dame on to our current team.”
During Ivey’s two seasons at Xavier, she coordinated film exchange and assisted in many of the daily operations of the Musketeers’ program, including travel, academics and community outreach. Following her arrival on the XU campus in 2005-06, the Musketeers posted a 47-17 record (including a 26-8 mark this past year), winning the 2007 Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003.
“I am incredibly excited for Niele to have the opportunity to join the staff at Notre Dame,” McGuff said. “She is a terrific person who will make an immediate positive impact for the Irish. She will be greatly missed and the players at Notre Dame will have the benefit of her passion and energy for helping young women develop.”
Ivey holds the rare distinction of being the only player on the roster for both of Notre Dame’s NCAA Final Four appearances (1997, 2001), but she sat out most of the ’96-97 campaign after suffering a season-ending knee injury five games into her freshman year. However, she was awarded a fifth year of eligibility in 2000-01 and made the most of it, earning third-team Associated Press All-America honors, the first Irish point guard to be so recognized. She also was the recipient of the 2001 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, presented annually to the nation’s top senior player standing 5-foot-8 or under, and she was one of three finalists for the ’01 Nancy Lieberman Award, which goes to the country’s top point guard. In addition, Ivey was a member of the 2001 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 steals per game as the Irish defeated Connecticut (90-75) and Purdue (68-66) to win their first national title.
Niele Ivey played an key role on Notre Dame’s 2001 NCAA national championship team, starting all 36 games at the point while averaging 12.1 points and 6.9 assists per game on the way to third-team AP All-America honors.
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All told, Notre Dame went 109-22 (.832) during Ivey’s last four seasons, reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 on three occasions (1998, 2000, 2001) and rolling up a school-record 34 wins in 2000-01. The Irish also won a share of their first BIG EAST regular-season championship in 2000-01 and were ranked in the top 10 of either or both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls for all but two weeks during her final three campaigns. While at Notre Dame, Ivey was a three-time all-BIG EAST selection (1999-2001), collecting first-team honors in 2001, and was tapped as the BIG EAST Player of the Week five times (tying for the second-most in school history). She also led the Irish in steals in each of her final four seasons (1997-98 to 2000-01) and was the team’s assist leader in her last three years, setting school records with 95 steals in 1999-2000 and 247 assists in 2000-01, along with a school-standard 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio the latter season.
For her career, Ivey has a place on 16 of Notre Dame’s all-time top 10 lists, including the Irish records for steals (348), games played (132) and double-doubles by a guard (11). She also is second in school history with 727 assists and a 5.5 assist-per-game average, as well as a 2.6 steals-per-game mark. A potent scorer, Ivey ranks 10th in the Notre Dame record books with 1,430 career points, while her .405 three-point percentage is third-best in school annals and her 190 three-point field goals stand fourth in Irish lore. In addition, she remains on the BIG EAST top 10 lists for career assists (fifth/394) and steals (ninth/167), and she took home the BIG EAST assist title in 1999-2000 by averaging 6.6 apg. (all conference records limited to BIG EAST regular-season games).
Ivey is a five-year WNBA veteran, beginning with her selection by the Indiana Fever in the second round (17th overall pick) of the 2001 WNBA Draft. She spent four seasons with the Fever, helping them to the first playoff berth in franchise history in 2002. Ivey signed with the Detroit Shock as a restricted free agent in 2005, and subsequently was acquired by the Phoenix Mercury later that season. She then underwent offseason knee surgery and elected to sit out the 2006 season to rehabilitate from the injury.
Originally from St. Louis, Mo., the 29-year-old Ivey graduated from Notre Dame in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in history.
Ivey rejoins a Notre Dame squad that posted a 20-12 record in 2006-07, earning the program’s 13th 20-win season in the past 14 years. The Irish went on to make their 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance (14th overall), defeating California in the first round of the Dallas Region before falling to top seed North Carolina, 60-51 in round two. Notre Dame will have three starters and nine monogram winners back from that club next season, along with three incoming freshmen that make up the nation’s No. 11 recruiting class (according to Blue Star Index).
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TRANSACTIONS
NOTRE DAME — Named Niele Ivey assistant women’s basketball coach