Niele Ivey

Niele Deirdre Jamillah Viveca Ivey (born September 24, 1977) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team. She is a former Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player for the Indiana Fever, Detroit Shock, and Phoenix Mercury.[1] Prior to her move to the NBA in August 2019,[2] she was an assistant coach for the University of Notre Dame women's basketball team, where she had played in college. She was an All-American point guard and became the 17th player in school history to record over 1,000 career points. She received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award presented for the nation's top player under 5'8" in 2001.[3] She would go on to lead the Irish women to their first NCAA Championship in 2001, in her hometown of St. Louis as a fifth-year senior.[4]

Niele Ivey
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
PositionHead coach
LeagueAtlantic Coast Conference
Personal information
Born (1977-09-24) September 24, 1977
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Listed weight149 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High schoolCor Jesu Academy
(Affton, Missouri)
CollegeNotre Dame (1997–2001)
WNBA draft2001: 2nd round, 19th overall pick
Selected by the Indiana Fever
Playing career2001–2005
PositionGuard
Number33, 11
Coaching career2005–present
Career history
As player:
20012004Indiana Fever
2005Phoenix Mercury
2005Detroit Shock
As coach:
2005–2007Xavier (admin. assistant)
2007–2015Notre Dame (assistant)
2015–2019Notre Dame (associate HC)
2019–2020Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
2020–presentNotre Dame
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As assistant coach:

  • NCAA champion (2018)

As head coach:

  • ACC regular season champion (2023)
  • ACC Coach of the Year (2023)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

In the WNBA, she finished her career with 408 points, including over 100 in 2 separate seasons. She also had ninety 3-point field goals, 228 assists, and 94 steals.

High school

Ivey grew up playing many sports, but especially basketball. She learned the game from her older brothers, and was shooting from three-point range by the time she was in fourth grade. She attracted attention for her long-range shooting from high school coaches, including Gary Glasscock of Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis.[5] Ivey had attended Catholic grade school, so it was a natural fit to attend Cor Jesu. As a junior, Ivey scored 18 points per game to help her team to a 31–0 record and a Class 4A State Championship, the first in school history.[6]

College career

Ivey was a big fan of Michael Jordan, who attended college at the University of North Carolina, so she was determined to go there for college. She used her own money to attend a basketball camp in Chapel Hill, but the UNC head coach, Sylvia Hatchell, appeared only at the opening and closing of the camp, and did not get a chance to see Ivey play. Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame became interested in Ivey, and traveled to St. Louis a number of times to watch Ivey play pick-up games at the YMCA in St. Louis.[7] McGraw was prohibited by NCAA rules from talking to recruits at this time, but Ivey was aware of her presence, and it convinced her that McGraw was seriously interested in her. Ivey decided to commit to attend Notre Dame.[8]

Notre Dame statistics

Source[9]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996–97 Notre Dame 5 15 37.5% 0.0% 75.0% 2.4 3.0 1.6 0.2 3.0
1997–98 Notre Dame 31 254 44.9% 37.3% 78.8% 3.4 2.9 2.5 0.2 8.2
1998–99 Notre Dame 28 369 50.2% 44.8% 87.0% 3.8 6.5 2.6 0.0 13.2
1999-00 Notre Dame 32 358 43.4% 36.5% 75.3% 3.5 6.1 3.0 0.1 11.2
2000–01 Notre Dame 36 434 46.3% 44.2% 71.2% 4.1 6.9 2.6 0.2 12.1
Career 132 1430 46.0% 40.5% 77.7% 3.7 5.5 2.6 0.1 10.8

Coaching career

Following the retirement of Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw in April 2020, Ivey was named the Fighting Irish head coach.[1]

Personal life

Ivey was born September 24, 1977, in Saint Louis, Missouri, to Thomas and Theresa Ivey. She was the youngest of five children, and the only daughter.[10] She attended Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis and played at the University of Notre Dame. She has one child, Jaden Ivey, born on Feb. 13 2002, with former Notre Dame and NFL player Javin Hunter. Jaden played college basketball for Purdue and in 2022 was drafted with the fifth pick of the First Round by the Detroit Pistons.[11][12]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2020–present)
2020–21 Notre Dame 10–108–76th
2021–22 Notre Dame 24–913–5T–3rdNCAA Sweet Sixteen
2022–23 Notre Dame 27–615–31stNCAA Sweet Sixteen
Notre Dame: 61–25 (.709)36–15 (.706)
Total:61–25 (.709)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. Voepel, Mechelle (22 April 2020). "Irish's McGraw retires after Hall of Fame career". ESPN.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. "Memphis Grizzlies announce assistant coaching staff". NBA.com. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  3. "Frances Pomeroy Naismith". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 30 Jun 2014.
  4. Araton, Harvey (2015-04-06). "For Inspiration, Notre Dame Can Look to 2001 and Niele Ivey". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  5. Cashore, Matt (2012-02-19). "Cor Jesu, Notre Dame great Ivey feels blessed to be back with Irish". STL Today. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  6. Goldberg p 16–18
  7. Hochman, Benjamin (Winter 2018–19). "The Competitor". Notre Dame Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  8. Goldberg p 19–20
  9. "Notre Dame Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  10. Goldberg p 16
  11. La Lumiere Basketball. Twitter. https://twitter.com/LaLuBasketball/status/1196155609936285699
  12. II, Omari Sankofa. "Detroit Pistons jolt backcourt, select Jaden Ivey at No. 5 in 2022 NBA draft". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
Sources
  • Goldberg, Jeff (2011). Bird at the Buzzer: UConn, Notre Dame, and a Women's Basketball Classic. Doris Burke. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-2411-7.
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