Notre Dame to unveil statue of legendary women’s basketball head coach

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) — Notre Dame will unveil in December a statue of legendary women’s basketball head coach Muffet McGraw, the university said Monday.

McGraw, who served as head coach of the Fighting Irish for 33 seasons, from 1987-2020, led the program to nine Final Four appearances and won two national championships in 2001 and 2018.

The statue will be outside of the entrance to the Joyce Center. The unveiling will be prior to No. 17 Notre Dame’s game against Purdue on Dec. 17.

McGraw was a three-time consensus National Coach of the Year during her tenure at Notre Dame.

An official press release from the Notre Dame women’s basketball program described McGraw’s accomplishments:

“The 13th female coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, McGraw racked up an impressive 936 career wins (ranks seventh all-time among Division I coaches), including 848 at Notre Dame. During the 2018-19 season, McGraw became the fourth-fastest coach to reach the 900-win milestone. McGraw’s competitive drive led to 31 20-win seasons and 11 30-win campaigns. She compiled 174 victories over ranked opponents. McGraw-led Irish squads accumulated 14 regular-season conference titles (including eight in a row from 2012-19) and 11 conference tournament championships (including six in her last eight years). She also earned seven conference Coach of the Year honors.”

McGraw coached some talented players during her time as well. She coached five Olympians, one women’s basketball hall of famer, 20 WNBA players and 22 All-Americans.

She earned 848 of her 936 head coaching victories during her time at Notre Dame. She retired after the 2019-20 season.

This year’s Notre Dame women’s basketball team is currently ranked No. 17 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll. The Fighting Irish (3-1) is gearing up to face Chicago State Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EDT inside the Joyce Center.