According to Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press on Thursday, Muffet McGraw of Pottsville, PA has retired as the head coach of the University of Notre Dame women’s basketball team. McGraw had been the head coach for the Fighting Irish from 1987 to 2020.
In addition to coaching the Fighting Irish, McGraw also coached Lehigh University Mountain Hawks in her native Pennsylvania from 1982 to 1987. The Mountain Hawks are based out of Bethlehem, PA.
In 38 seasons coaching in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, McGraw had a record of 936 wins and 292 losses in 1228 games. Twice she won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament with the Fighting Irish. Her first national championship came in 2001 and her second came in 2018.
In 2001, the Fighting Irish had an overall record of 34 wins and two losses. In the NCAA Championship Final from the Savvis Center in St. Louis, MO on April 1, 2001, Notre Dame defeated the University of Purdue Boilermakers 68-66. Then in 2018, the Fighting Irish had an overall record of 35 wins and three losses. In the NCAA Championship Final from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH on April 1, 2018, the Fighting Irish defeated the University of Mississippi State Bulldogs 61-58.
Ironically, both of McGraw’s national championships came on April Fool’s Day. Both championship games were extremely close as the Fighting Irish won by a combined total of five points.
Interestingly while at Lehigh University, McGraw coached Cathy Engelbert of Collingswood, NJ. Engelbert is the current commissioner of the WNBA. Englebert made women’s basketball history on May 15, 2019 when she became the first commissioner of the WNBA in its league history.
In addition to being the head coach at Lehigh and Notre Dame, McGraw was also an assistant coach at Saint Joseph’s University from 1980 to 1982. She was with the Hawks under the tutelage of Jim Foster. In 2017, McGraw was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.
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