Class of 2020
- Kylee Watson: There's another round of AAU Tourneys coming up before Watson takes her OV to ND, which gives the ND coaching staff to see her -- and Alli Campbell for that matter -- play for the Philly Blue Belles.
Good way to keep track of Alli and send positive vibes to Watson.

Like you, glad of the timing for Watson. There's a bit of wiggle room to determine interest/work on transfers in the interim. If the right one is not there, go after Watson hard. Would be great to have two forward/posts in pocket going into the summer.

- Clark. Like you said, she's virtually Mueller-esque in keeping information tight to the vest. I hear Iowa's great in May and June: maybe Matt would like to see the Field of Dreams site?

Transfers.

- Crickets on Cooks.
- Same with Collins, but if there is some mutual interest there, would love to see something happen. She's a Maryland girl, but the Terp roster with Austin is pretty tapped out. Wonder if she'd also be open to Tina Thompson and UVA? Hopefully, Carol Owens and ND can parry and raise.

- Oh, btw, remember Lydia Jacobs, the forward from Radford you suggested? She ended up at Va. Tech, which is not surprising given familial connections.

Niele Ivey

- Agree that she was going to stay here to be with Jaden until he was out of high school.
- And, yes, if the Purdue coaching position (which is now rumored as "hot") opens up, the entire Ivey household could move southwest.
- And let's see what happens at Duke this year....JPM is still overseeing a gradual slide that at some point will have to stop or be noticed.

- As for ND....think we've got three fine candidates on the bench next to MM. Maybe one of them has the flair, but you never know.
- And another former PG seems to continue to be making the right moves, now that she's at Marquette.

Nice post but have one question.

...One of the reasons I read he decided on Purdue was to get from Nieles
shadow. If that is true. Why would she consider a possible Purdue opening?
That would go against one of the reasons he decided on Purdue.

...Agree with you on Duffy. Can not fault her decision making. I am sure
there are a few people keeping tabs on her. The one thing I pray for is
not the dreaded follow a legend theory. When the job becomes available from
that moment on the stress level will be off the wall. It is going to take
the right coach. I believe one is in South Bend and the other is in
Wisconsin. At one time I would have also considered Washington and Mc at
Ohio State. Not so sure on those 2 right now. Washington took a hit at
PSU.

SEG/Chief

-- I have not read/processed the information on Jaden wanting to get out of the Niele shadow, but that makes sense. On the other hand, if the Purdue job opens up, it would be a very good one: the school cares about it's women's team. And as a new coach, she'd be busy as heck, going here, there and everywhere so the shadow would be dispersed.

-- That said, at this juncture, I'm not sure Niele is going anywhere.

-- In regards to PSU, I don't think it was the shadow of Rene Portland that hindered Coquese Washington. It was an inability to bring in and/or keep quality players after the Maggie Lucas era, which brought her far into the NCAA tourney. Coquese just wasn't keeping up in the talent wars, particularly after Maryland got into the B1G.

- Following MM will be a challenge, but I think everything is in place to make it more of a continuation, as opposed to a restart. That's why I'm certain -- barring a major tremor in the sporsaphere -- the successor will come from a very close knit group of Irish-related players/coaches. For starters, look no further than who else is on the bench and the former point guard up at Marquette.

As usual you take a point and make it more clear. Niele once Irish always
Irish. I just dread what may happen when the position opens it goes to
someone else. At that point I think we will lose her. But that is in
the future and the dreaded what if. I will stay from that for now and
enjoy watching the best coaching staff on the planet. I hope I am not
over doing it.

...You do know that MM will have her hands in the kitchen when the time
comes. You are absolutely right. The person will have strong Irish ties
and most likely MM ties.

...Where ever Niele goes she will be good. She has stuck to MM like glue.
She always sits with her on the bench. Niele also seems be the one to
give the most input during games. They are always talking on the bench.
I love it. I just hope Niele is learning to deal with stress a little
better than MM. Niele is going to be an amazing head coach one day.

SEG/Chief

the coaches Ivey, Cunningham, and Owens are still on the bench when MM retires, it would be a slap in the face if one of them weren’t offered the job as opposed to offering the job to an outsider Duffy even though she was an alum and a previous player. Nothing against Duffy, but I could see some resentment if one of her three loyal coaches didn’t succeed her. My bet is on Ivey.

for the '19-'20 season. The three fowards on the current roster are not enough to make it through ACC play, even though ND has enough tall guards to roll with four guards for parts of games.

Given Mik's tendency to get in foul trouble, we're likely to see a lot of Danielle Cosgrove (ready or not).

At this point, Sam is really the only 4 if she operates out of a high post. If and when she needs a break, will have to see a four-guard lineup.

It's interesting looking at a team in another somewhat similar situation because Geno A. essentially had three bigs at the end of the season: Nelson-Ododa, Camara and Irwin. So he scrambled and got the Murray State transfer, Adebayo. Who knows how a mid-major will move up but he's got to figure she'll give ok minutes in the AAC.

Now that he's expanded his base overseas -- partly out of necessity -- perhaps he'll shift his "big" focus to include international players.

So, with that in mind, let's see what is MM's play -- if any -- with transfers and/or bigs.

UCONN recruits really well....Walker, Williams, Buekers, ONO...and then he goes to Europe for a PG and 2Gd! I ‘got’ teams like Syracuse filling half their roster with imports. And Oregon even Stanford dipping in the well. But UCONN!
We’d love to get another Achonwa or 6’4” inch Sabaly sisters....
Dillon, just another slant but (and I know one common theme is foreign recruiting is more expensive) is there any chance ND will become more active? Clearly there is real talent in Europe, Australia and Canada that we could try to cherry pick—that’s what Geno just did.

...in this day and age, for many of the reasons you mention and what we've seen over the past few years:
- player movement between schools during their collegiate careers;
- injuries;
- increased focus (and pressure) on certain schools and recruits.

As you mention, many top tier schools -- competitors of ND -- are bringing in players from international markets: For Syracuse, Europe is like the metro NY area for us; whereas Geno A. has seemingly gotten in the game by addressing specific needs.

In the past, I've heard certain reasons used as to why not recruit internationals:
- there's enough good players in the United States;
- culturally, will it work for the players/the university?
- it's expensive.

Hmmm, my thoughts on those:
- Talent pool in U.S. is still the largest and best, yes, but the best in the world can play and help those teams. Other points about that pool being transient (from above) hold.
- The world is a smaller place. Both the Polish and Croatian recruits were well aware of UConn. YouTube is an international hoops center.
I'd wager teenage female hoopsters in Australia know all about Arike.
And ND holds a huge presence in Catholic countries and academic circles.
- Hey, ND prides itself on being an international University. From the website: "Approximately 10 percent of the University’s students and scholars come from outside the United States." So, with that in mind, having one player on the squad would be perfectly in character.
- Expensive to recruit internationally. I think it depends on how one approaches this. But first, you can get footage of any player anywhere, whether the player is in South Bend or South Korea.
Second, the business of procuring international players is developing fast. There are former players who will serve as conduits (the Aussie rep is featured in SkinHoops86 all the time.) Plus, there are newsletters on this for initial scans.
Third, there are international events like the Nike and UnderArmour ones, that showcase international talent. Heck, there were key players at the Final Four this year, which is where Geno A. had his final look before offering the Croatian guard.

So, why not add an element into the overall approach?
- Establish contacts in key areas;
- Have the ND video coordinator pull together tape on suggested players and/watch footage from key events;
- Instead of going to every Nike and/or UnderArmour event; hop a plane to one of the pan-Euro events.
- Use the ND tree. MM has players all over the world. In most leagues you only play once a week. Maybe Natalie Novosel and Lindsay Allen can spend a day checking out Aussie talent during off days in the Aussie league? Ace would kill to help Muffet...she's in China and could ask some questions. And Kat's in Spain, playing in divisions which probably have access to younger players.

Listen, I'm not complaining about any of the players MM and Niele have brought onto campus, let alone their ability to develop them (along with Beth and Carol) individually and/or collectively. But I think the landscape is changing quickly and this approach is more proactive than waiting to see what the transfer market brings every year.

recruits in other sports. I think women’s soccer had a few, I seem to recall a player from Finland or Sweden. Men’s soccer? Fencing has overseas recruits. Football just got a commitment from a German DE. Men’s basketball had a few (Croatia?) but they perhaps did high school in America, like Geben. Intriguing. As you mention, one would think European or South American Catholic countries would hold Notre Dame in high esteem. Spain, Italy, Croatia, Poland etc. Maybe a 6’10” Irish Lassie.

Welcome back to the GREAT USA. Been there done that. I'll leave it at
that.

...Clark nor Watson committed to Oregon, but another PG did commit to them.

...Nothing really new on the Westbeld front. Board is still hoping for some
positive happenings between MM and MW, but nada right now.

...I think the old saying maybe true this year. Good things happen to the
nice guy or Good things happen to those that are patient. I am hoping
for a lot of good news in June and July.

...One last thing I think is good. We did not loose Niele to anyone
looking for a great assistant coach. My gut tells me if we do not loose
her next year. She is going to wait out MM...

SEG/Chief

during her son's senior year of high school. If she is going to leave for a head coaching position, then after his graduation would be the time to go. Perhaps Purdue will have an opening then...

My guess is that she is being groomed as Muffet's eventual successor.

I also agree she is being groomed to follow MM...I think she has only
interviewed for 2 or 3 other jobs. Very picky for a coach without
head coaching experience. To me it is the old fashion "writing on the
wall...Hope it eventually happens when MM goes on HER time.

SEG/Chief