Well-Deserved Honor for Ace....

...that is in encapsulated in this Coach MdGraw quote from the press release:

“Natalie was instrumental in taking our program from a Sweet 16 team to a perennial Final Four team. She took great pride in representing Notre Dame and continues to make us proud,” Karen & Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Muffet McGraw stated. “She was a great leader on and off the court, and one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached — just a highly intelligent player with great vision. She worked hard, was super competitive and always did the things that don’t show up on a stat sheet."

Lot of checkmarks ticked off there:
- A Winner
- A Continual Striver
- Leader
- Smart on and off court
- Competitive
- Worked Hard
- Did the Dirty Work

Sounds like the kind of elevator pitch that will be given to every future McGraw-era player.

Ace helped move the needle for the program for sure and one of all of our major disappointments (I'm sure) was when she went down with her knee injury in the NCAA's. UConn was loaded that year, but ND -- with Ace -- was a challenge.

ND's been blessed at the high post for a number of years, with Ace, Kat Westbeld and Jess in her senior year.

Switching point of view just a bit here to the selection. From what I undestand, these decision are made solely by the basketball staff, there's been an emphasis on that Skylar-Kmac-Ace timeframe, which all fit that "Sweet 16 to perennial Final 4" shift that MM refers to.

Given what txirish74 reports, I doubt we'll see Jewell Loyd up for consideration any time soon. And I think it's a wee bit early for the team associated with the latest championship.

So, I can't help but wonder what's up with not having Katryna Gaither so honored. A quick look at her Wikipedia writeup:
"She ranks fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 2,126 career points. She is only one of the five players in school history to have scored over 2,000 points. Additionally, she is the school’s leading rebounder with 986 rebounds."

Beth Morgan Cunningham and Gaither pushed ND into their first final four and helped set the stage for Ruth Riley, Niele Ivey, Alicia Ratay and others to procure the first NCAA championship.

Think it would make sense to "go back in time" to reward those efforts before the focus shifts to the latest NCAA-winning team.