It's interesting to note the respective situations that Megan and Niele entered upon taking the jobs:

- Megan found the top five starters had all graduated, yet virtually all of a very large incoming freshmen class chose to still come. And there was a fair amount of returning players -- underplayed, yet talented as it turned out -- returning.
She was also late in the recruiting cycle for the Class of 2020.

- So, it bode her well to keep members of the current staff to help acquaint her with both the returning players and the prospects.
From all accounts, that worked: both on the performance side -- where Marquette finished 2nd to DePaul in the Big East and was sure to make the NCAA's with a 20+ win season -- and the 2020 recruiting cycle.

- So, after the season, maybe the other two assistants wanted to move on (for money?) or was the segue period over, deemed successful and both sides deicded to look for other things and people?

- BTW, the assistant she did bring from Miami -- Justine Raterman -- looks like a star assistant coach in the making:
-- She is the Dayton Flyers' second all-time leading scorer and all time-time leading rebounder of the modern era with 1,832 points and 915 rebounds.
-- As a management consultant at Dayton Air Force base for 3 years, she helped create files that formed tools that parse, organize and visualize large data sets so clients were better able to use the data.
-- She was the video coordinator when Duffy got to Miami. Duffy kept her in that role and moved her up to assistant coach when one Michaela Mabrey went to LSU. Duffy has cited Raterman's ability to synthesize and present material as a major plus.

- For 2020-21, Duffy hired Tony Greene from Ole Miss, but probably knew him from his days at Toledo. He's a top recruiter. Itoro Coleman,the other new hire, was a HC for a few years at Clemson and very intertwined with Coquese Washington at Penn State. Seems to specialize in defense.

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So, is there any parallel to Niele?

- The similarity is that Niele is coming back to a team that has both a solid group of returnees and a large incoming class of freshmen.

The difference is that Niele knows virtually all of them save, perhaps, Abdur.
While she might not have actively recruited Maddy Westbeld, she sure as heck knows her....

- Niele has talked actively about continuing much of what MM instituted, while sprinkling in some things from the NBA. Given that MM and she know what all these players can do, it's safe to say a lot will remain the same...at least initially.

- Which is why I'd expect some member(s) of the current group of assistant coaches to be retained (if they want to be). Duffy brought and kept the youngest assistant coach she had at Marquette. MM has raved about Mike being up to speed on all aspects of coaching, from game planning to recruiting. Will there be a similar thought process here?

- Beth Morgan Cunningham is an interesting person to watch here...she's set down roots here with her husband and family. Is she ready to go back to HC'ing again?

- And Carol has so long been Sundance to MM's Butch that it would seem odd not having then in the same frame.

Stay tuned.

that Raterman had replaced Michaela Mabrey at Miami. It also reminded me that Michaela has spent one year at each of her jobs which is another reminder of the unpredictable movement among assistants. It seems to me that the best programs have had good continuity with assistants. I'd prefer that ND retain its current assistants, but Niele has the right to shape her program with the people she trusts the most to do the job.

Since others have treated this post as a segue to Niele’s soon-to-be-announced staff selections, I will continue along that path.

In all the interviews Coach Ivey has given after being named head coach, when asked about her Memphis experience, she has gushed about how much she learned.

I find this both welcoming and troubling. Welcoming, obviously, because she gained needed experience in being submerged within a completely different coaching atmosphere—new drills, new ways of running practices, new emphases on how to relate to and motivate players, new preparations and game strategies, new philosophies on coaching. She can’t say enough about how much she learned and how smart these coaches are.

Troubling, because the experience really seems to have opened her eyes to how limited her coaching experience has been. In a recent interview she said she has “a ton of ideas” from her short time with the Grizzlies. Niele’s lavish praise of her experience is probably, in part, due to her enthusiastic personality, but may also point to how sheltered she has been under a single coach. (Yes, she did get to work for other coaches while in the WNBA.)

Anyway, this is all by way of introduction to say that I would not be surprised if she is trying to get at least one person on her staff who is not part of Coach McGraw’s coaching tree. I would not be surprised if she brings in one (or more) new coach(es).

College coaches cannot require more than 20 hours per week of basketball time when school is in session. That includes practice as well as mandatory meetings, video review, and workouts. Each game counts as three of the 20 hours. Most players will voluntarily train or practice specific skills in addition to the mandatory activities, but that's only a few more hours.

NBA players are full time employees. Because they work full-time schedules, the amount of work and detail that goes into game preparation, training methods, adjusting to self-scouting, and various other aspects of running a basketball team is sunstantially greater and therefore is more sophisticated.

Niele Ivey might not be able to implement half of what the Grizzlies do. Maybe it will be more like 10 percent of their program. Nevertheless, she saw the pros doing things that college coaches simply don't have time to implement. Ivey definiitely will return with a few new coaching tactics she can implement.

Sorry but I don't put much into her being an assistant for a short time in the NBA. It looks great on the resume and I'm sure she learned some things but it's a different game with different rules. I don't think there are many strategies or offense/defense that translate. Sorry, just don't. Felt that way when she took the job and still do. It was great pub and a resume stuffer. She can sell it to recruits.

a marketing tool. Happens all of the time in the CFB world. Some exposure to the NBA could be very attractive to ladies who aspire to play in the WNBA, which probably includes most of them. It could be intriguing to some, and certainly cannot hurt.

Half think she learned nothing in Memphis and have think she learned too much.

I guess I'll be the one to take Niele at her word.

She knows Muffet's coaching methods and those have been very effective in wcbb. However, it would be almost impossible not to pick up some useful knowledge from a year in the sport's top league.

between Niele learning nothing or learning too much, but I wholly endorse that we should “take Niele at her word.” I agree.

Surely, the NBA is a different game than women’s college basketball. Yet, Niele is so adamant when she says, “It was the best year I ever had—the level of learning and expertise I was exposed to on a daily basis.”

I don’t think she’s lying, nor do I think she is stupid (not bright enough to know most of what she learned is not translatable[too many negatives?]). And I don’t think she’s saying it just for great publicity to sell it to the recruits. That also seems a bit disingenuous given how important she says Muffet’s lesson of integrity is to her.

After all, she was the one who went through the experience. We have to give some credence to that. Maybe there was more to the experience than we realize.

women's game forward. The NBA experience may well have given her some ideas that are applicable to how the women's game might evolve. In addition, I have noticed that recruits seem to follow the NBA with interest.

Seriously, what did you expect her to say about the experience? Not saying she got nothing out of it but i believe it's minimal at best. Go back and watch her interviews and listen to her struggle to answer questions about what she learned.

There was statements made by players that they won games when she scouted opponent. Even that would be different from the rules on defense in particular. She did a great job here with that for Coach to begin with.

Was it exciting and ground breaking? Yes. Still, much to do about nothing. My opinion and will never change. Game is totally different, top to bottom.

...of what Niele picked up from Taylor Jenkins that sounded like she wanted to translate into ND (some plays, sets, etc.). That's great and I completely take her at face value.

As for her gushing about it being a great year, well, it was her first year from out under the wing in a decade. Glad it worked out so well for that one year. But some aspects of it are so very different that it might not even translate.

NBA aside, what I'm interested in is how she grows into the Head Coaching roles. I'm sure her mentor will advise her on everything from outside commitments to dealing with the administration. However for on-court matters, me thinks having someone that has been there, done that will come in handy. Plus it offers another perspective.....Stay tuned.

There is much more athleticism now and individual skills are more and more imitating those seen in the men’s game. It’s at least a plus for her to have been exposed to the level of skills at the highest competitive levels and perhaps to have gained some insights into how they’re developed.

..and I think our takes even overlap: the indivdiual athletic ability is growing in the women's game as well and a lot of the sets that she picked up are probably predicated on taking advantage of that. Heck, in the NBA, it's almost a given that someone should beat a defender.

Not like that quite yet in the WNBA or college game, but I look forward to seeing what comes out of it.

Since she was obviously a female perspective in an almost all male NBA world, she might see that diversity as a good thing. I know Muffet was an advocate for a female staff, but more because women weren't getting jobs in the male side of basketball (and Muffet did have men on her staff in the past)

Again, I would be happy with the status quo, but that also assumes the staff wants to remain and work under a new coach. Decisions have to be made by all parties.

has always been having Ruth Riley return to ND in a coaching role. Who better than her to coach post players? I know, pipe dream

If there would be some way to add Ruth Riley to the coaching staff to help in recruiting and mentoring interior players. Possibly too many obstacles though.

...all predicated on, first: if Carole is staying. And let's not forget Carole has a pertty darn good track record with posts...(Achonwa, Turner and Shepard all in the WNBA)

That said, Ruth Riley Hunter has a pretty good gig with the Miami Heat.Does she and her husband want to leave South Beach? (How tight is she with Niele?)

There are other former ND posts actively coaching: Melissa D'Amico down at Wake Forest and Ariel Braker (Lehigh, now Midland?) or Markesha Wright (Drake).

My off the wall choice would be on person that's never coached before: Dev Peters.
I have no idea whatsoever whether she can/would want to coach, but she was a hard worker, has played pro ball, has huge street and internet cred with younger players and most certainly knows Niele.