Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey joins Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff

The long-time South Bend mainstay will be working with the Memphis Grizzlies as they continue their rebuild.

The Memphis Grizzlies have hired Notre Dame associate head coach Niele Ivey as an assistant coach, as reported first by Gary Parrish of CBS Sports. Ivey is now the ninth active female assistant coach in the NBA.

Ivey spent 12 seasons with the Notre Dame women’s basketball program under head coach Muffet McGraw, the last four of which she served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

Ivey took to Twitter to thank the University of Notre Dame and McGraw herself.

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In her time with Notre Dame, the team posted a 385-55 record and enjoyed storied success—13 seven NCAA Final Four appearances, five NCAA runner up titles and a national championship in 2018.

Ivey played basketball as an undergraduate at Notre Dame, helping the Fighting Irish secure their first national title. She was the recipient of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award her senior year, joining the ranks of players like Becky Hammon and Kim Mulkey. Ivey was also inducted into Notre Dame’s ring of honor, and ended her career along with former teammate Skylar Diggins-Smith as the only Notre Dame players to notch 1,400 career points and 700 career assists.

Ivey went on to play for five seasons in the WNBA before becoming an administrative assistant on Xavier University’s coaching staff for two years.

Former and current Irish basketball players including Diggins-Smith expressed their gratitude and support to Ivey.

Ivey will join first-year head coach Taylor Jenkins’s staff in Memphis. Jenkins served as an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks before being hired as the Grizzlies new head coach.

The Grizzlies will look to Ivey to help them rebuild and help develop their young core after trading franchise players Marc Gasol and Mike Conley this past year—a stark departure from the distinct Grit ‘n’ Grind era of Memphis basketball.

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