Introduction
Muffet McGraw, formerly Ann O’Brien (born December 5, 1955) is an American basketball coach, currently the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame, where she has compiled a 905–272 (.769) record over 32 seasons. She has led her team to 9 Final Fours (1997, 2001, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019), and won the National Championship in 2001 and 2018. McGraw has led the Irish to 24 NCAA tournament appearances including a current streak of 22 straight. In the current streak, Notre Dame made it to the second round in all but one of the appearances. McGraw graduated from Saint Joseph's University and briefly played professionally for the California Dreams of the Women's Professional Basketball League.
McGraw has compiled 50 wins over ranked opponents, including 40 over the last 8 seasons. Her teams appeared in the AP poll 139 times during her tenure. Notre Dame finished in the Top 3 of the Big East in 9 out of the 11 seasons they were in the league and finished in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference in all 4 seasons since they entered the conference. Notre Dame also received 11 consecutive Top 20 ranked recruiting classes. She is the 27th coach in NCAA history to win over 500 career games, and is currently tied as the eighth head coach in NCAA Division I basketball history to reach 800 career wins.
McGraw was awarded the US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year award, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year and the Naismith College Coach of the Year in 2001. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2016, the John R Wooden award committee recognized McGraw with the 2017 Legends of Coaching Award.
On April 1, 2018, McGraw achieved her 800th career victory at Notre Dame with a win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the National Championship game, marking her second national title with the Fighting Irish. On December 30, 2018, she notched her 900th career win against Lehigh, the team at which she began her collegiate coaching career in 1982.
Awards and honors
- 1983 — East Coast Conference Coach of the Year
- 1988 — North Star Conference Coach of the Year
- 1991 — Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year
- 2001 — Naismith Coach of the Year
- 2001 — AP College Basketball Coach of the Year
- 2001 — Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year
- 2001 — Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2009 — Carol Eckman Award
- 2011 — Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
- 2013 — Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year
- 2013 — AP College Basketball Coach of the Year
- 2013 — Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division I Coach of the Year
- 2013 — Big East Conference Coach of the Year
- 2014 — espnW Coach of the Year
- 2014 — AP College Basketball Coach of the Year
- 2014 — USBWA Coach of the Year
- 2014 — Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year
- 2014 — ACC Coach of the Year
- 2016 — Legends of Coaching Award (2017)
- 2016 — ACC Coach of the Year
- 2017 — Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
- 2018 — AP College Basketball Coach of the Year
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh Engineers (East Coast Conference) (1982–1987) | |||||||||
| 1982–83 | Lehigh | 14–9 | |||||||
| 1983–84 | Lehigh | 13–9 | |||||||
| 1984–85 | Lehigh | 20–8 | |||||||
| 1985–86 | Lehigh | 24–4 | |||||||
| 1986–87 | Lehigh | 17–11 | |||||||
| Lehigh: | 88–41 (.682) | ||||||||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (North Star Conference) (1987–1988) | |||||||||
| 1987–88 | Notre Dame | 20–8 | 7–3 | 2nd | |||||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Midwestern Collegiate Conference) (1988–1995) | |||||||||
| 1988–89 | Notre Dame | 21–11 | 12–2 | T-1st | WNIT Seventh Place | ||||
| 1989–90 | Notre Dame | 23–6 | 16–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1990–91 | Notre Dame | 23–9 | 15–1 | 1st | WNIT Eighth Place | ||||
| 1991–92 | Notre Dame | 14–17 | 8–4 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1992–93 | Notre Dame | 15–12 | 11–5 | T-2nd | |||||
| 1993–94 | Notre Dame | 22–7 | 10–2 | 1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1994–95 | Notre Dame | 21–10 | 15–1 | 1st | WNIT Third Place | ||||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Big East Conference) (1995–2013) | |||||||||
| 1995–96 | Notre Dame | 23–8 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1996–97 | Notre Dame | 31–7 | 17–1 | 2nd | NCAA Final Four | ||||
| 1997–98 | Notre Dame | 22–10 | 12–6 | T-4th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1998–99 | Notre Dame | 26–5 | 15–3 | 3rd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 1999–00 | Notre Dame | 27–5 | 15–1 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2000–01 | Notre Dame | 34–2 | 15–1 | T-1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 2001–02 | Notre Dame | 20–10 | 13–3 | 2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2002–03 | Notre Dame | 21–11 | 10–6 | T-5th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2003–04 | Notre Dame | 21–11 | 12–4 | T-2nd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2004–05 | Notre Dame | 27–6 | 13–3 | T-2nd | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Notre Dame | 18–12 | 8–8 | 10th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Notre Dame | 20–12 | 10–6 | T-5th | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2007–08 | Notre Dame | 25–9 | 11–5 | 4th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2008–09 | Notre Dame | 22–9 | 10–6 | T-4th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | Notre Dame | 29–6 | 12–4 | T-4th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2010–11 | Notre Dame | 31–8 | 13–3 | T-2nd | NCAA Runner-Up | ||||
| 2011–12 | Notre Dame | 35–4 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Runner-Up | ||||
| 2012–13 | Notre Dame | 35–2 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Final Four | ||||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2013–present) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | Notre Dame | 37–1 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Runner-Up | ||||
| 2014–15 | Notre Dame | 36–3 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Runner-Up | ||||
| 2015–16 | Notre Dame | 33–2 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2016–17 | Notre Dame | 33–4 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
| 2017–18 | Notre Dame | 35–3 | 15–1 | T-1st | NCAA Champions | ||||
| 2018–19 | Notre Dame | 30–3 | 14–2 | 1st | |||||
| Notre Dame: | 830–232 (.782) | 417–87 (.827) | |||||||
| Total: | 918–274 (.770) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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