McGraw named to women's hoops hall
The Notre Dame coach emphasized her local ties to Archbishop Carroll and St. Joe's.
Local ties still mean a lot to Muffet McGraw.
A hugely successful Notre Dame women's basketball coach for 23 years, McGraw talked Saturday of how Archbishop Carroll High School and St. Joseph's University played big roles in her selection as a member of the 2011 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class.
McGraw, 54, a native of West Chester, is a former head coach at Carroll and former star player and assistant coach at St. Joe's, and she mentioned both programs as she discussed joining former WNBA president Val Ackerman and four others next June in the Hall.
"None of this would be remotely possible without the support of all of the outstanding players, assistant coaches, administrators, staff and fans I've had the great fortune to work with during my coaching career, beginning in Philadelphia at Archbishop Carroll High School and my alma mater, St. Joseph's University, continuing at Lehigh University, and most significantly during the 23 wonderful seasons I've spent here at Notre Dame," McGraw said on the Notre Dame website.
Also the former head coach at Lehigh, McGraw was the 2001 consensus national women's coach of the year and the 19th women's coach to reach the 600-victory plateau.
McGraw is the first person at Notre Dame, the ninth active coach and the third Big East coach to be selected for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She joins Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer, who entered in 2001, and Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, who entered in 2006.
In 28 seasons, McGraw is 613-244, including 525-203 at Notre Dame. She ranks among the top 20 active NCAA Division I coaches in wins. She won her 600th game on Jan. 19, 2010, at Louisville. McGraw went 50-3 at Archbishop Carroll.
Ackerman was the first president of the WNBA from 1996 to 2005. She went on to be the first president of USA basketball from 2005 to '08.
Ackerman and McGraw will be joined by Olympic gold medalists Ruthie Bolton and Vicky Bullett and pre-NCAA era players Pearl Moore, who starred at Francis Marion, and Lometa Odom, who played for Wayland Baptist.
The group also joins Carol Eckman, the former coach at West Chester, Indiana (Pa.) and Lock Haven who created the first women's national tournament in 1969.