Notre Dame Women's Basketball Coach Leaving Program to Join Grizzlies Staff

The NBA has opened up a new era of coaching, encouraging some of the best female coaches and former players to join NBA staffs.

The latest addition to the league is Niele Ivey, who will leave the University of Notre Dame Women's Basketball staff to join the Memphis Grizzlies as the ninth female coach in the NBA.

Ivey began her career with the Irish as a player from 1996-2001, winning a national title and earning the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award for the top women's player under 5-foot-8.

Following her playing days at Notre Dame, Ivey played in the WNBA for four seasons before rejoining the Fighting Irish as a member of the coaching staff in 2006. She was promoted to associate head coach in 2015.

While on the staff, Notre Dame has had seven NCAA Women's Final Four berths, six NCAA title game appearances, a 2018 National Championship and 14 conference championships.

As one of the best assistants in the NCAA, Niele Ivey will become the ninth woman to join an NBA coaching staff. She will be the third hired this season, following Lindsay Gottleib (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Kara Lawson (Boston Celtics).

She will join a brand new Memphis Grizzlies staff led by Taylor Jenkins, with Brad Jones, David McClure, James “Scoonie” Penn, Vitaly Potapenko and Neven Spahija joining as fellow assistant coaches.