This women’s college basketball season has already seen some memorable developments. Defending national champion South Carolina saw its 43-game winning streak snapped, and the top-ranked team in the land, UCLA, wasn’t even picked to win its conference. This raises the possibility of a wild March Madness. To gain a deeper understanding, we caught up with Muffet McGraw, who coached Notre Dame to a pair of national championships and now serves as a studio analyst for ESPN’s ACC Network.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: Who is the face of women’s college basketball?
Muffet McGraw: “Well, I think that’s the beauty of it. You’ve got Hannah Hidalgo, JuJu Watkins, and Paige Bueckers. Lauren Betts is probably the fourth in that group for Player of the Year. That’s what I think is so fun about it right now. If you’re following the SEC and South Carolina, you’re looking at so many great players in the SEC. There are other good players out there, but I think those four are the top.”
What has surprised you so far?
“In the ACC, Georgia Tech has been a much better team than we expected. I don’t know that anybody would have predicted UCLA would be sitting here undefeated at this point. They’re not a surprise team because I think they’re a top-five team, but going undefeated is tough. At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure South Carolina would be a Final Four team after watching them in a couple of early games, but you’ve seen their growth since then. There are so many exciting players—not just JuJu, Hannah, or Paige, but a host of talented freshmen. The game is in a great place with incredible crowds and more parity, which makes it even more enjoyable.”
How has conference realignment affected the sport?
“With UCLA and USC, the Big Ten is now a very tough conference. You’ve injected two top-five teams into the mix, and Texas and Oklahoma are also strong, potentially top-ten teams. Their presence has made their conferences stronger. While the focus was primarily on football, their impact on women’s basketball has been tremendous. The ACC has welcomed Cal, a ranked team, adding perhaps another surprise this year. However, I’m curious about how the travel schedules will pan out, particularly for teams going west or stretching east. It hasn’t seemed to affect UCLA, but maybe it did impact USC when they faced Iowa. There’s a lot of travel involved, and we’re just now getting into February.”
Who is the best team?
“You would have to say UCLA because they beat South Carolina head-to-head. I think those two, along with Notre Dame, should be the No. 1 seeds. For the NCAA Tournament, they are three clear selections. As for the fourth spot, many teams could vie for it. USC has had a solid performance and a strong résumé, though they looked less impressive against Iowa. LSU has been playing well but didn’t show up well against South Carolina. Gauging Connecticut is difficult because the Big East doesn’t challenge them much; they’re winning convincingly but haven’t faced the rigorous competition typical of the Big Ten, SEC, and ACC. There could be a surprise team as well.”
What do you think of the job done by your successor Niele Ivey?
“Awesome. Oh my God. She’s doing a great job. She’s a terrific recruiter and an excellent tactician, making adjustments on the fly. I always knew she’d be a good coach as a point guard, but she’s grown into the role even faster than people thought. I always felt she was the right fit for the job.”
Do you miss coaching, and has any school tried to lure you back?
“Not at all. I coached for 40 years, and while I loved it, I’m happy to move on now. I received some calls, but no one seriously pursued me after I told them I was finished. From 2011 to 2019, we had immense success, reaching seven Final Fours, which was incredible. Looking back, people often say, ‘Oh, that must have been so much fun,’ but I believe it’s not fun when you’re in it; it’s only enjoyable in hindsight. I don’t think I even appreciated our success at the time because I was always focused on the next thing. There was considerable stress, and I want to pursue other interests.”
What’s the best feeling you’ve ever had from basketball?
“Seeing the joy on my players’ faces after a win is the best feeling. They arrive as freshmen, unsure of themselves, and then they blossom, achieving their potential and gaining the confidence of knowing, ‘I did it.’ Witnessing that growth is the greatest feeling a coach can experience.”
What are the challenges as a broadcaster?
“You do a lot of homework and background research. Yet when halftime comes, you have only about two and a half minutes to discuss what happened, so much of your preparation goes unused. My biggest challenge is also the reason they hired me: I think like a coach, which isn’t always positive. As a coach, you focus on what went wrong and what needs fixing. Consequently, my viewpoint leans towards being critical, which is just how I naturally assess the game.”
Could you tell us about your work with Habitat for Humanity?
“We have an organization here in town that I would take my team to for fun bonding activities. We’d work on houses, and I absolutely enjoyed it while learning a lot. It’s amazing for the community, particularly through the Women Build initiative, where mostly women volunteers come together to build homes, making it a unique experience.”
Do you have a good Kim Mulkey story?
“The other night, she wore a sweater that said Nothing But Net, which is the name of our show on ACC Network. I didn’t get a chance to thank her, but I wanted to because she unknowingly promoted our show. We shared it around the ACC Network to show, ‘Look, Kim Mulkey loves our show!’”
