Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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I will miss Skylar every bit as much as I'll miss any other student-athlete who's ever been here. She has had an enormous impact." Future Legacy Unlike Ivey and Ruth Riley, Diggins fell just short of lifting the national title hardware. Timing is everything in athletics, and Diggins' time coincided with the Brittney Griner era at Baylor, an 8061 championship game victor versus the Irish in 2012, and the Connecticut juggernaut. When it comes to leaving someplace better than when you arrived, though, Diggins is in the pole position. Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who won his eighth national title this year despite losing seven of the previ- Canadian Olympian Achonwa, topfive prospect Jewell Loyd, and now two more McDonald's All-Americans in forward Taya Reimer — the McDonald's Player of the Year — and point guard Lindsay Allen, her heir apparent. Diggins helped make it hip to be at Notre Dame. "Recruits are wanting to come here because they can be part of this … it's like they want to go to play for the Heat with LeBron [James]," Ivey said. "It's been a dream come true, just having the opportunity to play for my hometown school and right in my backyard for Coach McGraw, and just being able to learn from her every day," Diggins said in the moments after the UConn defeat. "The experiences I've gone through "Recruits are wanting to come here because they can be part of this … it's like they want to go to play for the Heat with LeBron [James]." Assistant coach Niele Ivey on Diggins' impact on the Irish program ous eight meetings to Diggins & Co., made her aware of the fact shortly after the Huskies' 83-65 victory in the Final Four April 7. ESPN's cameras captured the heartfelt moment from Auriemma when he spoke privately to Diggins. "He said, 'Don't let this game define my legacy,'" Diggins shared. "He told me I've done more for the sport than people who have won four national championships. He told me I've done a lot for the game of basketball and that I've had a great career." Notre Dame's recruiting also was ratcheted up after Diggins, first with McDonald's All-American McBride, I'll never forget. The people that I've met, I'll never forget … I wouldn't want a different group of girls in the locker room, I wouldn't want a different group of coaches. … That's just a blessing in itself." The legacy also speaks for itself. "I just want to be a player that's remembered that she was a leader, she was a competitor, she loved the university and the city of South Bend like no other," Diggins replied. "That she embodied everything that the university stood for, and she loved her family, and that she left it all on the court and was fun to watch, and was a winner." Missions accomplished. ✦