Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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themselves on every possession." By the end of her sophomore year, Notre Dame had become a top-10 fixture, crushed Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 this time (78-53) and pulled off the unique achievement of defeating the sport's two superpowers — Tennessee and Connecticut — to advance to the championship game, where it lost 76‑70 to Texas A&M. Beauty & Beast Virtually every feature on Diggins in recent years centered on her grace, elegance, social media popularity (371,384 followers on Twitter) and — dare one pull a Brett Musburger? — how easy she was on the eyes. Behind the beauty was a beast when it came to striving for excellence. "That piece of the puzzle was missing," admitted Ivey of the program possessing a leader with fire, attitude, and then the skills to back it all up. Diggins was a maestro behind a microphone with her eloquence and poise, but she was an assassin on the hardwood. "In this age where there are a lot of kids that are a little more spoiled and you have to treat them with kid gloves, I think she's honest with them and tells it like it is," McGraw said. "And they really accept it." Junior Kayla McBride still fondly recalls a December 2011 game at home against Kentucky when Diggins "cussed me out" for not playing with more conviction and assertiveness. McBride then helped spark a victory over the No. 8 Wildcats. "She changes the game in everything she does," said Irish junior center Natalie Achonwa. "Her being off the court for 20 seconds changes the game. I know even from practice when she's on the other team, you want her on your team, no matter what. She's that much of an impact player." The impact goes far beyond points, assists and other box score numbers. Like Manti Te'o this past season in football sitting down with sophomore quarterback Everett Golson in a road game at Oklahoma to create a calm, Diggins could change her iron fist to a velvet glove. When junior forward Ariel Braker made her starting debut at UCLA last November, her body language immediately drew the attention of Diggins. "She could tell my nerves were getting to me, and I was a little jittery," Braker said. "She told me, 'I believe in you. You've grown so much … You're going to be nervous, but you should be more anxious than nervous to play.' "After that talk, it just kind of calmed me for the rest of the season." Notre Dame vice president/director of athletics Jack Swarbrick last December said the presence of Te'o had a transcendent effect on the football program, much like a Derek Jeter did with the New York Yankees or Peyton Manning with the Indianapolis Colts. Diggins was the ladies version of classmate Te'o at Notre Dame during her career. "We view them very much comparable in terms of the sort of person they are, what they did for their teams, but more importantly what they contributed to the university," Swarbrick said. "They are two people whose remarkable qualities enriched the life of everyone who's dealt with them here.