Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2025 11 UNDER THE DOME Irish On Social Media They're amazing humans, and I feel like you got a chance to listen to who they are as people. They're very caring, nurturing, they under- stand at some point it's bigger than basketball. They love each other, they love this group, they love this university. And I wouldn't want to coach anyone else that didn't recognize the beauty that is Notre Dame. They understand it. They under- stand that it's bigger than the basketball piece, but talent-wise they're just so gifted. I'm excited to be able to watch them in their professional careers, but, again, they're just special. They're special young women outside of basketball." — Notre Dame women's basketball head coach Niele Ivey on her outgoing senior class 51st Was where Notre Dame's Brady Quinn was slotted on ESPN's list of the 90 best col- lege quarterbacks of the 2000s. Quinn, who suited up for the Irish from 2003-06, was the only Fighting Irish quarterback to make the list. In four seasons in South Bend, the eventual first-round pick in the NFL Draft threw for 11,762 yards with 95 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. "We all thought Charlie Weis was a genius when he showed up in South Bend and Notre Dame im- mediately charged to its first top-10 finish in 12 years," ESPN's Bill Connelly noted. "Weis' reputation fell apart pretty quickly, however, when Quinn ran out of eligibility." 4 4 NCAA women's basketball players have earned first-team Associated Press All-America honors as both a freshman and a sophomore since the inception of that honor: Oklahoma center Courtney Paris (2006 and 2007), Connecticut forward Maya Moore (2008 and 2009), USC guard JuJu Watkins (2024 and 2025) and Notre Dame guard HANNAH HIDALGO (2024 and 2025). 22 Wa s t h e a v e ra g e ranking for the Notre Dame women's bas- ketball in 2025-26 way-too-early top-25 lists put out by On3, ESPN and The Athletic, despite the fact the Fighting Irish had only four schol- arship players on their roster after be- ing hit hard by graduation and transfer portal departures. The Irish were slotted at No. 25 by On3 and The Athletic, but ESPN's Charlie Crème was more bull- ish on them with a No. 17 ranking. "With graduations and a rash of unexpected portal departures, Niele Ivey has significant roster spots to fill," Crème noted. "But she still has Han- nah Hidalgo. Adding a couple of reinforcements to play with her star would help Ivey get her Irish back near the top 10." [Olivia] Miles' unprecedented move cut deep for the Irish. … Not only did Notre Dame lose an immense amount of talent when Miles decided to hit the portal, [but] her move also started a mass exodus for the program. Graduate student center Kylee Watson, junior guard Emma Risch and former five-star fresh- man Kate Koval decided to enter the transfer portal alongside Miles." — Xavier Handy-Hamilton of CBS Sports on star point guard Olivia Miles' decision to transfer from Notre Dame to TCU PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER