Well, that was fast.

Within minutes of Muffet McGraw’s retirement, Notre Dame had named her replacement: Niele Ivey is officially the new head coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team.

"God's got a plan for Niele."

In 2016, we inducted @IrishCoachIvey into our Ring of Honor.

Now, she rejoins us as head coach of the Fighting Irish.#WelcomeHomeNiele pic.twitter.com/8EY3tM0Z1e

— Notre Dame WBB (@ndwbb) April 23, 2020

The name should ring a bell to fans of the Fighting Irish.

Ivey played for McGraw for five seasons, helping the Irish win their first ever National Championship in 2001. She was just the 17th player in school history to record over 1,000 career points when she graduated.

After college, Ivey enjoyed a successful five-year WNBA career. She was hired as an assistant coach at her alma mater in 2007, and in 2016, she was promoted to associate head coach. Ivey remained at Notre Dame until this past season, when she took a role as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Ivey famously played a key role in the recruitment of then-high school phenom Skylar Diggins, whose arrival on campus helped propel Notre Dame’s resurgence as a basketball powerhouse. The school subsequently advanced to seven Final Fours in nine seasons after Diggins’ commitment.

The quick handoff from McGraw to Ivey was anything but accidental: reports are now out that McGraw began honing in on Ivey as her replacement more than two years ago. Following her retirement announcement, Notre Dame immediately posted a video outlining McGraw’s case for her successor:

Welcome home, @IrishCoachIvey.

Niele Ivey returns to @NDwbb as head coach after playing a part in each of the program's nine Final Fours.

???? https://t.co/mlsSFV1CBz#WelcomeHomeNiele pic.twitter.com/00DWSRPeFk

— The Fighting Irish ???? (@FightingIrish) April 22, 2020

Diggins herself took to twitter to voice her approval of Ivey’s hiring:

Y’all gotta realize how historic Niele getting this ND job is. Trailblazer!

— Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4) April 23, 2020

And earlier in March, Diggins posted a video showing Ivey in action during her time as a Notre Dame assistant in 2012:

This was final four in Denver 2012.
I was playing soft and @irishcoachivey was NOT happy! She came on the floor and in my grill to speak her mind! ????????
This is great coaching! Half the kids nowadays couldn’t handle this, but I needed to hear it ???????????? pic.twitter.com/hSYvdOcAbE

— Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4) March 29, 2020

Now, just days into her tenure as head coach, Ivey has already snagged another top recruit. Olivia Miles, the No. 2 ranked high school player in the country, announced on Friday that she would sign with Notre Dame. The Irish now have four of the nation’s top 50 recruits signed to their incoming freshman class.

After a down year this past season, Ivey has the Irish poised for a quick turnaround in her first season as a head coach.

Unrivaled Basketball is stocking up ahead of the 3×3 offseason league's 2026 campaign, rolling out the first group of six players set to join its second season on Monday.

Officially returning to the league's Miami court this year are Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas and her Mercury teammate Satou Sabally, as well as LA Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.

Joining the Unrivaled returnees will be a trio of newcomers, with Seattle Storm veteran guard Erica Wheeler set to log her first minutes in the new league alongside a pair of WNBA star freshmen in Connecticut Sun guard Saniya Rivers and 2025 Rookie of the Year and Dallas Wings standout Paige Bueckers.

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Unrivaled plans to announce six athletes every weekday through October 1st, as the league gears up for its first 54-player season, which tips off on January 5th.

Fueled by a successful debut year and significant additional investment, Unrivaled accelerated its salary growth and expansion plans, adding two new teams plus an additional development pool of players to the league's 2026 season.

"If we didn't expand rosters, there were going to be All-Stars who we didn't have space for," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell recently told ESPN. "We want to be the home for all of the best players in the world."

Due to the increase to eight total teams, Unrivaled could see their rosters rearranged for the sophomore campaign — meaning returning players like Laces BC's Thomas, Mist BC's Jackson, and Phantom BC's Sabally could suit up for a different squad next year.

Following the reveal of the league's full lineup, Unrivaled plans to drop team assignments in November.

Celebrated Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí took home her third consecutive Ballon d'Or at Monday's 2025 awards, becoming the first-ever women's footballer to accomplish the feat.

FC Barcelona has dominated the last five international football player of the year honors, with the voting panel of journalists tapping Barça star Alexia Putellas in 2021 and 2022 followed by Bonmatí starting in 2023.

"My third time in a row here, and I still can't believe it, incredible," Bonmatí said at the annual Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris. "Thank you to France Football for this, for the third time — it really could have gone to anyone."

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The 27-year-old's win wasn't without controversy with Bonmatí beating out fellow Spanish national Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal), who came in second despite scoring in both her club's UWCL Final win and Spain's 2025 Euro Final loss.

"If it was possible to share it, I would, because I think it has been a year with an exceptionally high level, above all among my teammates, who had a great year," added Bonmatí.

After their successful Euro title defense, England fans were also miffed at the choice, though manager Sarina Wiegman did win Coach of the Year.

Five Lionesses also earned spots in the Ballon d'Or's Top 10: No. 3 Alessia Russo (Arsenal), No. 5 Chloe Kelly (Arsenal), No. 7 Leah Williamson (Arsenal), No. 9 Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), and No. 10 Hannah Hampton (Chelsea).

Meanwhile, Arsenal was named Women's Club of the Year after dethroning Barcelona in May's Champions League final.

As for the USWNT, standouts Emily Fox (Arsenal) and Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes) made this year's 30-player finalists list, clocking in at Nos. 25 and 26, respectively.

Second-year Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts has his work cut out for him as No. 4 Phoenix preps for Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA semifinals against the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night.

Armed with a revamped roster and a modern technical approach common among next-gen WNBA coaches, Tibbetts will try to lead Phoenix to the win the Mercury need to tie up their best-of-five series — doing so against a Lynx team laser focused on returning to the WNBA Finals under legendary manager Cheryl Reeve.

"They've been doing it, and now they've all got championships under their belt," Tibbetts told JWS, giving props to elite veterans coaches like Reeve. "Nothing is new to them when it comes to this league."

Ending the regular season on a 27-17 record, the Mercury have benefitted from Tibbetts's stretch offense all year, lengthening the court and freeing up room for sharp-shooters like 2025 WNBA MVP finalist Alyssa Thomas to crash the glass.

That strategy led Phoenix to a Top-5 regular-season finish in rebounds per game (34.7) and assists per game (20.9), as well as total 3-pointers made (414).

"[It's] just maximizing shot attempts, getting your players to understand the true values of what a shot looks like from a points-per-shot basis," Tibbetts explained. "I don’t think you need to overdo it — there's a ton of smart players in our league."

How to watch the Phoenix Mercury vs. Minnesota Lynx in Game 2

Tibbetts and the No. 4 Mercury will try to even the score with Reeve and the No. 1 Lynx in Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA semifinals at 7:30 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on ESPN.

With their 17-game winning streak fading in the review, the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces enter Tuesday's Game 2 clash with the No. 6 Indiana Fever vying to dig themselves out of a 0-1 hole in the 2025 WNBA semifinals.

"We didn't really have a pep to us, the pace that they were playing at, the pep that they had in their step, we just didn't have that," Aces guard Jackie Young said following Sunday's Game 1 loss. "It's on us to change that next game."

"I thought it was really poor, really poor," echoed Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon, putting her team's recent defensive effort on blast.

Additionally, the Aces will be must-win mode on Tuesday night, as no WNBA team has ever bounced back from dropping the two opening games of a best-of-five series.

The Aces will likely try to avoid over-relying on star forward A'ja Wilson this time, after the Fever held the four-time WNBA MVP to just 16 points in Game 1.

"I know we're capable, but not when we play like that," said Hammon after Sunday's loss. "God forbid A'ja doesn't drop 40 [points] for us. We had 12 assists in 40 minutes tonight."

Las Vegas will also focus on stopping Indiana star guard Kelsey Mitchell after the first-time MVP finalist set records with her game-high 34 points on Sunday.

"You can't ask any one person to guard her," explained Hammon in respect to Mitchell's game. "It takes multiple actions and multiple bodies."

How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces in WNBA semifinals Game 2

The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces will host the No. 6 Indiana Fever again in Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA semifinals on Tuesday.

The action will tip off at 9:30 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN.