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00:00what's going on essence fam it's your girl sheree nicole here with the epitome of success i know
00:27she's probably not gonna like me saying that because she's super humble but the one and only
00:31the head coach of the notre dame fighting irish coach neil ivy and uh did i do all right with your
00:37intro i tried to keep it light because i knew if i kept going down with all your accomplishments
00:40you might you might not like all that it was perfect okay perfect what's also perfect is
00:45you guys can't see it right now but there's a banner literally right above you which is so fun
00:49it's your banner in the stands when was the last time you looked at that banner and really reflected
00:55on all you've accomplished as a player here at notre dame um last week when we played here um
01:00last um we played louisville in our last regular season game so before the game i always kind of
01:05look up to see it it gives me inspiration um and i'm always grateful when i step into this arena
01:10before we play home games um so it's our last home game it's like it's always just a reminder
01:15of how far i've come what's your home game ritual one thing you must do before every home game
01:20i love to meditate so i like taking time in the morning um just having a very very peaceful
01:26morning i listen to gospel music and i just sometimes i journal but most of the time i just
01:30have like 20 minutes of just quiet time to get my mind settled and ready for the day ahead
01:35gotcha so one thing that i know that you also are ready for is a fashion moment it seems to me
01:40every time i see you on the sidelines you just dress to the nine we did a lot of looks today
01:45for the shoot and i know that fashion is a passion point for you favorite look of the day and why
01:50there were so many amazing looks today i will say um i love the look it was a black crocodile
01:59type leather pant with like a black boot long boot and then it was a white collared top with like a
02:06maroon tie yeah and like a black bomber jacket that was my favorite look i just felt very um boss
02:14boss boss mode but with elegance in class it was very sharp yeah that was my favorite look also you
02:20told me before the camera started rolling guys there's a very cool aspect to the building that
02:24we shot in so you say you used to take classes in that building i did so that was one of our
02:29underclassmen uh and under undergraduate um academic buildings and it's arts and letters so
02:34i took a lot of my history classes sociology psychology theology um and so that was a space that i was in
02:41a lot um as a as a student athlete here so coach you you had a lot of ologies going on
02:46your undergrad experience i probably would have failed every single one of them or fell asleep in
02:50class but why what drew you to history like why did you want to be a history major i i love just
02:55read like writing and essays and yeah you know just curious about history and i thought this was a
03:02great avenue for me to step into i also was um really interested in education um so i thought that
03:07would be a nice major that kind of connected with education i was thinking about being a teacher
03:10um but it my life has uh taught me that mentoring was like the avenue which is very you know very
03:18similar to education i feel like i'm teaching these young women a lot you know with this coaching
03:22world coaches are teachers they are and i was talking to uh ceo carol owens associate head coach
03:28there you go head coach and uh she were i was interviewing her about you and she was saying that
03:33one of the things that people really need to understand about you is you are amazing with
03:36the x's and the o's and so as a strategist per se you know what's been your approach like what's
03:42your mindset when you go into a practice or into a game mindset wise um game wise i just want to
03:48make sure that i have scenarios prepared just in case you know in the game late game situations yeah
03:53um i love learning and studying and um i studied a lot i studied under coach mcgraw and then went to
03:59the nba studied um you know the myth is grizzlies and my son plays for the pistons so i've studied
04:05a couple of the coaches that they have and i try to take uh different pieces of um the x's and o's and
04:11try to incorporate that with our team but i'm always just trying to over prepare for any type of
04:17situation that might that might occur yeah okay so you so you have two stances i noticed when i was
04:23at practice and when i watch on tv is this and is the usher like usher at church behind the back
04:28here do they mean anything different or do they mean the same thing what is going on in your mind
04:34when we're doing this let's start here when you got the arms crossed what's happening i'm curious
04:38like what's what's happening what's going on so i think i'm more stern when you know i feel like i'm
04:43i'm more like what's going on on this you know on the court like i'm more stern with that when
04:48um more engaged that might be with the officiate officials yeah what we're doing on on the
04:53offensive end or defensive end and a little bit more poised when my arms are back i'm trying to
04:58church usher you just relax yeah trying to get more um not getting too high or too low with what's
05:03going on in the game but i think i'm more stern when i when i have my arms crossed i'm starting to
05:07get very passionate depending on hopefully that's a high passion or yeah you know trying to make sure
05:13that the team is is where they need to be what takes you to a high point in a game
05:17who um yeah um just the ebbs and flows you know the game is a game of runs yeah um so sometimes it's
05:25like if the excitement of we're going on a run yeah and and i feel the energy shifting in a positive way
05:31for us and then the other the other way is defense you know the game is slipping you know and i don't
05:37feel like we've we we're um trending in the right direction um in whatever case may be so those are
05:43sometimes where my energy is elevated yeah i like to celebrate the girls a lot you do i love that i
05:49love your players when they yeah when they when they do something spectacular like i'm meeting them
05:53halfway almost like i'm on the team yeah you know like um dabbing them up and encouraging them i i get
05:58i get excited when they make great plays you know and they allow me to coach them so yeah it's it's fun
06:03your favorite part about coaching and i know we talked about this a little bit off camera but
06:08there's there's a special trait you have and you it's i'm glad you mentioned about how you you
06:14seemingly almost in the game when i was watching you even in practice earlier i'm like the way that
06:18you talk to your team it's a different energy behind it your energy is very reassuring it's it's
06:25composed it's also i'm serious i mean what i'm saying is intentional so how do you kind of manage
06:29that you know what does it mean for you to feel for your players to respect just your approach
06:33because sometimes that can be taken for granted as well absolutely i think um they know that i'm
06:37very passionate um and they know that i'm very intense and i feel like they feed off of that
06:42energy and every team is different but i know this team and i know that if they need an extra push
06:48like they can do it for themselves but i know it is well received when i when i do it i mean that
06:54could be in the locker room and you know i'm coming out with you got high energy is a pre-game talk
06:59but i try to meet them where i think they need me to be but i'm very very intense um i feel the game
07:06and when you can't play and i can't facilitate like the way that i feel like i'm engaged with the
07:12team is like i'm you know going down the sidelines or i'm i'm again meeting them at half court or in
07:17the timeouts you know i'm really expressing how i feel because i feel like that that um lifts them
07:23and sometimes it encourages them in the times where i think they need an extra extra push yeah so i want
07:30to know because you talked about feeling that making them feel the love and and your intention how did
07:34you feel today with having all of this attention on you when was the last time an entire group of
07:40people was totally focused on you this was my first time so and i appreciate it so i want to thank you
07:47and thank the team because you made me feel really comfortable um it was it was a lot of fun it was i got
07:54a chance to play with fashion yeah uh i had i have a great glam team so i have a powerful group of
08:01women that are behind the scenes yeah making me look beautiful um and it just feels empowering i
08:07felt empowered today i felt confident um everybody that was on the set would really encourage me um
08:13made me feel at home yeah um and i'm hoping that it comes off the way that i felt i felt very confident
08:19very powerful and that's the way i love to feel in games yeah so it felt very special to have a special
08:25moment where um i get a chance to kind of showcase my personality yeah in in powerful clothing and on
08:32this type of stage yeah what does essence mean to you what does that what has it meant or at least
08:37the legacy of uh essence magazine yeah so much it's something i've always been inspired by um the strong
08:44either strong women that are that are on the magazine or um strong individual powerful individuals
08:50that are successful it means excellence uh the tradition of essence is something that's been a
08:56staple in my home you know we always had i always went to the you know the store to grab the new
09:01essence magazine yeah and see who was on the cover and um again finding inspiration through either
09:07pictures imagery or stories um you know of people that i look up to it's like it's and so this is such an
09:15honor for me because um having such a staple such an incredible brand represent me represent um and i
09:23represent notre dame and i represent women's basketball it's really powerful and i know
09:27this is a secret for my mom and i can't wait for her to see it because my mom doesn't know so this is
09:33gonna be something where i can show her she's just gonna you know she's gonna cry just because again
09:37it's just um it's a it's a it's a tradition of excellence um and it's very powerful and so to be a
09:45part uh a small part of of this tradition and um this this company this organization is is very powerful
09:53and i'm i'm really i'm really grateful yeah well it's our honor and one of the traditions that i'm i'm grateful
09:59people like yourself are actually breaking us out of is we're seeing a lot more black female head coaches
10:05and assistant coaches and for you just with all the success that you've attained what is the
10:12importance of creating community and sisterhood amongst you all like the the black coaches whether
10:17it's assistant coaches or head coaches in in the ncaa it's really it's really major and i would credit
10:23dawn staley um for kind of setting that example and i know she credits carolyn peck and you know
10:29there's so many lines of strong black women in this business that um have done a great job of paying
10:35it forward um like you mentioned earlier um trying to grow the game but also growing um
10:42successful coaches you know i'm fortunate your old coach carol owens was my she recruited me here at
10:49notre dame and she's been a part of my journey since 96 we've been a part of all nine final fours
10:53together and then she was the first person i called when i got this job because i wanted her to be
10:58here to help me um she had a lot of wisdom and a lot of guidance and she's helped me um mentor me
11:05and coquise washington another uh black head coach yeah at ruckers and that's what i want to do now
11:11you know because those mentors helped me pave the way um and have inspired me um people that i can pick
11:17up the phone yeah on days where i just need um to talk and i need help where the days that are
11:23challenging you know i can pick up the phone and and call multiple successful women i dawn is
11:30somebody that she texts me after sometimes hard losses or she texts me after big wins and both of
11:36us are in this business we're both competitive so the fact that she puts that aside um to empower me
11:42i think it speaks volumes and so for me i'm i'm hoping that i can continue that tradition of um passing
11:48down uh you know knowledge yeah and helping somebody bring somebody along the way you know
11:54there's i know there's a lot of young young coaches that um played like i did and have aspirations to
12:00to be a head coach and assistant coach successful assistant coaches and i like um my job is to help
12:06pay it forward for them because i had so many people um that helped me get to this seat yeah and i
12:11always recognize that because you can't do this alone you know you have to have strong you have to
12:15have a strong network and i have had a incredible incredibly strong network behind me to help me
12:20get here what's the best piece of advice you've ever received well i would say for being a head
12:25coach is to be myself um to be genuine and you know not to allow all the factors that go along with
12:32coaching because there's a lot it's they always talk about is 90 percent uh everything else and 10
12:37percent basketball and i learned that um when i when i took this role but to be myself because i think
12:42being myself my authentic self is one of the best versions of myself so coming in with that saint
12:49louis energy coming in with that tomboy energy um you know i'm super super competitive i love hard
12:56um you know i'm a family person um i have a strong faith um and i'm a mother i try to bring all those
13:03aspects of myself into this profession and being relatable i that so that that spoke volumes to me
13:11because i didn't want to get into this role and feel like i need to be someone else and want to
13:15change and i can't be coach mcgraw who was here before me i can only be myself and so that's why
13:20i've tried to be authentic and transparent who i am i think it's i think it's been shining through
13:25i just gotta say and it's interesting how you know you are totally connected you know to who you are and
13:31who you want to want to be um perceived as and set the great example you do and it's interesting to me
13:37because we live in this world of nil now the transfer portal like jobs being on the line looks
13:41a little different with all of these different things going on so when you think about not only
13:45the success you've had but the challenge and just making sure stability wise you can stay put how
13:50how are you managing this new era of collegiate basketball it's you've had to i've had to adjust
13:56my first year was covid so we started in late november after thanksgiving no fans and you know
14:03my my press conference when i when i got the job was in via zoom you know so it was totally different
14:09that year for me the uncertainty and the unknown was really hard yeah and then my second year is nil
14:15and transfer portal and i honestly i just created a great staff around me um i'm fortunate that i've been
14:20a part of an incredible family here at notre dame and so the resources uh that i have here are very
14:26strong i have an incredible alumni base i have a lot of support here yeah and that's that's what's
14:31getting me through um i think you have to adjust you you have to you know you have to be a great
14:36recruiter but you have to understand that you have to adjust with the times yeah you know we have to
14:39make sure that we are competitive in the nil space and make sure that we are um along with all the
14:46you know the five power you know the top 10 organizations and the top 10 institutions you
14:51have to be you have to be competitive and so we're trying to make sure that here at notre dame and
14:56they do a great job of making sure that we have the right resources and we're competitive in that
15:00space but you got to adjust this is different you know this is not like in 96 when i came out of
15:05college when you have when you talk about social media yeah we have a house settlement that's coming
15:10up next season next year ncaa house settlement so everything changes and you have to be
15:14um on edge and you have to make sure that you are prepared to adjust with the times one of the
15:20things that's also changed and i'm grateful for it the fandom for women's basketball in general
15:25just has exploded in recent years you're also part of what ushered in that what that explosion i know
15:30you're probably not gonna agree with me because you're just so humble but it's the truth so so what
15:35do you make of that in light of what you just said but also there's just so much excitement around
15:39around this beautiful game you know what is your take on that and how proud are you of just
15:43even your your team and the teams you've coached kind of helping also to usher in this new wave of
15:47excitement yeah i mean i'm so fortunate to be a part of this new wave and it started you know a
15:52couple years ago um i think angel reese caitlin clark they were kind of the the staples in that time
15:59where everybody tuned in basketball the product is just was amazing and it still is and it's growing so
16:05to see the respect that women's basketball is receiving especially you know being a former
16:09athlete it's it's amazing because we all knew how strong and how powerful and how successful and
16:14how talented women in athletics and in sports and especially basketball have been for the decades
16:20yes and so now we're on this stage and we're growing and we're continuing to grow the fan base
16:25is is is larger that we've had the most sold out games here in notre dame in the history of this
16:31program um and i just love being a part of it and i was fortunate to be a student athlete you know
16:37to kind of be a pioneer initially and now it's kind of like i love the rise i love the respect
16:43uh i love the support i'm grateful we're on we are our women are in commercials yeah you know we're on
16:49the cover of slam magazine you know we have um you know game out usc there's michael b jordan and
16:55snoop dog at the games yeah you know juju watkins hannah hidalgo now um from my teams like it's just it's
17:00amazing to see the rise of the support wmba it's explosion wmba um unrivaled now in offseason like
17:09there's so many eyes on our game and i just wanted to increase and i'm i'm excited for
17:15where women's basketball is right now and where it's going to go yeah i'm really excited for uh for
17:20you guys i think this tournament's going to be very special for you all and you know i was in my
17:26feelings a little bit y'all because you all lost three out of the last five games of the season i
17:30was i was at home with anxiety but i know i know you're bringing me good energy oh yeah we're turning
17:36this thing around and you know and thinking about just the season you all have had again a historic
17:40run you had a great run and despite that you guys bounced back um and i know you will continue to do
17:45that but in light of just the regular season and as we move now into the most special part of any
17:50in any ncaa season and that's uh march madness time and what just the tournament's here
17:55kind of where are you sitting as a coach where do you think the the uh your players are sitting
18:00and how excited are you to be able to embark on this uh this journey this year yeah i'm just
18:05gratitude i'm sitting with a lot of gratitude because we're in our you know this is our fourth
18:10season now and we have a great opportunity it's it's zero zero again and just taking advantage of
18:17every moment not looking too far it's 40 minutes um it's again like i said it's a brand new season
18:22but you have to go in with that mindset um that you have to be great for 40 minutes and so that's
18:27that's where we are um i gave them a lot of time off um i heard like four days four days off just
18:32to reset hold on you all let me tell you something that is a basketball player's dream in college to
18:38get four straight days off and it's not a holiday or spring break or spring break coach of the year
18:44i don't know if they think that um no i i feel like it's everyone needs that reset yeah you know
18:49you need that time away rest your bodies your mind um it's a long season and now we're headed to one of
18:55the most important seasons so gave them that time off we've had you know a couple days of amazing
19:00practice just recentering ourselves into working on those habits fundamentals and you know try to take
19:05care of business one game at a time what's one thing you all must do to go all the way this year
19:12yeah i think defensively having that defensive mindset because as they always say defense wins
19:17championships but march madness is crazy it's called madness for a reason um so you can have
19:22um it does not matter you're seating you have to come out and you have to have that aggressive
19:28defensive mindset to take on that challenge because at any given moment any team could be
19:33successful so you want to be on the other end defensively having that mindset who's on your
19:38mount rushmore of uh which is four people i believe four people mount rushmore uh top women's
19:44basketball players ever who's your goats top four who um cheryl swoops okay cynthia cooper
19:52lisa leslie and i'm gonna say dawn staley okay because i'm a point guard so she was somebody that i um
19:58that i definitely admired and um and looked up to okay let's switch gears and play a game
20:04it's called blow the whistle okay okay if you're not feeling it just you're just blowing the whistle
20:08if you're good we can keep playing we don't have to blow the whistle so the first one is uh let's see
20:13let me think here cold calls if someone cold calls you blow the whistle or we're gonna keep playing
20:21i'm blowing the whistle cold call me too i can't stand a cold especially it's like a scam likely
20:26i don't know who this is i'm blowing the whistle what if you know who it is but you're not expecting
20:34a call from them who i guess it depends on where where i'm at okay you know time of day like okay
20:39maybe i could call that person back but sometimes i'm like i need to have i need to have that on the
20:44schedule i'm with you on that we agree there okay next one white after labor day blow the whistle
20:52or are we gonna keep playing i'm keeping playing okay playing okay i never kind of go by those rules
20:58okay i you know i don't i'm not as daring i don't mind it i don't mind i don't i don't like rules like
21:06that i don't think they're fair we should be able to wear our clothes as long as we would like right
21:11but i do feel self-conscious if i leave out the door and it's like fall and i have on white i feel
21:16like i might get judged yeah and i don't normally do it but i guess if i if i wanted to i would yeah you
21:21know that's why i'll keep playing on that but if i'm on vacation is you know i'm i'm gonna wear
21:26my all white or something like that okay speaking of vacation blow the whistle or not and we talked
21:31a little bit about this earlier vacationing in a cold climate blowing the whistle i live in the
21:41midwest i've lived midwest all my life so i would not choose to go to colorado or really no no ski
21:50trips no i'm skiing here so no i'm going to a beach i'm going somewhere warm so i'm blowing
21:57the whistle on that okay uh fast food are we blowing the whistle are we going to keep playing
22:01blowing the whistle okay in my later years i've been more self-conscious about my nutrition so
22:05i try to stay away from fast food no chick-fil-a i love chick-fil-a fries though i'm not gonna lie
22:11i'm keep playing on the chick-fil-a everything else we're blowing the whistle yeah because i'm not
22:17eating meat right now so i don't eat chicken or red meat so okay i will eat the fries though okay i
22:21love fries i love fries too monochromatic outfit everything is pretty much the same color blow the
22:27whistle or we're gonna keep playing keep playing i love monochromatic if you see a lot of my looks
22:31yeah it just i don't know why i just i feel strong in it i just love i just love like even like this i
22:37love it and that's not all the way monochromatic but i yeah it is kind of matchy matchy but just a
22:42little bit of a pop-up i've been i'm i've been a big big fan the last couple years okay okay uh last
22:48one giving yourself a compliment blow on the whistle or we're gonna keep playing
22:56blow on the whistle come on although i knew you were gonna say that blow on the whistle
23:03i mean i have my self-affirmations again um i need to i can i can be better when was the last time
23:10you complimented yourself
23:11not related to anybody else just you yourself
23:17probably a long time ago would you like to give yourself a compliment today
23:23so we can catch up on time uh catch up on time sure um i was i will say maybe like um when i go
23:31through things i'm like you got this i'll tell myself you got this like nope that doesn't count
23:35that's encouragement that's not a compliment oh okay compliment i'm gonna compliment myself so
23:40it's probably been a long time yes this is a great exercise this is a great exercise
23:43you are fabulous and you are strong and powerful that you are
23:50well guys thank you all so much for hanging out with me again for another edition of essence black
24:04women in sports make sure you check out all the cool things coach ivy is doing now i don't know how
24:08much she sits on social media but you need to check her out anyway you also need to check out the
24:12fighting irish in this year's ncaa tournament it's going to be incredible and of course i'm i'm on
24:18your side we're taking it all the way we're going to the ship until next time see you guys around
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