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