HC Niele Ivey drops 1-word reaction as Notre Dame welcomes new Director of Operations

Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach Niele Ivey shared a response to the return of Jas Smith to the Fighting Irish.

Smith announced her appointment as the program’s new Director of Operations with a story that had Ivey in it.

“One Day ⏩ Day One. In 2015, Niele looked at me and said, 'When I become a head coach, I am going to hire you.' 10 years later and she was able to make that call. So blessed to be back at my alma mater with one of the programs that started it all for me. Go Irish ☘️,” Smith wrote.

Ivey responded with a single word: “Yesssss ☘️☘️💚☘️☘️.”

HC Niele Ivey drops 1-word reaction as Notre Dame welcome new Director of Operations. Credit: IG/@_jaswashere

Niele Ivey, a former standout guard at Notre Dame, played a crucial role in the program’s rise under Muffet McGraw, including winning the national championship in 2001.

After a brief WNBA career, she transitioned into coaching, eventually returning to Notre Dame as head coach in 2020. Since then, she has helped steer the program into a new era, combining modern leadership with deep institutional knowledge.

In the 2024-25 season, the Fighting Irish enjoyed a strong campaign, reaching the Sweet 16 and finishing with a 28-6 record. With rising stars like Hannah Hidalgo and solid depth, the foundation is firmly in place. The addition of Jas Smith strengthens off-court operations, giving Ivey the support structure needed to push the program to another level.

Looking ahead to 2025–26, Notre Dame will be aiming to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2019, when they lost the national championship game to Baylor.

Notre Dame has added some quality to the roster, signing former South Bend Saint Joseph standout Kelly Ratigan from Loyola (MD), and guard Iyana Moore from Vanderbilt. Additionally, they have also signed Gisela Sanchez from Kansas State and Malaya Cowles from Wake Forest.

Niele Ivey tips former Notre Dame star for WNBA rookie of the year

Ivey has tipped former Fighting Irish star Sonia Citron to win the rookie of the year in the WNBA. Citron currently leads all rookies in scoring and has reached double figures in all her games for the Washington Mystics.

Ivey reacted to her former guard’s WNBA start on X.

“Tufffff ❤️ ROTY loading ….,” she wrote, quoting a stat about Citron.

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Despite her top performance, the Mystics are 3-4 so far and are set to face Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever in their next game.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Rajdeep Barman