Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey drops 1-word reaction to ex-Fighting Irish star Skylar Diggins' latest record

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey did a good job of leading the Fighting Irish to the Sweet 16 this past season. She has been a coach of the team since 2007, except for a brief period in the 2019-20 season when she was an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies. As a result, she has had the opportunity to coach many future WNBA stars.

One of the best players she coached in her career was Skylar Diggins. Diggins played for Notre Dame from 2009 to 2013 before starting her pro career. She has become a star in the WNBA, and on Saturday, her pro team, the Seattle Storm, posted about one of her latest achievements. In a 77-70 win over Phoenix, Diggins tied a franchise record for assists in a game with 14.

"Sky is special."

Later in the day on Saturday, Niele Ivey saw the post and reposted it to her Instagram story with a one-word caption.

"Cold!"

While Skylar Diggins was a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Niele Ivey was an assistant coach for the team. She took over the head coaching job in 2020 and has since gone on to have a lot of success with the team.

Niele Ivey will need to rely on internal development to compensate for the loss of stars in the offseason

Niele Ivey and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have struggled to get over the hump the past few years. Each of the past four seasons has ended with Sweet 16 exits for the team. Things will not get any easier next season.

The Fighting Irish will not have two of their best players from last year on the roster next season. Olivia Miles transferred to TCU and Sonia Citron was selected with the third pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. The team also lost several other players, including Emma Risch, Kate Koval and Kylee Watson to the portal.

On Thursday, new general manager Pat Garrity confirmed that the team will focus on development rather than transfer portal additions to replace its lost talent.

"The word is development," Garrity said at his unveiling press conference. "We’re bringing in freshmen and we’re finding roles and developing them. Families can hear that and pretty much take that to the bank here."

A lot of the lost offensive load for the Fighting Irish will likely fall on star Hannah Hidalgo.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly