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Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Niele Ivey is showing love to a former program standout who was with her from 2010 to 2014. On Monday, the Players Tribune posted on Instagram about Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride, and the veteran shared her own experiences in her mental health journey.
This prompted Ivey to repost on her story and react with three words to show love for Erie native McBride - who played for the Fighting Irish from 2010 to 2014 - while she was an assistant coach from 2007 to 2015.
"Love you Kmac," Niele Ivey wrote with a green heart emoji.
Ivey is retooling her squad during the college hoops offseason after they were bounced out of the 2025 March Madness in the Sweet 16 by a 71-62 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs on March 29. They ended up finishing with an overall record of 28-6 and 16-2 during ACC play this year.
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Kayla McBride opens up about her father LaMont in her mental health journey
In the Players Tribune post on Instagram regarding Kayla McBride's mental health journey, the 32-year-old shared a few factors that she went through in overcoming the struggle. A huge factor in this was her father - LaMont - whom she loves very much. She then went on to talk about how she needed to break the cycle of her dad's experience and her current ones.
"I love my dad to death. Anybody who’s come in contact with my dad loves him," McBride shared. He’s traveled with me, he’s been to all my teams overseas. He’s come to Russia, he’s come to Istanbul. He never misses a game."
"But he had trauma and anxiety and things that had happened to him in his own childhood that had a huge effect on who he was able to be back when he and my mom were raising us. And as I got older, and learned more about mental health, I realized that he was a part of a cycle in his own family that he wasn’t able to break," she further explained.
McBride - in her 12th WNBA season and fifth with the Lynx - recently appeared in the 2024 Finals against the Liberty, where her team lost a close 3-2 series. Heading into 2025, Kayla McBride is ruled out for the season opener due to personal reasons.
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