Former Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw revealed details of Caitlin Clark’s decommitment from his program during the star’s 2019 recruiting process.
McGraw appeared on the “Good Game With Sarah Spain” podcast Tuesday and said that if Clark fulfills his commitment to Notre Dame, then McGraw could still be the coach there. McGraw retired from coaching in April 2020, just months before Clark’s freshman year.
“I might still be coaching if Caitlin Clark came to Notre Dame,” McGraw said.
McGraw says she received a verbal commitment from Clark to play at Notre Dame, but it never seemed certain.
“She made a commitment to us, but I felt like it was kind of a soft commitment when she made it, because she couldn’t decide, she couldn’t decide,” he said. McGraw said. “And then finally she said, ‘I want to come.’ But it wasn’t like, “I’m coming!” It was like I made the decision.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw reacts on the sidelines against UConn during the Women’s Final Four at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on April 5, 2019. (Jasen Vinlove-USA Today Sports)
Then, after a tense and dramatic wait, McGraw found out she would miss Clark, who announced his commitment to Iowa on Nov. 12, 2019.
“After that, we waited and waited for her to announce it, because as you know, we’re not allowed to announce anything. The players have to do it themselves,” McGraw said. “So she made the announcement a long time later, I kept saying, ‘When is this coming out?’ And then when she made the announcement, she was going to Iowa, but of course she called me to tell me.”
McGraw’s retirement came shortly after the end of the 2019-20 season, five months after she found out she would not coach Clark, ending a 33-year career that included two national championships in 2001 and 2018.
McGraw later called Clark’s decommitment from his program to Iowa “probably a very good decision.”
Clark previously told ESPN that her own family wanted her to play for the Fighting Irish.
“My family wanted me to go to Notre Dame,” Caitlin said. “At the end of the day, they said, you decide for yourself. But it’s Notre Dame! ‘Rudy’ was one of my favorite movies. How could you not choose Notre Dame? “
USC’S JUJU WATKINS OPENS UP ON CAITLIN CLARK’S WHITE PRIVILEGE COMMENTS, EMBRACES CONTROVERSIAL NEW FANS
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark cheers during the Big Ten women’s basketball championship game against Nebraska at Target Center on March 10, 2024 in Minneapolis. (Angelina Katsanis/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Clark then spoke about his experience visiting Notre Dame and his intention to play for the Fighting Irish during an interview on the “New Heights” podcast on January 2. She said she ultimately made the decision not to play there because of a feeling in her gut.
“I could feel it in my gut, I was like, ‘Ahh, I’m not supposed to go,'” Clark said.
“Basically, I made it clear pretty early on, during my college recruiting, that I wanted to be like the Midwest, just kind of a homebody. Family person. I just wanted to stay pretty close to home. So that has a lot shrunk.
Clark went on to play her entire four-year college career for the Hawkeyes, where she broke several program and NCAA records, including the all-time record among any college basketball player, male or female, of history.
Clark also met her current boyfriend, Connor McCaffery., while I was in Iowa. McCaffery played on the Iowa men’s basketball team for his father, head coach Fran McCaffery.
Caitlin Clark dribbles on the court at the All Iowa Attack Basketball Fieldhouse on April 22, 2017 in Ames, Iowa. (Luke Lu/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, without Clark, Notre Dame was doing well, but not as well as Iowa. Under current head coach Niele Ivey, the Fighting Irish made the NCAA Tournament three straight years from 2021-2024, but lost in the regional semifinals three times, while Clark led much deeper tournament runs in 2023 and 2024.
Clark led Iowa to two straight national championship game appearances, en route to becoming the Indiana Fever’s No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft. McCaffery was previously in Indiana for working on the Pacers coaching staff, and they are still together in town as he now works on the Butler men’s basketball coaching staff.
Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Year, was selected to the All-Star team, led the WNBA in assists and helped lead fever to the playoffs in his rookie season.
Clark was also named Time magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year.
