Former Lehigh women’s basketball head coach Muffet McGraw retires after 33 years at Notre Dame

After 33 seasons as head coach of the University of Notre Dame women’s basketball program, Muffet McGraw announced her retirement during a virtual news conference on Wednesday.

“It has been my great honor to represent the University of Notre Dame these past 33 years, but the time has come for me to step down as your head basketball coach,” McGraw wrote in a statement released on Twitter.

McGraw, who spent five seasons as the head coach of Lehigh’s women’s basketball team from 1982-1987, was one of five candidates inducted into Lehigh’s Athletics Hall of Fame in fall 2019.

During her time with the Mountain Hawks, McGraw helped guide Lehigh’s team to a 24-4 record in 1985-1986 en route to a Patriot League Championship. She finished with a winning record in each of her five seasons.

McGraw went 88-41 at Lehigh, and she holds the highest winning percentage (.682) in the history of the Lehigh women’s basketball team. She left Lehigh to begin coaching Notre Dame in 1987.

While McGraw’s first win as a coach came with Lehigh, she reached a milestone in her coaching career with Notre Dame after achieving her 900th win as coach against her former team (95-68) on Dec. 30, 2018 — a game celebrated by fans on both sides. 

Her retirement comes after two national championships, one in 2001 and the latest in 2018, and an overall record of 848-252 at Notre Dame.

McGraw helped lead the Fighting Irish to 26 NCAA tournament appearances, including nine Final Four appearances.

McGraw was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. She finishes her career with a 936-292 overall record.