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ANALYSIS: Notre Dame's Paradise Lost

Becoming a superpower in collegiate athletics can take years and decades of excellence and sustainment.

Yet a dramatic fall from that status can happen quite rapidly.

So it continued with the Notre Dame’s women’s basketball program following its 75-65 defeat at home on Thursday night to Boston College, dropping to 6-10 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.

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In 1981-82, Digger Phelps (John Shumate to his right) and his Irish program experienced the same plummet Muffet McGraw and her Irish are now undergoing.
In 1981-82, Digger Phelps (John Shumate to his right) and his Irish program experienced the same plummet Muffet McGraw and her Irish are now undergoing. (Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports)

That snapped a 14-game winning streak by the Fighting Irish against the Eagles in which their average margin of victory in those meetings was 31 points, most recently 97-47 last year.

Notre Dame had not lost a conference home game since 2012, but is now 0-2 this season — falling earlier to Clemson 71-55 — with four consecutive setbacks on the home floor.

A 26-14 scoring advantage in the third quarter advantage by Boston College and 24-10 margin in second-chance points (mainly off 20 offensive rebounds) spelled doom again for an Irish outfit that has been beset by a crisis in confidence. The Eagles upped their lead in the second half to 17 points, and only twice did the Irish come as close as nine points thereafter.

Usually, head coach Muffet McGraw enters the media conference room a few minutes after such disappointment, and oftentimes this year in an extremely despondent state.

This time, there was a much longer wait of about 20 minutes — and a much more calm, measured demeanor.

McGraw has reached what famed author Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote was the fifth and final stage of grieving a loss — acceptance — after having gone through denial, anger, bargaining and sadness (with the understanding the loss of a basketball game does not register an iota compared to the death of a loved one).

Mind you, this is not acceptance of continuing to lose in years to come, but in acknowledging that there is not going to be a quick elixir or silver bullet in repairing the sudden plummet other than to start from the beginning, teach and instruct, and succeed more on the recruiting trail.

It’s not about making the NCAA Tournament for the 25th straight year after having advanced to the Final Four in seven of the last nine, highlighted by the 2018 national title.

“It’s just been a struggle on both ends,” McGraw reflectively stated quietly. “We’ve lost our confidence — just need to figure out where we go from here. Every game I think we can turn it around, and then we just have that lapse at some point in the game.

“I think we have enough (personnel). We just need to take a little more pride in our defense maybe, and then try not to get discouraged when we don’t score. I know it’s hard because … we’re all discouraged.

“We all want the same thing, and it’s just to get better. … I need to just go back to fundamentals and try to simplify it a little bit more.”

How this precipitous fall from being one of the top 3 programs from 2010-19 to now — Paradise Lost, as I call it — can be broken down into three reasons:

• The graduation of all four seniors or fifth-year seniors who were chosen among the top 19 players in last spring’s WNBA Draft.

• Another five were lost to either early departure to the WNBA as the No. 1 overall pick (Jackie Young), and transfers by McDonald’s All-Americans Erin Boley (Oregon), Danielle Patterson (Indiana), Jordan Nixon (Texas A&M) and current fifth-year senior Ali Patberg, who is starring at No. 14 Indiana.

• Overall recruiting drop-off the past several years.

Starters from 2010-19 such as Young, Skylar Diggins, Jewell Loyd, Brianna Turner, Jessica Shepard and Arike Ogunbowale were all ranked as top-5 and/or national player of the year prospects, and complemented by top 20-25 figures and McDonald’s All-Americans such as Marina Mabrey, Kathryn Westbeld, Kayla McBride, Natalie Achonwa, Lindsay Allen, etc.

The lone such top-5-caliber player currently on the roster is freshman Sam Brunelle, who has had too much, too soon put on her plate, whereas her predecessors could lean on proven veterans to take the onus off them.

Next year’s five-woman class — ranked No. 3 — will significantly help replenish the roster, but there is still a question mark of whether there is a program-changer in the group, a la the aforementioned personnel.

McGraw is experiencing the same Paradise Lost that past Notre Dame football coaches Frank Leahy and Lou Holtz did, and also men’s basketball coach Digger Phelps — who last month was nominated for induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, where McGraw already is enshrined.


THE OTHER PARADISES LOST

• In his first seven seasons at Notre Dame, Leahy was 60-3-5 with four national titles, including 36-0-2 from 1946-49.

But scholarship cutbacks by the school in 1948 caught up in 1950 when the Irish suddenly fell to 4-4-1 — or more losses in one season than the previous seven combined.

The Irish also finished out of the top 20 in 1951 before returning to the top 3 in both 1952 and 1953 in Leahy’s final two seasons.

• Holtz was 64-9-1 from 1988-93, highlighted by a school record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89 during a national title run, and won five major bowls against teams that were a combined 54-2 entering the game.

Suddenly, in 1994 it all unraveled with a 6-5-1 mark. The recruiting had fallen off significantly minus former coordinator Vinny Cerrato (1986-91), and the program never quite recovered to top-10 status before Holtz stepped down in 1996.

• Phelps’ 20-year reign (1971-91) began much like where McGraw is now.

In Phelps first season, all five starters from the previous year’s top-10, national title contending team that defeated No. 1 UCLA 89-82 were gone. Austin Carr was the No. 1 overall NBA pick, Collis Jones No. 17 and Sid Catlett No. 55 — and even university vice president Rev. Ned Joyce C.S.C. believed that team should have won the national title.

Minus the five starters, a medical redshirt for star sophomore center John Shumate and freshman ineligibility back then for guards Gary Brokaw and Dwight Clay, Notre Dame finished 6-20 in 1971-72.

Two years later it would finish in the top 5 with a 26-3 mark.

• After becoming a perennial top 5-10 program from 1974-81 — Phelps’ 1981-82 team suddenly fell to 10-17, and early in the year lost back-to-back home games to Murray State and Northern Illinois.

How did this happen? Same as it has with McGraw’s squad this year: Immense attrition/graduation and a couple of down recruiting years.

Following the 1980-81 season, Notre Dame graduated three seniors who were top 25 NBA picks — Orlando Woolridge (No. 6), Kelly Tripucka (No. 12) and Tracy Jackson (No. 25) — while freshman center Joe Kleine (a future No. 6 overall pick) — transferred to Arkansas.

Even with yet another first-round pick remaining in guard John Paxson, it was not enough to overcome a couple of down recruiting years in which only player was signed in 1978 (Mike Mitchell) and one remained from 1981 (Dan Duff).

It would take four years for Phelps to get back to the NCAA Tournament (1985), but the program never quite reached its past status from the 1970s.

It’s unlikely the women will ever have another run of seven Final Fours in nine years as in the past decade. For now, the objective is to strive to at least regain the feeling of a paradise once felt.

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