Virginia Tech coach Megan Duffy talks Notre Dame at ACC Tipoff

We wish her reasonably well in her first ACC season.

[autotag]Megan Duffy[/autotag] knows all about Notre Dame. She played there for four years during its Big East days, making the all-conference first team twice and being named the conference’s most improved player once. She led the conference in free-throw percentage twice and steals and minutes once apiece.

After playing professionally for a few years, she turned to coaching. For the past five years, she coached Marquette and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including last year when the Eagles got to play their lone tournament game at Purcell Pavilion.

Duffy now is beginning her first year at Virginia Tech. So when it was her turn to field questions at the annual ACC Tipoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was inevitable that she would be asked about the Irish. She was, and here was her answer to that question:

“This has been a dream to play and coach at the best and with the best every single day. My Notre Dame background back in the old Big East it was the depth of the conference, how competitive it was, and this is the same in the ACC.

We obviously understand this is the best conference in the country for all different reasons: the talent of the league, guard play, post play, and then some of the best coaches. I’ve always wanted that challenge.

Just to have it unfold as player and then you obviously build your resume as a coach. It’s special to be here at Virginia Tech and to hopefully be just a small piece of a bigger picture of women’s college basketball and continue to put a great product out there.”

Duffy won’t get to return to South Bend this season as the Hokies will be hosting the Irish on Jan. 30 in Blacksburg. Hopefully, when the time does come for her to come back to her roots, she’ll get a nice ovation from the Irish faithful. She’s earned it.

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Former Notre Dame women’s basketball star named head coach in ACC

All the best to Megan…except when she takes on the Irish

Former Notre Dame women’s basketball standout Megan Duffy has been on the coaching climb since her playing career came to an end. That climb has taken her Virginia Tech where she’ll be the new head coach.

Duffy heads to Blacksburg after spending the last five seasons at Marquette. She guided the Golden Eagles to a 110-46 overall record and appearances in the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons.

“I am ecstatic to join Virginia Tech Athletics as the leader of the women’s program,” Duffy said Wednesday morning. “The opportunity to continue the winning tradition with Hokie Nation and to be a part of the passionate, savvy Blacksburg community makes this a dream job for me.” – Megan Duffy

Previous to Marquette, Duffy was the head coach at Miami (Ohio) for two seasons, helping them to a 44-20 overall mark.

Duffy was the leading scorer on the 2005-06 Notre Dame team, putting up 15.6 points per game.  She was on four Fighting Irish teams that made the NCAA Tournament, a pair of which made the Sweet 16.

Duffy played three seasons in the WNBA before getting her coaching start at St. John’s. She also had assistant stops at George Washington and Michigan before landing the Miami (Ohio) job.

Top 10 3-point shooters in Notre Dame women’s basketball history

Who has most hit from downtown in Irish history?

Several months back, former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] advanced to the finals of the annual WNBA 3-Point Contest. But nobody was going to beat Sabrina Ionescu, whose final-round score of 37 was higher than even the highest score ever recorded in the NBA version of the contest. Almost immediately, many wondered how Ionescu would favor in a shootout with NBA 3-point king Stephen Curry.

This past NBA All-Star Weekend, fans got their wish. It was the highlight of the weekend with Curry needing the final rack to beat Ionescu, 29-26. There are hopes that something like this can continue next year and beyond, especially with women’s basketball increasing in popularity.

While we contemplate the future of women’s basketball and only can guess what it holds, we know who’s helped lay the groundwork for that future. Among them are the top 3-point shooters in Notre Dame history. Since 3-pointers are the latest thing to bring male and female basketball players together, let’s see who rounds out the top 10 for the Irish: