Newsstand: ACC Network analyst apologizes to Notre Dame WBB coach Niele Ivey
Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey is the ACC Coach of the Year. It didn’t take long for ACC Network personality Mark Packer to take offense to the Fighting Irish’s head coach taking home the hardware.
In the ACC awards announcement show on Wednesday, Packer immediately made it clear he thought Duke’s Kara Lawson should have won instead of Ivey. He told his cohost, “Explain that one to me. Help me on that one.” Then he made a case for Lawson instead of spending most of his time laying out why Ivey was deserving of the honor.
“My qualm is, to me, who did the best job coaching this year? In my opinion, if I had a vote? It’s Kara Lawson from Duke,” Packer said.
Packer’s main argument was that nobody picked Duke to be one of the top teams in the ACC in the preseason poll. The Blue Devils came in seventh and finished tied for second. Notre Dame, meanwhile, significantly overachieved as well. The Irish were slotted fourth in the preseason poll and finished as the outright regular season champion.
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“Unless there is some kind of bylaw that I’m not aware of that whoever finishes first gets the deal — no knock on Coach Ivey, she’s awesome, she’s a class-act and has a great program — but Kara Lawson should have been Coach of the Year,” Packer said. “I think it’s a no-brainer.”
He went on, “That one, when I saw that today, I went, ‘C’mon, no way. Not buying it.'”
Packer apologized on Thursday for the way he handled the announcement.
“Just returned from UVA. I see some folks are upset with my ACC CoY award comments. I’m my harshest critic…I rewatched the segment, and you’re 100% right. I didn’t handle it correctly. @IrishCoachIvey has always been great with me and the show. I’ll make it right in Greensboro.”
The Irish begin the ACC Tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. ET in Greensboro, N.C.
Notre Dame tweets of the day
Mike Brey went out in his last home game ever with a bang — and a shot of Jameson at The Linebacker Lounge.
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Quote of the day
“We’ve always been pretty good here and there are great memories for us here. It was sentimental to be here and I’m thrilled to have this as my last memory.”
— Irish’s men’s basketball coach Mike Brey on his team’s 88-81 win over No. 25 Pittsburgh
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COLUMN: After 23 seasons, Fighting Irish legend Mike Brey bids his adieu
