Jeff Walz says rivalry with Notre Dame will continue without Muffet McGraw

Jeff Walz says Louisville women’s basketball’s rivalry with Notre Dame will continue despite the retirement of Muffet McGraw.

McGraw announced her retirement from Notre Dame after 33 seasons and two national championships last week.

Although there was tension between the two on the court, Walz said he has the upmost respect for what McGraw accomplished in her career.

“It’s okay to compete and not like each other while you are competing, even in women’s basketball, it is okay,” Walz said. “That’s one of the things that I laugh at, everyone takes things personal, ‘I don’t like her, she doesn’t like me.’ I have no ill-will feel toward her, I think Muffet has done a great job up there, I just want to beat them and they want to beat us.”

Notre Dame hired Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Niele Ivey to replace McGaw. Walz expects Notre Dame to bounce back from its 13-18 season in 2019-20.

The Cardinals defeated Notre Dame by a combined 65 points in two meetings in 2019-20.

“It’s going to be fun, they have some really nice pieces to their ball club coming back from last year, a few of them that we out injured are healthy and they have some nice freshmen coming in,” Walz said.