Thousands welcome Irish back to campus
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Associate Sports Editor
Niele Ivey climbed off the bus, onto a platform and held the NCAA Championship trophy high in the air.
Everyone exploded into cheers.
"This moment passes anything I've ever experienced in my entire life," said head coach Muffet McGraw.
More than 2,500 students and supports lined Notre Dame Avenue to welcome the women's basketball team back to campus.
"You've been supportive all year," McGraw said as the crowd chanted, "We're No. 1! We're No.1!" Pointing to the trophy, she shouted, "We brought it home!"
Due to a flight problem, the team bus didn't arrive to the Main Circle until 2:30 a.m., one hour later than estimated. However, despite the cold weather, nobody left the rally early.
"We won the national championship," said Mark Trandel. "They deserve to be supported."
As the team bus drove up Notre Dame Avenue, led by a police escort, students waved their hands in the air and chanted, "Here come the Irish." When the bus finally stopped and the Irish got off, they ran around the crowd giving supporters high-fives on their way to a platform erected by the Notre Dame Security Police.
"We've got nothing but love for you," said Ruth Riley.
Riley was clearly a crowd favorite at the gathering. When the band played the 1812 Overture, the students chanted "Ruth, Ruth" over and over. Riley just laughed.
At least three students held aloft signs asking the star center to to marry them.
"[Riley's] pretty hot, and she will make a lot of money next year," said Jeff Raedy, who was carrying around a sign that read "Ruth, will you marry me?"
Many students realized how special it was to see a national championship team.
"This has gotta be a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Nick Setta. "There's no way I would miss it. It's great just to be a part of this."
For senior Jaime Glasser, it was just great to be able to witness a national championship team while she was a student.
"It's been the only national championship in our four years," she said. "It was a great game and a great season."
Her friend Katie Wood agreed. "They worked hard and they deserved it," she said.
The atmosphere at Notre Dame was much different than Purdue, where riot police had to use tear gas on out of control students. In South Bend, the only disturbance reporterd was a couch being burned on North Quad.
Instead, the festive, joyous atmosphere around the main circle was a fitting homecoming for the Irish.
"To see all these people out here, it's phenominal," said Pete Monenaro.
"I've been coming to women's basketball games since I was in third grade" said Christa Gray. "There's more people here now than there were at some of those home games. This is awesome."
Local television crews walked around the crowd getting footage. Everytime a cameraman shined a light on a particular section of the crowd, students went crazy. Throughout the evening, many supporters did 68 pushups — one for every point the Irish scored in their victory over Purdue.
The players clearly had a good time in front of the students, although as Ericka Haney joked, "We don't know what to do, so do you have any questions?"
Ivey crowdsurfed for about 30 seconds, and Riley asked the Notre Dame band if they would play the Irish Jig.
And as they do before every game, the Irish huddled together and did the Irish Jig for one last time.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect season.
All News Stories for Monday, April 2, 2001
