Notre Dame women's basketball set to play two point guards in same backcourt

SOUTH BEND − Been there, seen that.

From those early days in the North Star Conference to heavyweight status in two of the most respected leagues – Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference – in the land. From hiring an unknown from Philadelphia way back when to seeing her coach her way to the Hall of Fame. From landing a point guard out of St. Louis who helped win the program’s first national championship and became the current head coach chasing the program’s third title.

Noie:Injured forward Maddy Westbeld finds her now

From all those high-leverage NCAA Tournament runs, the Final Fours, the national championships and the biggest moments (“Ogunbowale ... for the win...”), this Notre Dame women’s basketball program’s been everywhere and seen everything.

The road ahead:Notre Dame women's basketball finalizes 2024-25 schedule with ACC slate

It’s never been or seen where it’s about to be and see this season.

That would be two of the game’s elite guards in sophomore Hannah Hidalgo and junior Olivia Miles sharing the same space, the same ball, the same home state (New Jersey), the same goal of driving the Irish back to the Final Four and beyond.

This isn’t MJ and Pip. It’s not Steph and KD. Or Batman and Robin. This is MJ and MJ. This is Steph and Step (sorry, KD). This is Batman and Batman. This is two dynamic talents, two dynamic personalities, two elite athletes set to make something work that isn’t supposed to work.

Playing two lead guards at one time? Can’t do it. Well, maybe.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said fifth-year senior Maddy Westbeld, who will have to wait to experience what it’s like to play alongside both as she recovers from left foot surgery. “I’m just as excited as you guys are.”

Excited? More like intrigued. How will it look? Work? Who has the basketball in their capable, confident, game-changing hands at winning time? With two players who take a backseat to nobody nationally, can someone sometimes ride shotgun?

This is Plan A, B and C. There’s no Plan D. No turning back. No shuffling the storyline or job descriptions. It must work.

How does fifth-year head coach Niele Ivey, a decent point guard during her playing days, walk this tightrope? How does she let one cut it loose and suggest the other wait? Even for Ivey, who’s seen and done plenty during her playing/coaching days, she’s never seen or done this.

There’s no reference point for her as a player or an assistant or a head coach. How did she navigate a summer like no other?

It started where it usually starts - on the practice court. Not with cone drills or dummy offense in June and July, but by pointing those two guards and their teammates to the Rolfs Hall floor with one directive – go hoop. Get a chance to play together. To run together. To grow together.

“They never had an opportunity to do that,” Ivey said. “We scrimmaged more this summer. You get a chance outside of the coach telling you what exactly to run, you get a chance to build your chemistry your own, which is what I tried to do with them.”

==============

Surely, there were moments when someone wasn’t sure what to do. Should I take the ball? Should you take the shot? Who takes over? Who runs it the way a lead guard is supposed to run it? Those times of indecision will carry over when the Irish open Nov. 4 against (pray for) Mercyhurst, when they’re in the Cayman Islands for three games over Thanksgiving weekend. Even when league play starts December 8 at Syracuse.

Hildalgo and Miles – Miles and Hildalgo – will figure it out. The more reps, the more games, the more moments they manage together will help come March.

“When you haven’t had an opportunity to play both sides that dynamic, you grow once you can finally play together,” Ivey said.

Those guards will grow. And go.

To convince herself that this can work, Ivey retreated to her office and to her home this offseason to watch the game. Study the game. Learn from what she sees on the screen. With no reference point on how those two guards could coexist on the court, Ivey went in search of one.

She found a few.

Watching the Boston Celtics win an NBA championship, she saw how Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum (both wings) worked together. Watching the Dallas Mavericks come from nowhere to play in the NBA finals, she studied lead guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Tracking her only child, Ivey watched film of son Jaden alongside Cade Cunningham with the Detroit Pistons.

She also tracked two former Notre Dame standouts that she recruited in college – Skylar Diggins and Jewel Loyd – in the WNBA with the Seattle Storm.

“I kind of used those references just to see what does the offense look like; how does it work? Ivey said. “I look at all those type of offense and schemes and try to kind of implement things that could work for us.”

The more Ivey watched, the more she realized that a backcourt with a heavy helping of Hildago and Miles – Miles and Hildalgo – could flourish. There are more than enough assists and dribbles and shots to go around. More than enough moments for one – for both – to dominate.

More than enough chances for both – and for the Irish – to max out their potential. Max out this season. Anything less than an April trip to Tampa won’t be enough. Not for this group. Not for those guards.

Both will bring the ball up after makes and misses. Both will initiate offense. Both will shoot and score and defend and lead and, at times, seem unstoppable. As for whose team it might become, that doesn’t matter. One tenant of this program is unselfishness. That might be tested this season, but if they want to win, if they want to do what’s best for Notre Dame, they’ll do this together.

One of Ivey’s mantras for 2024-25 is keep the main thing the main thing. It’s not about Hildalgo and Miles or Miles and Hidalgo. It’s about growing. It's about improving. It's about winning. It’s about the journey.

Notre Dame will just happen to do it with two elite lead guards.

“They make each other better,” Ivey said. “I trust both of them. I believe in their abilities, believe in the vision.”

It’s going to be different. It’s going to be dynamic. It's going to be unique. It’s going to happen.

Be there. See that.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI