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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12055086" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-college-basketball" source="Orion">Women's college basketball</keyword> coaches are trading jabs like never before early in the new year.</li><li>UConn's <keyword id="12096002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="geno-auriemma" source="Orion">Geno Auriemma</keyword> and retired Notre Dame head coach <keyword id="12882256" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="muffet-mcgraw" source="Orion">Muffet McGraw</keyword> <a href="https://www.insider.com/geno-auriemma-muffet-mcgraw-feud-espn-uconn-media-bias-2022-1">feuded over media bias</a>.</li></ul><p>Things are getting heated in women's college basketball — and not between the players.</p><p>Top <keyword id="11932023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ncaa" source="Orion">NCAA</keyword> women's basketball coaches are trading not-so-subtle jabs at each other like never before to start the new year, and it's raising the stakes as teams head into conference play.</p><p>The drama started with two of the most powerful figures in women's college basketball over the past decade: UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma and retired Notre Dame Fighting Irish playcaller Muffet McGraw. After McGraw said on a <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coach-speak/id1592584251?i=1000545718365">podcast hit</a> that UConn "absolutely" benefits from media bias — particularly from Connecticut-based <keyword id="11893855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports" source="Orion">sports</keyword> media giant ESPN — the 11-time national champion poured gasoline on the fire with <a href="https://www.insider.com/geno-auriemma-muffet-mcgraw-feud-espn-uconn-media-bias-2022-1">personal barbs and classic Auriemma satire</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Geno Auriemma (left) and Muffet McGraw." height="1660" width="2500" msid="88781114" hostid="261"></div><p>"I guess Muffet is bored," Auriemma said. "I guess she didn't have a whole lot to talk about and usually when she was coaching, when she did talk, nobody listened anyway."</p><p>"I think the bias has something to do — if there is any — with the 11 national championships, which is a lot more than [Notre Dame's] two," he added. "If people didn't want to watch us on television, I'm sure they wouldn't put us on. If we didn't generate the ratings, I'm sure people wouldn't have us on."</p><p>Auriemma didn't stop there. He continued roasting the retired Hall of Fame coach for saying UConn "won more than anybody except Tennessee."</p><p>"I think she missed Sesame Street growing up," Auriemma said, implying that McGraw can't count. "Eleven [national championships] is more than [Tennessee's] eight."</p><div type="image" title="UConn head coach Geno Auriemma." height="1559" width="2080" msid="88781115" hostid="261"></div><p>In the following days, several other active head coaches of top-ranked women's college basketball programs started feuds of their own. Before No. 19 North Carolina traveled across the Research Triangle to take on the fifth-ranked Wolfpack, Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart insinuated that venue size — not fan engagement — resulted in NC State's Reynolds Coliseum selling out for the Thursday-night contest.</p><p>"It's a small gym, so it doesn't take a lot to sell it out," Banghart said. "We'll play in front of more fans at other places. It says 'sold out' because it's a small gym."</p><p>After the Wolfpack thrashed their previously undefeated crosstown rivals 72-45, NC State head coach <keyword id="12912056" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wes-moore" source="Orion">Wes Moore</keyword> used the postgame press conference as an opportunity to punch back.</p><p>"I guess we got a small media room too," Moore quipped, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/JEPopeIV">Raleigh News &amp; Observer beat writer Jonas Pope IV</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Wes Moore." height="1667" width="2500" msid="88781117" hostid="261"></div><p>And then, over in the SEC, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach <keyword id="12137454" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dawn-staley" source="Orion">Dawn Staley</keyword> took a dig at Hall of Famer <keyword id="12912055" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kim-mulkey" source="Orion">Kim Mulkey</keyword>. On Thursday night, top-ranked South Carolina squeaked out a six-point road victory against the No. 13 LSU Tigers — making Staley the first-ever coach to beat Auriemma, Mulkey, and Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer in a single season.</p><p>But LSU played the Gamecocks close — as close as all but two of South Carolina's opponents this season. Even still, when she was asked how improved the Tigers are since Mulkey's arrival in Baton Rouge this offseason, Staley was reluctant to offer Mulkey credit and brought up her predecessor.</p><p>"They still play with the same grit," Staley said in response. "I thought [former Tigers head coach] Nikki [Fargas] did a great job getting the most out of them. If she got the support that Kim is getting — you know, the energy in this building, it's gonna raise the level of play. The people in the building will allow that to happen."</p><p>"If Nikki [Fargas] got a chance to do that, maybe she'd still be sitting here," she added. "But they got a good team... I think Kim does a great job at simplifying. They just play simple basketball and they're efficient at it."</p><p>Across the board, the verbal punches slung between coaches fired up fanbases on all sides of each squabble. And in a sport that's constantly fighting for primetime television slots, media acknowledgment, and fair allocation of resources, a little bit of extra engagement and an easy entry point for new fans could go a long way.</p>

Women's college basketball coaches are trading underhanded barbs and smack-talking like never before

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Retired Notre Dame head coach <keyword id="12882256" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="muffet-mcgraw" source="Orion">Muffet McGraw</keyword> accused UConn of benefitting from <keyword id="11972475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="espn" source="Orion">ESPN</keyword>'s media bias.</li><li>Huskies coach <keyword id="12096002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="geno-auriemma" source="Orion">Geno Auriemma</keyword> snapped back at his former foe with "I guess Muffet's bored."</li></ul><p>Muffet McGraw <a href="https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1473697315106050061">started a feud</a> with <keyword id="12096003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uconn-huskies" source="Orion">UConn Huskies</keyword> head coach Geno Auriemma, a former foe from her days as the legendary playcaller for the <keyword id="12118783" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="notre-dame-fighting-irish" source="Orion">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</keyword>.</p><p>Two weeks later, the 11-time national champion poured gasoline on the fire.</p><p>During a recent episode of the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coach-speak/id1592584251?i=1000545718365">"Off the Looking Glass Podcast"</a> with Kate Fagan and Jessica Smetana, McGraw accused UConn of enjoying "absolutely complete bias" from ESPN and the media at large.</p><p>Auriemma didn't take kindly to the implication that his program's reputation was not 100% earned, so he fired back with a charged, targeted tirade during a radio appearance on 97.9 ESPN.</p><p id="mfDb36">"I guess Muffet is bored," Auriemma said. "I guess she didn't have a whole lot to talk about and usually when she was coaching, when she did talk, nobody listened anyway."</p><p>The 67-year-old coach patently disagreed with McGraw's characterization of ESPN's bias towards the Huskies. The network's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut — just a stone's throw from UConn's home of Storrs has nothing to do with any perceived favoritism, he said.</p><div type="image" title="Muffet McGraw (left) and Geno Auriemma." height="1035" width="1380" msid="88699923" hostid="261"></div><p>Instead, Auriemma believes the Huskies' history of domination in the women's game and their large, devoted fanbase affords them regular coverage from ESPN and other media outlets.</p><p>"I think the bias has something to do — if there is any — with the 11 national championships, which is a lot more than [Notre Dame's] two," Auriemma said, then continued. "If people didn't want to watch us on television, I'm sure they wouldn't put us on. If we didn't generate the ratings, I'm sure people wouldn't have us on."</p><p>"I do want to thank the people at ESPN for helping us win those 111 in a row," he added sarcastically, referencing his team's undefeated streak from 2014 to 2017. "I mean, if it wasn't for them, there's no way that we could have done it. So hopefully there's some people over there that can take some credit for that. I don't know what we would have done without them."</p><div type="image" title="Geno Auriemma cuts down the net after UConn defeated Notre Dame in the 2015 National Championship game." height="1704" width="2500" msid="88699924" hostid="261"></div><p>Auriemma didn't stop there. He continued roasting the retired Hall of Fame coach for saying UConn "won more than anybody except Tennessee."</p><p>"I think she missed Sesame Street growing up," Auriemma said, implying that McGraw can't count. "Eleven [national championships] is more than [Tennessee's] eight."</p><p>The Huskies are experiencing a rough patch at present. Since sophomore point guard and 2021 consensus <keyword id="12055086" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-college-basketball" source="Orion">women's college basketball</keyword> player of the year Paige Bueckers <a href="https://www.insider.com/paige-bueckers-injury-fans-slam-geno-auriemma-leaving-star-in-2021-12">injured her leg during the final minute</a> of UConn's December 5 win over Notre Dame, the Huskies have fallen out of the top-10 of the AP Poll for <a href="https://www.ctinsider.com/uconn/article/UConn-women-fall-out-of-AP-top-10-for-first-time-16717087.php#:~:text=The%20last%20time%20UConn%20was,have%20come%20to%20ranked%20teams.">the first time in nearly 17 years</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Geno Auriemma yells during UConn's loss to Georgia Tech." height="1667" width="2500" msid="88699926" hostid="261"></div><p>On top of losing two of its last three contests, UConn is also struggling with a COVID-19 outbreak within its program. The Huskies have now postponed their first four conference games of the season due to pandemic-related complications.</p>

Geno Auriemma snapped back at Muffet McGraw after she accused UConn of benefitting from ESPN bias

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Legendary <keyword id="264806" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Notre-Dame">Notre Dame</keyword> <keyword id="5919286" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-basketball">women's basketball</keyword> <keyword id="6371482" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coach">coach</keyword> Muffet McGraw announced her retirement on Wednesday.</li><li>McGraw led her teams to two National Championships and nine Final Fours en route to the <keyword id="737098" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Basketball-Hall-of-Fame">basketball Hall of Fame</keyword>.</li><li>She also developed a slew of WNBA talent, including league stars like Skylar Diggins-Smith, Kayle McBride, Jewell Lloyd, Arike Ogunbowale, and Ruth Riley.</li><li>McGraw has been an unapologetic champion for women, thereby shifting the larger landscape for women in <keyword id="6356028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports">sports</keyword>.</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>A <keyword id="36237" type="SPORT" weightage="60" keywordseo="basketball">basketball</keyword> legend has left the court for the final time, her heels click-clacking the whole way.</p><p>Legendary Notre Dame women's basketball head coach Muffet McGraw announced her retirement Wednesday after 33 years leading the Fighting Irish.</p><p>"It has been my great honor to represent the University of Notre Dame these past 33 years, but the time has come for me to step down as your head basketball coach," McGraw said in a statement. "I am proud of what we have accomplished and I can turn the page to the next chapter in my life with no regrets, knowing that I gave it my best every day."</p><p>McGraw molded 20 future league players — 10 of whom were first-round draft picks — over her career, and also led her teams to two National Championships and nine Final Fours. But perhaps the most important piece of McGraw's legacy is her role as a champion for women in sports and beyond.</p><p>"When you look at men's basketball, 99% of the jobs go to men. Why shouldn't 100 or 99% of the jobs in women's basketball go to women?" McGraw said in an April 2019 press conference ahead of the Final Four. "Maybe it's because we only have 10% women athletic directors in Division I. People hire people who look like them. That's the problem."</p><h2>McGraw is one of the most accomplished coaches ever in college basketball</h2><p>McGraw is the eighth-winningest head coach in <keyword id="125824" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NCAA">NCAA</keyword> Division I history, with 936 career victories combined between her stints with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks and, more famously, at Notre Dame.</p><p><div type="image" title="muffet mcgraw.JPG" height="1096" width="1462" msid="75379027" hostid="261"></div></p><p>She built a winning program from the ground up at the Joyce Center — now better known as Purcell Pavilion. When she arrived in 1987, the Fighting Irish were coming off of a 12-15 season and had never qualified for an NCAA tournament.</p><p>The shift was striking in that first season: McGraw led the team to a 20-8 record. Notre Dame finished first in its conference the following three years, and in 1992 — McGraw's fifth season — the Fighting Irish made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament. Soon, they became fixtures in the month of March; the team has taken part in the Madness every year since 1996.</p><p>McGraw only got better with time; the 2010s were by far the most dominant decade of her four as a coach. From 2010 to 2019, the Fighting Irish competed in the national title game six times. Their lowest finishes during that time span (in 2010 and 2016) still put Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.</p><h2>McGraw helped develop some of the biggest stars in the WNBA</h2><p>McGraw helped mold league stars like Skylar Diggins-Smith, Kayle McBride, Jewell Lloyd, Arike Ogunbowale, and Ruth Riley.</p><p><div type="image" title="muffet mcgraw.JPG" height="2042" width="1500" msid="75379031" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"There's something about her that makes you want to move a mountain for her," Diggins-Smith, a four-time WNBA all-star said, <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-women/article/2020-04-22/muffet-mcgraw-retires-after-33-seasons-2-national-titles">per the NCAA</a>. "I believe it's how much she cares about her players."</p><p>Former Notre Dame forward and current WNBA player Brianna Turner described McGraw as a workhorse, relentless in her pursuit of excellence.</p><p>Ruth Riley wrote in <a href="https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/29083937/what-muffet-mcgraw-means-ruth-riley-tribute-notre-dame-coach">an essay for ESPN</a> that with McGraw, "there are no pretenses — she simply tells it as it is." </p><p>"She is an intense competitor with remarkable intellect and integrity. She excels without arrogance, is selfless, and always deflects praise by redistributing the spotlight to shine on those around her," Riley wrote. "When I say she has no ego, I mean none, nada, zero. Double zero might even be more accurate."</p><p><div type="image" title="muffet mcgraw.JPG" height="2048" width="1334" msid="75379034" hostid="261"></div></p><p><a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/the-iso-arike-ogunbowale-wnba-dallas-wings">In The Players Tribune</a>, Arike Ogunbowale called McGraw "by far the best coach that I've had."</p><p>"Now she can finally enjoy what she's built over all of those years. We stressed her out literally 365 days a year. That's 365 days a year for 33 years that she's been thinking about this team, "Ogunbowale wrote, adding, "I watched her lead by example for four years. And that's really all I needed." </p><h2>A champion for women in sports and beyond</h2><p>McGraw was consistently unapologetic in her demand for progress for women in sports and beyond. </p><p>In her later years at Notre Dame, McGraw had an all-female supporting cast. When writer <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/this-top-womens-college-basketball-coach-is-done-hiring-men-5f3b6d06609b/">Lindsay Gibbs interviewed the coaching legend for Think Progress</a> in March 2019, she asked McGraw "if she'd ever hire a male coach again."</p><p>McGraw gave a definitive no.</p><p>"She didn't hedge for even a second," <a href="https://twitter.com/linzsports/status/1253035595183652866">Gibbs said on Twitter Wednesday</a>. "She gave others permission to stop hedging, too."</p><p><div type="image" title="muffet mcgraw.JPG" height="1028" width="1371" msid="75379038" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Reporters asked McGraw to clarify the comments during a media availability before her team suited up for the Final Four the following month.</p><p>"Men run the world," she replied. "Men have the power. Men make the decisions. It's always the man that is the stronger one ... We don't have enough female role models. We don't have enough visible women leaders. We don't have enough women in power."</p><p>McGraw added: "When these girls are coming out, who are they looking up to to tell them that's not the way it has to be? Where better to do that than in sports? All these millions of girls that play sports across the country, we're teaching them great things about life skills, but wouldn't it be great if we could teach them to watch how women lead?"</p><p>Ogunbowale said McGraw spoke that way "just about every day."</p><p>"People got to see a little bit of it when that clip of her at that press conference went viral," she wrote for The Players' Tribune. "That's something that we got for four years. Every woman that's passed through that program has heard a version of that speech."</p><p><div type="image" title="arike ogunbowale.JPG" height="1114" width="1485" msid="75379045" hostid="261"></div></p><p>She added: "One of her biggest things was, she always <em>always</em> impressed on us the idea that our platforms mattered, that we needed to use them for good, especially for women."</p><p>McGraw regularly drilled her team with trivia about women's history during conditioning, according to Ogunbowale. If players got the answers wrong, they'd have to run.</p><p>"She dealt with a lot of inequality," Ogunbowale wrote. "That's why she tries to uplift women as much as she can and be a leader for women."</p><p>It's only fitting, then, that McGraw successor is a woman. Niele Ivey, the point guard of Notre Dame's first national championship team and a longtime assistant on McGraw's coaching staff, will take the helm after a brief stint with the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2019-20 NBA season.</p><p><div type="image" title="muffet mcgraw niele ivey.JPG" height="1000" width="1333" msid="75379051" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"She will be a fantastic role model and a leader in the women's empowerment movement," McGraw said of Ivey.</p><p>In her farewell press conference, McGraw also said she doesn't plan to retire from working as an activist.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li style="list-style-type: none;"><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/carli-lloyd-skills-are-better-than-mens-players-uswnt-lawsuit-2020-4">Carli Lloyd said her skills are 'better than a lot of men's players' in response to US Soccer's controversial claims in USWNT equal pay lawsuit</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/alex-morgans-competitive-drive-makes-her-uswnt-icon-2020-4">20 examples of Alex Morgan's competitive drive that has made her a USWNT icon</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/sabrina-ionescu-ny-liberty-jersey-sells-out-in-one-hour-2020-4">Sabrina Ionescu's New York Liberty jersey sold out less than an hour after she was selected with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/floyd-mayweather-trash-talked-diana-taurasi-threatened-to-buy-wnba-team-2020-4">Floyd Mayweather once threatened to buy Diana Taurasi's team when she trash-talked him during a game, and it was 'the one time she's ever been silenced'</a></li></ul></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/muffet-mcgraw-retires-notre-dame-coach-changed-womens-sports-2020-4">Insider</a>

Muffet McGraw has stepped down as the head basketball coach at Notre Dame. She fundamentally shifted the landscape of women in sports.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="9652929" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jewell-Loyd">Jewell Loyd</keyword> gave a stunning, heartfelt tribute to her late mentor <keyword id="101182" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kobe-Bryant">Kobe Bryant</keyword> immediately after winning the 2020 <keyword id="152792" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="WNBA">WNBA</keyword> Championship with the <keyword id="689845" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Seattle-Storm">Seattle Storm</keyword>.</li><li>Loyd, who was christened the 'Gold Mamba' by Bryant himself, said "this year has been a lot for me" through tears in reference to the tragic death of <keyword id="187636" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kobe">Kobe</keyword>, his daughter, Gigi, and seven others.</li><li>While wearing gold Kobes and Bryant's No. 24, Loyd explained that the late Lakers legend "was the first person to ever believe in me" and that she did it all "for Kobe, Gigi, and the Bryant family."</li></ul><p>Jewell Loyd won her second WNBA championship in three years Tuesday night, but this season's victory with the Seattle Storm packed a bit more emotion for the 27-year-old.</p><p>This time, her mentor wasn't around to celebrate.</p><p>Late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was Loyd's mentor ever since her days as a star for Muffet McGraw's Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Black Mamba "was the first person to ever believe in me before I got into the league," she said.</p><p>After he, his 13-year-old daughter, Gigi, and seven others tragically died in a helicopter accident in January, Loyd decided to devote her 2020 season to the Bryants.</p><div type="image" title="jewell loyd" height="1666" width="2222" msid="78525687" hostid="261"></div><p>Immediately after the Storm took down the Las Vegas Aces 92-59 to win this season's WNBA title, Loyd gave a brilliant tribute to Kobe and Gigi to ESPN's Holly Rowe. Loyd — whom Bryant himself nicknamed "Gold Mamba" years back, said she did it all for her mentor, his protégé in Gigi, and the family they left behind.</p><p>"This year has been a lot for me," Loyd said, choking up. "This is for Kobe, Gigi, and the Bryant family. We had a lot of emotions coming into this game. For me, this season, I had to pay to him."</p><div type="image" title="jewell loyd" height="1667" width="2500" msid="78525689" hostid="261"></div><p>Loyd played some of the most impressive <keyword id="36237" type="SPORT" weightage="60" keywordseo="basketball">basketball</keyword> of her career during the Storm's three-game sweep of the Aces. She averaged 18 points and four assists per game through the series to help Seattle to a record-tying fourth championship as a franchise.</p><p>While wearing gold Kobes and Bryant's No. 24, Loyd said that she "wore the shoes because of Kobe, his jersey number, his everything."</p><p>Check out the full clip below:</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/wnba-breanna-stewart-spent-30k-on-torn-achilles-rehab-2020-8">WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart revealed that she spent more than $30,000 of her own money to rehab her devastating Achilles tear, and now she looks better than ever before</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/sue-bird-paige-bueckers-advice-uconn-wbb-coach-geno-auriemma-2020-9">WNBA superstar Sue Bird gives college basketball's newest sensation some advice on playing at UConn under Geno Auriemma</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/video-wnba-players-condemn-breonna-taylor-sentencing-pre-playoff-game-2020-9">WNBA players united to read a statement slamming the charges in the Breonna Taylor case</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/wnba-playoffs-alyssa-thomas-leads-sun-upset-despite-shoulder-dislocation-2020-9">With 2 cartilage tears and a dislocated shoulder, Alyssa Thomas has the Sun on the brink of the WNBA's biggest playoff upset in years</a><a></a></li></ul>

Jewell Loyd gave a heartfelt tribute to mentor Kobe Bryant after winning the 2020 WNBA championship with the Seattle Storm

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="909846" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-England-Patriots">New England Patriots</keyword> selected former Marshall Thundering Herd kicker Justin Rohrwasser with a fifth-round pick in the 2020 <keyword id="1608031" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="NFL-Draft">NFL Draft</keyword>.</li><li>News broke shortly thereafter that the special teamer has an arm tattoo of a symbol affiliated with the <keyword id="9135624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="three-percenters">Three Percenters</keyword>, a right-wing militia group.</li><li>Rohrwasser claims that he thought the symbol was a means of showing support for the military, but "<strong>obviously it evolved into something I do not want to represent," <a href="https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/04/25/patriots-kicker-justin-rohrwasser-renounces-three-percenters-despite-tattoo/">per CBS Boston</a>.</strong></li><li><strong>"It will be covered," he added.</strong></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>One of the most recent draftees into the <keyword id="103436" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NFL">NFL</keyword> finds himself embroiled in controversy less than a week after joining the New England Patriots.</p><p>News broke that Justin Rohrwasser, the Patriots' fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, has a tattoo of a symbol affiliated with the right-wing militia group "The Three Percenters." Images of the former Marshall Thundering Herd kicker's forearm ink — which depicts a roman numeral three surrounded by stars — circulated on the internet just after he was selected. </p><p>Though "The Three Percenters" has often been linked with <keyword id="3022430" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="white-supremacy">white supremacy</keyword>, their stated goals include advocating for limited government intervention and gun rights. Rohrwasser claims that he thought the symbol was a means of showing support for the troops.</p><p>"I got that tattoo when I was a teenager," Rohrwasser said on a conference call with reporters, <a href="https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/04/25/patriots-kicker-justin-rohrwasser-renounces-three-percenters-despite-tattoo/">per CBS Boston</a>. "I have a lot of family in the military. I thought it stood for a military support symbol at the time."</p><p>"Obviously it evolved into something that I do not want to represent," he added.</p><p>Rohrwasser has since denounced ties to the group and vowed to cover the tattoo in question.</p><p>"When I look back on it, I should have done way more research before I put any mark or symbol like that on my body," Rohrwasser said on the call. "It's not something that I ever want to represent. It will be covered."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/dennis-rodman-rebounding-skill-the-last-dance-2020-4">Dennis Rodman spent late-night gym sessions rebounding for his friends so he could track the trajectory of different shots</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/muffet-mcgraw-retires-notre-dame-coach-changed-womens-sports-2020-4">Muffet McGraw has stepped down as the head basketball coach at Notre Dame. She fundamentally shifted the landscape of women in sports.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/wnba-fans-angery-espn-adam-schefter-during-nfl-draft-2020-4">Coverage of the NFL Draft stands in stark contrast to that of the WNBA last week. A tweet about the first sporting event in 'forever' led fans' anger to boil over.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/when-sports-return-from-coronavirus-hiatus-nba-mlb-nhl-2020-3">Coronavirus has put the sports world on lockdown — here's when the top leagues and events are expecting to return</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/patriots-kicker-right-wing-militia-tattoo-will-cover-ink-2020-4">Insider</a>

The Patriots drafted a kicker with a tattoo of a controversial right-wing militia group, but he says he will get it covered

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Pink-haired <keyword id="9096091" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uswnt">USWNT</keyword> star <keyword id="2890306" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Megan-Rapinoe">Megan Rapinoe</keyword> and <keyword id="152792" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="WNBA">WNBA</keyword> icon <keyword id="1148900" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sue-Bird">Sue Bird</keyword> — who have been in a relationship since 2016 — have been hosting an Instagram Live series through quarantine called "A Touch More."</li><li>This week, the couple had <keyword id="507883" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Diana-Taurasi">Diana Taurasi</keyword> — arguably the greatest WNBA player of all time — and her wife, fellow WNBA great Penny Taylor, as guests on the show.</li><li>The four <keyword id="6356028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports">sports</keyword> legends — and close friends — drank Moscow Mules and Taurasi-brand wine while discussing everything from Michael Jordan and Maradona to Russia and the women's sports landscape.</li><li>Nearly three hours — and many refills — into the chat, Rapinoe said Russian President Vladimir Putin "seems pretty gay" and is "basically a drag queen" while discussing wanting to visit his country.</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Megan Rapinoe has never held back from speaking truth to power, and she did so in no uncertain terms Saturday night into Sunday morning.</p><p><div type="image" title="FILE - In this Sunday, July 7, 2019 file photo, United States' Megan Rapinoe poses with her individual awards at the end of the Women's World Cup final soccer match between US and The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France. The U.S. men's national team urged the U.S. Soccer Federation to sharply increase pay of the American women and accused the governing body of making low-ball offers in negotiations with the men. The union for the women's team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the USSF that is scheduled for trial starting May 5. The women agreed to a collective bargaining agreement in April 2017 that extends through 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)" height="3015" width="4020" msid="75435846" hostid="261"></div></p><p>And this time, the USWNT superstar got to talking about none other than Russian President Vladimir Putin.</p><p>Rapinoe and WNBA icon Sue Bird — who have been in a relationship since 2016 — have been hosting an Instagram Live series through quarantine called "A Touch More." On Saturday nights at 9 p.m. ET, the sports power couple answers audience questions, raises money for charity, discusses their weekly quarrels, and speaks with special guests.</p><p>This week, they had Diana Taurasi — arguably the greatest WNBA player of all time — and her wife, fellow WNBA great Penny Taylor, as guests on the show. Taurasi and Bird spent years playing <keyword id="36237" type="SPORT" weightage="60" keywordseo="basketball">basketball</keyword> in Russia together, so they reminisced about their time abroad during much of the 4-hour show. </p><p><div type="image" title="diana taurasi sue bird.JPG" height="1125" width="1500" msid="75435850" hostid="261"></div></p><p>After multiple hours of conversation and multiple rounds of Moscow Mules and Taurasi-brand wine, an "obviously drunk" Rapinoe said she'd love to visit Russia someday but "don't tell them I'm gay."</p><p><div type="image" title="Vladimit Putin" height="2398" width="3197" msid="75435855" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Taurasi assured her that Russians aren't, on the whole, hateful towards gay people and "love drag queens," but Putin himself is a different story.</p><p>"Well Putin ... Putin seems pretty gay," Rapinoe said.</p><p>"I mean… Putin's basically a drag queen, his whole thing on the horse, I'm like, was this a big drag show, Putin?" she added. "All you need is like a fur cape down your back and like, you coulda fooled us."</p><p>Check out the clip below:</p><p>Rapinoe later professed that she was "obviously drunk" and joked that the interview going long is "totally encroaching on my credibility [and] as a journalist, this is embarrassing."</p><p>Bird added that the length of the discussion — which ran well past 1 a.m. ET — was "encroaching on my bedtime."</p><p>Fans of the Saturday night Instagram Live show can <a href="https://represent.com/atouchmore?variant=2740&amp;kw=campaign_search&amp;click=campaign_search-atouchmoreouchmore">buy "A Touch More" T-shirts and hoodies</a> — the proceeds from which provide meals to kids and families in need via <a href="https://www.notimpossible.com/projects/hunger-not-impossible">Hunger: Not Impossible</a> — on Represent.com.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/floyd-mayweather-trash-talked-diana-taurasi-threatened-to-buy-wnba-team-2020-4">Floyd Mayweather once threatened to buy Diana Taurasi's team when she trash-talked him during a game, and it was 'the one time she's ever been silenced'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/nwsl-cannabis-policy-allows-cbd-use-rapinoe-backed-mendi-partnership-2020-4">Major professional sports leagues have been slow to embrace the cannabis revolution. The NWSL and the Rapinoe sisters are breaking the trend.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/muffet-mcgraw-retires-notre-dame-coach-changed-womens-sports-2020-4">Muffet McGraw has stepped down as the head basketball coach at Notre Dame. She fundamentally shifted the landscape of women in sports.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/wnba-fans-angery-espn-adam-schefter-during-nfl-draft-2020-4">Coverage of the NFL Draft stands in stark contrast to that of the WNBA last week. A tweet about the first sporting event in 'forever' led fans' anger to boil over.</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/megan-rapinoe-vladimir-putin-seems-pretty-gay-instagram-live-2020-4">Insider</a>

Megan Rapinoe said Vladimir Putin 'seems pretty gay' and is 'basically a drag queen' in a booze-fueled, 4-hour Instagram Live with Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Penny Taylor

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Notre Dame beat Mississippi in the NCAA Championship on Sunday after Arike Ogunbowale hit a game-winning three-pointer as time expired.</strong></li><li><strong>Notre Dame players and coaches acknowledged that the shot came off a broken play and they wanted to get the ball to a different player.</strong></li><li><strong>When Notre Dame couldn't run the play they wanted, Ogunbowale followed instructions to get the ball, and she delivered the shot of a lifetime.</strong></li></ul><p><br>Notre Dame won the NCAA Championship on Sunday when <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/arike-ogunbowale-notre-dame-game-winner-championship-2018-4">Arike Ogunbowale came through&#xa0;<em>again&#xa0;</em>with a game-winning shot</a> to beat Mississippi State.</br></p><p>After nailing a step-back jumper to take down UConn on Friday to reach the championship game, on Sunday, Ogunbowale caught the ball with three seconds remaining, made her way to the elbow, and launched a contested three as time expired to win the game.</p><p>However, despite the heroic moment, the play was not designed to go to Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale had struggled on Sunday, shooting just 5-of-20 before the final shot. Instead, the ball was intended to go to Jessica Shepard, who was 8-of-10 from the field with 19 points.</p><p>But inbounding guard Jackie Young had reservations about getting Shepard the ball cleanly, so she had a backup plan.</p><p><span>"I didn't like the way it looked," Young said. "I knew, if I threw it, it would have possibly been a turnover. So I talked to Arike before, and I was like, if the matchup doesn't look right or if Jess isn't in the position that we're looking for, then come to the ball. And I just made sure Arike was literally coming to the ball before I passed it to her."</span></p><p><span>Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw even acknowledged that she wanted to get the ball close to the basket, afraid that if they got the ball on the perimeter, Mississippi State might foul to stop the clock.</span></p><p>"We didn't want to do anything that was going away from the basket, where they could maybe [foul and] take some time off the clock," McGraw said. "We thought, 'Get as close to the basket as you can with Jess.' She could turn and shoot and maybe get fouled. That was the first option.</p><p>"Arike hadn't been shooting the ball particularly well. Jess was."</p><p>Ogunbowale then delivered the shot of a lifetime.</p><p><a href="https://deadspin.com/arike-ogunbowale-wasnt-supposed-to-take-the-last-shot-1824252018">As Deadspin noted</a>, on this angle, you can hear Ogunbowale call for the ball as she ran to the sideline.</p><p>Though the Notre Dame players all said they felt confident in Ogunbowale's shot, it wasn't necessarily the play they would have drawn up. According to Notre Dame guard Marina Mabrey, Ogunbowale practices that fade-away three-pointer frequently and rarely makes it.</p><p>"She always practices that shot in warm-ups, and it irritates me because she misses it a lot," Mabrey said. "We'll be trying to move to our next drill in warm-ups, and she'll shoot that. Honestly, it doesn't go in all that often.&#xa0;</p><p>"I saw her do the shot tonight, and I thought, 'That's good.' I had a really good angle, and I saw the rotation, and I was like, 'Wow, she is the absolute GOAT.'"</p><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-jay-z-and-diddy-made-millions-off-of-cheap-alcohol-zack-omalley-greenburg-2018-3">How Jay-Z and Diddy used their fame to make millions off of 'cheap grapes'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

Notre Dame's incredible championship-winning shot came on a blown play that was supposed to go to another player

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="2050605" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Victor-Oladipo">Victor Oladipo</keyword> really, really wants to get back to <keyword id="6361805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NBA">NBA</keyword> <keyword id="36237" type="SPORT" weightage="60" keywordseo="basketball">basketball</keyword>.</li><li>The two-time NBA All-Star returned from a brutal leg injury in January and was just beginning to hit his stride when the NBA put the season on hold March 11.</li><li>Oladipo told Insider that learning of the league's shutdown brought a "'Whoa, what do we do now?' type of feeling," but he's since learned to view the pause as an opportunity to "continue getting stronger."</li><li>Even though he's "itching more than someone with Chickenpox" to rejoin his <keyword id="544933" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Indiana-Pacers">Indiana Pacers</keyword> teammates on the court, he recognizes that the current situation is "about life and death, not winning and losing."</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Victor Oladipo learned about the sudden shutdown of the NBA season the same way many of us did — on TV.</p><p>On the evening of March 11, the two-time NBA All-Star was at home, flipping between channels to catch snippets of the league's slate of games for the night. Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks took down the Denver Nuggets, Joel Embiid dropped 30 in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over the Detroit Pistons, and the hapless New York Knicks managed to record a W against Trae Young and the similarly-hapless Atlanta Hawks.</p><p><div type="image" title="victor oladipo.JPG" height="1013" width="1351" msid="75544575" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Oladipo remembers gearing up to watch Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans later in the night, but first up was the Utah Jazz versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.</p><p>Then everything got turned upside down.</p><p>Minutes before tip-off, the Jazz announced that Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19 and the game was canceled as Utah's players were placed in isolation in their locker room. Soon enough, the entire season was put on hold, and Oladipo's source of income was suddenly in question.</p><p>"I was switching back and forth between games when the alert came on," Oladipo told Insider. "I was like 'Whoa, are you serious?' And they had to stop games and they came out with the announcement that the rest of the season was canceled."</p><p>"It was a different type of 'Whoa, what do we do now?' type of feeling," he added.</p><h2>Late in January, Oladipo had returned to the court after a brutal leg injury kept him off the floor for more than a year</h2><p>The seventh-year guard was finally beginning to find his groove when the coronavirus pandemic — and Gobert's diagnosis — forced the NBA to shutter its doors for the season.</p><p><div type="image" title="victor oladipo" height="1666" width="2221" msid="75544576" hostid="261"></div></p><p>"Coming back isn't always peachy clean," Oladipo said. "There were a few bumps in the road, but before the <keyword id="58679" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Quarantine">quarantine</keyword> started I was starting to hit my stride and get that feeling back."</p><p>The timing obviously wasn't ideal for anyone, but for a star on the mend after a full year of watching from the sidelines, the cancellation of the season was devastating. Still, Oladipo has tried to look at the bright side of the situation and views quarantine like "almost getting a second chance."</p><p>"I had the opportunity to look at it two ways: negatively or positively. At the end of the day I chose the positive outlook on it," Oladipo said. "I'm just using this opportunity to give me time to get healthy and continue getting stronger."</p><p>"I'm definitely optimistic and definitely thankful for where I'm at right now," he added. "I just have to continue to keep working hard and staying ready."</p><p><div type="image" title="victor oladipo.JPG" height="1000" width="1333" msid="75544577" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Oladipo has turned his garage into a makeshift weight room where he can bulk up and continue to rehab. And unlike many other NBA players, Oladipo is fortunate in that he has access to a court where he can safely put up shots while continuing to adhere to social distancing protocols. </p><p>"For the most part I'm just trying to stay ready because you don't know what tomorrow can bring," he said. "I'm really focused on the court and getting back to my old self and actually getting back to better than my old self. That's my number one priority."</p><h2>When he's not refining his game, Oladipo is busy discovering new activities and picking up old hobbies that he had set aside</h2><p>He sees quarantine as "a time for people to relearn themselves," and he's been doing a bit of everything as a result. He hosts a weekly Instagram Live concert series on the NBA Instagram page to promote independent artists, plays lots of ping pong, watches "The Last Dance," and works on his own music.</p><p>"Not being able to do everything that we do on a normal basis forces us to attack and pay attention to things that we might not normally get a chance to," Oladipo said.</p><p>An accomplished vocalist, Oladipo has released multiple albums and <a href="https://www.vibe.com/2018/11/victor-oladipo-vo-album">gotten favorable reviews</a> on his music. He appeared on the second season of Fox's "The Masked Singer" and has collaborated with popular artists such as Eric Bellinger, 2 Chainz, Trey Songz, and Tory Lanez.</p><p>"I got some new stuff brewing," Oladipo said. "I'm definitely planning on dropping another album soon. I just have to make sure everything's right and that it's the right fit, so I'm just taking my time."</p><p><div type="image" title="victor oladipo.JPG" height="1667" width="2223" msid="75544578" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The 27-year-old is also committed to doing his part to help those most affected by the crisis currently at hand. Oladipo encourages fans to share their best "tunnel walk" looks to help raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts in Indiana. Each time someone posts their 'fit on Instagram with #flipyourlook and @motorolaUS in the caption, Razr donates $50 to the <a href="https://www.iedc.in.gov/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IEDC Foundation</a>, which provides lifesaving PPE from local and regional businesses to aid in the fight against the pandemic.</p><p>"It's a tough time and luckily we're fortunate that guys like myself and other guys in the league are able to withstand something like this," Oladipo said. "But there's a vast majority of people who aren't, and I feel like it's our job and duty to help people like that."</p><h2>Even though he's kept himself plenty busy, Oladipo really, really wants to get back to NBA basketball</h2><p>He says he's "itching more than someone with Chickenpox" to rejoin his Indiana Pacers teammates on the court, but recognizes that the current situation is "about life and death, not winning and losing."</p><p>"It's what I love to do, so of course I miss playing. Playing in front of the fans and everything like that, of course, I miss that," Oladipo said. "But at the same time, you have to be smart ... At that point, when it becomes life-threatening, the severity is different than whether you win or lose a game. The perspective has to be different and your approach has to be different — everything has to be different at this point."</p><p>"Of course we miss the game and of course we want to play, but when it comes down to threatening your life, you have to take it really seriously," he added.</p><p><div type="image" title="victor oladipo.JPG" height="1785" width="2380" msid="75544579" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Like the rest of us, Oladipo has no idea when the coronavirus pandemic will be under control to the extent that NBA players can return to the hardwood.</p><p>"During this pandemic, we're all just guessing and the unknown is a scary thing," he said. "Not knowing what happens next or where to go from here is a tough pill to swallow."</p><p>While he acknowledges that the uncertainty of it all is quite unsettling, Oladipo is doing what he can to control the controllable and be ready as soon as he gets the call. </p><p>"I'm just trying to keep working and do what I do," Oladipo said. "I'm trying to stay ready and control what I can control during this time because a lot of things are out of your control.</p><p>"Eventually, when things get back to normal, you can just pick up where you left off," he added.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/video-michael-jordan-trolled-diana-taurasi-for-free-throw-miss-2020-4">Michael Jordan once trolled Diana Taurasi for a year after the WNBA icon missed a free throw at his summer camp</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/dennis-rodman-rebounding-skill-the-last-dance-2020-4">Dennis Rodman spent late-night gym sessions rebounding for his friends so he could track the trajectory of different shots</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/muffet-mcgraw-retires-notre-dame-coach-changed-womens-sports-2020-4">Muffet McGraw has stepped down as the head basketball coach at Notre Dame. She fundamentally shifted the landscape of women in sports.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/wnba-fans-angery-espn-adam-schefter-during-nfl-draft-2020-4">Coverage of the NFL Draft stands in stark contrast to that of the WNBA last week. A tweet about the first sporting event in 'forever' led fans' anger to boil over.</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/victor-oladipo-itching-more-than-someone-with-chickenpox-nba-return-2020-5">Insider</a>

You Searched For "muffet mcgraw" and got 8 results

Women's college basketball coaches are trading underhanded barbs and smack-talking like never before

Meredith Cash

Geno Auriemma snapped back at Muffet McGraw after she accused UConn of benefitting from ESPN bias

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Muffet McGraw has stepped down as the head basketball coach at Notre Dame. She fundamentally shifted the landscape of women in sports.

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Jewell Loyd gave a heartfelt tribute to mentor Kobe Bryant after winning the 2020 WNBA championship with the Seattle Storm

Meredith Cash

The Patriots drafted a kicker with a tattoo of a controversial right-wing militia group, but he says he will get it covered

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Megan Rapinoe said Vladimir Putin 'seems pretty gay' and is 'basically a drag queen' in a booze-fueled, 4-hour Instagram Live with Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Penny Taylor

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Notre Dame's incredible championship-winning shot came on a blown play that was supposed to go to another player

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Victor Oladipo is 'itching more than someone with Chickenpox' to resume NBA play even though he is keeping busy in quarantine

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