Jaden Ivey NBA Dream Comes True With His Mom Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Head Coach Niele Ivey By His Side
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Coach Niele Ivey was able to watch her son make his NBA dream come true in last week’s NBA draft. Jaden Ivey was selected as the No. 5 overall pick by the Detroit Pistons.
Jaden, a Purdue sophomore guard, grew up watching his mom play in the WNBA, with the Detroit Shock along with three teams she played for during her time in the league. Now Niele is the head coach of Notre Dame women’s basketball and is overjoyed about her son making his dreams come to true.
“Words can’t express how happy I am to watch this dream come true!! Thank you God for this blessing,” Niele tweeted out along with a video from the NBA of her son getting drafted.
The top pick is connected to the city of Detroit due to Jaden’s grandfather James Hunter played for the NFL’s Detroit Lions for seven years, and his father Javin Hunter, a four-year NFL veteran, was born in Detroit. In an interview after being drafted by ESPN, Jaden became overwhelmed with emotion as he expressed how much this moment means to the young star.
“I work day in and day out to just get to this level,” he said. “I know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her and I’m just so happy.”
The reporter asked Niele what it meant to her to watch her son achieve his dreams, the mother said, “I’m speechless almost. You know like this is his dream come true… to be in Detroit, we have so many amazing roots in Detroit…I’m just joyful, I’m so happy for him.”
Niele was an All-American point guard at Notre Dame and entered the 2001 WNBA draft, and was selected by the Indiana Fever in the second round. She played her entire rookie season while being pregnant with Jaden. After playing five seasons and retiring in 2005, Niele moved into the coaching profession where she was an assistant coach at Notre Dame, later become the head coach of the women’s basketball team in 2020. Niele became Norte Dame first Black women head coach.