Bond still strong between VCU's Cunningham, Notre Dame's McGraw

McGraw

Just stumbled across yet another writing gem from the keyboard of Richmond Times-Dispatch veteran Vic Dorr Jr. - the tale of the enduring relationship between VCU's Beth Cunningham and her former coach, Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw.

We especially enjoyed - and can relate to - how Cunningham still can't bring herself to call her old coach "Muffet."

"She'll call and say, 'Hi, Beth, It's Muffet.' And I'll say, 'Oh, hi, Coach. How are you doing?" I guess it's the ultimate sign of respect. It's like your parents, you know? I could never, ever call my mother and father anything other than 'Mom' or 'Dad.' It's the same situation here. To me (McGraw) will always be 'Coach'."

Cunningham

It's hardly unusual. Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, for example, is 64 years old and has 900 coaching victories, but he still says "Coach Knight" when referring to the man who led him in college, the irascible Bob Knight.

Our only disappointment was in learning that Notre Dame won't be coming to VCU anytime soon, as Cunningham can't bring herself to coach against McGraw. That's certainly understandable. But selfishly, we were hoping such a matchup would give us a chance to zip up I-64 and get an autographed poster of Skylar Diggins.

 Oh, well,  Longwood plays at Notre Dame on Dec. 28. Maybe new Lancers assistant and ex-Notre Dame star Lindsay Schrader can hook us up....

Related stories
VCU's Cunningham give birth to a baby girl
Muffett McGraw's near-miss on Sept. 11, 2001