NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Muffet McGraw, the architect of one of the greatest NCAA women’s basketball programs during the past quarter-century and a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, has signed a landmark contract extension that will keep her firmly at the helm of the Notre Dame women’s basketball program through the 2021-22 season.

The 10-year extension, which is believed to be one of the longest contract agreements in NCAA women’s basketball history, was announced Monday by Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick.

“We are thrilled to be able to enter into a decade-long agreement with Muffet, who is not only the face of Notre Dame women’s basketball, but increasingly, the face of women’s basketball, given all that she’s accomplished,” Swarbrick said. “She’s taken this program to a place where it’s annually in the conversation for the national championships, which is the model all coaches want to follow. She’s also playing an important role in the game nationally, and her peers recognize those contributions, as well as the quality of her program here at Notre Dame. Off the court, she has created a program that has a lasting community identification and a special connection between the University and the city of South Bend, which is one of those unique points of intersection that universities have to be careful to build and maintain, and she’s done that for us in a really remarkable way.”

“For more than 25 years, Muffet has led our women’s basketball program and represented this University with distinction,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president. “Her teams have excelled on the court and in the classroom, and I am absolutely delighted that she will continue to lead the Irish for many more years.”

“It’s a privilege to be able to represent Notre Dame, in what is certainly the greatest job in the world, for another 10 years,” McGraw said. “I’ve been so blessed to work with some incredibly talented people, both in terms of the student-athletes that have come through Notre Dame, and the coaches and staff who have been part of our success through the years. We also have a tremendous administration, and I’m grateful to both Jack and Father Jenkins for their support, as well as the support of our amazing fans, who are absolutely the best in the country.”