The Fighting Irish have made huge strides for both their men’s and women’s teams, with their latest appointment marking just the second time somebody has ever occupied this type of role in college athletics
14:33 ET, 20 May 2025Updated 14:33 ET, 20 May 2025
Notre Dame has appointed former player Pat Garrity as its general manager of both its men’s and women’s teams
Notre Dame has hired alum and former NBA player Pat Garrity to be the general manager of both its men’s and women’s teams in a groundbreaking new role.
The Fighting Irish are looking to make strides in the 2025 college basketball season and believe the 48-year-old’s appointment could put them on the right path to doing just that. It comes shortly after women’s head coach Niele Ivey named star guard Hannah Hidalgo as the “face of women’s basketball” in an apparent snub towards WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark.
Last season, Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team was crowned ACC regular-season co-champions and reached the last eight of the NCAA Tournament. The men’s side, coached by Micah Shrewsberry, endured a slightly more difficult campaign, finishing with a disappointing 15–18 (8–12 ACC) overall record.
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Garrity’s appointment by the South Bend institution is certainly a bold one, however, with the 48-year-old just one of only two people believed to have ever held the dual GM role and been the lead administrator for the men’s team in college athletics.
That’s according to CBS Sports, which states that Garrity will be responsible for how Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s teams operate in NIL spending and much more, as per sources. As men’s basketball’s sports administrator, he is also expected to have an influential voice in the program.
The former Notre Dame star, who spent four years in South Bend before being drafted as a first-round pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, arrives back at his former stomping ground with a host of experience at the highest level.
Garrity previously featured for the Orlando Magic in the NBA
While the collegiate game is a different story, Garrity will hope to use some of the skills he picked up as an assistant GM with the Detroit Pistons from 2016-2020 to aid his time with the program, which comes with a whole new level of responsibility.
According to the CBS report, Garrity will assist in roster building via the portal, emphasize what high school recruits to target, balance where Notre Dame basketball fits in the forthcoming revenue-sharing era, and even work in concert with Notre Dame’s NIL office to help build out an equitable pay structure for every men’s and women’s basketball player.
Player retention will also be a major focus, which is particularly significant given Notre Dame’s women’s team recently lost out on star player Olivia Miles to the transfer portal, where she opted to take up her final year of college eligibility with TCU.
Garrity’s appointment represents a bold move for Notre Dame, given the looming House case settlement and major financial changes that are set to redraw the NCAA’s landscape later this year.
Garrity during his Notre Dame playing days
But as someone with a deep understanding of what it means to play for the university, there are high hopes that Garrity will be able to excel in all aspects of his new role.
In his four years with the Fighting Irish, he averaged double-digits in scoring, including a 23.2 point-per-game average in his senior season of 1997–98, which led him to win that season’s Big East Player of the Year award.
In 1998, Garrity earned All-League honors three times after being named a Consensus Second Team All-America selection, a two-time Academic All-America selection, and an Academic All-American of the Year for Division I men’s basketball.