57 Pep Talks: Former Notre Dame player Ruth Riley Hunter

 

ABC57 Saturday Kickoff host Allison Hayes is sharing messages of hope from those with ties to Michiana who are still finding ways to spread positivity despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notre Dame basketball legend Ruth Riley-Hunter has done it all in her unprecedented basketball career - winning a national championship for the Irish in 2001, winning 2 WNBA titles and an Olympic gold medal for Team USA in 2004.

Ruth is a Hall of Famer and an All-American.

But along the way she has always given back to her community through charity work and she shares some encouraging words with all of us.

“I know we all miss sports, I would love nothing more than to be in a Notre Dame football stadium right now cheering on the Irish and I look forward to the day that we’re all there together but one of my favorite parts of the game is when we have that cheer, ‘We are ND.’ And we hear the 4 corners of the stadium coming together and it has nothing to do with the game that’s being played on the field but has everything to do with this invisible, yet incredibly powerful connection between us on the level of humanity and the love for something greater than sports. And I hope that’s where we can draw strength from today, that we are all still connected, even though we might still be isolated. And to know that Notre Dame is there for you, your family is still there for you, that we are going to get through this, but we acknowledge that it’s difficult and we don’t pretend that it’s not and we don’t pretend that it’s easy. But we do know that there is hope and that we are experiencing this all together. Go Irish!”