SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Coach Muffet McGraw of national champion Notre Dame had a ticket to fly on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center but changed travel plans a week before.

McGraw had been ticketed for Tuesday's United Flight 175 to make a recruiting trip to California that was later canceled, university athletic department spokesman Chris Masters said.

Masters confirmed a report that first appeared Sunday on USAToday.com.

The scheduled Boston-to-Los Angeles flight was the second hijacked flight to crash into the World Trade Center, striking the south tower shortly after 9 a.m. ET. The Boeing 767 had been carrying 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants.

A week before, McGraw canceled the ticket, choosing instead to head from Boston to Providence, R.I., to meet assistant coach Kevin McGuff as part of another recruiting trip, Masters said.

After the attacks, the two coaches joined Notre Dame men's basketball coach Mike Brey -- who also had been in Rhode Island -- and drove a rental car back to South Bend.

McGraw does not want to discuss the matter further, Masters said.

"It's a situation that's happened, and we've moved on," Masters said.

McGraw's team finished 34-2 last season and captured Notre Dame's first NCAA women's basketball championship with a victory over Purdue. McGraw was the consensus national coach of the year.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.