On Women's Basketball

Big Ten media day quotes, notes

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Thursday, October 29, 2009 9:55 PM

Several things on the plate today. First up, some quotes from coach Jolette Law from today's media session in Chicago, courtesy of the Big Ten office:

Q: Just talk about your freshman class and what kind of impact you expect from them and what kind of impact they need to have this season.

Law: "I mean, my freshman class is extremely talented. Destiny Williams, most people know a lot about her, she played for the USA team this summer. She's extremely talented. But my other five kids ... Karisma Penn is playing extremely well right now. She's coming along. She's probably one of the ones that's really surprising me the most right now.

"Adrienne GodBold from Illinois, she's playing extremely well right now, getting better each and every day. Expect a lot of great (plays) from her.

"Kersten Magrum, another young lady from Illinois, she's playing extremely well. She'll probably play a lot of significant minutes. I'm trying to put her in the inside and outside, get her started, moving her more to the guard spot.

"Brianna Jones, another 6-2, 6-3 lefty, playing extremely well on the inside, challenging Jenna Smith day in and day out.

"And I have another young lady, a phenomenal shooter in Amber Moore, who has been the most consistent shooter along with Macie Blinn, and that (was) much needed from our team last year, someone to open things up a little bit more, and I know Amber Moore will do a great job for us this year."

Q: How has Destiny Williams' experience on the national team helped her develop coming in as a freshman?

Law: "I just think that going overseas and playing with other top players this summer, her experience has been a blessing in disguise this year at practice. She's raised the bar a little bit, challenging everyone to go harder. She had an opportunity to play with some young ladies that already had college experience, so just being over there getting that experience this summer really helped her transition going from high school to college. She had a little bit more experience this summer to play with some more experienced players."

Q: It's one thing to recruit all these kids, but who do you lean on to sort of help guide you to have this many young players, being a young coach yourself?

Law: "Definitely my staff. I have Lisa Cermignano, who's been an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, came off an Elite Eight. She's been phenomenal. Patrick Klein has been with me for three years. He's been experienced. Also I lean on my seniors, Jenna Smith, Lacey Simpson and Whitney Toone have been extremely great leaders. And with any team if you have great senior leadership, you probably have a great team. And I can say that Jenna Smith, Lacey Simpson and Whitney Toone have been great role models and have set the tone for these young people.

"Also the experience of my returning starters, Fabiola Josil played 40, Macie Blinn played 40 minutes, Lydia McCully played 40 minutes. So they played the fourth toughest schedule last year. Our record didn't indicate but they got better. I can see that their growth from last year to this year has been phenomenal. I really have eight leaders that are helping pull along those young freshmen."

Q: Do you think your freshman class will be able to make an impact right away?

Law: "Right now I'm sure they will make an impact right away. We're going to play -- if I can play all 14 players, I will. That's the tempo that I want to play, press 94 feet, be able to just get in the face and play the style that I want to play. All 14 players will play. I'm constantly challenging my freshmen, 'You're not going to be freshmen. You've got to come in, learn as much as you can and make your mistakes while you're on the floor.' Definitely I know that they will definitely make an impact this year."

--Thoughts on the team predictions and preseason All-Big Ten team ...

Can't argue too much with the coaches or media ballots. I'm a bit surprised Iowa was voted that high (fifth). The Hawkeyes lost the heart of their team in Kristi Smith, Megan Skouby and Wendy Ausdemore. They return a solid, underrated all-around player in Kachine Alexander, who I placed on my first team ballot last week. They also have an emerging guard in Kamille Wahlin, and an OK post player in JoAnn Hamlin, the one-time Kansas State player. But I don't see Iowa finishing ahead of Illinois. Let's put it this way: If Illinois finishes behind Iowa, it's a bad, bad sign for the Illini. Something will have gone wrong, because the Illini have a major edge in talent.

--Had some Illini fans express doubts about my views of this Illinois team. They think my predictions for the Illini might be too optimistic. I also noted some message board opinions that expressed the Illini would be hard-pressed to crack the first division of the Big Ten. 

Am I being too optimistic? I don't think so, but maybe. I'd boil down my rationale to this: the Illini return every player who finished the 2008-09 season; they finished well, winning six of their final 11 games, including eye-opening wins at Indiana and at Minnesota; they welcome the nation's third-rated recruiting class, which will increase the depth exponentially; and they have two of the Big Ten's 10 best players in do-everything Lacey Simpson -- the best defensive player in the conference -- and All-America candidate Jenna Smith. That, to me, seems like a formula for a team that should be in the top five of a conference that isn't especially strong. 

Let's face it: Ohio State and Michigan State are clearly the best teams in the league. If they don't finish 1-2 in either order, it will be a major surprise. But beyond that, the league is wide open. Minnesota should be good, and Purdue, though a bit inexperienced and hit by some injuries, has talent and tradition, a potent combination. There are a large group of unknowns.

I think the program takes a step forward this season. We'll see if I'm right. After all, everyone expected the Illini football team to take a step forward, too.

--Here's the ESPN story on Alexis Burke's oral commitment to the UI.

--The Associated Press preseason Top 25 will be released Friday, and my ballot, along with my preseason All-America selections, is listed below. In 12 years of doing this, I can't recall having a tougher time doing my preseason ballot. The 1-2 spots are obvious. But starting with No. 3, the task was headache-inducing. The 3-25 spots are a jumbled mess; I can't honestly say that anybody ranked 3-10 is better than anyone ranked 11-20. Just crazy. There's no parity at the top, because UConn is a juggernaut, but everywhere else, parity rules. And that's why this is the perfect season for Illinois to crack the poll. You'll see a ton of different teams make appearances in the poll, particularly before January. Candidates to drop out -- and drop in -- are plentiful, so if Illinois can post a strong nonconference record, the Illini have will a shot to reach the Top 25 for the first time since November 2000.

ALL-AMERICANS

Maya Moore, UConn; Jayne Appel, Stanford; Jantel Lavender, Ohio State; Tina Charles, UConn; Monica Wright, Virginia

TOP 25

1. UConn

2. Stanford

3. North Carolina

4. Notre Dame

5. LSU

6. Tennessee

7. Ohio State

8. Baylor

9. Texas

10. Duke

11. Oklahoma

12. Michigan State

13. Xavier

14. California

15. Georgia

16. Kansas

17. Rutgers

18. DePaul

19. Vanderbilt

20. Texas A&M

21. Georgia Tech

22. Middle Tennessee State

23. Florida State

24. San Diego State

25. South Dakota State

 

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