ELMHURST, Ill. - The Summit League conducted its 2009-10 Basketball Media Day Wednesday with men's and women's coaches from all 10 league institutions previewing their teams. Below are selected quotes from the event. Complete audio from the teleconference is available at the top of this page while media notes are available in PDF format at the bottom of the page.
Last week, the league released its preseason polls with Oakland established as the men's favorite and South Dakota State as the women's favorite.
The season tips off on Nov. 13. Summit League play begins Dec. 3 for the men and Dec. 5 for the women. You can access the 2009-10 men's and women's basketball guides here.
2009-10 SUMMIT LEAGUE BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY QUOTES
CENTENARY Greg Gary - Men's Coach On Centenary's transition... "We are still a Division I program and we are excited to play in the league we are playing in and the teams we are playing against. We are keeping score; we have a team so let's try to win."
On Senior Jerrald Bonham... "I am really excited, because he has stepped up. Often you wait on seniors for one point in their senior season when the switch goes off and they realize this is their last go at it. They start being a little more assertive, giving a little more effort, and talking more. I am really excited the way he has developed his game. I think he is excited about going into his senior season and I am excited about his development."
Bojan Jankovic - Women's Coach On returning players... "We will have more depth both inside and outside. We will have four new players and ten returners. This will be a combination of experience and some young talent that we signed this year. Since coming to Centenary, this is the most experienced team we've ever had."
On his coaching philosophy... "What I've tried to emphasize the most this year is the family atmosphere and team spirit. We will try to build our success on these two factors this year."
Expectations... "Of course our expectations are high. I know this team. I recruited most of these girls. I think the transition should be pretty smooth for me. I am very optimistic and very confident we can do better this year than in the past. My goals are always the high... but I really believe we can really achieve our goals this year."
IPFW Dane Fife - Men's Coach On playing in The Summit League... "It's obviously very hard to win on the road. You are not going to see very many road victories. That's not to say they won't happen, but this league is just getting more balanced from top to bottom. It will obviously show and has shown in the last couple years. We will continue to move up the ladder in regard to the league RPI and league rating. We will just continue to climb and move past people. I think that is a true testament to what the programs are doing in The Summit League."
Improvements in the off-season... "I really like where we are as a program. We went out recruiting in the spring and wanted to upgrade our defending and rebounding in the interior and I like to think we did that. Those guys are trying to become really engrossed in the program and with what we are trying to do. I am very pleased with our work in the offseason."
Most encouraging thing in practice so far... "Our effort level is up. As long as I have been here, this is the best effort we have made from both a mental aspect as well as a physical aspect and on a consistency level."
Chris Paul - Women's Coach On starting the season... "In all my years here, I don't think I have ever been more excited about starting a season. Obviously we still have some work to do, but we return a number of players who got a lot of experience last year. We return our starting five... We hung together and we fought and we won six of our last seven, and seven of our last ten to get that fifth seed (In The Summit League Tournament). Then we really started believing in what we want to accomplish."
On team focus... "We need to focus on the things that helped us win down the stretch. That was playing as a team, playing solid defense, and getting production from both the post and the perimeter."
IUPUI Ron Hunter - Men's Coach On Costa Rica Trip... "We went down there and were able to get the 10 days of practice. We wanted to be able to go there and bless the children in the country. I think every team in America should do that. If a college team goes on an overseas trip, the should do something like this to help out a community. There is just so much poverty in our world right now... It was a good experience for our team. The ten days of practice were great for our kids. We played four games. We went 4-0 over there."
On playing at Conseco Field House "We have talked about building a facility here, but because of the economic climate it is really difficult to do right now. The Pacers came to us and talked about playing at Conseco. We would like to have all of our games there... I hope by next year that we would have all our games there."
Shann Hart - Women's Coach On Julia Whitted... "She becomes our immediate inside post presence; given that she is the only player remaining up front and that she is the only all-league player during her tenure here. Whitted is prepared. She is going to have to step it up for us this season."
On Freshman point guard Briannica Tye... We are very pleased and confident in our newcomer point guard in (Briannica) Tye. In fact, Tye brings an all together different flavor for our program, in that she brings the ability to do a lot more things. Not only can she distribute the ball and run our offense, but she can score.
UMKC Matt Brown - Men's Coach On leadership... "For the first time we have leadership and we have three captains. They are doing a terrific job. The one guy that is going to help us right out of the gate is Jay Couisnard, the transfer from Evansville. He is going to be terrific. I think he is going to be one of the better players in the league. He is doing a great job for us and leading by example."
On Jay Couisnard... "The biggest thing with Jay is the tangible thing. A perfect example, is the way he was last year after a tough loss...he was the one in the locker room encouraging our guys and telling them the things they needed to do differently even though he couldn't play (as a transfer). We never had internal leadership and that is what he is going to give us. The other thing, is that he is very athletic. He is 6'6, pounds. He is going to be as athletic as anyone out there in our league.
Candace Whitaker - Women's Coach On her young squad... We will have some pains with our youth, but they are really excited. They are working really hard. I think we have a lot of talent within our youth. But also within that youth comes a lot of inexperience and mistakes.
On Senior Chazny Morris... "Chazny has a huge responsibility, not just putting points on the board, not just rebounding the ball and being on the court, but as the lone senior, she needs to take the reins. This is her team and she provides that leadership and work ethic that we are looking for to build our program. She is an excellent young woman in all aspects. We are blessed to have her for the last four years. Besides being a terrific player, she is a terrific person who always does the right things. We look for her continue to be herself, to relax and to play."
NORTH DAKOTA STATE Saul Phillips - Men's Coach On his team... "There are a lot of roles to fill. We have lost our No. 1, 2 and 7 all time leading scorer in the history of the school in one senior class. A lot of our success is going to be determined by how quickly our guys can establish and fill new roles. Figuring out who we are and what we are about is a big priority early on for us. I think we have talent and I think we have kids that are willing to work as hard as any group I've been around. All that makes me very excited. It's a matter of getting the together and forming them into a team."
On last year's NCAA tournament berth... Everybody should get to have a week like we got to have. It was so much fun. What made it extra special is Minneapolis is within driving distance of all of our players' families... So to finish it out with that group, in that building, in that city, was special. Do that against one of the most storied programs in college basketball history made it a little extra special and to do it in front of 10,000 Bison fans, well that is just too much fun. Everybody in life should have a chance to have a week like that. It was that good. It is something I will never forget for the rest of my life."
Carolyn DeHoff -Women's Coach On Freshman Janae Burich... "We have added depth to our roster. The freshman that stands out the most in practice is our freshman, Janae Burich, who is a legitimate 6'5 post player that has both lateral and vertical mobility. That just adds a different dimension for us both in the offensive and defensive end of the floor."
Team expectations... "There is a lot of energy with this group and they understand that anything is possible. How we respond to adversity will determine our ultimate outcome."
OAKLAND Greg Kampe - Men's Coach On the offense after the loss of Erik Kangas "He was one of the greatest shooters that ever played in The Summit League. He was one of the top shooters in the country. He was a great kid to coach and our offense was totally predicated around him... We don't have that so we will have to change what we do. His loss affects us greatly. I have no idea, until we play, how greatly his loss will affect us."
On his team and Johnathon Jones... "The reality of it is I have a pretty good team. I have a veteran team... I have a four-year starter at the point who led the nation in assists last year and was a mid-major All-American, maybe the greatest kid I have ever coached as far as a person. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows what I want on the floor. I have a pretty good feeling that we are going to be pretty good just because of Johnathon."
Beckie Francis - Women's Coach On her team... "We are really happy with the returners we have coming back. We have eight strong returners. We have a lot of faces and I am excited about our point guard that we redshirted last year, Riikka Terava. She is back this year. It is exciting to have her back as a floor leader. I am excited that Brittany Carnago had some really good international experience over the summer."
On the loss of Jessica Pike... "It's actually been good for all of our returners because they all think they are going to get that spot. It's been very even and it's fueled some good competitive practices for the returners and the freshmen that are all fighting for that spot."
ORAL ROBERTS Scott Sutton - Men's Coach On his team... "I really like this team. I don't know if we will surprise people, but so far, our guys are working hard. Our chemistry is much better than it was last year. And our second reason is because of how we finished last year. We had two tough losses at the end of the season to North Dakota State and to South Dakota State. I think the guys are eager to get back to playing and our coaches are as well."
Jerry Finkbeiner - Women's Coach On his team... I am really looking forward to this years' team and this season, mostly based on last year and just what happened to us based on injuries. We lost our two best players... that is the bad. But the good is it's another year. We are very talented this year. We are carrying a full squad."
On his teams style of play "We are going to be more up tempo and a little bit smaller than some of the teams of the past. We are going to score some points. They are an intelligent group inspired by our lone senior Janae Voelker. It is going to be a fun team to coach this year."
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE Scott Nagy - Men's Coach On his team... "We have so much experience back. We have eight kids back who have started for us. The question is, can we shake off the past where we have lost so many close games, and when we get in so many close games, how that will that affect us?"
Aaron Johnston - Women's Coach On his team... "We are looking forward to a new start and a lot of new faces. We do return some really good players this year. We also have a lot of new faces. We have nine players right now that are in their first or second year of eligibility. That is a lot younger than what we have had the last couple of years. We graduated four very good seniors and we had a good year last year that carried us a long way. Now it's time to try to put those past exciting experiences behind us and start working on this year."
SOUTHERN UTAH Roger Reid - Men's Coach On his team... "What I am pleased about is that we have a young team. When we got here, we had to get some quick fixes with junior college players. Now we brought in our players we could build with, with continuity. That's the nice thing, except they are young... We are really excited because of the continuity that we can build year after year now... Our team is working hard. I know there are a lot of ups and downs with young kids, but our team will be competitive."
JR Payne - Women's Coach On her team... "I think we have a couple very good players. I am hoping we have some leadership evolve, being that we don't have any seniors. I am hoping we have some juniors to step in that role and so far they have. It will be interesting to see where they take our team. I think that we will be able to compete from day one."
WESTERN ILLINOIS Jim Molinari - Men's Coach On his team... "We have some senior leadership with Quenton Kirby and David Nurse and some other experienced players that have played a lot of minutes including Ceola Clark, Tommie Tyler James Granstra. We have a long way to go, but they are quality young men and did a great job off the court and in the classroom."
Leslie Crane - Women's Coach On her team... "We have five kids returning from the team that was pretty much on the floor the entire time and got a lot of great experience. I think that is probably going to be the difference for us this year in that we have more experience and more leadership... We have five great leaders out there who are helping the young kids."
FAN QUESTIONS
IUPUI Men's Coach Ron Hunter answers Scott Servoss (Indianapolis, Ind.) who asked: In a year where you return four of five starters, what will be the biggest challenges facing the team as it seeks a Summit League Championship this season? "That the head coach doesn't mess it up. That is probably the biggest thing. I need to let these guys play. We have some talented young guys and we have seniors that have been with this program for a while. We have a young guy, Alex Young, and we have a terrific point guard as a freshman, so I just need to let these guys play a little bit and we will. I think it will be an exciting year and we will be able to compete. We are going to be a tough out for someone to have to play us in the league tournament. We haven't had this much experience and talent come back in a while."
Oral Roberts Coach Scott Sutton answers Terry Blain (Broken Arrow, Okla.) who asked: Do you think that your personnel will allow to play a more up tempo offense and pressure defense this season? Which newcomers do you believe will have the most impact? "I think we have the athleticism to play much faster. Our point guard Rod Pearson, is a very fast and athletic point guard. Hunter McClintock does a good job in transition. We are going to try to play a little bit faster than in the past. We don't have that one player that low post player, that we want to set in the half court to give the ball to everytime. As far as newcomers to watch, Rod and Hunter will make big impacts on our team. Michael Craion, a junior college transfer, is a good athletic player and will come in and challenge for a starting spot."
South Dakota State Coach Scott Nagy answers Randy Santema (Volga, S.D.) who asked: How has the depth and upper class leadership changed preparation for the season as compared to the past couple of years? "It has really helped practice. We are way ahead of where we have been the last three or four years. Not only in terms of what we have in, but in terms of having players that have what we want. It's a luxury for a coach to have, so that I don't always have to do that. In the past I have had to do that. I have had to be the one motivating. Now we have guys that know exactly what I want. The leadership has been very good and it has helped early."
Both Scott and Terry will receive a Summit League prize as part of the Media Day "Ask the Coach" feature. Also randomly drawn for prizes were ...
Lenny Golod (Stoddard Troy, Mich.) Shawn Stewart (Salt Lake, Utah) Harold Jones (Yankton, S.D.)
Courtesy: The Summit League
