Alexandria Echo Press: Whalen embraces the process of building the Gophers

[BleedGopher]

per the Echo Press:

Whalen is widely considered one of the best athletes to ever come out of the state of Minnesota, so does she feel pressure to lead the Gophers to the top of the Big Ten at her alma mater?

"I'd like to get back to where we've been, but I understand it's a process and a day-to-day thing," Whalen said. "I want to have that, I want to get us to Final Fours and compete for Big Ten championships. I never won a Big Ten championship as a player, so I want to have that. I just know it's a day-to-day building to get us there. That's really real. It takes a while to get there, it takes building blocks. It takes early-morning practices and fundamentals, but it's something I want to work hard at to put us in position to get back where we want to be."

Whalen was one of the five Minnesota coaches in Alexandria on June 12 who were at Carlos Creek Winery as part of the 2019 Gophers Coaches Caravan Tour. Whalen, volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, men's hockey coach Bob Motzko, men's basketball coach Richard Pitino and football coach P.J. Fleck all signed autographs and then spoke on the state of their programs in front of a sold-out venue of nearly 300 fans.

"It's a lot of Gopher supporters," Whalen said. "I grew up a fan supporting the Gophers, and I grew up in a community where everybody really rallied behind different athletes and the University of Minnesota. To see that support out here reminds me of being home. It reminds me of just how special that bond is in a smaller community."

https://www.echopress.com/sports/basketball/4626351-whalen-embraces-process-building-gophers

Go Gophers!!

 

[hungan1]

per the Echo Press:

... "It's a lot of Gopher supporters," Whalen said. "I grew up a fan supporting the Gophers, and I grew up in a community where everybody really rallied behind different athletes and the University of Minnesota. To see that support out here reminds me of being home. It reminds me of just how special that bond is in a smaller community."

https://www.echopress.com/sports/basketball/4626351-whalen-embraces-process-building-gophers

Go Gophers!!

She definitely brings that small town charm and she gets it how important the Gophers is to the rest of the small communities in the state.

Lindsay Whalen prepared to be a champion all her life, and she played like a champion every game. She made everyone around her play better. She is held in high esteem by her teammates as well as opponents.

Gino Auriema: "Lindsay, your legacy is pretty simple when you think about it. The game of basketball exist long before you got there. And it will exist way after you leave. But, you made the game better. And the game was better because you were in it. I don't think there is a better legacy than that."

Coaching is totally a new challenge. Will her greatness and success as a HS, Collegiate, Olympics, and WNBA player transform Gopher Women's Basketball into a national contender? Will she build a new legacy like Dawn Staley has at South Carolina after her illustrious playing career? Stay tuned for a great ride.

In eight to ten years, she has the potential to join all college coaching great in winning a national title. That's about how long it takes to build a program into a national powerhouse.

"As a teammate, you want to always be sure that everybody is doing well and getting shots, getting the ball in places they need it," she said. "As a point guard, you're kind of more of a caretaker on the floor and a floor general."

Whalen feels that a lot of the same leadership characteristics that made her a successful player can translate to the sidelines as a coach. Taking over a Big Ten program as one's first head-coaching job brings with it inherent pressure, but it's a move she felt ready for and continues to work at.

"A lot of the leadership and communication and wanting to be a good teammate first, I think all of those things really go into being a coach, being someone who is now in charge of a bigger organization than just being a player in the WNBA," Whalen said. "There's always room to grow, but I think those skills do translate and it's something I'm working hard at."