B1G Media Days - October 7 and 8

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Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer not with team due to COVID concerns

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer will not be in Indianapolis for Big Ten Media Day this week, and is not currently coaching her team on a day-to-day basis due to COVID-19 concerns.
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NJ Advance Media has learned Stringer, 73, has stepped away from her day-to-day coaching duties in order to not get sick and to care for her family, including her daughter, Janine, 40, who has needed special care since contracting spinal meningitis at age 2.

Stringer has been away from her team since April, two people with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media. The two people both said Stringer will not be in attendance for Big Ten Media Day in Indianapolis on Thursday.

Tim Eatman, the team’s associate head coach, has been leading the team in recent months and will fill in for Stringer at Big Ten Media Day, the people said.

The two people requested anonymity because the situation is related to Stringer’s health. Stringer and Eatman were not available for comment Wednesday.


As for the question of whether Stringer might miss parts or all of the upcoming season, Rutgers officials told NJ Advance Media the Naismith Hall of Fame could be back at any point between now and the Nov. 9 opener against St. Peter’s. It’s believed that Stringer is using the sick time she’s accumulated over her 26-year Rutgers career, two people with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media.
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A couple of comments from Brenda Frese

Q. What are your thoughts on the Final Four coming to Minneapolis?
BRENDA FRESE: I love it. I grew up in Iowa, so very close for my family and friends, as well. Minnesota has a special place in my heart as well, giving me the opportunity to be able to coach there for a season. I can't think of a better place for the Final Four.

A quick summation of Terps:

We return all five starters. We had six players averaging double figures, all of them return. We'll be led obviously by Ashley Owusu and Diamond Miller who was named co-MVP in the Big Ten tournament. Also coming off of gold medals in the AmeriCup in Puerto Rico this past summer.

Katie Benzan, a grad senior, comes back, who led the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 50%. Chloe Bibby, her experience factor, her toughness, to be able to have Angel Reese, Mimi Collins, Channise Lewis, when you talk about another coming off of an injury to return back to the court. So many weapons for us that we're really looking forward to.
 



Lisa Bluder was very upbeat; but there was some downer news:

Q. You talked about Monika, the way she's played the last couple years. Who is going to back her up now with Sharon Goodman being injured?

LISA BLUDER: Sharon Goodman, that was a big loss. In our first practice this year, she unfortunately went down with an ACL tear. Sharon was playing great. Last year she shot 55% from the field, she was a tremendous backup to Monika because she was so strong. She was playing at a better level this year, this summer, than last year. So her game had really improved. I was really expecting big things from Sharon.

Obviously with her now gone for the year, we'll be moving Addi O'Grady, who is a freshman, but is our tallest player on our roster at 6'4". From Denver, Colorado, had a great career there. She'll be moving into that backup position for Monika.

Here's a dash of the upbeat:

Of course, at Iowa the excitement is at an all-time high. Season tickets are at an all-time high. Our fan base is ready to come back to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, make it one of the hardest places to play in women's basketball in the country.

We have a lot to build around with all five starters returning. Of course, coming off of a Big Ten Championship appearance and a Sweet 16 appearance, all five of those women coming back, including, you may have heard of her, Caitlin Clark. We think she's one of the nation's best. Monika Czinano, who led the country in field goal percentage last year. Our supporting cast is what makes it all work, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock. I think we've had a deeper bench than we've ever had
 


Not much from Nancy Fahey except that if you are going to run it's better to have scorers:

We had a great summer. Unlike a lot of teams, we have six new players. One of my goals during the addition of our team was we needed some scoring. We as a team had a pace of top 15% in the country. We could run, but our efficiency was not where we wanted it to be at. We got three transfers, Kendall Bostic, De'Myla Brown, Sara Anastasieska. All three of them were from programs that win, programs that they were key players and programs where they scored. That was important to us.

We also have three freshmen coming in. One is Miss Minnesota, Adalia McKenzie. As we built this with the juniors and seniors, built that together, I feel like we have that chemistry in the locker room that we need
 


Amy Williams answers the "why aren't you as good as your predecessor" question:

Q. You took over for Connie, who did a great job at Nebraska, great winning program. How long did it take you as a coach to get your feet settled and head the program in the direction you wanted it?

AMY WILLIAMS: There's a definite transition period, no doubt about it. I think the one thing we've just tried to embrace is the history and tradition and the things that Connie was able to do for our program, and find small ways to just see if we can't keep raising the bar for our program. That's our goal every year, is to find ways to raise the bar and build on what has been built before us
 


Tim Eatman was the opening comments winner of the day:

This is my third time in this role at Rutgers. The first time was when Coach Stringer lost her mother. The second time was when Coach took a leave of absence because of exhaustion. I am so thankful that this time has nothing to do with neither one.

Now, if you all know Coach, she's always asked of you to do the almost impossible. Right before I left, she said to me, Tim, do not let this press conference be about me. Keep the press conference focused on the players and the team.

I said, Okay.

I took a deep breath and I said to myself, Good luck with that, Timothy Eatman.

Q. Your experience in 2019, I think it was seven games as acting coach, is that something you look back on now? At what point do you believe this might be a permanent thing or a long-term thing that goes into the season?

TIM EATMAN: Well, since you've been around our program a long time, and you know that Coach always has one voice. Right now the plan hasn't changed, but the voice is mine right now
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The one thing that Coach always believes in is that you can only have one voice because you don't want to have confusion with the players. Her favorite statement is, when you ask her, "Coach, when do you want me to do this," she always looks at you and says, "Yesterday."

We want Coach back yesterday, but we understand that she's trying to find a way through this pandemic. Our best bet is to continue to move forward, but continue to do the things that Coach will always do. Our staff is really excellent in the fact that we never dilute what Coach wants done and we never pollute what Coach wants done.

Whether it's tomorrow, whether it's next month, or whether it's for the first game, Coach has an opportunity to do what she needs to do because she knows she has a staff at home that's going to take care of business.
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Marissa Moseley says Sydney Hilliard is working on her outside shot:
Q. Sydney Hilliard was one of your best players last year. Talk about her improvement from this season to what you've seen so far since you've arrived in Madison.

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, she has been just incredible. Talking about inheriting great kids, her work ethic, how hard she works, and her leadership was kind of leading by example. Really excited about what she's going to be able to do. She's worked really hard on her outside shooting to become more of a triple threat, be able to score at all three levels.

Anyone that played against her in the past knows she can get to the rim at will, she has a great mindset, but she's also figured out how to play with other great players on the floor.

She led us in assists last year. I'm excited for her to be able to do a little bit more of that as well as scoring. Just all around a great kid. I'm excited for her to be a Badger
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Teri Moren promises that this will Ali Patberg's last season (maybe):
Q. How has having five starters back this year allowed you to maybe take things to a new level in the off-season in your preparation?

TERI MOREN: Well, anytime you have vets, five returners, practice is a little bit different. I think it's more efficient now. We're moving through things a little quicker than we did a year ago.

I do think they've been great examples for those young kids of what it looks like and should look like. But it is a different feeling. When you have those five that are returning, there's not a wasted day in our program. This is sort of the last go-around with Ali Patberg, I swear to God it is. This is it. I don't think we're going to get her back for an additional year. But the Aleksa Gulbes and Nicki and that group.

This is a really special, tight-knit, great chemistry group. So they've not -- they're just fun to work with every single day. We know as a staff that we're really lucky to coach these young women.
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Joe Mckeown expects a lot from the 'Cats freshmen:

I like our team. I think I have one of the great guards in college basketball in Veronica Burton. Won a gold medal with USA Basketball this summer. She just makes me a really good coach on game day. Really have a top 10 recruiting class with freshmen. I don't really like rankings, but we have five freshmen I think are really going to help us. Coming off a great year. Coming off a COVID year where we won the Big Ten championship, felt like we were going to make a deep run in the NCAA.

We're still trying to build off of that. We lost Lindsey Pulliam who was drafted in the WNBA, scored 2,000 points. Trying to find out how to replace her. She's playing right now in Turkey. Probably scored 30 today.
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Matilda Ekh can play almost anywhere and do everything:

Q. Can you talk about what Matilda brings to the team this year and the impact she's had so far.

SUZY MERCHANT: Sure. So he's referring to Matilda Ekh on our team. Last year, another fun part of COVID in the pandemic, she is from Sweden, and we could not get her out of the country. We tried everything we possibly could. But due to the COVID and the pandemic, we certainly couldn't get her out. Again, we tried everything.

It was tough to get her here this year. She had to get her student visa from another country to come to the U.S. On top of that being a challenge, what she brings to the team, a National Team player for the Swedish team. She's been doing that since she's been 17 years old.

She's a typical European player. She can shoot it, handle it, she can be a one, two, three in our system. Technically she could be a four if needed.

Very dynamic, but very even-keeled. She experienced. Even though she's a freshman and the first time on our campus, you feel like she's a junior or senior in terms of how she plays the game. She's going to add so much to our team this year, no question.
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Are we able to watch the whole interview with Whalen?
 



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