Ignatius L Hoops
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http://www.espn.com/womens-college-...ch-lindsay-whalen-back-where-always-wanted-be
But there's something about Whalen that makes it seem possible, with a dream timeframe in sight: Minneapolis will host the 2022 Final Four, in Whalen's fourth season. Gophers assistant coach Kelly Roysland was a freshman guard on that Final Four team. Whalen and rugged center Janel McCarville led the Gophers to the Sweet 16 the year before, but coach Brenda Oldfield (now Brenda Frese) left after the season for Maryland. Roysland remembers Whalen talking up the Final Four long before anyone else.
"I will never forget this, and I don't know why this memory has stuck with me," Roysland said. "Lindsay and I were over in the apartments where we lived, and Lindsay was like, 'We can go to the Final Four, Roys.' As a freshman, I wasn't thinking about anything outside of, I need to know the plays for practice, let alone playing in the NCAA tournament. She knew she had McCarville coming back and a lot of other pieces in place. I thought, that would be cool, but I don't know what it takes.
...
Coyle knew Whalen by reputation when he met her for lunch at Doolittles Woodfire Grill, an upscale restaurant in Golden Valley, Minnesota, near her home, after a Lynx practice in the summer of 2017. Coyle worked in marketing at Minnesota when Whalen was an undergraduate, when the school shifted women's basketball games from the cozy Sports Pavilion, capacity 5,000, to Williams Arena to accommodate the crowds coming to see her.
That summer Coyle wasn't looking for a coach; he had Marlene Stollings under contract. But Whalen was nearing the end of her WNBA career and wondering what was next. Coaching seemed the natural progression for someone with Whalen's basketball IQ.
"I decided to reach out to her because I wanted to see where her head was at," Coyle said.
...
Stollings never signed a Minnesota recruit out of high school, but Whalen quickly gained a verbal commitment from Stillwater High guard Sara Scalia. Shortly after, the Gophers signed Mercedes Staples, a point guard from Utah bound for Clemson who asked for her release following a coaching change. ESPNHoopGirlz ranked her 64th in the 2018 class. A big fan of the WNBA and Whalen, Staples almost freaked out when Whalen texted her.
"It was like, Lindsay Whalen texted me? She has my number? It was crazy. I was like, 'No way,'" Staples said. "Minnesota wasn't even an option my first time around. The previous staff contacted me like once or twice, and after that they switched, so I'm like, 'OK, they're out.' Then I got that text, and here I am."
...
Whalen made tough defense a priority, reinstalling the man-to-man system her old Gophers coach, Pam Borton, introduced in 2003. "I think we're a more defensive-oriented team," said sophomore guard/forward Destiny Pitts. "Defense wins games."
Though Whalen excelled in Reeve's Rick Adelman-style corner set offense with guards cutting all over the place, her players liked other things, so Whalen went with those. Practice opens with the same three-on-none fast-break drill Borton used back in the day, and Whalen relies on her assistants to suggest drills that address specific deficiencies. Practices are hard but fun, with plenty of competition
But there's something about Whalen that makes it seem possible, with a dream timeframe in sight: Minneapolis will host the 2022 Final Four, in Whalen's fourth season. Gophers assistant coach Kelly Roysland was a freshman guard on that Final Four team. Whalen and rugged center Janel McCarville led the Gophers to the Sweet 16 the year before, but coach Brenda Oldfield (now Brenda Frese) left after the season for Maryland. Roysland remembers Whalen talking up the Final Four long before anyone else.
"I will never forget this, and I don't know why this memory has stuck with me," Roysland said. "Lindsay and I were over in the apartments where we lived, and Lindsay was like, 'We can go to the Final Four, Roys.' As a freshman, I wasn't thinking about anything outside of, I need to know the plays for practice, let alone playing in the NCAA tournament. She knew she had McCarville coming back and a lot of other pieces in place. I thought, that would be cool, but I don't know what it takes.
...
Coyle knew Whalen by reputation when he met her for lunch at Doolittles Woodfire Grill, an upscale restaurant in Golden Valley, Minnesota, near her home, after a Lynx practice in the summer of 2017. Coyle worked in marketing at Minnesota when Whalen was an undergraduate, when the school shifted women's basketball games from the cozy Sports Pavilion, capacity 5,000, to Williams Arena to accommodate the crowds coming to see her.
That summer Coyle wasn't looking for a coach; he had Marlene Stollings under contract. But Whalen was nearing the end of her WNBA career and wondering what was next. Coaching seemed the natural progression for someone with Whalen's basketball IQ.
"I decided to reach out to her because I wanted to see where her head was at," Coyle said.
...
Stollings never signed a Minnesota recruit out of high school, but Whalen quickly gained a verbal commitment from Stillwater High guard Sara Scalia. Shortly after, the Gophers signed Mercedes Staples, a point guard from Utah bound for Clemson who asked for her release following a coaching change. ESPNHoopGirlz ranked her 64th in the 2018 class. A big fan of the WNBA and Whalen, Staples almost freaked out when Whalen texted her.
"It was like, Lindsay Whalen texted me? She has my number? It was crazy. I was like, 'No way,'" Staples said. "Minnesota wasn't even an option my first time around. The previous staff contacted me like once or twice, and after that they switched, so I'm like, 'OK, they're out.' Then I got that text, and here I am."
...
Whalen made tough defense a priority, reinstalling the man-to-man system her old Gophers coach, Pam Borton, introduced in 2003. "I think we're a more defensive-oriented team," said sophomore guard/forward Destiny Pitts. "Defense wins games."
Though Whalen excelled in Reeve's Rick Adelman-style corner set offense with guards cutting all over the place, her players liked other things, so Whalen went with those. Practice opens with the same three-on-none fast-break drill Borton used back in the day, and Whalen relies on her assistants to suggest drills that address specific deficiencies. Practices are hard but fun, with plenty of competition
