UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- With Penn State women's basketball's annual media day concluded, many of the lingering questions about the team have been answered. There's been turnover in 2019-20 on both the coaching staff and roster with head coach Carolyn Kieger taking over for Coquese Washington and players like Teniya Page and Amari Carter graduating last spring, but with new faces comes new excitement and opportunities for the Lady Lions.
Media day was Kiegar's first time taking the podium since her introductary press conference last spring, and opened with a tribute to the progress the team as made over her last seven months in Happy Valley.
"We're asking these young ladies to give us stuff they've never had to do in their lives. We're asking them to work harder than they ever have, we're asking them to play a different offense, play a different defense, change the culture, and live up to a really high standard every single day," Keiger said. "It's been a challenge that they've embraced and bought into. I can't say enough about them and the quality of people that they are, and how much we've improved so far in seven months already."
Since there will be new faces will be on the sidelines and the court, there was a great deal of information to take in. With all things considered, here are the five biggest takeaways from the Lady Lions' media day.
- A Change of Culture
The term "culture" was thrown around a lot and seems to be at the heart of everything the team does both on and off the court. It was especially emphasized by Kieger.
"One thing that we spent a lot of time, as a team so far, is buying into our M.V.P. process, which is our mission, our vision and our core principles" she said. "In order to be champions, which is obviously our final goal, we need to start and end with our culture."
What exactly is the culture? Keigar elaborated that it includes how the student-athletes look walking around campus, how they work out and how they practice. However, one specific quality of the team that has impressed her is the team's growing sense of accountability.
"They're starting to hold each other accountable to the core principles that we have, and one of the biggest ones we have is discipline." Kieger said. "If we say touch the line that means all 13 players are touching the line, if we say we have practice at 7.a.m. they'll be ready to go at 6:50," she continued. "I've seen them come a very far way since we started to where we are now and I think that's hard for players to do when they've never been in a leadership role or held people accountable and they have to have a lot of confidence to step up and tell their teammate that they're not doing it to the standard [of] Penn State women's basketball."
With such an emphasis on the new culture, it's no surprise that the message has gotten through to some of the team's leaders such as Siyeh Frazier and Kamaria McDaniel.
"One thing about coach Keiger, everything falls in line with her culture and principles and we follow that." said Frazier.
"[Coach Kieger] just doesn't settle," added McDaniel. "She won't let us settle to be mediocre and that's been the main thing, like we're never trying to be average at anything. We'll keep doing something until you become elite. She uses the word "elite" a lot and it's just instilled a certain level of how we expect to come out and give our best and try to be great at whatever we're doing."
Clearly, the mentality of the team has changed in hopes of bringing a different and more effective product on the court. So far, it seems as if the team is on the right track.
- Pace of Play
Not only is the culture shift happening off the court, but on the court as well. The Lady Lions' offense has been up-tempo in the past, but this year is projecting to have an even faster pace of play on both sides of the ball.
"It's faster [than last year]. It's a faster pace. Defensively it's a lot faster as well," said McDaniel. "We're going to be a lot more aggressive, pressing and doing things like that. Personally, it feels faster and on paper it is faster. We look to score a little bit faster than last year. I think that we're just taking the team that you saw last year and just amping it up."
To give a sense of specifically how much faster the team might play, coach Kieger provided her ideal numbers.
"In a perfect world, we're over 100 possessions a game and scoring over 85 points," Keiger said. "Everybody's sharing the ball, we have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, over 18 assists a game, we're holding people below their scoring average. We want to play both ends, we want to defend the basket and force them to shoot shots they don't want to shoot but offensively we want to push pace and we want everybody to reap the benefits of that."
If those stats come to fruition, there will be a lot of shots to go around, but the team is confident that there is an ample amount of people on roster than can make plays.
"Everybody's a threat," said McDaniel. "We like our guards, and everybody, to be a threat from three, from pull-up and getting to the basket. We're able to play with that pace because everybody is virtually going to be unstoppable and we're going to create plays for each other and it's going to be fun to play."
The "organized chaos," as coach Kieger calls it, should result in a more exciting brand of basketball that will be an interesting watch all season.
- Coach Travascio-Green
It was announced that senior guard Jaida Travascio-Green tore her ACL this summer and will miss the upcoming season. This is her second ACL tear since joining the Lady Lions. However, she will be taking on a student-assistant coaching role.
Travascio-Green is a sizable loss to the team as she is one of team's better three-point shooters and has great length for the defensive side of the ball due to her 6'2" frame. It is yet to be seen exactly what Traviscio-Green's role will be, but coach Kieger did provide some insight.
"You're going to see her on the sidelines, you're going to see her running huddles," she said. "She's been so beneficial for us already in that department and I think she's got a voice that the team really listens to."
Although it's disappointing to miss your senior season due to injury, Traviscio-Green is trying to make the most of her new role with the team.
"I'm really excited about it, I think it's a fresh new perspective. I don't think a lot of people get this [opportunity]," she said. "I'm going to make the best of it. I think it'll help me, as I'm a senior getting into the real world, get a little bit of leadership and [learn] how to address people and confront issues."
Although she hasn't been in the role for that long, her teammates are already feeling the effect she has in her new role.
"It's always good to have someone who can see it from our perspective as players," said McDaniel. "She just has a different insight from the coaches so just getting to collaborate is going to be great, and it has been great in practice."
- New Faces
As always, a new season brings new players to the roster and with it, the chance for some new faces to make an immediate impact on the team's success. This year's freshman class consists of Makenna Marisa, Jayla James, Mya Bembry, Anna Camden and Shay Hagans. The Lady Lions also add Nia Staples as a graduate transfer from West Virginia.
While not all the newcomers are projected to make a splash right away, there should be a visible impact from a couple of the new Lady Lions. One of which will be Marisa, who was ranked as the No. 58 prospect in high school by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.
"She's going to be someone that we rely on heavily this year from a point guard and combo guard spot," Kieger said. "She was recruited as one of the best guards in the country and I think you're going to see that from day one for us and we're going to put a lot on her as a freshman."
Kieger also expanded on how Staples' experience, Hagans' offensive prowess, Camden and Bembry's ability to spread the floor and James' versatility on the offensive end will help the team succeed.
Frazier echoed her coach when asked about the potential influence the first-year Lady Lions can have.
"Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better incoming freshman class because they're great. They're great teammates and you guys will get to see that this year."
- Growing Together
When new players and coaches come together, there are often high expectations for early success and more times than not, it takes some time to see the finished product. Coach Keiger says that might be the case this year.
"I think in the beginning you're going to see some turnovers, you're going to see us getting used to that pace of play," she said. "But I think in the long run it's going to pay off."
Not only is there work to be done on the court, but off the court as well. Coach Keiger was open about the ongoing building of trust between the players and coaching staff.
"I think the other hard part is building relationships with the team, that just takes time," she said. "If you do it the right way and do it authentically it's going to take time to build that trust. Obviously, we're still working on that's going to be something I work on every day that I'm here on campus but that's just something that takes time, and you can't rush time."
While the change in coaching and culture could have been a divisive force, the team has come together and used it as a way to tighten their bond.
"With the new staff coming in, it's almost brought us closer together," said Travascio-Green. "Because before, as an upperclassman, you'd already know the plays and the way things work, where as with the new staff we all kind of learn together. I think that's helped us grow as a unit and as a group and given us a chemistry we haven't had before."
That growth will only improve as the year goes on, and these Lady Lions, both new and old, are ready to get going.