ESPN: Pat Borzi: Whalen Back Where She Wanted to Be

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
 


Sounds like Whalen is more Borton-centric over Reeve-centric, but maybe that’s just the author’s stylings. Whalen could strive to be her own style of coach.
 

http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/ar...-minnesota-made-me?addata=espnw:womenbb:index

Also; an excerpt from Pat Borzi's new book: "Minnesota Made Me".

Preferring to go to college close to home, Whalen chose Minnesota over Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota. She had aunts and uncles in the Twin Cities, and always considered trips there a treat. Minnesota was lucky Whalen felt that way, because at the time, 2000-01, the Gophers were terrible. Minnesota's last winning season and only NCAA Tournament appearance had been in 1993-94, and the team's 8-20 finish in Whalen's freshman year cost coach Cheryl Littlejohn her job.

"We weren't any good that first year," Whalen said. "We had the players to do it. Turns out we needed the direction to do it, the coaching. We couldn't have predicted it was going to turn into (what it did). But Minnesota supports a winning team, a hard-working team it can be proud of. Most of us were from Minnesota or the Midwest. I knew the team would be able to take off if we eventually got it right."

McCarville, a rugged, free-spirited center from Wisconsin recruited by Littlejohn, arrived Whalen's sophomore year, when the Gophers took off under new coach Brenda Oldfield. Whalen averaged a career-high 22.2 points per game as the 22-8 Gophers made the first of three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

By then, Whalen was a sensation. A promotion to "Pack the Pav," the nickname for the Sports Pavilion, for a January 2002 game with Indiana hit a snag when a water main break forced a move to Williams Arena. To everyone's surprise, 11,389 people turned out at "The Barn," more than double the previous team record. The Gophers never played in the Pav again.
 

Let's not knock Golden Valley

"an upscale restaurant in Golden Valley?"

Doolittle's is a nice place. And, Whalen lives in Golden Valley, Borton lived in Golden Valley, and before moving to UConn Beth Goetz lived in Golden Valley.
 


I’m not knocking Golden Valley but that’s a weird description of that restaurant.
 

I’m not knocking Golden Valley but that’s a weird description of that restaurant.

My very first thought was 'upscale'?

I'm down with bringing my kids there for a solid family dinner but I'm not sure it's where I'm taking folks to woo them.....once I graduated from high school that is.
 

Benihana is probably more upscale. ;)
 

I’m not knocking Golden Valley but that’s a weird description of that restaurant.

I’ve been to many upscale restaurants and Doolittle’s in Eagan is one of my favorite restaurants to go to. I’ve never had a bad experience. Places like Manny’s steakhouse, Bar La Grassa, and Fogo de Chao are overrated.
 






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