Spokesman-Recorder: Coach Whay Now Knows What She Wants

Ignatius L Hoops

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https://spokesman-recorder.com/2019/11/01/coach-whay-now-knows-what-she-wants/

Charles Hallman:
“I’m a year removed from playing,” Whalen recently observed while we sat in her Stadium Village corner office. “Last year I was asking everybody how to plan out a preseason, how to plan out different things,” she recalled. “I was the coach, but I was still watching [WNBA] games. I was in and out, still in season with the Lynx.

“Now I feel a lot better,” Whalen continued. “Having a year that you don’t know, asking advice…but you got to find out how you want to do it.” Also, during her novice season, she suspected there were times her players probably wondered if Whalen really knew what she was doing.

“But they were patient with me,” she said. “I think they knew deep down that I genuinely care for them and really want to do the right thing. They allowed me to grow [as coach].”

“They all call me Coach Whay,” the Gopher head coach said, smiling proudly. “Now I know how I want it, and I know how I want to do things.”

Minnesota returns three starters from last season: junior guard-forward Destiny Pitts, senior guard Jasmine Brunson, and senior forward Taiye Bello. “I’m going to rely on them a lot,” Whalen stated. “We are relying on them a lot for their leadership” as well as their scoring [with a combined 34 points on average per game].

The 5’-10” Pitts averaged nearly 17 points last season. “Destiny can be in the running for [conference] player of the year,” Whalen said. Pitts was picked both by the coaches and media for the preseason All-Big Ten team. “She played so well in the second half of the Big Ten last year,” the coach recalled.

“She’s got more that she can do after posting season highs [in points] last season,” Whalen said of the 5’-8” Brunson at point guard, who averaged 8.4 ppg. Taiye Bello also posted career highs in points (9.7) and rebounds (11.9) last season. “Tye is so quiet, but she leads by example,” her coach said. “A 20/20 game this year isn’t out of her reach.”

But a healthy Gadiva Hubbard, who missed all last season due to injury, can provide the Gophers a proven third scorer (a career 13 point scorer). Whalen said that the 5’-9” guard should be at full strength when the season begins. “We missed her last year, and we’re very excited to have her back and healthy.”

Understandably, the Gophers are being careful with the junior: “We are taking it one week, one day at a time. We are trying to minimize the amount of pounding that she has to endure,” Whalen explained.
 

Coach Whay acknowledges that she clearly was a rookie last year. I look for a better year yet this coming season.
 

She has a wealth of BB wisdom @ her disposal and the humility to ask for advice. She will only get better as a coach.
 




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