University of Minnesota Athletics
2001-2002 Golden Gopher Women's Basketball Season Outlook
11/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
New Minnesota women's basketball coach Brenda Oldfield is definitely living in her own Field of Dream movie role.
Switch Kevin Costner's baseball field for Oldfield's Sports Pavilion basketball court. Trade legendary White Sox outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson for any member of the Golden Gopher squad, past, present or future.
"If you build it. they will come."
The state of Minnesota has long been considered a hotbed of women's basketball. Still, the annuals of Gopher women's basketball tell a long tale of disappointing season after disappointing season.
Enter a young, energetic and already successful Oldfield to the mix, and close the history books. The Gophers are embarking on a new adventure, writing a new history. And if the excitement surrounding the program on June 8, 2001, when Brenda Oldfield was announced as the seventh head coach in Minnesota women's basketball history is any indication, the Gophers are headed in the right direction.
"If you build it. they will come." The "it" is a successful women's basketball tradition that the entire state of Minnesota can share in. The "they" is the best high school players in the state, a rousing fan base and ultimately, championships.
But lest we put the cart in front of the horse, Oldfield has plenty of challenges in the here and now, the upcoming 2001-02 season. As you begin to build, first comes the foundation.
The foundation will be learning Oldfield's system and adapting to her coaching philosophy, and early on in her tenure, not relying on this team's record as the sole indicator of achievement.
| Senior Kim Bell |
Oldfield's system helped Iowa State gain prominence in the Big 12 and nationally and for the past two seasons, improving the Ball State program to consecutive winning seasons. We may see a modified version as the Gophers build the foundation to full strength.
Look for the Gophers to play an exciting, up-tempo style of basketball. Expect the Gophers to be a well-organized and well-prepared squad.
"We will be very much offense oriented," explains Oldfield. "We will want to get out and run. Every player will have the green light to put the ball up. I want our players to step up with confidence and take the shot whenever they have an open look."
Defensively, the Gophers look to be keep their opponents off guard. "We will mix it up and try to throw a lot of different looks at our opposition," adds Oldfield.
Oldfield has the blueprints ready. In the five months, she has been on campus, and in the weeks of preseason individual workouts, she already senses her plans are becoming reality.
"Based on our preseason, the team as a whole has a tremendous work ethic," said Oldfield. "I've really been pleased with how hard the players are working and how much their conditioning has improved. This team is extremely coachable. They want to continue to learn more."
The 2001-02 Golden Gophers will on one hand be a very young team, yet on the other, will on paper seem to have gathered a great deal of experience over the past season.
| Junior Kim Prince |
The majority of the roster is sophomores and juniors. Only one rookie, though quite a newcomer in Wisconsin High School Co-Player of the Year Janel McCarville, joins the charges that posted an 8-20 overall record a year ago.
The cornerstone Oldfield will build her first Gopher team around is sophomore guard Lindsay Whalen. In 2000-01, Whalen emerged as one of the finest first-year players in the Big Ten Conference. Scoring in double figures in all but one game she played in her rookie season, Whalen finished second in the league in scoring at 17.0 points per game and garnered honorable mention All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshmen Team honors.
Whalen honed her skills over the summer as a member of the Big Ten's All-Star Team that toured Europe in August and tied for the team lead in scoring, averaging 13.2 points a contest.
"A coach is ecstatic when she has a player like Lindsay Whalen," says Oldfield of her star guard. "She is a silent leader that leads by the example of giving 110 percent every time she steps on the court, whether in a practice or a game. I'm excited to see what her sophomore season and her future holds for her."
| Sophomore Lindsay Whalen |
Another member of the sophomore class who should contend for extensive playing time this season is guard/forward Leslie Hill. Oldfield cites Hill as the Gophers' most improved player from a year ago.
"Leslie, by far , is our most improved player," said Oldfield. "She has come into preseason and has stepped up her game and competed from day one. She has a nice offensive stroke and could play guard or small forward for us."
Completing the sophomore class is Tanisha Gilbert, Ebba Hemberg and Kim Nelson.
Gilbert burst on the scene as a rookie and scored double figures in 13 of her 14 games, before she was declared academically ineligible for the second semester. After taking care of business in the classroom and regaining her eligibility status for her sophomore year, she underwent reconstructive knee surgery in July and will likely redshirt the 2001-02 season.
Hemberg is the defensive stopper on the Gopher squad. "Ebba brings a defensive presence to our team with her quickness and smart, solid play on the defensive end," said Oldfield.
Nelson, a walk-on guard, provides the Gophers with another solid three-point shooter and depth along the perimeter.>{?
| Junior Lindsay Lieser |
Point guard Ozlem Piroglu is a player with big-impact ability for the Gophers, but is also a player whose past injuries could serve as a detriment to her success this season. Piroglu tore the ACL in her right knee in late February and missed the final four games of the 2000-01 season. After surgery in March, she has worked tirelessly to rehabilitate the knee and enter the season at full strength. As she neared full recovery, her left knee began to cause her problems and led to orthroscopic surgery a week before the beginning of the season.
If Piroglu is available to the Gophers, she brings a floor leader to the team. Piroglu dished out 113 assists last season, the fifth-best single-season mark in school history.
"O.P. has such a great positive attitude and has worked very hard to come back from her knee injury," states Oldfield. "Her playing status heading into the season is obviously a big concern."
The player who may flourish the most in Oldfield's new system is junior guard Lindsay Lieser. Lieser is the Gophers' designated three-point bomber and enters the season needing 17 treys to set the Minnesota career record.
"Lindsay has had a great preseason and is picking up our system extremely well," said Oldfield. "The thing I like best about Lindsay, though, is her work ethic. She's a blue-collar player who works very hard at her game."
Junior forward/center Kim Prince was the Gophers' top rebounder and second-leading scorer in 2000-01. Oldfield speaks of Prince as a gifted, athletic player who has a lot to offer this team the next two seasons. Prince averaged 12.8 points a game last season, while shooting 53.0 percent from the field. She also pulled down 6.1 rebounds an outing, with nearly a third of them coming off the offensive glass.
A player the coaching staff is very excited about seeing in a Gopher uniform for the first time is Wisconsin-Milwaukee transfer Corrin Von Wald. NCAA transfer rules forced Von Wald to sit out a season, but the talented guard will enter the 2001-02 season with junior eligibility.
| Sophomore Kadidja Andersson |
Junior guard Trish McGhee adds depth to the Gophers' backcourt, especially at point guard where depth could be an issue if Piroglu misses significant time. McGhee is a quick, athletic player who could see time at either guard position.
Few incoming Gopher rookies have come into Minnesota with the accolades of center Janel McCarville. Nicknamed "Shaq" for obvious reasons, McCarville has the potential to become the most dominating post player the Gophers have seen in years.
"Janel is a physical, banging type of post player who we will be going to early and often," said Oldfield of the prized newcomer. "It's ironic to say you'll be counting on a rookie, but we are going to have to count on her this year. She will see a substantial amount of playing time."
As for her nickname, Oldfield continues, "Shaq is a very fitting nickname in that Janel very much resembles the LA Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal personality-wise and in her game in the sense of low post presence and how physical and dominating she can be down low. She's a great passer from the high post and an unselfish player. I just hope she doesn't shoot free throws like him."
The 2001-02 Gophers have the opportunity to work on the foundation, the foundation that Coach Oldfield will build in place to secure a successful future for the Minnesota women's basketball program.
The rewards may not be immediate but not unlike that legendary Field of Dreams, "if you build it. they will come."
"If you build it. they will come."
New Minnesota women's basketball coach Brenda Oldfield is definitely living in her own Field of Dream movie role.
Switch Kevin Costner's baseball field for Oldfield's Sports Pavilion basketball court. Trade legendary White Sox outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson for any member of the Golden Gopher squad, past, present or future.
"If you build it. they will come."
The state of Minnesota has long been considered a hotbed of women's basketball. Still, the annuals of Gopher women's basketball tell a long tale of disappointing season after disappointing season.
Enter a young, energetic and already successful Oldfield to the mix, and close the history books. The Gophers are embarking on a new adventure, writing a new history. And if the excitement surrounding the program on June 8, 2001, when Brenda Oldfield was announced as the seventh head coach in Minnesota women's basketball history is any indication, the Gophers are headed in the right direction.
"If you build it. they will come." The "it" is a successful women's basketball tradition that the entire state of Minnesota can share in. The "they" is the best high school players in the state, a rousing fan base and ultimately, championships.
But lest we put the cart in front of the horse, Oldfield has plenty of challenges in the here and now, the upcoming 2001-02 season. As you begin to build, first comes the foundation.
The foundation will be learning Oldfield's system and adapting to her coaching philosophy, and early on in her tenure, not relying on this team's record as the sole indicator of achievement.
| Senior Kim Bell |
Oldfield's system helped Iowa State gain prominence in the Big 12 and nationally and for the past two seasons, improving the Ball State program to consecutive winning seasons. We may see a modified version as the Gophers build the foundation to full strength.
Look for the Gophers to play an exciting, up-tempo style of basketball. Expect the Gophers to be a well-organized and well-prepared squad.
"We will be very much offense oriented," explains Oldfield. "We will want to get out and run. Every player will have the green light to put the ball up. I want our players to step up with confidence and take the shot whenever they have an open look."
Defensively, the Gophers look to be keep their opponents off guard. "We will mix it up and try to throw a lot of different looks at our opposition," adds Oldfield.
Oldfield has the blueprints ready. In the five months, she has been on campus, and in the weeks of preseason individual workouts, she already senses her plans are becoming reality.
"Based on our preseason, the team as a whole has a tremendous work ethic," said Oldfield. "I've really been pleased with how hard the players are working and how much their conditioning has improved. This team is extremely coachable. They want to continue to learn more."
The 2001-02 Golden Gophers will on one hand be a very young team, yet on the other, will on paper seem to have gathered a great deal of experience over the past season.
| Junior Kim Prince |
The majority of the roster is sophomores and juniors. Only one rookie, though quite a newcomer in Wisconsin High School Co-Player of the Year Janel McCarville, joins the charges that posted an 8-20 overall record a year ago.
The cornerstone Oldfield will build her first Gopher team around is sophomore guard Lindsay Whalen. In 2000-01, Whalen emerged as one of the finest first-year players in the Big Ten Conference. Scoring in double figures in all but one game she played in her rookie season, Whalen finished second in the league in scoring at 17.0 points per game and garnered honorable mention All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshmen Team honors.
Whalen honed her skills over the summer as a member of the Big Ten's All-Star Team that toured Europe in August and tied for the team lead in scoring, averaging 13.2 points a contest.
"A coach is ecstatic when she has a player like Lindsay Whalen," says Oldfield of her star guard. "She is a silent leader that leads by the example of giving 110 percent every time she steps on the court, whether in a practice or a game. I'm excited to see what her sophomore season and her future holds for her."
| Sophomore Lindsay Whalen |
Another member of the sophomore class who should contend for extensive playing time this season is guard/forward Leslie Hill. Oldfield cites Hill as the Gophers' most improved player from a year ago.
"Leslie, by far , is our most improved player," said Oldfield. "She has come into preseason and has stepped up her game and competed from day one. She has a nice offensive stroke and could play guard or small forward for us."
Completing the sophomore class is Tanisha Gilbert, Ebba Hemberg and Kim Nelson.
Gilbert burst on the scene as a rookie and scored double figures in 13 of her 14 games, before she was declared academically ineligible for the second semester. After taking care of business in the classroom and regaining her eligibility status for her sophomore year, she underwent reconstructive knee surgery in July and will likely redshirt the 2001-02 season.
Hemberg is the defensive stopper on the Gopher squad. "Ebba brings a defensive presence to our team with her quickness and smart, solid play on the defensive end," said Oldfield.
Nelson, a walk-on guard, provides the Gophers with another solid three-point shooter and depth along the perimeter.>{?
| Junior Lindsay Lieser |
Point guard Ozlem Piroglu is a player with big-impact ability for the Gophers, but is also a player whose past injuries could serve as a detriment to her success this season. Piroglu tore the ACL in her right knee in late February and missed the final four games of the 2000-01 season. After surgery in March, she has worked tirelessly to rehabilitate the knee and enter the season at full strength. As she neared full recovery, her left knee began to cause her problems and led to orthroscopic surgery a week before the beginning of the season.
If Piroglu is available to the Gophers, she brings a floor leader to the team. Piroglu dished out 113 assists last season, the fifth-best single-season mark in school history.
"O.P. has such a great positive attitude and has worked very hard to come back from her knee injury," states Oldfield. "Her playing status heading into the season is obviously a big concern."
The player who may flourish the most in Oldfield's new system is junior guard Lindsay Lieser. Lieser is the Gophers' designated three-point bomber and enters the season needing 17 treys to set the Minnesota career record.
"Lindsay has had a great preseason and is picking up our system extremely well," said Oldfield. "The thing I like best about Lindsay, though, is her work ethic. She's a blue-collar player who works very hard at her game."
Junior forward/center Kim Prince was the Gophers' top rebounder and second-leading scorer in 2000-01. Oldfield speaks of Prince as a gifted, athletic player who has a lot to offer this team the next two seasons. Prince averaged 12.8 points a game last season, while shooting 53.0 percent from the field. She also pulled down 6.1 rebounds an outing, with nearly a third of them coming off the offensive glass.
A player the coaching staff is very excited about seeing in a Gopher uniform for the first time is Wisconsin-Milwaukee transfer Corrin Von Wald. NCAA transfer rules forced Von Wald to sit out a season, but the talented guard will enter the 2001-02 season with junior eligibility.
| Sophomore Kadidja Andersson |
Junior guard Trish McGhee adds depth to the Gophers' backcourt, especially at point guard where depth could be an issue if Piroglu misses significant time. McGhee is a quick, athletic player who could see time at either guard position.
Few incoming Gopher rookies have come into Minnesota with the accolades of center Janel McCarville. Nicknamed "Shaq" for obvious reasons, McCarville has the potential to become the most dominating post player the Gophers have seen in years.
"Janel is a physical, banging type of post player who we will be going to early and often," said Oldfield of the prized newcomer. "It's ironic to say you'll be counting on a rookie, but we are going to have to count on her this year. She will see a substantial amount of playing time."
As for her nickname, Oldfield continues, "Shaq is a very fitting nickname in that Janel very much resembles the LA Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal personality-wise and in her game in the sense of low post presence and how physical and dominating she can be down low. She's a great passer from the high post and an unselfish player. I just hope she doesn't shoot free throws like him."
The 2001-02 Gophers have the opportunity to work on the foundation, the foundation that Coach Oldfield will build in place to secure a successful future for the Minnesota women's basketball program.
The rewards may not be immediate but not unlike that legendary Field of Dreams, "if you build it. they will come."
