The Big Ten Conference held its annual Basketball Media Days this past week at its headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois. Women’s basketball took the stage first on Wednesday, followed by men’s basketball on Thursday. Here are the big takeaways from both programs’ visits with the Big Ten Network set.
Head coach Coquese Washington was joined by guard Kaylah Ivey and forward Imani Lester. Ivey is a sixth-year senior point guard who transferred from Boston College, while Lester is a senior forward who transferred from Kansas
State.
Coquese opened by discussing her coaching philosophy going into the season and her roster, which includes eight new players and four new assistant coaches. She mentioned the roster’s depth as their biggest strength, with 13 players on the team from several recruiting classes.
Washington also discussed the growth of women’s basketball at both the professional and collegiate levels, with Coquese being the former president of the WNBA players’ association. She also discussed her own accomplishments as a role model in growing the game of women’s basketball.
Kaylah Ivey and Imani Lester both spoke about joining the program as transfers, as both players quickly gelled and connected with their teammates and coaching staff. They spent a lot of time with their team off the court, which translates to building chemistry on the court.
Ivey discussed learning from Coquese Washington, as Washington was a former star point guard herself. When asked about a teammate who has impressed each player, Lester mentioned Zachara Perkins, who had a strong freshman season and brings the fire, while Ivey complimented all of her teammates for their hard work and dedication over the offseason.
The next question asked about what a Coquese Washington practice is like. Lester mentioned that they run a lot and put up a lot of shots, but also learn and get to know each other. Ivey also mentioned that the coaching staff is indeed as lively as the team’s social media accounts indicate, and that they push the players, but also have fun with the players and bond with them off the court.
Moving over to the men’s side, Steve Pikiell opened by expressing similar optimism and excitement about the work his team has done over the offseason, and expressed how the team has gotten back to their “blue-collar” roots with strong, tenacious defense and an emphasis on rebounding with their bigger size.
Pikiell stated, “Well, I tell you, last year we had guys that could score 20 points, 30 points, and they’re going to do great things in the NBA. We didn’t rebound the last two years. It’s been a real issue for us. This group is huge physically. We got seven footers. We got big guys. We got, you know, older guys. We got two international players that are older and that have played professionally overseas that I’m excited about. We have improvements from our returning guys. We have four returning players. But I mean, there’s a lot of excitement.”
Pikiell also gave a rundown of the entire Rutgers roster and their complementary skillset, with size, length, shooting, and athleticism all on the roster this year.
“We have a shot blocker in Baye Fall who was a McDonald’s All-American. He blocks shots as well as anybody we’ve had. We got Emmanuel Ogbole, who’s seven-foot and he’s never been healthy for the whole season. He’s healthy right now. He is huge and physical. And Dylan Grant‘s back, who had a really good freshman year. It’s got a lot of tools too. Jamichael Davis is one of our toughest players that we’ve had. We brought in a leading scorer from the America East and Riq Francis, who can really shoot the basketball. So this group’s been very competitive. And they’ve been fun to coach. And I’m looking forward to, you know, us getting back to what we’ve always done a great job of, and that’s defending and rebounding.”
When asked who the leader of the team is, Pikiell named Jamichael Davis, who is going into his third year with the team. He also brought up the other returning players in Emmanuel Ogbole, Bryce Dortch, and Dylan Grant, as well as the two international players who bring a wealth of professional experience from overseas.
Pikiell was asked which player could be a surprise on this team that has not gotten the exposure yet, and he said that his whole roster can, but mentioned Denis Badalau of Romania as well as Darren Buchanan Jr, bringing up Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci and legendary Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor in the same answer.
He ended by saying that the freshman class is very athletic and that the staff has to do a great job, because the team has shooters, shot blockers, and is big at every position. They can do a lot of different things, and it will be up to the staff and chemistry to make sure that all comes together.
In the player interviews, program veterans Jamichael Davis and Dylan Grant spoke to Andy Katz and Raphael Davis on the Big Ten Network set about this edition of the Scarlet Knights men’s team. Here were some of the best questions and answers.
BTN: What have you seen to give optimism to those Scarlet Knight fans that this team is going to return to the Rutgers of old?
Davis: It’s been great. The guys have been great. I think for the most part, everybody’s coming in and wanting to get better. I think that’s a good part to have, good trait to have. We all coming in and competing at a high level and just trying to make sure we stack days and get better every day. So summer has been kind of, you know, putting in work and just trying to get to know each other and get connected as fast as we can.
Grant: I’d say we got a lot of workers, a lot of energy guys. You know, practice is always a dogfight. So, we got a lot of pieces this year that come together, you know, hopeful for a great season.
BTN: Last year, scoring was not a problem with Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Two years ago, there were a lot of droughts offensively. Now let’s assume you’re back to being a defensive rebounding team. Where is the scoring going to come from?
Davis: Scoring definitely will come up. I think we got a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. I think our floor and our offense, I feel like everybody’s going to be able to get touches. Everybody will be able to get shots. We’re going to be able to make shots and stuff like that. And like I said, we just got a lot of guys who do a lot of things. So just trying to play together as much as we can. Just share a moment with each other, you know, compete together.
Grant: A lot of times our defense leads our offense. You know, we got a lot of athleticism as well. So, you know, that’s going to help us a lot this season.
BTN: And Dylan, speaking about the athleticism, speaking about the versatility of you guys, the squad, you came on in the conference season last year. It felt like you couldn’t get off the bench in a non-conference. But once January hit, I mean, it was a whole different Dylan Grant out there. What led into that change? What clicked for you halfway through the season? I mean, you finished conference play with three or four games above 15 points. What worked out for you at the end of the year?
Grant: I would say just going to practice every day, and just working hard, you know, whatever you put in in the practice and off the actual court, that’ll lead into the end game. So that’s all I did, you know, just working hard every day and just waiting for my number to be called. And eventually it was called, and I just went out there and put my best foot forward.
BTN: Jamichael, Jersey Mike’s Arena, affectionately known as The RAC, when that place is popping, it’s arguably one of the best home courts in the country, not just in the Big Ten. What will it take to get that home-court advantage back?
Davis: I honestly think, you know, we got to win. Win as much as we can at that stage, as much as we can. I feel like the fans, they’re always going to show up and show out. And I’m just like building off that energy that they give us, you know, trying to get wins as much as we can.
Katz and Davis joked around with the players about whether the “Rutgers bus” that Katz drives is fixed and whether Katz should be allowed back on after ditching the bus last season to end the interview.
If you want to listen to the full press conferences, here are the links.
Women’s basketball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEQG_IGk8lU
Men’s basketball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fGZA2nu1_c
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