The day before a team’s first game of the NCAA Tournament is spent with practice and media. On Friday, that meant Ohio State women’s basketball in the Schottenstein Center with the arrival of the Howard Bison, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Fairfield Stags. The practice part comes naturally to Division I athletes, but the media comes with mixed reviews from student-athletes.
It is a mixture of the few regular media people and the arrival of outlets that do not miss a single football event but decide
to show up for the final days of the season. There were a few new interviewers for the Buckeyes the day before their matchup with the Howard Bison — Ohio State players.
With locker room interview time winding down, and practice looming, forward Kylee Kitts and center Elsa Lemmilä grabbed the microphone of local 97.1 The Fan and started their own media availability with assistant coach and former Buckeye athlete Katie Smith. A group of eight players huddled around their coach as Smith talked about Ohio State’s lone trip to the National Championship game in 1993. Smith talked about Texas Tech guard Sheryl Swoopes, who led the Red Raiders over the Buckeyes, Smith’s own 35-point game, and more.
That was until point guard Jaloni Cambridge walked into the lobby-turned-interview room. When Kitts and Lemmilä saw their sophomore team captain, the bigs called for Cambridge to answer questions into the mic, and the 5-foot-7 guard did what she does best, and she ran as fast as she could. The 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-6 interviewers chased their teammate down the hallway, past waiting media. It was a moment that Cambridge probably wished she could do anytime someone wanted to ask her questions.
When Cambridge walked back to seal her fate in front of cell phones, voice recorders, and television cameras of the non-basketball players, she held off her teammates with well-placed “no comments.”
There is no lack of a good time with the 25-26 Ohio State women’s basketball team. A few minutes before this scene, any player getting interviewed had teammates holding up their cell phones to take videos and respond to how their teammates answered questions. When senior guard Chance Gray used the word “aura,” it was a mixture of laughter with a couple “oohhs” and “ahhs.”
Not every team has this kind of chemistry, and one year ago, it was a different environment surrounding the Scarlet and Gray.
“Our kids really like each other, and they like being around each other, and they spend more time off the court with each other than maybe some of the teams in the past, and I haven’t, or the staff really hasn’t had to facilitate a lot of that,” head coach Kevin McGuff told reporters. “They’re happy for each other’s success when people play well. So, that’s not always the case, unfortunately.”
This year’s Buckeye team exudes a different energy from previous seasons. It is not a team of vast experience like the years with guard Jacy Sheldon or Madison Greene. This year, only has three upperclassmen in the group of 11, but nobody on the roster cares.
Take the chased-down interviewee, Jaloni Cambridge, for example. On Wednesday, the guard earned a spot on the Associated Press’ Second Team All-American squad, only the seventh in program history. Like many in college athletics, Cambridge is not one to celebrate her own accomplishments. Instead, it goes back to the team. This case was different because Cambridge was not too sure about the award itself.
“I’m honored. I still really don’t know what it means,” Cambridge told reporters. “I just want to go out there and have fun to play basketball. So all the awards and accolades that I get, I’m very grateful, but then I just want to step on the court and give it all I got.”
To truly get to her meaning on the team, go to Cambridge’s teammates. Lemmilä joined the program last season with Cambridge, and always says what is on her mind without as many media-trained answers. When asked about Cambridge, a smile came across the Finnish big’s face, and she spoke about her teammate with genuine admiration. Lemmilä‘s response to Cambridge also spoke to how the relationship aspect of this year’s Ohio State squad runs through a larger, team-wide admiration.
“[Cambridge’s] friends with everybody. She’s such a great friend,” Lemmilä said. “She’s such a good player on court. I’m happy, so happy to see that she got that award, especially her sophomore year. She still has two more years with this team, and I still have two more years. So I’m very excited to see what kind of team will have in the next couple years.”
Then there is Kennedy Cambridge, Jaloni’s older sister. When the redshirt junior talked about her sister’s award, there was a combination of disbelief and being unfazed by the play Kennedy Cambridge saw throughout her life.
“What she’s doing isn’t normal, like she’s doing it all at this young age, and she shows up every day. She shows up every game; she leads this team. And with her being so young, I think that because of our staff and because of our coaches pouring so much into her, she’s gotten a better mental space for her to be able to lead this team at that younger age.”
Even though Jaloni Cambridge garners a lot of the attention and only a handful of the 11 Buckeyes get most of the minutes, on-court impact, and off-court Q&As, Ohio State is not a team with egos. The kind words said are not under duress or rehearsed.
“The bond that we share, it’s like no other. It’s one of the best teams I’ve played on. And it’s not just from the basketball standpoint, it’s off the court. And we share so many great moments together, and I love them all,” Jaloni Cambridge said. “I’ll do anything for them.”
A lot can change at the end of the final game of the season. Whether it is Saturday against the Bison or after any number of remaining March Madness matchups. Right now, Ohio State is cohesive and relaxed. It could lead to a long run or end in a third consecutive season without a trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
