After a pair of convincing exhibition wins over Minnesota State-Mankato and the Wisconsin AAU Select team, UW has entered final preparations for its season opener Sunday against Northern Illinois. As the game looms closer, first-year head coach Lisa Stone is anything but nervous.
“I’m not nervous,” she said in a Monday press conference. “I’m excited. I can’t wait! This will be a long week. I have speaking engagements every day this week, so that will keep my mind going and keep me doing a lot of different things. But I’m excited; I can’t wait for next Sunday. Our fans are great. They came out in great support in our exhibition games, and I’m looking forward to the start of the season.”
A native of Oregon, Wis., Stone has brought energy and enthusiasm to a program that struggled to a 7-21 overall record last season, and a 3-11 mark at home. Known for her intensity on the sidelines, Stone’s fire has already aided her in recruiting.
“It’s a lot different,” she said. “It’s very easy to sell something you’ve loved your whole life. To give that excitement and that enthusiasm to those kids when you’re sitting in their living room and their families, and say, ‘Come and join our family.'”
After coaching UW-Eau Claire and Drake, Stone has finally gotten the job she has always wanted, which is obvious to any potential recruit.
“There’s no better place in the country to be a student-athlete,” she said. “Come to the University of Wisconsin, we’re the No. 1 college sports town, etcetera, etcetera. There [are] so many things you can sell, but ourselves and I think they can see my excitement about being back, being in my dream job and hoping and praying that we bring women’s basketball to the highest level.”
Over the weekend, Stone and the Wisconsin staff added a sixth player, 5-foot-10 Indianapolis shooting guard Janese Banks, to her first recruiting class. Banks, whose brother James plays college football at Tennessee, averaged 19.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.9 steals per game last season for Ben Davis High School.
“We attended her game Saturday night, Denis Ianello and I did,” Stone said. “She sealed the deal that night. Janese is a great player, a great guard, [a] great athlete and a person that’s going to add leadership abilities. She comes from a great family. She’s a tremendous student. We watched her score 21 points, 11 boards [and] seven assists. She can do it all, [she’s a] great combo guard. We’re real excited about her, I’m real happy.”
As the Badgers approach the regular season opener, Stone is pleased with her team’s approach in practice.
“I’m real pleased with our effort. We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m very pleased with acceleration of how this team has attached onto our system,” she said. “Our players have given me three hours of their time every single day. Our practices have been long, a lot of teaching, a lot of conditioning, a lot of discipline, and they have accepted and attached the system from the first day. They are in my boat and for that I’m thankful. When there is change, how quickly does that happen? I’m very pleased that they’ve bought in; they’ve really bought in. I’m excited about next Sunday.”
With a week to prepare for Northern Illinois, Stone is fairly sure on her rotation, but is still in the process of settling on a starting lineup.
“Well, we will rotate about eight players predominantly. Who will start … is still to be determined. We have a week yet to prepare, but I like what I see. We have nine players that can probably rotate in there, but we’ll decide on the starting lineup probably Friday. But I like what I see. The exhibition games allowed us to evaluate strengths and weaknesses. We’ve got a lot to learn, a lot to work on, but I’m real pleased with our progress this far.”
-compiled from staff reports