Whalen hopes young talent can help Gophers reach tournament

Lindsay Whalen is aware of what girls’s basketball may be in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Gophers coach was the catalyst for his or her run to the Remaining 4 in 2004. She additionally helped the Minnesota Lynx develop into a dynasty with 4 WNBA titles through the 2010s. She even turned a Corridor of Famer due to her affect on the game.

Via every of these moments, Whalen remembers the joy that encapsulated her residence state and when she heard the information that Goal Middle could be internet hosting the 2023 Huge Ten Girls’s Basketball Match, she could not assist however categorical her pleasure.

“It is residence to me,” Whalen informed reporters at Huge Ten Media Day. “Minnesota has hosted many [great events] on this constructing [including] WNBA championships, girls’s Remaining Fours, Tremendous Bowls, males’s Remaining Fours…we all know the way to placed on an ideal occasion.”

However Whalen is aware of the best way to make the occasion much more particular is that if the Gophers are a serious a part of it.

Girls’s basketball has grown in recognition over the previous a number of years and Minnesota isn’t any exception. In final yr’s NCAA match alone, the state was entrance and middle in lots of pivotal moments together with:

• Hopkins native Paige Bueckers main UConn to the Remaining 4 regardless of a knee harm.
• Lakeville’s Lauren Jensen sinking one of many largest pictures of final yr’s match to assist Creighton upset Iowa.
• Rogers’s Hannah Sjerven serving to South Dakota attain the Candy 16.
• The ladies’s Remaining 4 in Minneapolis drawing back-to-back sellouts for the nationwide semifinals and championship recreation.

In 4 seasons at Minnesota, Whalen has led the Gophers to a document of 60-57. Minnesota hasn’t made the NCAA tuurnament throughout her tenure and the Gophers have solely made the match twice (2015 and 2018) prior to now 13 seasons.

With the Gophers trying to exchange their prime six scorers from a season in the past, it is going to be a steep climb to make the match, however there’s loads of optimism due to top-of-the-line recruiting courses in program historical past.

The Gophers landed three ESPN 100 recruits on this yr’s class together with Wayzata guard Mara Braun, Hopkins guard Amaya Battle and Chaska ahead Mallory Heyer.

With Roseau guard Katie Borowicz, Watertown-Mayer guard Maggie Czinano and ahead Alanna Micheaux as gamers who’ve taken a veteran management position this offseason, Whalen believes she has an thrilling group.

“I believe…simply that work in getting that recruiting class right here and them coming in with that pleasure…there isn’t any query that is a bunch that is very particular,” Whalen mentioned. “They’re very gifted on and off the ground, so I am excited to proceed to work with them and see what they’ll do.”

Whereas there’s loads of hype surrounding the incoming freshmen, Whalen additionally admitted that there might be a studying curve in a Huge Ten convention that despatched six groups to the NCAA match a yr in the past.

“Each night time is like taking part in within the NCAA match as a result of the competitors is so good,” Whalen mentioned. “Yearly half if no more of our groups go to the NCAA match, so each night time is that.”

Regardless of the competitors, Whalen has appreciated how her group has approached the offseason and the way they arrive to follow trying to get higher.

“Whenever you get into this time of yr the place it’s basically our coaching camp [and] we’ve been collectively since June, I believe there are occasions the place you possibly can probably get some complacency,” Whalen mentioned. “They’re simply excited. They’ve a real pleasure to return in day-after-day to work and no matter the day gone by held, they’re prepared to return within the following day and able to go to work. 

“The groups that I’ve been on as a participant and as a coach, the groups that do which have been those which have been actually profitable. They honestly stay up for being there on a regular basis and stay up for getting again to work.”

The Huge Ten media polls have but to be launched however the Gophers are projected to be towards the underside of the convention. 

Whereas Whalen sees the muse of a profitable group, she additionally sees a group that may exceed expectations very similar to the one she performed on in 2011, when the Lynx have been picked to complete final within the Western Convention and went on to win the WNBA title.

“We went to work day-after-day,” Whalen mentioned. “By the all-star break, we have been in first place. That was at all times high-quality with me as a participant. Something we will do for us as coaches and gamers to encourage ourselves and we all know sitting round right here that each one of those coaches and gamers have had nice success. We’re going to let it encourage us…that’s for positive.”

If the Gophers’ work in follow interprets to the court docket, there’s an opportunity they might be a shock group within the Huge Ten. If that occurs, Minnesota might be a busy place when the Huge Ten match comes subsequent March and an excellent busier one in the event that they’re in a position to make the NCAA match.

“I would like each participant to expertise what I received to expertise after I performed,” Whalen mentioned. “I received to play within the NCAA Match yearly. That’s at all times going to be the purpose…that’s what drives me and our gamers to have that have.”