A lot of time has passed since the most recent update. It’s amazing how time can pass someone by and yet move so slowly at the same time. I’m sitting in my little office typing this waiting on a recruit. It’s the only free time I have right now, and not so much that there aren’t other things I need to be doing, but that recruits and campus visitors are never exact when it comes to time. I’ve had them show up twenty minutes early, thirty minutes late, even not at all, so I better sit here so that I don’t miss her. There’s quite the aura of winning flowing down my little hallway right now. I share an office with the two men’s assistant soccer coaches, and the women’s assistant is right next door. They are both preparing to head to the exotic resort located in Mobile, Alabama to compete in the national tournament. Our men, the number 1 overall seed, have lost one match in the last two years and are the defending national champs. Coach Kranjc along with his assistants, Cory and Bones, are meticulous with details. There has been an increase in the shouting matches and curse words flying across the hall at each other since tournament time began, but no detail is missed. I’ve learned a lot just by listening in on the conversations that the champions have had in their pursuit of another title (as well as some new words I probably shouldn’t ever repeat). They are still working tirelessly to recruit for next year to continually make themselves better, but at the same time there is such diligence in their preparation for their national championship run. It is interesting how coaches approach tournaments and title runs. I look back at our preparation as a high school team, both as a player and when I coached, and compare them to the national title scale. The comparisons are very similar, which bodes well for the notion that we were doing things right, but the way that Kranjc approaches each game and day so precisely, never looking beyond the moment, much less the next round is impressive. It’s difficult not to project the next round in your mind: who are you going to play if you win? If Kranjc does that at all he certainly doesn’t share it. Every detail is vital. Hours and hours of film of the same team have been scrutinized to the point where Kranjc and Bones probably know more about the other team than the other team knows about themselves. Details about what foods they’ll pack, what places they’ll stop and when, the extra jerseys Kranjc ripped into Bones about to ensure that they boarded the bus; nothing is left unaccounted for. Bobby Knight, who was just passed by Coach K for the most wins in NCAA DI history, may have said it best, “Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.” Hopefully we’ll be in that same mindset come late February.
There has been a seemingly large amount of preparation done for our Hastings College Lady Broncos basketball team. That might be because since August 25 we have done nothing but practice, condition, and lift. Coming from coaching high school there is a nearly incomprehensible stretch at the college level between first day of work and first game. Games begin for most high schools December 1. We usually waited till that weekend for a tournament, but because we started November 12 (or whatever date the second Wednesday of November fell on), we always felt behind in terms of putting in offenses, defenses, inbounds, and even getting into shape. At the college level there is certainly no lack of time in terms of preparation. Having spent all of September in the weight room and on the track for preseason conditioning, when the girls finally got to put on their uniforms and I finally got feel the silk of my tie, it had seemed like an eternity had passed. Having not known anything about our conference much less our division I was at a loss whenever anyone asked me how we were going to be this year. A team that spent least year wallowing in narrow defeats didn’t set the tone well for this year in the eyes of our conference foes. Picked to finish 8th in our conference and not even a sniff of a vote into the top 25 the outlook didn’t seem very glamorous. Our rivals in the GPAC got plenty of respect though as two-time defending national champions Northwestern garnered #1 in the nation, followed by Morningside at #2, Briar Cliff at #5, and Concordia at #22. Mount Marty and Dordt fell into the receiving votes category to even out things a little (4 nationally ranked teams, 4 unranked teams, and the 2 receiving votes). We opened the season with inaugural “cupcake” game at York. To be honest the lopsided win didn’t show much in terms of prowess on our end, more inability on York’s end. We didn’t shoot the ball well in the slightest (1-15 3pt), but our All-American post, and a small forward that came out of nowhere, Frankie Peterson, carried us to a 30 point romp. Despite the lopsided win, there were still a lot of questions that had to be answered on the court with a short turnaround to host the #12 team in the nation, Southwestern out of Kansas. The game itself had strange feel to it as while it was very nip/tuck throughout I felt as if we were very much in control. Courtney Spawn came out of her slump to knock down three triples to force Southwestern out of the paint defensively, and incredible defensive pressure from little sophomore Erin Vanderpool, allowed us to maintain control to the buzzer and walk away with not only a 10 point win and a win over a nationally ranked team, but most importantly with a slew of confidence.
Alicia Statler
One thing I noticed early in the season was a general lack of swagger. Now swagger seems to be a newer colloquialism that represents something much deeper than confidence. To have swagger is not only to have confidence, but to carried oneself with this “I’m untouchable” clout. The closest on our team is Alicia Statler, our All-American post, who I’ve found to be one of the most intriguing members of our squad, and have had a very solid player/coach connection with. I truly feel like she trusts me and even garners me as a confidant at times. She’s very even tempered at all times. Regardless of whether you see her walking to class on a sunny day, or it’s late in the second half of a one point game, Alicia is just Alicia. She’s good. Very good. And she knows it. The only way I can describe Stat is to say that she just shows up and wins. It’s as simple as that. But even within that it’s too matter of fact to be considered “swag.” She’s just done it for so long that she just knows she’s going to play well, but she doesn’t show any kind of inclination emotionally with that. I really feel like each team needs a player that harbors some attitude, and demands greatness out of his or her teammates. I often think back to when I was in middle school watching a CSU-Pueblo basketball game. The Thunderwolves were loaded that year with point guard Mario Sanchez, a 6’8” shooter in Brian Vecchio, and then a 6’10” transfer from Baylor Steve Raquet. He was a monster inside. While his raw power as a post player was impressive enough, it was his attitude that made him so notable. This ended up being one of the Thunderwolves best seasons, but in one game, while the details I don’t recall specifically, Pueblo was down and needed a bucket. They had gone three straight possessions settling for jumpers and missing. Raquet had been working his butt off inside posting up, but got no love from the guards. After a dead ball he walked up to his point guard and shoving his finger in his chest you could hear him demand the ball inside (there were expletives used). What do you suppose happened the next time down the floor offensively? Post entry pass and a score. Every team needs that guy (or girl). The athlete who demands the ball when things are tight. The person who not only is willing to put everyone on his shoulders, but knows that he’s going to carry them all the way. Through our six games thus far we have yet to have one person emerge as the leader. Stat is undoubtedly the anchor, but we still need that swagger person. The person who is going to demand success, demand the ball, demand perfection from her teammates. From the outside looking in it seems like we are exactly where we want to be: we are 6-0, plus an exhibition win over DII UN-Kearney, a win against #2 Morningside at their place, wins against 3 nationally ranked opponents. Nevertheless, I worry that if that true leader doesn’t emerge, and if we are always waiting to see from game to game who will step up, that a longer road than we’re prepared for is ahead of us. Only time will tell I suppose.
Till Next time, hopefully sooner than later,
- Coach Kyle
