BIG TEN BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 8, 2021

Marisa Moseley

Wisconsin Badgers

Women's Head Coach

MARISA MOSELEY: Good morning. I think we're still morning, yeah. Time change is crazy.

Thank you all for being here. I first want to thank Commissioner Warren, the Big Ten for putting on an incredible event, for joining the men and women, making a commitment to the equity that we've all talked about for several years.

I'm excited to be here. I've had the opportunity to be part of several winning programs throughout my tenure. I expect to bring that same mindset and winning culture here to Wisconsin. I think it's no secret that we haven't had a ton of that in the last several years. We have a great winning tradition as far as our athletic department. This is a great time to be a part of the Big Ten.

It's been really exciting even watching the tournament last year, seeing how many teams got into the NCAA tournament, and four teams going to the Sweet 16, to know that if you're competitive in this league, you have an opportunity every year to make a run. That's our expectation.

I wouldn't take this job if I didn't think we could do that here as Wisconsin. I'm really excited to be part of this incredible conference.

This last six months has been kind of a whirlwind for me. But I love my team. They've been really dedicated to our vision and bought into and started to trust exactly what we're all about, trusting the process.

In the end can't wait to get started.

I'll open the floor.

Q. Talk a little bit about what you're planning on bringing from such a great program at UConn and Geno. Talk about Wisconsin taking a leap of faith for you to coach their women's basketball team?

MARISA MOSELEY: Is UConn good? No, just kidding (laughter).

No, took so much from Coach Auriemma and that experience. He is an incredible mentor and friend. Fortunate to call him a friend as well. Really the expectation to win. Everything we do, creating really competitive environment, then just creating a culture to be able to sustain that winning mindset. Not kind of just a flash in the pan, but year in, year out getting the right type of people to buy into something that's bigger than themselves.

I think that's what we're building. We started with really good people. I was fortunate to inherit great kids. Now getting them to understand our expectation to win. Whether it's drills, whether it's in practice, whether it's scoring when we get to the games, every time we enter into a competition, we expect to win.

Q. What is the identity you're hoping to create here in your first year? What are your goals for your first season?

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, so as far as kind of the identity piece, I want to make sure that we play with passion, we're selfless, that we get excited for other people's successes, that we're the most prepared team, and that really our kids understand that every time they take the floor they feel confident and ready to compete. That's the biggest thing as far as how we're going to approach the season.

As far as goals, I think for us it's really about getting better and being the best version of ourselves every single day. I don't know that it would make sense to put out any type of record, but for us it's going to be attacking first this pre-season like we did, then getting into non-conference games, then conference games.

If we continue to build, I think we'll be showing something that will be really exciting and something our Wisconsin fans have been hungry for us to accomplish.

Q. Sydney Hilliard was one of your best players last year. Talk about her improvement from this season to what you've seen so far since you've arrived in Madison?

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, she has been just incredible. Talking about inheriting great kids, her work ethic, how hard she works, and her leadership was kind of leading by example. Really excited about what she's going to be able to do. She's worked really hard on her outside shooting to become more of a triple threat, be able to score at all three levels.

Anyone that played against her in the past knows she can get to the rim at will, she has a great mindset, but she's also figured out how to play with other great players on the floor.

She led us in assists last year. I'm excited for her to be able to do a little bit more of that as well as scoring. Just all around a great kid. I'm excited for her to be a Badger.

Q. As a new coach, how are you going to measure success this season?

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, that's a good question.

I think for us success is going to be measured in how much we come together as a team. We build our culture and that foundation, then we really set forth kind of the identity we talked about before, really solidify that.

Then from that I think that will materialize into wins. How many wins? I don't know. Maybe you could give me a 20, 30 probably, yeah (laughter).

But, no, I think we're going to take it one game at a time. If we can go every game 1-0, approach it like that, you really have a great opportunity to have a successful season.