BIG TEN BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 11, 2022

Katie Gearlds

Purdue Boilermakers

Women's Head Coach

KEVIN WARREN: Next to the stage is the head women's basketball coach at Purdue, Katie Gearlds, who was an outstanding basketball player herself. It's so good to have her in the Big Ten family now. She's co-chair of the Lafayette Hunger Hike, which is an event that brings leaders from Lafayette, Indiana, together to raise funds to provide food for those who are less fortunate.

She was not only a great player, but an incredible coach. She's building a program her way and I know she'll be successful. Looking forward to seeing her have a great season this year.

Welcome to the stage, the Purdue women's basketball coach, Katie Gearlds.

KATIE GEARLDS: Good morning. Thanks for having us up here. It's good to be in this city. Excited to see what Minneapolis has for Big Ten basketball.

For me, I'm just glad to be in a little better mood because if the Chiefs didn't win last night, I wasn't going to be very happy.

I don't have much to say to start off, so I'll answer questions you have. I know the sooner I get out of here, the faster Matt Painter gets up here. I know what it's like to listen to him talk because I have a notepad every time I walk into his office or practice. We'll make this short and sweet.

Q. Your team's ability to shoot the three-point shot was staggering last season. Do you have plans to implement a three-point shooting contest at next year's men's and women's tournaments here?

KATIE GEARLDS: Thanks for the question. Good morning.

We did shoot it well. We shot it a lot, I know that. Hopefully we shoot it even better this year.

I think it would be something pretty special. A long, long time ago I was able to kind of win that contest. I think if it was here at the Final Four, it would be something pretty cool.

Q. Can you talk about what Caitlin Clark has done for women's college basketball as a whole, how she's kind of raised the profile of the sport.

KATIE GEARLDS: Yeah, as a conference, we're extremely lucky and blessed to have Caitlin in our league. The national attention she gets and what it does to elevate our game and our brands.

Hate playing against her. Hate game planning against her. But what she does, she puts eyes on all of us, and we're super lucky.

Q. What did you learn about yourself after year one that's going to help you here in year two?

KATIE GEARLDS: I don't know how much I learned about myself. I learned a lot about my team, about what we needed to do to get where we wanted to go.

I think this time last year I had been the head coach for three weeks standing up here. My knees were shaking, my head barely above water. Now everything feels a little bit more normal. A lot less stress right now. I'm sure that will amp up.

It's nice to answer questions in the back and really understand who my kids are, what kind of music they like. This time last year I had no idea who they were. We were still trying to figure each other out.

Q. How did you become a Kansas City Chiefs fan growing up in Indiana?

KATIE GEARLDS: Good question. Diehard Peyton Manning fan my whole life. Colts, goes to Denver, become a Broncos fan.

Andy Reid has always had my heart. Maybe I'm a bandwagon jumper. I'm not going anywhere. It's Kansas City Chiefs all the way (smiling).