BIG TEN BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 11, 2022

Shauna Green

Illinois Fighting Illini

Women's Head Coach

KEVIN WARREN: We have the University of Illinois's Shauna Green who had an absolutely successful run at the University of Dayton as head basketball coach. She's already made an impact with her energy and her focus and attention to detail. She's become involved with the United Way of Champaign, has done an unbelievable job. There's certain coaches around the country that you smile when they join your conference. I know in Coach Green, I smile to have her in the Big Ten Conference.

Under the leadership of athletic director Josh Whitman and chancellor Robert Jones, it's an honor and pleasure to welcome the head basketball coach at University of Illinois to the podium, head coach Shauna Green.

SHAUNA GREEN: It's great to be here today. Super excited. Obviously my first Big Ten Media Day. Cannot wait to get going, the opportunity that we have here in the best basketball conference in the country.

Really in my short time at Illinois so far, actually it's longer than what I think, in my six or so months, just really trying to just get our program in a positive direction, trying to get us back, really compete with the best that there is in this unbelievable conference.

I'm excited to be here, excited about the season. I'll open it up for questions.

Q. You mentioned some of the struggles of the program in the past. Your thoughts on the recruiting landscape in the state of Illinois. What is going to be your message to get athletes to come to your university?

SHAUNA GREEN: It's been something we've tackled since we've been here in the first six months. Two of our top 23s are Illinois kids. Just really trying to sell them on our vision, what we've done, how we're going to do things.

Like I tell them, I'm not really concerned at all about the past because the past is the past. All I'm concerned about is what we have right now in front of us. With the support from the top down, Josh Whitman, to what he's done with our facilities, the style of play that we're going to bring in. We need to go after the best that there is in the state of Illinois. There's a lot of really great players.

We have to change the perception because right now the perception is that it's not the cool thing to do, to stay in Illinois. What Brad has done, how he changed that perception, winning Big Ten championships, I keep saying it, we need one, and I think the rest will kind of flow from there and the dominoes can start falling.

Q. What is your definition of 'progress' in year one?

SHAUNA GREEN: A lot of people have asked that. Really I've always been concerned about just are we getting better possession by possession, day by day, drill to drill. Are we getting 1% better.

That was the same way last year when I had a veteran team knowing we were going to compete for a championship, or this year when we're trying to rebuild a program.

You can't get too far ahead of yourself. You got to really stay present and try to just get better in those moments. Right now we're just really trying to learn how to win, teach them how to win, have winning ways, what the standard of excellence looks like day by day, again, possession by possession.

Progress, I've said it at my press conference, I'll say it again. We'll be good when we're good. As long as we're continuing to get better day by day, drill by drill, then the outcome takes care of itself.

So very process-driven in our mindset.

Q. You said in one of your press conferences that every day you have a choice, you can be good, great or elite. What do you think it takes to be elite on and off the court?

SHAUNA GREEN: Yeah, to be elite in our program is just the best version of yourself. How are you going to attack each day, really just instead of it's human nature to go through the motions, try to get by. We're trying to change that mindset.

Just how you attack every opportunity. You have so many opportunities, so many choices every single day. Trying to get them to make those right choices.

Again, I truly believe that that process in each of your responses to what happens in your day is going to determine your outcome.

Just trying to instill that mentality. That's hard. That's easier said than done. But the more I think that our players hear it, the more that they try to just get a little bit better in that, then we'll get the results that we want.