ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 11, 2022

Lance White

Dayshanette Harris

Channise Lewis

Pittsburgh Panthers

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're going to end this with the best interview.

LANCE WHITE: This is the last one? Save the best for last.

THE MODERATOR: We have great energy here. I'm excited. Coach White of Pitt. A lot of great things we can expound on as we go through this interview, but you have some pretty impressive people with you as well.

You have Channise Lewis, new to the program. Excited to talk about what your impact is going to be.

As well as Dayshanette Harris. Thank you so much for your time.

We'll start with this. Not many people, and I had to ask you this in the hallway, get to take a foreign tour. I think you were the only team that was actually able to leave within the ACC. So the advantages of that. I don't see any tans or anything like that. It doesn't seem like you guys are jet lagged, but what was that like for you?

LANCE WHITE: It was so hot. Twofold. I think being able to have that opportunity is so important for your basketball program. The first thing is you get ten days of practice time before you leave.

For a team that has some older players but then we added five new ones with two transfers, Channise being one of those, and then three freshmen, I think it gives you a head start on exactly what you're going to be good at.

So you don't have to wait until September to try to figure that out. You're able to do that during the summer. And then leading into that tour, which I think is huge.

Then the second part is we always talk so much -- and you know being at Florida State with me -- that it's all about remember whens. It's about remember when we were able to take a trip to Italy, something that you read about, watch television, and then you're standing in the middle of the Roman Colosseum, and I think that experience for the players is huge.

Seeing it through their eyes, the first time on a boat in the canals of Venice, and all of those opportunities that then lead to relationships and trust.

I think our team, it's 14 of them, and there's no one else that you can talk to. The language is different. You have to rely on your teammates, and those two things really are the benefits of that tour.

THE MODERATOR: You want to talk about how it was for you guys?

CHANNISE LEWIS: He took it all. Honestly, it was a great experience, like Coach said. It was a perfect time because it's right before the season has got under way and learning the chemistry between the new players that just came in and people that's been there already.

It helped build a chemistry on and off the court, and that's very important into a tough season and a tough ACC conference.

THE MODERATOR: Probably a lot of Instagram moments for you too. That's always a nice thing when you can build content.

When you're talking about the lone player that you lost, with Rita Igbokwe, one of the players or starters you had that really owned -- we knew what she was going to bring to the floor as far as owning the boards. In your season, when you first came in, you were 14th in the ACC in rebounding. You wound up being the first team in the ACC.

Now that you have these different pieces, is that something you feel you have to continue to build on? Like what is the priority for you guys in this season?

LANCE WHITE: I think three things. In order to win in the ACC and being in this conference a long time, you have to be able to defend, you have to be able to rebound, and you have to be able to execute.

So I think our defense and rebounding have really put us in a position to be able to be close in the ACC. I think the thing that we've had to really look at and get better at and had to bring some talent in that can really help us in that area is the execution piece.

I think you've got to have big time players make big time plays, and that's the area that I think we've had the biggest growth in this summer and fall, of just being able to execute because, again, we were close in a lot of games.

Now it's if you want to win them, you have to be able to execute in the last two minutes. So I'm really excited about where we're moving and the things we've been able to see this summer and fall.

THE MODERATOR: You see Channise here obviously. You have the five newcomers. Even with Gabby Hutcherson, what that impact could be.

LANCE WHITE: And, again, rebounding is crucial. We're going to be a different basketball team. I think this is the first group that we're going to play the way I envisioned us playing. We've got the pieces in place.

Gabby's going to be a huge impact player for us, her length and athleticism and versatility. But we're going to rebound by committee. It's what we did last season. We don't have somebody that's getting 12, 14 rebounds. It's going to be seven, six, five, four, four, four. It's going to take a lot of us, and I think that's what's exciting about this group.

THE MODERATOR: I want to go back to you, Channise, just picking Pitt and why you feel like this is the place you could be and being challenged under Coach White.

CHANNISE LEWIS: I mean, this is the main reason why I picked Pitt. Coach Lance knew me before I even decided to go to college. He was recruiting me when he was at FSU, and prior to being injured, he knew how I played.

I wanted to go somewhere that knew the Channise before being injured. This guy right here, he was that. Just knowing he'll put me in the best position to be successful, and the players, meeting them on my visit and seeing how different Pittsburgh is compared to where I grew up at, Miami and Maryland.

I just needed a new start, and Pittsburgh was able to give me that.

THE MODERATOR: We'll go over to you, Ms. Harris. Just watching you play even was like you just handled the ebbs and flows of the game. For you even in this season, I felt like last year it was very important for you to get to the rim, obviously.

But what are some things that you feel like you've had to add to your game in order for your role to be a bit more impactful even in this year?

DAYSHANETTE HARRIS: I think something that's important is being able to find my open teammate, reading defenses, and shooting the three ball.

Like you said, like I was able to get to the rim, but now when I can't get to the rim or when somebody's stepping up, what's my next move? And that will be finding the open teammate. I think my vision has become better. My three-point shot has become better.

Just trying to up my game and the maturity aspect as much as I can.

THE MODERATOR: You led the team in scoring and assists last year. It seems like you're off to a good start and just building on that.

Coach, even the challenge for when you have a player with her capabilities and how she can lead a group that has many new faces, what's the biggest challenge in the next step?

LANCE WHITE: I think one of the biggest things, we had really hard conversations in the spring with the addition of Channise and our younger kids, moving her from the point guard to the combo guard, and being an attack guard, I think it really allows her game to flourish.

We need her to be an attack mentality and not having to worry about getting people in sets and moving late-game situations of time and scores that I want my point guard to be able to do that, and now that frees Day up to go and be an explosive impact player that she is.

THE MODERATOR: It seems like you have more depth, you mentioned that. Even when you're looking at Amber Brown, that was probably one of my favorite players just watching last season. You said you were so close with playmakers. When you had those ten days of practice and being able to go to Italy and being able to come back and kind of build on that chemistry, what big jumps have you seen from the group with that time?

LANCE WHITE: I think the biggest difference is the mentality and the competition level is that now we are really fighting for those top eight spots. So now we've got a group of 14. So that group that's not in that eight, they're battling every day and challenging those eight to be better and better and better.

You've got to come every day or your spot's gone. Somebody's going to take it. That's the first time this year we've had that. It's always been three players, four, and then you would get a little nervous about what's going to happen next. Now we've got a really deep bench that I think can really help us.

The competition level is the biggest change. It really is a team that we can compete, and every day they're bringing it and working extremely hard.

THE MODERATOR: I love when the coaches talk about what they're seeing, but as players, what are you feeling? What are you witnessing from this group that just kind of gives you the confidence that you guys can be very special this season?

CHANNISE LEWIS: I'll take it. Like Coach said, we definitely do have the pieces and the talent to get to the next level. Every day is very competitive. Very competitive.

But it's just going to get us right for the long run to March Madness.

THE MODERATOR: Enlighten us. What are some things you guys are going through that just kind of puts you over the top?

CHANNISE LEWIS: That we're going through?

LANCE WHITE: What are you going through?

DAYSHANETTE HARRIS: We're going through -- it's definitely a challenge every day coming in and battling. You just got to come in every day and give your complete all.

But as far as a change, as I mentioned maturity before, I see just like definitely a mentality shift of like sometimes -- like before you would get mad at this, but now you realize that, like, yo, this could actually help us.

I think Coach knows what he's talking about.

THE MODERATOR: Clip this off for a highlight tape.

DAYSHANETTE HARRIS: You definitely see a sense of maturity, a sense of understanding, and like a camaraderie. Like we're in this together, and I think we all know that we're in this together, and it takes every person on this team in order to be successful.

THE MODERATOR: And I think that comes down to leadership too. I think that's the most important thing for any coach to look at that when you kind of -- if you can speak to the leaders that you have in this group that may be on the stage or not, who are those for your team and handling the adversity that you have seen even in previous seasons?

LANCE WHITE: We've got a lions group that we meet all the time, and that group is our leaders. They're the ones that are controlling the day to day.

And what Day was talking about, that maturity of our basketball team, it's so evident.

Before, you would have young players that they just don't know. You don't know what you don't know until you have to go through it. Your body's going to hurt. College basketball is hard.

And now whenever you know that your mentality can't change, if you're a charismatic player, you have to be a charismatic player all the time.

That leadership group has done a great job of facilitating that. It's hard being a leader at this level whenever you're fighting for your own and trying to worry about yourself, but you have to be a team first mentality. That's what this group is really sacrificing their own for our team.

THE MODERATOR: You're talking about the team, and I'm about to ask a specific question as far as like personal goals.

LANCE WHITE: That's good.

THE MODERATOR: Personal goals, right?

LANCE WHITE: Personal goals happen once that team is first.

THE MODERATOR: Looking at your time here, what do you want to be for this team?

CHANNISE LEWIS: Healthy (Laughter). No, honestly, I want to be healthy and be able to give 100 percent each day, because I wasn't able to do that the past years.

But just going out there and compete honestly. Do whatever I have to do as a PT, as a guard, wherever Coach puts me on the court. Do my job to the best of my ability.

That's really my goal. I don't have any personal goals. It's really the team at this point. I did personal goals before and it didn't get you nowhere because the team takes you places.

THE MODERATOR: This has nothing to do with basketball, but I heard you're a chef.

CHANNISE LEWIS: You're right.

THE MODERATOR: I need to know if there is going to be a cooking show, and what's your go-to dish?

CHANNISE LEWIS: Everyone asks me that. I like trying new things. You can give me curry chicken or stew chicken or curry crabs. I'm a big pasta person as well. I've got to learn how to make my own pasta. Besides that, I like to cook a little bit of everything.

LANCE WHITE: I haven't had the buffalo wings.

CHANNISE LEWIS: We're trying to stay healthy, Coach. Buffalo wings?

LANCE WHITE: Jerk chicken. Come on, bring it.

CHANNISE LEWIS: Caribbean food, West Indies.

THE MODERATOR: When you're healthy, we'll have to say she's in her pot. She's in the pot right now.

CHANNISE LEWIS: Serve it up.

THE MODERATOR: I'll just go down the line as we close. When you want to step on the floor, whether it be the non-conference schedule and how you're challenging yourself in that time and even going into ACC play, what do you want people to be left with, the other team. When they leave that floor, what do you want them to leave with?

LANCE WHITE: A confident team that is going to bust their butt every possession to make plays. And I want our team to be the hardest workers, but I want them to be confident.

And gaining that confidence is what I've seen, is them bit by bit of being a confident basketball team. That would make me the happiest coach around.

THE MODERATOR: We've got to ask you too.

CHANNISE LEWIS: Say that question one more time.

THE MODERATOR: For the opposing team, when you leave the floor, what do you want them to leave with knowing that you guys stepped on the floor?

CHANNISE LEWIS: They play together. It wasn't a one-man show, even though it might have that certain games, but we play together for every quarter on the game.

And we have fun. Fun is key in playing basketball, because all the outside noise, all the inside noise, it can be stressful at times, but if you're not having fun, the game is going to take over.

DAYSHANETTE HARRIS: I want them to be tired (Laughter). I want them to be gassed, miserable. Don't ever want to play them again. That's what I want.

THE MODERATOR: That's perfect. Thank you so much for your time. Best of luck this season. Definitely one of my faves.