PAC-12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY

October 10, 2023

Hannah Jump

Stanford Cardinal

Q. We're going to invite Hannah Jump up. Tara, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Best of luck this season, and you can go relax and hang out, the goddess of women's basketball.

Hannah, would you agree -- she said it matters to her what her players think. Would you agree that she's the goddess of women's basketball?

HANNAH JUMP: Oh, 100 percent.

Q. All right. Well, you get the stage all to yourself today. I know. So you command it well.

Tell me about the decision to come back and how you're feeling and the excitement, all the things that Tara just talked about with the pieces you guys have?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah, no. I'm super excited to be back. It was just an opportunity that I just couldn't turn down, the opportunity to get a master's degree from Stanford, to play for Tara another year, stay with my teammates.

It was just something that when the season ended, I felt like my job here wasn't quite done, and I wanted to come back and kind of offer one more year.

Q. We just talked at lunch about what you did in the off season because the thing about Hannah Jump is every off season, you take a giant leap forward and become a better basketball player and just change your game.

Who did you work with over the off season to help you take that next step?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah. This off season, I spent a lot of time trying to get healthy, trying to stay strong. So I spent a lot of time in the weight room with our amazing strength coach, Andrea. We call her A-Train. She is incredible. She's been a huge blessing for us over at Stanford. And I've also worked with Rometra Craig.

Q. Roger Craig's daughter?

HANNAH JUMP: Yes. Roger Craig's daughter. She's been training with me and working with me on a lot of different aspects of my game, inside game, outside game, all of it. It's been incredible.

Q. Over the years as the WNBA has come through different Stanford alone I've had the pleasure of interviewing, I've always asked what they've taken from Tara, and it seems like Lindy La Rocque, the coach of UNLV you have known sine you were a little girl. Some have the same, but everybody has a different attribute that they've been able to take, whether it's from off the court, on the court.

What are you going to take into life once you graduate from Stanford from Tara?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah. I think one of the biggest things Tara has really taught us and has been a big focus, especially this year, is not taking anything for granted. I think we learned that through the COVID season and just kind of attacking each day with a positive attitude and just kind of having fun.

I mean, like she said, our motto this year is the best year ever, and that's exactly what you want to do and just have a lot of fun doing it.

Q. You were one of the top three-point shooters in the country last year, and I wondered if you could talk about bringing that skill back, how much that means to Stanford. And also, what did you personally sort of learn from the way last season ended that you're taking into this season?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah, I think my three-point shooting ability definitely allows us to space the floor. Hopefully gives Cam a bit more room to work, but it's not just me out there hitting shots. I think this year we've got a lot of great outside shooters from Talana to Elena. Our freshmen are doing an incredible job.

Everyone is definitely a threat out there. So I think that's going to be a huge thing for our team this year to kind of space things out.

Then from last season, yeah, it definitely didn't end how we wanted to. But I think bringing into this season -- taking the things we learned, whether that's me needing to be a better leader, just needing more positive energy every day, just kind of taking those little bits and applying them every day we step into the gym.

Q. I wanted to ask you obviously you're such a prolific three-point shooter. But what have you worked on to expand your game outside the three-pointer because a lot of teams try their best to deny you to create other opportunities for both yourself and your teammates doing other things beside shooting the ball?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah. So I think this off season, a big focus of mine has definitely been defense, just becoming a lot quicker, again, using that work in the weight room to kind of help me there. And then just conditioning, being able to run the floor, space the floor, and then just hopefully help create shots for other people.

Q. Can you call out a couple of your teammates maybe who have made a really big jump in this off season, somebody who's coming back way better than they were last season?

HANNAH JUMP: Yeah. I think the first person that comes to mind is Kiki. I think especially what I've seen so far from her in practice has been an absolute jump of confidence.

She's finishing really well. She's being really aggressive down low. And she gets to play against Cam every day. So that's also a great defensive task for her, so seeing her flourish and that's been really fun.

Q. What's it like -- Cam's not here, but what's it like having the Defensive Player of the Year the last two seasons playing behind you?

HANNAH JUMP: Oh, it's a great safety net. You know, it allows us to be a little bit more aggressive on the ball knowing that she's back there. She's a fantastic shot blocker. So just knowing that we can a little bit more aggressive on the ball to have her behind us.

Q. We're just about out of time, but I just gotta say, as we wish you well and wish you the best of the season, I'm thinking about fifth grade Hannah Jump when she wrote that poem to herself about dreaming of getting a Stanford basketball scholarship, and here you are in Las Vegas on the main stage with a mic in your hand and repping the card.

HANNAH JUMP: Dream come true, definitely.

Q. Definitely. You manifested it. I'm looking forward to seeing your squad. Tell Cam we hope her ankle feels better.