BIG TEN BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 2, 2024

Kevin McGuff

Marisa Moseley

Joe McKeown

Women's Basketball Panel

THE MODERATOR: Ohio State Head Coach Kevin McGuff, Wisconsin Head Coach Marisa Moseley, and Northwestern's Joe McKeown. I know you are thrilled to be here, Joe. How are you doing?

JOE McKEOWN: Great. Easy on the gas mileage.

THE MODERATOR: Exactly, Evanston not too far from Rosemont. Fair enough.

JOE McKEOWN: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: A new era of Big Ten women's basketball is about to get underway. We are a couple of weeks away from 18 teams competing for a title in this conference. I know, you guys had heard that already, right? This isn't the first time you're hearing that?

MARISA MOSELEY: Thank you so much for that.

THE MODERATOR: I thought I was letting you know proprietary information here. A lot is going to change. What are you looking forward to most, and what are you still waiting to see in terms of managing some of the travel and the other factors that play into it?

KEVIN McGUFF: I'm looking forward. I felt like last year we had the best conference in women's basketball. Clearly we do this year with the addition of the West Coast teams. There's just a lot of talent.

I'm excited to compete against some of the best teams in the country. We know it's going to be a huge challenge, but it's going to be really fun to see how it plays out.

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, I would agree with Kevin. I think we always say in recruiting, we feel like we have the best conference in the country. I think also just the new challenge for when you are playing new teams and we're only playing everybody once and one team twice, that's also going to be kind of a new challenge. So I'm really looking forward to seeing how that goes. Obviously more opportunities for more teams to get into the tournament.

JOE McKEOWN: I think one thing -- I was watching my player last night, Veronica Burton, play in the WNBA for Connecticut. Just coming off the year we had NCAA-wise and watching the pros, I just hope we can take advantage of this opportunity.

We have a great window right now. Our game is so hot. We have great coaches and players. I think we have the attention of the fans. So really that's what I'm looking for and looking forward to.

THE MODERATOR: The excitement surrounding women's basketball right now unprecedented with the Big Ten really a catalyst for what we saw last season with Caitlin Clark, the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament selling out, sell-outs all around the country. It's been really fun to watch. For coaches that are seeing this all play out, Kevin, what's it been like for you?

KEVIN McGUFF: It's been wonderful. It's a great time to be a part of this sport. I'm just really happy for our student-athletes that they get to experience the crowds, the media exposure, and just the overall growth of the game.

I think Joe is right. We've had tremendous growth, and hopefully we can continue to capitalize on that. I think even though Caitlin left, we have still great star power in this league. We've got great teams.

I think the interest is there, and I think it's going to stay and only get better.

MARISA MOSELEY: Yes, I agree with Kevin. No, just kidding (laughing). Yeah, exactly, second that.

I think to his point, though, it's a great time to be in college women's basketball. It's a great time to be in women's basketball obviously with the WNBA happening right now and the playoffs.

I think there's great new viewership and something that often is said like, Oh, man, women's basketball is so hot right now. It has been a really popular sport for a long time.

I think we're really fortunate that there's more media attention now on it. I think just like anything else, when you give and invest in it, there's always a return, or you hope so, especially the stock market.

But, no, I think it's a great time and really excited that we have so many men and women and young girls and boys watching and seeing these incredible women doing something that they love.

THE MODERATOR: The talent always was there. The competitiveness always was there. It's just now people are being exposed to that. Joe, as a coach who has been around women's basketball the last decade, what's it like now to see some of that be recognized and what your players are accomplishing on the floor?

KEVIN McGUFF: Joe has been around for four decades.

THE MODERATOR: We didn't need to get specific here, Kevin. I know you have something going. Come on now.

JOE McKEOWN: Thank God I look young. This is my 42nd year in women's basketball. One thing, just being part of it -- on my staff I have a great player, Tangela Smith, who played 15 years in the WNBA and one of the great players in the history of the Big Ten and Big Ten Player of the Year. We talk a lot about pioneers. We talk to our players about that a lot.

I think everybody up here is a pioneer and has given their whole professional career to women's basketball. We all got stories of driving minivans, 15 passengers, stopping at McDonald's. It was great. It was great. If you lost, it wasn't so great, but it was an eight-hour drive back, and I felt like I was the luckiest guy in the minivan that day.

Hopefully, you know, the pioneers and the people that have set the table for what's happening now, I hope this group appreciates it. I think they do.

THE MODERATOR: You all are such a huge part of continuing to move the game forward, but before we look ahead, Marisa, I'm curious, has there been a moment for you as a woman who is a head coach in basketball where you stopped maybe in the last year or two, you looked around, and you said, Whoa, this is how far we've come?

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, I mean, I think I'm a little bit probably not a great example of that because I got to be a part of a dynasty at UConn for a long time, so I had a lot of those moments.

But I think as a head coach whether it was when Caitlin and Iowa came to the Cole Center, and we had a sold-out crowd or close to a sold-out crowd. We joked, and I actually addressed the crowd and just said, you know, This is incredible that we can do this in women's basketball.

You give credit where credit is due, but at the same time to know that there's fans in Wisconsin, the state who also can continue to fill those arenas.

But I think, you know, it's also just -- I think each time that I walk into any arena and get an opportunity to lead women in this sport and you think back to Joe is talking about driving minivans and how far the sport has come and so many different things.

We just had a reunion with one of our '76-' 77 teams the other day, and they were talking about even the athletic trainer would get ice out of the cups from outside to use ice. There's just a lot of things that have improved.

These young women, there was women who came before them, and we have a responsibility to make sure that we carry that torch.

THE MODERATOR: What about you, Kevin? You have court stormings going on in Columbus. There's all kinds of excitement around your program. Was there ever a moment where it hit you just in terms of how far women's basketball has come?

KEVIN McGUFF: Yeah, no, it's just been really fun to see and to be a part of. Like I said earlier, just happy for our student-athletes.

But in our city specifically and in our state, they've really gotten behind our program and in the sport in general. As big as football is and all these other things going on in Columbus, I can't go a day without being in the city and somebody saying, Boy, I really love watching your team, I love the sport. No offense to my friends in men's basketball, but I watch it more than men's basketball now. It's a little more team-friendly game and some things like that.

So I think we've just evolved in a massive way, and it's just been awesome to see. I'm really excited to see where it goes from here.

THE MODERATOR: All three of you, again, are a huge part of continuing to move the sport forward. We appreciate the time. Kevin, Marisa, Joe, best of luck this season.