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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS (WOMEN)

October 27, 2011

Jolette Law

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

JOLETTE LAW: I'm very happy about this year. My kids are feeding off of the momentum that we had in the Big Ten Tournament. I have five newcomers that are raising the bar for my team, and just looking forward to a great year this year.

Q. I've kind of thrown this question around a lot, just because looking down the personnel of this conference, so very, very guard heavy, no particularly dominant post player per se, but then you have someone like Karisma. Do you actually prepare her for the fact that she could possibly be dominant in the paint, that there's not a lot of competition, no offense, just calling it as I see it, necessarily in the paint? And if so, what kind of things are you saying to her to get her prepared for a year where she could really, really continue as the best scorer and rebounder in the conference?
JOLETTE LAW: Well, each and every day I'm trying to -- last year Karisma was like in the top five in every category. I'm challenging her that that's not enough. In order for us to win, you must be in the top one or two in the conference. You must also be a great leader, both on and off the court. We've learned as a team, we've learned that it's not just about Karisma Penn, but I am very, very happy that I have a dominant post and I have finally some other supporting cast around her. But each and every day I'm challenging her to be the best of the best, not just the best of the Big Ten but the best in the country. I'm raising the bar with her, and she's accepted the challenge thus far.

Q. I was wondering if you could talk, Lana Rukavina really developed toward the end of last season. Could you talk about that growth and maybe what happened during the offseason with her?
JOLETTE LAW: Lana was our most improved player. She accepted a challenge. As a coach you need to find out your personnel and see what works. I found out that Lana Rukavina, she's better than most guards, so I had to reevaluate and find some things that fit her into other offense, and she's been responding. I told her I need more from her this year. I need her to be more versatile on the block. She's been working extremely hard, her confidence is extremely high, and I'm looking for her to have a very, very great senior year.

Q. How do you take the four days in Indy last March and take that energy, and has it been able to -- does it really carry over? Those were some amazing days and games and shootarounds and just the energy that was surrounding your program.
JOLETTE LAW: You know, since that last game, our kids in the locker room were just like, Coach, we understand. We get it. You don't have to tell us anything now. We get it. We're going to focus next year on the little things. And it started when we went back to Champaign this summer. They came up with a theme this year, it's our turn. We want to do things a little different. We're going to focus on the little things, and we want to do it together. We want to be about team.
Now I have in my mind nine assistant coaches on the sidelines when I'm talking to my freshmen. I'm seeing each one of them pulling them to the side, demonstrating all the little things, how the rest of the floor -- how to be strong with the basketball. It's very encouraging when you're at practice and you see that now they understand what I've been trying to teach them all last year. Now it's carrying over and they're being little assistant coaches to my freshmen. It's definitely been a blessing.

Q. One of the areas that was a weakness for your team last year was consistency from the guard position, and you had two freshmen who really started playing well at the end of the season, Amber Moore and Centrese McGee, and now without Centrese, how is Amber coming along and who else is going to pick the slack on the perimeter position?
JOLETTE LAW: Amber Moore is playing extremely well right now. She's playing with a lot of confidence. I'm very confident right now in Kersten Magrum, who a lot people forgotten. She's probably in the best shape she's been in. She keeps telling me, "Coach, this is the best shape I've been in in my life, I'm hungry, I'm ready." She will also add some more scoring power on the perimeter.
I also have a very, very good freshman class, and I'm going to rely a lot on. I have versatile guards. I can play Nia Oden inside and out, Taylor Tuck has been playing inside and out. Ivory Crawford and Alexis Smith have been playing like veterans. So I feel like I have a little bit more offensive pressure on the perimeter. They handle the ball extremely well. It's just now getting them a little bit more experience.

Q. Out of the newcomers is there anyone in particular that you're kind of expecting to make an impact so that we announcers can go "ooh" and "aah"?
JOLETTE LAW: Ivory Crawford and Alexis Smith. I would put those two names out there based on what I've seen the last couple days of practice. They've been playing extremely well, very aggressive, and I'd definitely just put those two names out there, Ivory Crawford and Alexis Smith.

Q. Looking back at last season as a whole, I mean, when you guys were struggling through Big Ten play, you had to notice this wasn't a 2-14 team looking at your scores and things like that. What do you think your experience taught you going through that type of slump, losing some close games?
JOLETTE LAW: You know, my mom always told me when I was a little girl, you have to go through something. When you look at a diamond, a diamond had to go through the fire, and trust me, our team went through the fire last year. But I just think through all the ups and downs, the close games, the stumbling blocks, at the end it let me see what my mom was always telling me. It started to shine, started seeing the glistening in my team. I think this year, their energy, their passion, all the things, the team chemistry that I've been praying for for the longest is finally there. It taught me a lot. I really became a better coach last year. It's probably one of my happiest years last year through the 9-23 because my team finally came together and they became about team, and they didn't give up. And each and every day they just looked at me like, Coach, you never looked like you were defeated, and we fed off of your energy.
"And in retrospect I watched you and all the things that you guys have kept constantly getting better, you guys made me a better coach." I learned a lot, and I just thank God for the experience.

Q. This is a different kind of question, Bobby Kelsey is in her first year, never been a head coach before, much like yourself when you came to Illinois. If you were going to give her some advice on what approach to take to take care of yourself and be successful with your program, what would it be?
JOLETTE LAW: Just, you know, take each day one step at a time, continue to be yourself, continue to be a sponge and feed off of your assistant coaches, don't doubt yourself, just do what you've been taught to do. I'd just tell her, just stay the course. That's the one thing from year one, year two, year three, now I'm in year five; just stay the course. Do things the right way, good things will happen.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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