The Cats’ new women's basketball coach will be doing his first radio call-in show tonight, followed by Pope and Mingione later this evening. I’ll share some news and notes here…
* Brooks jokes that this has been a “whirlwind… and it’s turning into a tornado” so far. “Where am I?”
* On his passion for women's basketball after coaching both men and women... "I'm a girl dad... But Coach Pope has me beat." (He's got 3 daughters, Pope has 4.)
* Asked about what he's seen from Big Blue Nation so far... Loves the passion. There's a lot of people recognizing us, wishing us well. We need that support. It's not just about the product on the floor, you need a lot to go around that in order to build a championship culture. "These fans are very, very knowledgeable."
* On what excites him most about the challenge of elevating UK... Reiterates that he thinks UK is a "sleeping giant." Believes they'll have a really good roster right away and be able to bring big crowds to the newly renovated Memorial Coliseum. Thinks they can also parlay some of that energy that the men's team has right now and feed off each other.
* Says his recruiting coordinator, "Coach Rad," is tremendous at building international relationships and recruiting talent from all over the world. A tireless worker. She's already doing big things here in a short time on the job.
* On playing style... Obviously seeking more size, and want to surround them with good shooters. Will play fast, but it won't be "helter skelter." You can to get your bigs down the court, spread it, and play inside-out. Stresses efficiency on offense. Good balance makes you hard to guard. Doesn't really pressure much on defense. They like to be sound. VaTech was near the bottom of turnovers forced but near the top of FG% allowed. More efficiency than chaos. Teams that have been making deep runs play like this, and we've adapted to that.
* Brooks jokes that this has been a “whirlwind… and it’s turning into a tornado” so far. “Where am I?”
* On his passion for women's basketball after coaching both men and women... "I'm a girl dad... But Coach Pope has me beat." (He's got 3 daughters, Pope has 4.)
* Asked about what he's seen from Big Blue Nation so far... Loves the passion. There's a lot of people recognizing us, wishing us well. We need that support. It's not just about the product on the floor, you need a lot to go around that in order to build a championship culture. "These fans are very, very knowledgeable."
* On what excites him most about the challenge of elevating UK... Reiterates that he thinks UK is a "sleeping giant." Believes they'll have a really good roster right away and be able to bring big crowds to the newly renovated Memorial Coliseum. Thinks they can also parlay some of that energy that the men's team has right now and feed off each other.
* Says his recruiting coordinator, "Coach Rad," is tremendous at building international relationships and recruiting talent from all over the world. A tireless worker. She's already doing big things here in a short time on the job.
* On playing style... Obviously seeking more size, and want to surround them with good shooters. Will play fast, but it won't be "helter skelter." You can to get your bigs down the court, spread it, and play inside-out. Stresses efficiency on offense. Good balance makes you hard to guard. Doesn't really pressure much on defense. They like to be sound. VaTech was near the bottom of turnovers forced but near the top of FG% allowed. More efficiency than chaos. Teams that have been making deep runs play like this, and we've adapted to that.
