Another nice crowd on hand to hear Bill Fennelly today. A few tidbits I don't think he'd mind me sharing since it was a public forum:
1.) Had nothing but praise for Pollard and Leath, both in the way they handle the athletic department and in their handling of the recent Big 12 expansion talks. Says he's in his 23rd year at ISU and the athletic department has never been in better hands. He also praised Bowlsby as conference commissioner, saying he is a class act in how he handles the conference.
2.) John Walters lead off by reminding folks that Bill's had his teams in 16 of 22 NCAA tournaments while at ISU.
3.) John also mentioned that over 22 years, every one of Bill's players who has stayed for their 4 or 5 years has left ISU with a degree. Pretty amazing record.
4.) A guy asked if Bill could expound on the Nikki Moody lawsuit. Bill grimaced, hesitated and of course said that he couldn't comment. Later in the hour the same guy asked Bill if he could comment on Big 12 officials. This time Bill grinned, then quipped, "You, sir, can't ask any more questions."
5.) Bill did talk slightly about officials...said he takes the time after every game to go through a conference questionnaire about how he thought each official handled the game. He also said an ex official is at every game, analyzing each ref's work. But Bill said, "But none of it does any good." He also stated, "Frankly, I just don't worry about the officiating that much any more, because it just doesn't do any good."
6.) Said he played 11 players at the super-secret scrimmage last weekend, which is a luxury this year. Said the team was lethargic and couldn't score in the first half, then scored 52 points in the 2nd half.
7.) He wants more shots going up from Jadda. Said he told her at the beginning of practice this year, "I want you to keep shooting until you give me something to yell at you about"...basically giving her the green light. Said his philosophy has always been to shoot the ball before something bad happens, and wants this team to do the same. I believe this was at the scrimmage Saturday: Bridget Carleton missed 4 threes in a row, and then stopped shooting. He pulled her out for awhile and when she went back in, he told her to shoot the first time she was open. She hesitated and didn't do that, so he yanked her again right away. He sent her back in and again told her to shoot, and she made 4 threes in a row. He just laughed, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Shooters just need to keep shooting."
8.) Said that Jensen tweaked a knee recently and didn't play at the scrimmage. The tall German gal is having back problems and isn't practicing. They're being cautious with her and he said she won't be practicing for awhile. The girl from Denmark will likely see action. The girl from Montenegro will need some time.
9.) Sounds like TeeTee Starks will be in the starting line-up. Bill likes her attitude, because she is all about winning...has always been that way. Seanna Johnson is not only one of the best in the Big 12, but one of the best in the country. She has her eyes on a pro career.
10.) Bill said he should have the depth this year to limit Jadda's, Bridget's and Seanna's minutes to around 32 a game. Said dropping from 36 to 32 minutes a game for a young kid doesn't sound like much, but over the course of a season it makes a big difference. He said it's imperative not only to keep the girls fresher at the end of the season, but when also looking at their career goals. He again mentioned Bridget's goal to play on the Canadian Olympic team in 2020 and Seanna's goal of playing pro ball, and he said he keeps those goals in mind when watching their minutes played at ISU, He said it's only right and fair to his players to do that.
11.) Said Bridget was invited to the Canadian Olympic team workouts, just to gain some experience and get a feel for that level of BB. Said by the end of the tryouts she had worked herself all the way up to being the next person selected for the team. Said no one on the ISU squad has played more basketball than Bridget.
12.) Was high on Heather, the transfer from Vanderbilt. She's a Wisky native, and knew Matt Thomas, and when she was looking for a place to land after she got her Vandy degree, Matt helped her get in touch with the ISU coaches. Said she is smart, personable, a good shooter and will be a great backup at the 4 and 5. Said she could have helped the team the 2nd semester last year, but he didn't want to ask her to use up her eligibility for just a half year. Wouldn't have been fair to her.
13.) Talked about Mer Burkhall from Des Moines....said she is well-liked by everyone on the team. Everyone comments to him that they like Mer, and Bill then quipped, "I like her too, but I'd like her a lot more if she shot more this year and made more baskets."
14.) Someone asked what it takes to get more students to the games. Bill said it's been an ongoing discussion for the past 22 years. He said the Cyclone Alley leaders do their best to encourage attendance, but it's the same way all over the country. Students historically just won't come out for women's games. He said it just likely won't happen. Students like to go to football and men's basketball games, and that's just a fact of life. He said a few years ago Gino tried to give away a couple of really nice and expensive prizes to get students to attend UCONN games, and said, "But Gino makes $2 mil a year and can do that. But it still didn't make much difference. Deb and I buy the students pizza once in a while to try to help."
15.) Said it is unlikely that the men's and women's Big 12 tournaments will ever be held in the same city again. The coaches always vote on it, and it's usually 9 to 1, with Bill the only one voting for it. "So we end up playing 1st round games at beautiful American Airlines arena in front of 150 people. I don't understand it, but it's not likely to change." Bill said one of his most memorable moments in his career here is when the men and women won the Big 12 title together in 2001. Laughed that he ran up quite a large credit card bill treating fans to food and adult beverages at his hotel in KC when his game was over.
16.) Touched slightly on recruiting, and said they'll probably sign 2 next Wednesday, with signs pointing up for maybe a couple more, but that recruiting is always fluid and he just never knows what might happen. He says they are always looking for the right fit for ISU when it comes to recruiting. He shared an interesting story: He and Billy were in the home of a girl recently or this summer, a very talented kid who could play on most any team. After visiting a while with her and her mother, the kid said something very rude to her mother that Bill said "I would never consider saying to someone I didn't even like." Bill said he and Billy looked at each other, and left shortly after. When they got to the car, Billy said, "Do you know what we did? We'll likely be playing against her in the conference some day." Bill said it didn't matter, he could tell by the kid's attitude that she was someone they didn't need on their team.
17.) Said he still has the press clipping on his desk from his first game at ISU. At the end of the clipping it stated attendance was 342. Just a daily reminder of what he took over when he came to ISU.
18.) He said he was the one responsible for scheduling a noon game next Friday against UCSB. He said the men were already playing on Friday night and the volleyball team plays at Hilton on that Saturday. Bill said he wanted to play that Friday, and that was the best option. He said, "When the men are playing football, I want to be at the game on Saturdays or watching when they're on the road." Bill is very supportive and passionate about ISU football.
That's about it, folks......
1.) Had nothing but praise for Pollard and Leath, both in the way they handle the athletic department and in their handling of the recent Big 12 expansion talks. Says he's in his 23rd year at ISU and the athletic department has never been in better hands. He also praised Bowlsby as conference commissioner, saying he is a class act in how he handles the conference.
2.) John Walters lead off by reminding folks that Bill's had his teams in 16 of 22 NCAA tournaments while at ISU.
3.) John also mentioned that over 22 years, every one of Bill's players who has stayed for their 4 or 5 years has left ISU with a degree. Pretty amazing record.
4.) A guy asked if Bill could expound on the Nikki Moody lawsuit. Bill grimaced, hesitated and of course said that he couldn't comment. Later in the hour the same guy asked Bill if he could comment on Big 12 officials. This time Bill grinned, then quipped, "You, sir, can't ask any more questions."
5.) Bill did talk slightly about officials...said he takes the time after every game to go through a conference questionnaire about how he thought each official handled the game. He also said an ex official is at every game, analyzing each ref's work. But Bill said, "But none of it does any good." He also stated, "Frankly, I just don't worry about the officiating that much any more, because it just doesn't do any good."
6.) Said he played 11 players at the super-secret scrimmage last weekend, which is a luxury this year. Said the team was lethargic and couldn't score in the first half, then scored 52 points in the 2nd half.
7.) He wants more shots going up from Jadda. Said he told her at the beginning of practice this year, "I want you to keep shooting until you give me something to yell at you about"...basically giving her the green light. Said his philosophy has always been to shoot the ball before something bad happens, and wants this team to do the same. I believe this was at the scrimmage Saturday: Bridget Carleton missed 4 threes in a row, and then stopped shooting. He pulled her out for awhile and when she went back in, he told her to shoot the first time she was open. She hesitated and didn't do that, so he yanked her again right away. He sent her back in and again told her to shoot, and she made 4 threes in a row. He just laughed, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Shooters just need to keep shooting."
8.) Said that Jensen tweaked a knee recently and didn't play at the scrimmage. The tall German gal is having back problems and isn't practicing. They're being cautious with her and he said she won't be practicing for awhile. The girl from Denmark will likely see action. The girl from Montenegro will need some time.
9.) Sounds like TeeTee Starks will be in the starting line-up. Bill likes her attitude, because she is all about winning...has always been that way. Seanna Johnson is not only one of the best in the Big 12, but one of the best in the country. She has her eyes on a pro career.
10.) Bill said he should have the depth this year to limit Jadda's, Bridget's and Seanna's minutes to around 32 a game. Said dropping from 36 to 32 minutes a game for a young kid doesn't sound like much, but over the course of a season it makes a big difference. He said it's imperative not only to keep the girls fresher at the end of the season, but when also looking at their career goals. He again mentioned Bridget's goal to play on the Canadian Olympic team in 2020 and Seanna's goal of playing pro ball, and he said he keeps those goals in mind when watching their minutes played at ISU, He said it's only right and fair to his players to do that.
11.) Said Bridget was invited to the Canadian Olympic team workouts, just to gain some experience and get a feel for that level of BB. Said by the end of the tryouts she had worked herself all the way up to being the next person selected for the team. Said no one on the ISU squad has played more basketball than Bridget.
12.) Was high on Heather, the transfer from Vanderbilt. She's a Wisky native, and knew Matt Thomas, and when she was looking for a place to land after she got her Vandy degree, Matt helped her get in touch with the ISU coaches. Said she is smart, personable, a good shooter and will be a great backup at the 4 and 5. Said she could have helped the team the 2nd semester last year, but he didn't want to ask her to use up her eligibility for just a half year. Wouldn't have been fair to her.
13.) Talked about Mer Burkhall from Des Moines....said she is well-liked by everyone on the team. Everyone comments to him that they like Mer, and Bill then quipped, "I like her too, but I'd like her a lot more if she shot more this year and made more baskets."
14.) Someone asked what it takes to get more students to the games. Bill said it's been an ongoing discussion for the past 22 years. He said the Cyclone Alley leaders do their best to encourage attendance, but it's the same way all over the country. Students historically just won't come out for women's games. He said it just likely won't happen. Students like to go to football and men's basketball games, and that's just a fact of life. He said a few years ago Gino tried to give away a couple of really nice and expensive prizes to get students to attend UCONN games, and said, "But Gino makes $2 mil a year and can do that. But it still didn't make much difference. Deb and I buy the students pizza once in a while to try to help."
15.) Said it is unlikely that the men's and women's Big 12 tournaments will ever be held in the same city again. The coaches always vote on it, and it's usually 9 to 1, with Bill the only one voting for it. "So we end up playing 1st round games at beautiful American Airlines arena in front of 150 people. I don't understand it, but it's not likely to change." Bill said one of his most memorable moments in his career here is when the men and women won the Big 12 title together in 2001. Laughed that he ran up quite a large credit card bill treating fans to food and adult beverages at his hotel in KC when his game was over.
16.) Touched slightly on recruiting, and said they'll probably sign 2 next Wednesday, with signs pointing up for maybe a couple more, but that recruiting is always fluid and he just never knows what might happen. He says they are always looking for the right fit for ISU when it comes to recruiting. He shared an interesting story: He and Billy were in the home of a girl recently or this summer, a very talented kid who could play on most any team. After visiting a while with her and her mother, the kid said something very rude to her mother that Bill said "I would never consider saying to someone I didn't even like." Bill said he and Billy looked at each other, and left shortly after. When they got to the car, Billy said, "Do you know what we did? We'll likely be playing against her in the conference some day." Bill said it didn't matter, he could tell by the kid's attitude that she was someone they didn't need on their team.
17.) Said he still has the press clipping on his desk from his first game at ISU. At the end of the clipping it stated attendance was 342. Just a daily reminder of what he took over when he came to ISU.
18.) He said he was the one responsible for scheduling a noon game next Friday against UCSB. He said the men were already playing on Friday night and the volleyball team plays at Hilton on that Saturday. Bill said he wanted to play that Friday, and that was the best option. He said, "When the men are playing football, I want to be at the game on Saturdays or watching when they're on the road." Bill is very supportive and passionate about ISU football.
That's about it, folks......
