Second year WVU Women’s basketball head coach Mark Kellogg held an open practice for the media to watch his team and followed it up with a press conference to answer questions before the team travels to Europe for their offseason tour.
Wednesday’s practice was the eighth practice of the summer for the team and Kellogg says they will have two more before leaving for overseas.
The most important gain from the trip according to Kellogg is the wellbeing of his team. While it is a basketball trip, the head coach knows that there is the same benefit to the team off the court as there is on it.
“First and foremost I want them all to come back and I want us to be safe and have a good experience. Obviously off the court it’s a great bonding. They are going to learn, there will be history. We challenged them to be opened-minded and accept the cultures that we are going to go into.”
The objective to get better on the basketball floor is the true nature of a coach so there are some obviously things Kellogg wants to see out of his team on the floor as well.
“On the court I want to develop some things, I want to see them play in a competitive environment, especially the new kids. There will be some new rotations. We will throw a lot of different things out there.”
After saying that, Kellogg mentioned that the team has only installed about 10-percent of what they will run in the fall and just hopes to see the basics and chemistry continue to grow within the team.
To do this, practices have looked a bit different this summer than what has been the Kellogg way in the past. The head coach mentioned getting away from a lot of skill breakdown drills and doing a lot more 3-on-3 and 5-on-5. The focus has been letting the girls play and develop their skills and competitiveness together.
Lots of talk surrounds the team heading into next season following their play in the NCAA Tournament against Caitlin Clark and Iowa. When asked about what it meant to showcase the defense to the country and have an established identity, Kellogg wanted everyone, including the recruits, to know West Virginia basketball is more than just elite defense.
“We were an elite defensive team. You watched us play Iowa and that’s what everyone talked about. But I don’t want to just be defined by the defensive team. A lot of people have tried to define us a little bit by that and I don’t really want that. I don’t want that in recruiting that people think we are just going to be based on the defensive end.”
The Mountaineers will begin their 11-day trip to Italy and Croatia starting on Monday, July 29.
