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NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 6, 2019Muffet McGrawTampa, Florida THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Coach McGraw. We'll start with questions. Q. I know during the season you talk about how difficult it was to get back to where you are now. Can you talk for a minute about how difficult the journey was to get back to the title game. Only been a few teams that won back-to-back championships. MUFFET McGRAW: I think the journey this year has been difficult for different reasons than it was last year. I think the expectation always weighs a little heavier on you. I don't think it weighed quite as heavy on the players as it did on the staff because we kept thinking, 'We're supposed to win, be here'. I think after we beat Stanford, I think it was a big feeling of relief, more so than excitement. After last night's win, I think the excitement is definitely back. Q. We talked a little bit about Jess's transition to the next level. Take me through how you see the rest of your starting lineup, the way in which they will be most effective at the next level. MUFFET McGRAW: I think Arike will transform into the WNBA I think pretty easily because she can play the same type of position she's playing now. I think she's ready. I think her body is ready. She's in great shape. She can do a lot of things, handle a ball. I think she's ready right now for the next level. Brianna Turner, if anybody is looking for anybody that can defend any position on the floor and run the floor, just give you great attitude and a great work ethic every single day, I think she would be a tremendous fit for any team. Offensively she's continuing to improve. You saw what she did at the free-throw line last night. She's gone from a 50% shooter to about an 80% shooter. She's really worked on her shot. I think Jessica can score in so many ways, plus she's an adept passer. She can play the high post really well. She's a great facilitator. She can do so many things, rebound, she can get the break going, she can finish the break. I think her game is meant for that type of game because she really can face the basket. She can shoot threes and play on the perimeter probably more than I let her. Then Marina set the assist record last night. She's somebody that can pass. She can certainly score. She has the three-point record at Notre Dame. She's smart, feisty. As a coach, you love to coach a player like Marina because she is such a competitor. She really never quits. She inspires the rest of her team to do the same. Tremendous work ethic. I think if you need a shooter and somebody that can think the game, she's the one. Q. Having so many returners come back this season after winning the title last season, what type of value does that experience bring on your roster? MUFFET McGRAW: I think the experience is key. I think they've all been here before with the exception of Brianna, and she was here I think as a freshman in the final game. They've all had experience at this level. I think there's no substitute for experience. I mean, really, at the end of the game I thought last night we looked really poised, didn't lose our composure, did some great things defensively. I think being in this moment before I think will help us. Q. You've been in this kind of cycle of trying to win a national championship for back-to-back seasons obviously. Has there been a moment either this season or weekend where you've been able to take a breath, just realize the moment, how much it means, soak it in with your team? MUFFET McGRAW: We really haven't. You're in kind of just hundred-miles-an-hour fast forward mode right now. Haven't had an opportunity to really sit back and think about it. Probably won't till afterwards. I don't know anything about winning back-to-back. This is the first try for us. Hopefully we'll be able to get it done. Q. For a lot of years Coach Summit was the de facto spokeswoman for any issue that came up about women's basketball, sometimes just for collegiate sports. Have you sort of felt like that? You've elevated to that role, and I think to some degree so has Kim. Have you felt the need, the desire to be sort of that spokeswoman? MUFFET McGRAW: I think when we lost Pat Summit we lost an icon, we also did lose the spokeswoman for our game. She did so many great things for women, for the women's game. She was always about what's best for the game, not what's best for me. She constantly empowered and promoted women. When we lost her, we had a void. There was nobody to fill that spot. I think you looked around and wondered who would step up, maybe it would be sort of a point guard by committee kind of thing that you have in your game sometimes. I've just felt the need to be able to stand up and express some things that I thought needed to be said. I think she would have said them or she would have been certainly another voice that would step up and say them. I think our game needs somebody that's willing to step out because the platform that I've been lucky to have, I thought it was a great time to say it. Q. Can you talk for a second about the difficulty, the two teams haven't played each other, you have one day to get ready for this big game, the problems that Baylor presents for you. MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, they present a lot of problems. This is the first time we've played a team that has two outstanding post players. We've generally thought we had abnormal advantage in the post. That would be our game plan, to go inside. We do not feel that way. They have terrific players inside with Lauren Cox and Kalani (Brown). Lauren kind of similar to Jess in the way she's got over 130 or 140 assists. She's a great facilitator at the high post, make the high post jumper, shoot threes. Two great shot-blockers in the back. Defensively they're really kind of an intimidating presence inside. I think that our guards are pretty good. I hope that our guards will be able to come out and play well because I don't know if we have mismatches necessarily, but I think once you get to this game, anything can happen. Q. You talked last year about how Jackie Young has a chance to be maybe the best player you've ever had. You just went through the other four, significant WNBA prospects. Between all of that talent and winning the title, on the doorstep of potentially winning another, where do you see this team within the history of your groups? MUFFET McGRAW: We've had a couple of classes that went to every Final Four in their four years. This class has only been to two. But winning a championship certainly sets them apart. I think statistically what they've been able to accomplish is pretty amazing. 10,000 points. The way they play together. The way they lead. Everything they've done for our program to elevate us to get to this point. To represent us so well on the national scene outside of basketball. What Arike did for us last year, what the rest of them continue to do every day as role models, I think is phenomenal for all the young girls out there watching our team play. I think they're all great role models. Q. Last year obviously going into the tournament you were the underdogs. This year you're the favorite. How does that change your mentality from a coaching standpoint? MUFFET McGRAW: Well, I don't think we're the favorite tonight. I think Baylor is the overall No. 1 seed. We're definitely in a different place than we were last year. Last year we were giddy to get here. We could not believe it worked out through all the injuries and all the things that went wrong. This year it was a different mindset. It was more of a business trip. I think we came in kind of expecting that we should get here, then we got here. I think being able to really focus and understand why we were here, not just happy to be here. This year we wanted to win. Q. Regarding the WNBA, how well have the four ladies you've spoken of compartmentalized? Getting ready for their futures, they don't have the big window that NFL and NBA have. How well have they done with that? Has Jackie made any type of decision? MUFFET McGRAW: It's yet another thing you look at, the difference between men and women. The women have a couple of days. I mean, the draft is Wednesday. They don't have time to search for agents and they don't have time to make decisions. Jackie has not made one yet. The other four, every game they go into, they're thinking about their future because if they play poorly, they're wondering is their stock going to drop, if they play well, is their stock going to rise? There's a lot of pressure on them, things they shouldn't have to be thinking about at this moment, at this juncture when it's so important for us as a team to come out and play well without that hanging on their head. They've handled it well really. I think they've all played well. They've certainly done some great things to make the WNBA coaches take a look at them. But, yeah, I mean, it's your future. Your future's hanging in the balance right now. That's a lot for a 21-, 22-year-old kid. Q. Again, it really is this crazy type turnaround. What should the model look like? Should it be in season like the MLB has before their collegiate season is even done. How should it be designed? Should a WNBA combine be part of that as well? MUFFET McGRAW: I don't know how it should be designed. I think there's people that know a lot more than I do about the marketing part of it. It's difficult during the basketball season when you have the NBA, men's and women's college, to add the WNBA. I'm not sure the attendance would be as good, having their own season. This year I think it was even different because the season was pushed back a week. But certainly wait for a couple more weeks, going into May, to start things I think would be better for the student-athletes. They've also got to finish their degree. They still have to go to class. We finish the first week of May. It's worked out in the past where they can work with their professors. To give them time to finish up in school, finish up with a lot of other things, be able to graduate, some of those things that are really a big part of their lives. They're not able to do them. It's worth the sacrifice for them, I'm sure they would say. It also would be nice if they'd have a chance to kind of relax for a moment and enjoy this. Q. You had a great crowd the first two rounds at home, then obviously Chicago, Irish Green. Talk for a minute big picture, how this year, the last couple years, women's basketball attendance is pretty good across the board for NCAAs. MUFFET McGRAW: I think we set some records this year. The first and second rounds were tremendous. Then the regionals. I thought the committee did a really good job of placing teams in places where they were going to get good crowds. We were so excited to be able to go to Chicago. I think it was definitely great for the NCAA and for ESPN to see that. I think three sites were really, really well-supported. When you have good crowds, the teams in the area that can get there. It's tough on the bracket, to be the 2 seed, have to go to a place where it's -- it's tough to be the 1 seed and go to the 2 seed, and you saw geography won out and the fans won out in those places. I think that's a little bit tougher to look at. I know we were going to be one of those teams at some point in the season until we won the ACC tournament. I don't think you get rewarded for being a 1 seed, then have to go someplace where you're playing in front of the 2 seed's crowd. We have to do what's best for the game. Right now getting attendance is what's best. Is there another model that works better? I think people are open and willing to try it. We keep going like we've committed three or four years down the road. When is it going to happen? Q. We asked Coach Mulkey about some of your comments on hiring women. She said she agreed and supported you, but she was hesitant about the word 'never.' She mentioned if her son ever wanted to coach alongside her, she would love it. Obviously you have a son. Do you feel in some ways was that misconstrued, you're not saying you're anti-male coach, but opportunities for women. MUFFET McGRAW: I think we need more opportunities for women in coaching. I just hired a male video coordinator. I have just hired a male strength coach. I'm not opposed to hiring men. I just think that women need those opportunities, and those opportunities right now are going to men. We keep looking at ways to get our young graduates and alums into the game. There's no room for them in the game. Women are leaving the game because of the lack of a work-life balance. I think we can do a lot more to promote women as coaches. I think that's really important, particularly when you have a male head coach. I think Geno has done a great job. He always has an all-female staff. I think that's a great way to bring more women into the game. I think we definitely need more women athletic directors, people doing the hiring. Head coaches are doing the hiring of their staffs. When you look and see more men than women on a woman's staff, I think that's not the optics that I would like to see. Q. I don't know the answer, but the relationship with other coaches you played, what is your relationship with Kim? I don't know how much you actually see her. MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, you know, I mean, I like her. We played probably a couple times back and forth. We played them in the tournament I think last time. We had two head women's coaches last time we were in the tournament with them. We don't really have a close relationship. Q. Both of you did play collegiately, have become I would say iconic head coaches for your programs. Could you address how big of an impact both of you have had for a very long time on women's college basketball. MUFFET McGRAW: I think most of the women's coaches in our game have all played. I think that's another difference between that and the men on our staffs. I think most of the women have played college basketball. They understand the game from the player's perspective. I think we've seen it change so much. I'm a lot older than Kim. I've seen the changes from playing, what the Final Fours were like when she was playing and I was watching. It's been amazing how far we've come. I know we still have a long way to go. Just the attention, to come to sellouts, to see so many fans traveling, to see people talking about it, to see celebrities and different people start to get involved in watching the game. I think we've really grown. I think it's been great for women. I think you've seen the changes in the game, how women are so much more skilled. You see someone like Brianna Turner that can play above the rim a little bit, you're seeing young high school players that can do that. I think the game is changing. It's still a great game, a very different game than the men's game, but it's exciting to watch. Q. You talked about what a whirlwind it was last year, obviously in a lot of ways unexpected. You had ample time now to prepare for what this season offered you. Were there some specific ways that you made a point of taking time to enjoy it, to sort of mark the time along the way, knowing this was potentially in the very near future for you? MUFFET McGRAW: That was the plan, but it failed miserably. We came into the season with all that on us, No. 1, defending champs. Sometimes defending champs aren't really because they don't have their team back. But we did. We truly were the defending champs. It was a burden. We talked early in December, maybe not early in December, maybe right before Christmas in December we talked right after the Toledo game. We're just not having any fun. A lot of times the players will say that, but the coaches were saying it, too. We all felt like it was way too businesslike. We weren't enjoying it enough. I think from then on we started to enjoy it more, they started to enjoy it a lot more. I still couldn't. It's not a celebration when you're supposed to win, and you win by 20. Then you're like, 'We didn't play well enough'. Then you start getting really picky. That was my problem most of the year. Q. You've said there's sort of maybe a subtle but definitive change from when Skylar (Diggins) came into this program of confidence, saying we don't have to be the gritty underdog all the time. That's translated over to you personally. Is that fair to say or not? MUFFET McGRAW: I always love being the underdog. When Skylar came in and brought that swagger, which is something you don't see in women a lot, women aren't supposed to have that swagger, she managed to bring it while still being just a confident person with a little bit of a swagger, with a lot of charisma, that could get people excited about the game. She had such a passion for it. The way she wore it was really well done. I thought she role modeled that really well. It was contagious. Went over to a lot of the other players who had a little bit of confidence but not as much as she did. That was great. When we got Arike she also transformed the way we kind of thought about our team. This team is a lot more confident than any team we've had in the past. I think Arike has a lot to do with that. All of them feel that as women, they often talk about when things happen in the world, with sexual harassment, domestic abuse, Can you imagine if somebody tried that on us? There's no way we would put up with that because they have that strength and confidence. It's very different and really it's great to see, it's great for the young kids watching our game to see. Q. What advice do you have for aspiring young women who are interested in sports in the future? MUFFET McGRAW: I think the important thing that sports teaches is so many life skills. You learn how to handle adversity. You learn how to sacrifice, you learn discipline. If you want to play on a team, sometimes your friends might be going to the pool or the beach, you might be in the gym working on your game. It takes a lot of self-discipline, a lot of commitment. If you want to really be good, you have to be willing to make the sacrifice. I think it teaches you great things. When you go on in life, a lot of my former players say, having gone through the experience of the toughness that I learned, I can pretty much handle anything in my life. I would say if you want to go for it, you got to give it 100%. Q. I'm wondering if you were to go back in time and you could maybe change your job, do you think you would, or do you think you would keep this job that you have now? MUFFET McGRAW: I love my job. I think I have the best job in the world, working at the University of Notre Dame, which I think is the best university in the country. I wouldn't change it for anything. Q. I would like to know how do opportunities like this help the girls on the team get drafted in the WNBA? MUFFET McGRAW: I think when you play at a high level, you get on TV a lot more. People watch your games a lot more. So everybody gets to see kind of the whole season. They're not just catching one game in the tournament. So I think the media attention is really good because scouts can't go everywhere across the country all the time to find you, so being on TV I think really helps us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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