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| Katie Meier (Photo Credit; Getty Images) |
Written By: Nathan Skinner (@Canedude08)
Canes Rising Contributor
Katie Meier's 'Canes had a season that would double as an amusing rolling coaster, full of peaks and valleys. The same team that walloped Notre Dame in a defining upset went on to lose eight of their next fourteen games, leading to them being one of the last teams invited to the NCAA Tournament . The 'Canes rebounded and not only upset sixth seeded Washington, but gave Iowa a game until the Hawkeyes pulled away late. Recently, head coach Katie Meier took time out of her post season schedule to answer a few questions about the season and the direction of the program.
Q&A With Katie Meier
Coach, this season was quite interesting with all that went on. How was the team able to overcome the late season losses, and rebound in the NCAA Tournament?
They kept everything in perspective, they understood that playing in the ACC is a marathon, not a sprint, it's the best conference in the country. Winning eight games in this conference is tough, this team understood that the effort had to be there every night. We've faced tough teams all throughout conference play, so we were well prepared for the NCAA Tournament.
Adrienne Motley is an outstanding player, one of the best in the country. While she is an unquestioned star, who else stood out this season?
Money Mot had a heavy load early in the season, but Jessica Thomas and Michelle Woods are two players who picked it up towards the end of the season, especially Jessica, who was really good in the ACC Tournament. J.T is a player who worked extremely hard in the offseason, and you saw the fruits of that labor. She got stronger as the season wore on, and was a big time player for us. Her time in the weight room was time well spent. I've told some of our other young players that if they work like Jessica, they will see similar gains.
Which players are poised to breakout, provided they follow J.T's lead?
Erykah Davenport and Khaila Prather are two players that if they work hard, have the talent to develop into very good players. Erykah had a strong finish to the season, she was a stud against Washington in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Khaila showed that she is a tough player when she gave us valuable minutes, despite suffering an injury late in the season. She wasn't supposed to play in the NCAA Tournament, but she found a way to play, and give us some good minutes. I recently had a workout with both players, and I'm extremely excited to see these players develop, they are both very talented bigs.
Speaking of bigs, how is Keyona Hayes, and what exactly happened to her?
Keyona Hayes suffered a rare ankle injury, that kept her out of action for the entire season. She's healed now, she now has to get back in shape, we missed her last season. Coming into last season, she was one of our best returning players, so her not playing was a big loss. We are expecting big things from her.
Even though it's not discussed frequently, Miami has struggled to recruit elite talent, despite unprecedented success. Why is that?
We have recruited elite players during my tenure, players such as Shenise Johnson, Morgan Stroman, and Adrienne Motley. We currently have a good number of top forty recruits on the roster. The difference between a player that is ranked in the 40s, and a player ranked tenth is small, it's usually a matter of opinion. Remember, Riquna Williams was ranked outside of the top 100, she had a terrific career here. My staff and I take great pride in finding student-athletes that fit our style of play. There's players who are outstanding recruits, that wouldn't fit here. The key is to find players who can play here, and grow as their time wears on. My staff does a great job of maximizing talent, and helping our players improve.
What does the future look like for this team?
I think that this team will be good next season, provided some leaders emerge. That's something that affected us this year, we lacked maturity at times, especially when faced with some sudden changes. A lack of maturity can lead to inconsistency, which also plagued us at times. With Jessica (Thomas) and Adrienne (Motley) both returning, I feel pretty good about us being a more consistent team. We also need someone who wasn't around this year to step up. Be it Keyona Hayes, or one of the incoming freshmen, someone has to emerge. I believe that this team will be able to build on the success of the previous years'.
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