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University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball Head Coach Sharon Dawley Press Conference
April 06, 2010 | Women's Basketball
April 6, 2010
John McCutcheon Opening Statement:
I would like to thank you for coming out this afternoon. It’s not a great day weather-wise, but a great day basketball-wise. Just a few comments before I turn it over to our new head coach. I first want to thank our consultative committee of John Dubach, Joanne Vanin, Glenn Wong, Tim Kenney, and in particular Elaine Sortino who not only found a way to participate in this whole process and interviews, but also guided her team to a No. 23 ranking and 21 wins. So, that was a pretty good job on her part and we hope she will get Boston College this afternoon. In particular, I want to point out Jaime Seguin, our Executive Associate Director for Athletics who did a phenomenal job in this search. I can’t tell you how much goes into one of these things in terms of logistics, phone calls, follow up, all those kinds of things. She did an exceptional job and I want to thank her for her efforts. I also want to thank Chancellor Holub who couldn’t be with us today; he had responsibilities off-campus, but he wants to send his congratulations as well. And with that, just a couple of comments on our process. We started this a few weeks ago with an in-house list of about twenty names that quickly grew to over forty. We whittled that down to about eight that we made contact with and either spoke with in person or had personal interviews with five of that group, and now we’re down to one. We couldn’t be more pleased with the individual who has decided to join us. She guided her teams in her career to a 265-148 record. Last year she was 27-7 at the University of Vermont, qualified for the NCAA Tournament and had a first round victory over Wisconsin. She is a member of the New England Hall of Fame. She has built successful programs at Vermont and Tufts. Again we couldn’t be more pleased that she’s joined and excited about the future of UMass women’s basketball. The head coach of the UMass Minutewomen Sharon Dawley.
Sharon Dawley Opening Statement:
Thank you very much. Its and honor to be here and I would like to start by also thanking Provost Staros, Chancellor Holub and a special thanks to John McCutcheon for making me feel at home from the moment I set foot here last week. [Thanks] to Jaime Seguin, Elaine Sortino and the entire search committee. I was excited all week for this possibility, I was excited driving in this morning and so much more excited now that I have met with the team. I’m really fired up and ready to get going. When you make a change like this, it makes you look back and with a three and a half hour drive, you just start wondering what you’re going to say and what are you going to when you get down there. I kept thinking basketball has been great to me. It’s been a terrific journey, it’s a great career as a player but even better as a coach. I’ve been able to go a lot of places because of basketball and have had a blast because of basketball. The journey started in Massachusetts, way back in the day at Tufts. Then I moved up to Dartmouth, another great experience, moved up to Vermont, another amazing experience. At that point my family asked me, “Just how far north are you going to go, Sharon?” And now I’m back home in Massachusetts. I feel like we’ve made the full circle. This already feels like home and I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here. This past year was definitely magical for us [at Vermont]. We had a great season at Vermont. We had a great America East Tournament and we also, as John said, won our first game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. With this change, though, comes a little upset as well. I was telling John earlier that yesterday was a tough day, having to sit down and tell my team that I’m going elsewhere, that I was leaving. So obviously it was a very emotional day yesterday. But, as I told the Vermont ladies yesterday, and I’d like to relay that message again to them today. I love those girls, I love them to death and I will now be a fan of them three and a half hours away as they go for a three-peat next year. I also want to thank my Vermont family. Let me start with President Fogel, who supported athletics and especially our team and was at every home game this year. I’d also like to thank Dr. Bob Corran for helping me grow, and the program grow, a lot in my seven years. I’d also like to thank all the coaches and administrators at Vermont for their support while we were very good and as well as when we were very bad. I’d also like to really extend a thank you to Lisa Champagne who is our sports information director at Vermont who has really been a rock for our program for the seven years I was there. That being said, we met, the team met, we talked about being a team, we talked about moving forward. We talked about how excited we are, getting better everyday, starting today, just by talking, getting our goals on the table and making sure we are on the same page. Moving to that next chapter, what is the mission, what are the goals? I really have just one goal right now and that is to let the returners at UMass and the incoming freshmen know that I am hear for them 24-7 and I can’t wait to get going. Thank you.
Dawley on her motivation to accept the position:
I think coming back home was very important. You’ll see a lot of Dawleys around. Family is the most important thing to me in my life and being an hour and a half from my family is very important. Making the next step. Watching the games this year. Watching Xavier be two layups away from the Final Four. We have that possibility here. I’ll be honest with you; it’s not something you can turn down. The possibility is just very attractive.
Dawley on recruiting:
The way we’ve always recruited, starting really at Dartmouth, was a national search. We will be out there and we will have a database of student-athletes from all over the county. I think that the big thing in signing recruits is getting them on campus. You just have to be relentless. You have to find them early, as early as 13-14 years old and work from there. I think if you have a family atmosphere and a happy team and you locate those recruits early enough. They’ve heard a lot about UMass, they come on campus and then we have a shot.
McCutcheon on Dawley’s strengths:
I think number one, as you can see from her record, is her experience and her track record of success wherever she’s been. She takes a very organized approach in how she goes about planning what she’s going to do. That came through in our conversation with her. I think the thing that stood out above all others is that she has been able to be successful in situations that have been challenging situations. That is what makes us feel, given the resources we have here, that it is a perfect fit.
Dawley on the type of game her teams play:
We like an up-tempo style. We like to run. We like to play man-to-man defense. We work on that a good hour-hour and a half a day and we mix it up. I like to play a lot of man-to-man, but each team develops different personalities. If we develop into a team that can change up a lot, throw in some match up zone, some junk, we will certainly do that. You will see us running.
Dawley on the biggest challenges facing her in the months ahead:
I think what I’ve learned in the past is just keep your eye on the prize. Know what you need to do, know what you need to take care of first and that’s the players. We don’t have much time before they’re out of school so we have to start meeting, we have to start doing individuals, we have to talk about our philosophies and the rest of it will happen. At this point, where I’m going to live doesn’t matter. That kind of stuff, that’s just fluff; it’s about the players.
Dawley on the possibility of signing additional recruits for 2010-11:
It’s not too late. There will be unsigned people out there. It’s a matter of are they a perfect fit. Are they what we need? We won’t bring people just to bring in people. If they’re not exactly what we need then we’ll wait.
Dawley on the level of play in the Atlantic 10 Conference:
I think it’s an amazing conference, really. Just to watch the games being played this year. We [at Vermont] were fortunate to beat Dayton on a neutral floor and then to see how well they did in the tournament. It was a great comeback game, phenomenal. And, again, Xavier, where they’re at now, I’m really fired up about this league. There is some tremendous basketball in this league and you can’t help but get excited about that.
