Cowgirl Basketball Media Day Quotes

OSU Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening statement
"We return eight players from last year's squad and we add seven newcomers to this year's team. We felt that last year was not the type of year we want to have, but we had lost three pros the year before and knew we were in a rebuilding session. We return a lot of players who gained valuable experience, led by All-American Vivian Gray who averaged over 20 a game for us last year. We returned kids like Ja'mee Asberry, Kassidy De Lapp, Clitan de Sousa and Mariam Gnanou, who all gained a wealth of experience last year. We feel good about our recruiting class. We have added a lot of size and depth to our roster. If I had to go over our strengths, it would be our size, our athleticism and the ability to go pretty deep in the bench. Probably one of the top kids coming in is Natasha Mack from Angelina Community College. She was the NJCAA national player of the year and put up great numbers. We are expecting great things out of Mack. We added Micah Dennis, the Canadian high school basketball player of the year, and she played both the point guard and off guard position. We really like Sara Rodrigues, the 6'4 young lady from Brazil. She is very raw right now, but when you see her you will see that she is a tremendous athlete who is going to be a really nice player before she graduates. Vivian Gray is nice to have back. She is a young lady who plays extremely hard every day in practice. I talk about two of the best practice players I ever coached, one was Tiffany Bias and the other is Vivian Gray. It was no accident that she had a great year last year. She puts a lot of time into her game and is a great practice player. We hope with the experience that we gained last year and the pieces that we have added here, we are optimistic about having a great year."

On the work ethic of Vivian Gray
"To be a great leader I believe that you have to do a couple of different things. I believe you have to put up numbers so someone will truly respect what you do and you have to work hard every day. She plays play to play on both ends of the floor. Practice is very important for her. She tries to win and excel at everything she does. I think that the key is your best player is your best practice player."

On recruiting internationally
"It is two-fold. We recruited out of the junior college level and we recruited some where our coaches went over and spent time in Brazil. You are seeing it around the country where a lot of people are expanding their recruiting. There is a lot of talent in these countries, and we are identifying it a lot better. There are a lot of kids who want to come to the states to play at this level and for their education."

On who will be the dominant rebounder
"Natasha Mack. Natasha averaged about 12 rebounds a game at 6-4. She has long arms, attacks the glass on both ends of the floor and I think that is a start. I think with our added height and experience that Mariam Gnanou and Kassidy De Lapp got I think that is definitely going to help."

Junior Vivian Gray
On the non-conference schedule
"In preseason, we get to see how we are going to compete against really good teams and then once we get in conference, we play Baylor and all the good competition that we will be ready for."

On what she focused on improving in the off season
"Myself, I felt like last year I had my jump shot down, but I didn't have my three down. So, I focused a lot this year in the offseason on my three because I wanted to be able to score from all three positions: the three, the jump shot and the drive. I focused on my three a lot."

On Coach Littell calling her the hardest working player
"I didn't even feel like I really noticed that about myself until he said something about it last year. I've never really had a coach say that about me, I think because they didn't want it to go to my head. I never really noticed it. I guess it's just something I've done for a while."

On setting an example for the new girls
"I just play how I play. I play hard. I think the new girls know they should play hard and they do. I'm not really worried about them having to push themselves. They do a good job."

Sophomore Kassidy De Lapp
About the versatility on the team
"I feel really good about it actually. We have a lot of height coming in, we had a really good recruiting class with the freshman, junior and juco transfers. We are going to have a lot of height other than just me and Mariam at the post, so we will have a lot more versatility. They can dribble and shoot. They can do it all as well. We'll have a lot more high-lows, more four game with everybody. I feel like everyone can go out of the spot at four and five."

About working in the offseason
"Definitely my free throws. My confidence, coming in as a freshman I was out a year and a half before that. I was nervous as a baby freshman going up against these seniors who really knew what they were doing. Especially Kalani Brown at Baylor, which was a really good learning experience for me. I just have a lot more confidence in myself and I know I have the ability. I'm just as strong as these girls and I can do it just as hard as they can."

Working on confidence
"You just keep doing it, rep over rep. You take the criticism that you have, you let it sink in, and try your best to better it every day. Just getting in the gym, being in this environment… Just going into that gym makes me nervous, just practicing in this big arena with history, every time you step on the court you just feel it. Every single time I step out there, just a little more confidence every single day. Knowing that I'm getting better every day as a college basketball player."

On Vivian Gray
"She is a leader in the way that she plays. Not as vocal as some of the people in the past. Every single time she's going to practice she is working her hardest. Vivian is never not trying to do her best, never taking a play off. Just to see that for the rest of us and especially for all these newcomers coming in and to have that as a leader to see and model that, is really good for us. Everyone can play on that level because every time she steps on the court she is ready to go."

Sophomore Ja'Mee Asberry
On taking her game to the next level in the off-season
"This summer I worked out with my dad. I was in the gym seven days a week. I was lifting still and I did a lot of one on one with boys so they leveled my game as well back in Tulsa."

On playing against boys
"It helps out a lot, the difference is they are a lot stronger than the guards in this league, but it's OK because when I run into them now it's nothing."

On the biggest development from this team
"We are definitely a lot taller and faster. Our guards this year can definitely pick up people 94 feet and deny the basketball. It's going to be hard for guards to dribble in and try to shoot layups because our post are much taller."

On being a player who enjoys picking up from 94 feet
"It's going to be a show. I'm very excited. Last year we sat back and let people come at us, but this year we get to be the aggressors."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ja'Mee Asberry

Kassidy De Lapp

Clitan de Sousa

Micah Dennis

Mariam Gnanou

Vivian Gray

Natasha Mack

Sara Rodrigues

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