Jacie Hoyt Meets With Media To Preview Upcoming Season

Jacie Hoyt Media Availability Opening Statement
First of all, thank you for being here. It's awesome to see so many faces. I will say this is the most that I've had in attendance since I've been here and I appreciate your guys' time and you know, if you look across the country, there's no sport that is trending higher and faster than women's basketball right now. So, I hope that this is not just a today thing and we can continue to keep this going. Big day for us, so starting our first official practice, of course, we've been per practicing all summer and all preseasons, so sometimes the first practice doesn't feel quite like everyone makes it out to be, but I would say that in starting year three, I feel better today than I've ever felt on a first practice in terms of just having continuity first and foremost with our staff, having a core nucleus of kids coming back and returning that we're really excited about, and then, of course, the additions from the portal and from our freshmen, that were really excited about. So, we've got a group that loves to practice. That's not the case for every team, but this team really loves to practice, so I've got really high expectations for today and for this season already moving forward. ?

What are you what are you looking for on the first official day of practice?
You know, at this point, it's really just about us kind of getting things in that we want to do, whether it's offensively or defensively. The first practice is really easy for people to be fired up about. It's really the second, third week that you find out kind of what you're made of. I know our kids, they're just anxious to get out there and play a little more five on five. In the preseason, you do a lot more individual work. So, I think that they're excited to play against each other or practice guys. I'm just excited to see how quickly they learn and pick things up with us adding the new things that we're going to add.

The popularity of this game growing this like you said, this sport kind of growing. Does that change anything for you, just how you all conduct things or how maybe the players or the recruits sort of talk about things?
Well, I think, you are inspired. I mean, when you turn on the TV and you see sellout crowds, whether that's at the collegiate level, whether it's in the WNBA, which we've been watching all summer. They, I think, more than ever feel valued, but it doesn't change. I mean, women's basketball has been this for a really long time. We've all been conducting ourselves the exact same way. It's just feels great to have other people recognize that and really jump on board with it.

With the start of practice stuff that you're able to do, how much can you get a feel for kind of the vibe of your team, the chemistry and those sorts of things, or is that something that will be more revealed over the next month? ?
I learned a lot about them in terms of that this summer and I couldn't be more pleased, you know, we we've had two years to kind of figure out what works, what doesn't work, and I I've got a credit of my staff because they did an amazing job of assembling a roster that makes sense for what we do, how we do things. It makes sense for Oklahoma State in this community in this university, what we're about here. I think we found the right kids. ?And when you do that, you can feel that synergy and you can see that chemistry in other ways. So I mean, all summer long, we were able to really be around them and see how they connected very, very quickly, both on and off the court. We got a group that really seems to enjoy each other and care about each other, which you can see translate. So, it's something that honestly, I mean, we've been really spoiled with from day one, they just really clicked. I was not happy with where we finished last season, that that sort of season doesn't sit well with me and so we were really intentional in the offseason about getting the right kids, like I said, and I felt like we really knocked it out of the park when it comes to that.

You mentioned the freshmen on the top. I'm sure you will learn a lot more about them over the coming weeks, but what are the kind of the expectations for that group coming in? ?
We have one of the best freshmen point guards in the country in Jadyn Wooten, and that's not just me saying that. She was a top 100 kid, she was the Kansas state player of the year. So, we've got really high expectations for her and she wants those expectations, which is maybe sometimes more important. She doesn't back down, she does not carry herself like a freshman and to be not just a point guard, but a point guard in the Big 12 as a freshman is a lot. We are really ready to walk that walk with her and I think, you know, she came here knowing what it was going to be like, so she hasn't backed down from that to this point and I'm excited to see just how much she'll continue to grow. um She is kind of leading their charge in that freshman group and then we've got a Kennedy Evans out of the Dallas area, and she's coming along really well and Maria Rodriguez, who is out of Spain. We did not get to have a summer with her because she was playing with her national team over in the FIBA events and did really well over there. She has been a really pleasant surprise for us because sometimes recruiting internationally, you really don't know what you're getting. You are relying a lot on film and word of mouth, but she's adapted really quickly, so we've got really high expectations for our freshmen. ?

Can Anna Gret benefit having another person to kind of take that burden of ball handling?
No one is more excited about Jadyn than Anna Gret because we can move her off the ball and that was a part of our problem last year with injuries and things of that sort. So, we had our best players Anna Gret, Stailee, playing out of position. It has been really neat to finally be able to put them back in their natural position and let Jadyn kind of take over the pressure of being a point guard.

What can Stailee's next step be as she had an outstanding freshman season?
Well, again, just playing in position, I mean, for all who followed, she was playing the point, sometimes she was playing the five. She really never was in a position where we brought her in for and had the vision for her. Seeing her kind of settle in at that three-four spot. The beautiful thing about her is she's okay with doing whatever we need. So, if she rebounds, we will still let her lead the break and take point, which allows us to play at the pace that we want. I think Stailee is just really enjoying having people who are as competitive as she is. That is one thing about this group I really love. I feel like we have got from top to bottom, they just compete and work really hard. That is who Stailee is and I think just even just who Stately is as a person, she feels more comfortable in her skin because she's surrounded with like-minded people. ?

Do you feel like it is going to be easier for her to kind of make a name for herself with this team and this era of college basketball where every year each team is different?
I wouldn't say easy, but I think, she had a really neat blueprint last season when you see some of the best players in the country being freshmen, right? You've got JuJu from USC and Olivia Miles from Notre Dame. I mean, freshmen who really made their mark, so I think that gave confidence to just all players and new players, freshmen specifically, and that's what I see in Jadyn. Like I said, she doesn't carry herself like a freshman and I don't even know if she's thinking about the things that you're really necessarily asking about, but it's just kind of who she is. I definitely think she's seen it done and she wants to take our team in our program to another level. ?

At this point in your career are you continuing to learn things about yourself and also about this job?
I never want to stop learning. I don't care what year I'm in, but certainly here at Oklahoma State, I do feel more comfortable than I ever have, just understanding the ropes. Something as simple as knowing where things are, right? This is the first time I've been here. So, next time I'll know. You don't know what you don't know, by having gone through it, having gone through the Big 12. Having a really successful first season, an average second season, in my opinion. I know what I want to do, I know what works for me. I know what doesn't work for me. I feel more confident going into this season than ever.

Based on the timing of nature, I guess there's a chance you are going to miss some time. Have you started planning for how the staff will handle that and what those things are gonna look like? ?
Yes, I have. I feel so confident in their ability to step in and help lead while I'm out. You mentioned nature. I don't know what that is going to look like. I've got a due date, but if things stay according to that, I really shouldn't have to miss that much, because the baby would be here around Christmas time. So in my mind, I'm only missing a couple games. They are not going to let me fly, I tried to convince the doctor to get on the plane. I tried everything. They won't let me fly at the end of November for a tournament that we have in Florida, which stinks because we play too really great teams out there. Our team will be fine. And then I think I would just miss one game right before Christmas break and then have Christmas to kind of settle in and then get back at it. But our staff is prepared. We started talking about it literally from the time that we knew the baby was coming and what that would look like. I've worked really hard to give them as much confidence as I can in themselves and put them in positions where they can prepare to lead in my absence and our team is a player-lead team. That is something we have talked about all preseason and all summer was just that there was going to be a time when you all have to step up as a team and players and take that load off of even your coaches. So, I feel really confident in everyone's ability at this point.

I've noticed some videos of the girls maybe trying to change diapers. How fun has it been to sort of share this with this group and is that something that you think is maybe brought this group closer the normal? ?
It has. It's been just the best lesson for me. It actually makes me emotional just talking about it because it's something that I've always really wanted to have for myself and for my family and my husband. It didn't come as easy as we would have liked, but now that it is here to be able to go through that journey and really just be an example for our players that you can be a career woman and you can be a mom. One of the core values that we have within our program is sisterhood, so it's been kind of a fun way to take the sisterhood to another level and the diaper changing that you mentioned we put them through like a little sister trial run and it's been so neat. They've been so sweet to me and I think I've kind of learned I believe two things can always bring people together and that's dogs and babies. This baby has already done that without even being here, so it's been really sweet for me.

You mentioned Jadyn, are there any other players that you think maybe cover fans don't know a ton about right now, but they will be pretty soon.
Yeah, there's a lot. In fact, I think that probably our biggest strength going into the season is our depth. We've just got a lot of talent and our staff has a tough job ahead to figure out how we are going to get everyone on the floor and make that all work and fit. We have great size, we've got one of the best rim protectors in the country statistically in Tenin Magassa. She's a 6-6 post player that we got out of the portal, kind of at the 11th hour that we' really excited about. We've got Oklahoma girl Micah Gray that we were able to bring back home. She's out of Oklahoma City, deadeye shooter. We love to shoot, so she fits our system really well. and then, goodness, we got a Virginia transfer, Alexia Smith.She's been really good for us defensively and a tenacious rebounder as a guard, which helps us rebound so that we can run and play the speed that we want. Stacie Jones, I honestly could tell you about 10 kids that we are really excited about. It's it's been fun so far. You know, that's the thing with the portal is you have to relearn your team every year. We're learning a lot about them right now, but we're something excited about each of them.

Macey comes from a sports family. How beneficial can that be to come from aa lineage of athletes in the mindset and then how to prepare and things like that?
Well, Macey has made a huge impact already on our culture. Macey has made a huge impact, probably the biggest impact of anyone on our culture, and what I mean by that is I've never coached a kid with a strong work ethic than Macey. So, we've got something I think every probably every team about in a country has and it's called ShotTracker and it allows us to track all the shots that are made and taken, every stat you can imagine. The last report that we got from that, Macey has made more shots in the offseason than any player in the country anywhere. So of course, her teammates see that in the gym. So, from the work that we put in in the offseason, Macey has really led that charge, you mentioned just being a sports-minded person, She understands what it takes to be successful at the highest level, so it's been really, really fun having her kind of take our standard and raise them up. ?

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