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June Daugherty

Chat With Women's Basketball Coach June Daugherty Thursday (Oct. 29) at 9 a.m. Pacific.

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Chat With Women's Basketball Coach June Daugherty Thursday (Oct. 29) at 9 a.m. Pacific.

Moderator: Good morning Cougar fans and thank you for visiting WSUCougars.com and today's chat with WSU Women's Basketball Head Coach June Daugherty. Before we begin, I wanted to bring to your attention the links at the top of this page. The first is to purchase women's basketball season tickets; and the second goes to information on how to join the Cougar Pawz Club, the official support club of WSU Women's Basketball. June, thank you for joining us today.

June Daugherty: Good morning everyone. Basketball season is finally here and we couldn't be more excited. Practice has gone well and we have seen a great deal of improvement in each outing and looking forward to our first exhibition game on Sunday.

Moderator: Okay, let's get to some questions.

Kath, Clintonville: Coach: You often practice against male players. What is the advantage and are they volunteers?

June Daugherty: Kath, fortunately, we are able to utilize our male student-athletes from WSU to incorporate into our practices. The advantages are numerous but most importantly they give us a chance for our players to compete against bigger, more athletic, and stronger players in practice in order for us to prepare for the rigors of Pac-10 play. All of our male practice players, who we fondly call our Gray squad, are full-time student-athletes who volunteer their time and do not receive any compensation other than a few pieces of practice gear. Their dedication to our program means a lot and has helped us improve each day in our practices. They are much appreciated. As a sidenote, several of our former practice players have gone on to become high school and collegiate coaches and that is something that makes us very proud.

Tom (Colfax): I'm very excited to see the Wazzu Women's Basketball program making positive strides! Not to be negative...but the upper echelon teams in college basketball usually have tremendous (and talented) size. In the end, can the guard-strong Cougs compete at that level? Thanks Coach.

June Daugherty: Tom, I'm proud that my staff has been able to recruit back-to-back nationally-ranked recruiting classes to WSU in the last two years. I think we have a great balance of forward and guard play within these two classes. What you can look forward to from the front line this year is more consistent scoring, better defense, and a strong presence inside. Certainly, we are guard strong and at the same time our forwards will provide a better balanced attack with their skill level in the paint.

Joel Boise: Hey coach..we promise to get up to some games. With the increased talent level you have brought in will we get to see our women take on some of the higher profile programs in the country? Secondly, We have all watched the headlines on your newest class and we are excited, but what player should us old basketball junkies be watching for to shore up some of the backup roles? The hidden gem. The girl you would expect to see sliding across the floor or as I would call it, "your glue girl"? Thanks and Noelle says hi!

June Daugherty: Hi Joel from Boise. It's great to hear from you and your family. We are constantly keeping your little one in our thoughts and prayers here in Pullman. I think the hidden gem for us and maybe that glue person that is so important for every team is former Washington Player of the Year and two-time state champion Katie Grad. Katie brings us instant competitive fire and is a strong leader in this program. Put it this way, Katie is going to find a way to win. Whether it is sliding across the floor, taking a charge, or hitting the three. Katie redshirted last year due to a foot injury and has totally recovered after six months of rehab. She is tough, tenacious and knows how to win, and she will not accept anything less from her Cougar teammates.

Doneta, Pullman: Coach: My son and daughter really enjoyed the free basketball clinics on Sunday. I hope they grow up to play for the Cougs. Thanks!

June Daugherty: Doneta, what a pleasure and honor it was for our team and staff to provide free clinics on Sunday afternoons this fall. I was really proud of our player to volunteer their time on Sundays and share the game of basketball. It was fun to meet all the young players who came through Bohler Gym. Their enthusiasm, energy, and love of the game really got us excited for our basketball season. We hope to continue these clinics the following year. As a coaching staff it is important for us to give back to the game that we are fortunate enough to coach every day. At the same time, we have a responsibility to help the game grow. Good luck to all of our campers. Keep working hard in the class room and the basketball court and we look forward to seeing you at the camp reunion night at Beasley.

confidence: Coach, I loved watching your squad compete last year- thanks to you, your staff, and individual players for an exciting brand of basketball. How are the new players integrating with the returners- both on and off the court?

June Daugherty: Thank you for your nice compliments. I'm glad you were able to come see us play last year. We are looking forward to an even better season at Beasley this basketball season. In response to your question about our new players integrating with our returners, the three freshmen our working hard to master the WSU basketball system and manage taking a full-time academic load. It's been a smooth transition so far for Carly Noyes, KiKi Moore, and Ireti Amojo. Our University provided summer school opportunities for them to ease into the academic rigors of college and gave them a chance to work out with our strength coach Dave Lang. That type of head start academically and athletically should pay dividends for our young players. In a nutshell, these freshmen are acclimating quickly, our talented, and challenging for starting roles in the program.

Sue - Palouse: I was wondering if you could give us a little insight to your players - who's the prankster, the gym rat, the mother hen, etc.?

June Daugherty: Hey Sue, so you want a little bit on the inside scoop on the Cougs? Okay, here's some. The mother hen defiantly has to be Jessica Oestreicher. Although she is sidelined this year with an injury and will redshirt she is right in the mix of making sure everything is going well with her teammates on and off the court. The gym rat award would have to go to April Cook. April is ALWAYS is the gym, working on her shot, and her game, and she take advantage of a lot of film work with the coaching staff. The prankster, I could go with several, but you better keep an eye on Katie Grad, Jasmine Perkins, and our east coast Philly fan Rosie Tarnowski. They are always up to something. Needless to say, our team has a lot of personality and can be a lot of fun. This year's Halloween party should be very interesting to say the least.

Nick, Spokane: Coach, can you talk about the higher expectations on your team this year, and whether the Cougars will compete for post season play?

June Daugherty: Nick, as we enter year three of building our championship program at Washington State having two highly rated recruiting classes under our belt and proven success last year on the basketball court, the expectations are certainly growing. Our goals include winning the Pac-10 and playing at a higher consistent level night in and night out. I think one of our biggest questions is how hard we can play on the defensive side of the floor for 40 minutes. Last year we had some concentration lapses which were costly late in ballgames. We plan to play as many players as possible this year and continue to rotate our young talented Cougs in order to wear down opponents offensively and defensively and minimize mistakes.

Kent, Pasco: We are excited to have you coming to the Tri-Cities this year. I assume that you can't mention names, but is there any Pac-10 level talent around here that you might be looking at for the 2010 recruiting year?

June Daugherty: Kent, first of all every summer we have the opportunity to come to the Tri-Cities Tailgate. What a fun event that is every year. We are pleased to be able to join the men's program and come and play a very competitive doubleheader against San Francisco in front of our Tri-Cities Cougar Nation. It will be a first time playing a "home" game outside of Pullman in a long time and we know our Crimson and Gray will be well-represented and make it feel like we are in Pullman. I know a lot of our Westside fans and fans from Moses Lake for Carly Noyes and Vancouver, Washington for Katie Madison are excited to make the short commute to support the Cougs. As far as recruiting, our goal is always to recruit the state of Washington first and foremost and we certainly have our eyes on a couple up and coming young stars in your area. We look forward to seeing you Dec. 19.

Moderator: Okay that's all the time we have. June, thank you for joining us today.

June Daugherty: Thank you everybody for your support and interest in Cougar Basketball. We are really looking forward to a great year. I hope you can join us for games home and away. We will continue to work hard to make you proud. Go Cougs!

Moderator: Thank you for all of your questions. Throughout the 2009-10 season read the Hardwood Diary (the WSU women's basketball blog) for exclusive information that you can only find at WSUCougars.com about the women's basketball team. You can read the Hardwood Diary by clicking HERE. Please join us Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. when Men's Basketball Coach Ken Bone takes your questions. You can submit questions and follow Coach Bone's chat HERE.