Spring Break
The Daily OrangeGreat expectations (for a change)
After a breakout season, the anticipation has never been higher for SU women's basketball. But can the Orange live up to its inflated expectations?
By Matt Ehalt
Posted: 11/12/08, 7:38 PM EST Section: Basketball 2008
That's what a 22-9 season will do to a team: instill confidence and enthusiasm.
The team is on board with its coach. Just ask forward Vionca Murray, who said the Orange's talent and success from last year will pay dividends. Or sophomore Tasha Harris, who reiterates her coach's declaration and said she shouldn't be on the floor if she didn't believe this squad is the best in the Big East.
The message is clear: Syracuse has set the bar high. It wants to prove last year was not an aberration, but a glimpse into the long-term potential of this team.
"Coach has very high expectations of us, and he doesn't take anything but the best from us, and he expects us to be perfect," sophomore guard Erica Morrow said. "He pushes us in practice to be perfect and I think since, we've all embraced the idea of being perfect."
The athletic department is on board, too. The Orange added a new coordinator of player development position to help oversee the team's academics and split the duties in half that would have previously encompassed the director of basketball operations position.
According to Syracuse's Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, the team had $2,366,317 in expenses for the 2006-07 campaign. Last season, the amount boosted up to $3,061,946, an increase of $695,629 and 29 percent. The next highest amount spent on a women's team in 2007-08 was field hockey at $1,178,764.
Other coaches and analysts expect the Orange to succeed as well, as evidenced by its sixth-place selection in the Big East coaches' poll and 34th in the AP poll. Last season was only the first time in school history Syracuse cracked the Top 25. It didn't quite make the cut this preseason.
Syracuse may not have the cache of a Connecticut or a Rutgers. But it won't be overlooked this year, either.
"Oh yeah, who doesn't like the bulls-eye on our back," junior Nicole Michael said. "Then we know that we gotta come out and do what we have to do."
To compete with the bulls-eye on its back, the Orange must address certain areas of play that plagued it last season.
The team is on board with its coach. Just ask forward Vionca Murray, who said the Orange's talent and success from last year will pay dividends. Or sophomore Tasha Harris, who reiterates her coach's declaration and said she shouldn't be on the floor if she didn't believe this squad is the best in the Big East.
The message is clear: Syracuse has set the bar high. It wants to prove last year was not an aberration, but a glimpse into the long-term potential of this team.
"Coach has very high expectations of us, and he doesn't take anything but the best from us, and he expects us to be perfect," sophomore guard Erica Morrow said. "He pushes us in practice to be perfect and I think since, we've all embraced the idea of being perfect."
The athletic department is on board, too. The Orange added a new coordinator of player development position to help oversee the team's academics and split the duties in half that would have previously encompassed the director of basketball operations position.
According to Syracuse's Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, the team had $2,366,317 in expenses for the 2006-07 campaign. Last season, the amount boosted up to $3,061,946, an increase of $695,629 and 29 percent. The next highest amount spent on a women's team in 2007-08 was field hockey at $1,178,764.
Other coaches and analysts expect the Orange to succeed as well, as evidenced by its sixth-place selection in the Big East coaches' poll and 34th in the AP poll. Last season was only the first time in school history Syracuse cracked the Top 25. It didn't quite make the cut this preseason.
Syracuse may not have the cache of a Connecticut or a Rutgers. But it won't be overlooked this year, either.
"Oh yeah, who doesn't like the bulls-eye on our back," junior Nicole Michael said. "Then we know that we gotta come out and do what we have to do."
To compete with the bulls-eye on its back, the Orange must address certain areas of play that plagued it last season.
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