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Q & A With Coach Jabir
Q & A With Coach Jabir
UDBrian
Published by UDBrian
01-26-2011
Q & A With Coach Jabir

DAYTON (OH) -- Coach Jabir has been the women's basketball coach at UD for eight years. He began by having a meeting with the team and telling them what he expected from them during the season and off season. This resulted in several players leaving who didn't want to be part of an uphill climb. But, several players stuck it out and together with Coach Jabir's first recruiting class they began playing his version of UD Women's basketball.

UD had not had a lot of recent success in women's basketball and initial recruiting wasn't easy for Coach Jabir. His first recruiting class was athletic and filled with players who hadn't reached their potential. Newcomers Kiki Lund, Brittany Holterman, Ashley Armstrong, Karah Cloxton and Nikki Oakland were relatively low profile recruits who were committed to playing hard and turning UD into a winner. They all had the potential to be good players but needed work on their games.

The players who decided to stick it out and see what happened were Jennifer Strong, Amber Peterink, Angela Cape, Terri Ramsey, Emily Williams, Katie Butler, Leslie Burns and Cara Wright.

I remember hearing a radio interview with Brittany Holterman as she described her first trip to UD from Wisconsin, and here is my memory of that interview. She drove down to Dayton for the weekend and took a tour around campus with her friends. At that point she decided she wanted to come to UD. She went to coach Jabir's office. Coach Jabir pulled her information file which said that she was a very good athlete that needed help with her shooting. Coach Jabir said that they could teach her to shoot and offered a scholarship which was accepted immediately.

The first years were a struggle because coach Jabir was installing a fast pro style offense and a help defense system. The players all had a lot of potential but it took time for them to adapt to this style of play.

Turnovers and tough losses were the norm for a while. But, that freshman class and the players who stuck around continued to improve. The great point guard inside Karah Cloxton began to emerge and their level of play became higher and higher. Those players paved the way for UD to become a tremendous women's program.

Since those first years the program has not lost any momentum. They landed a tremendous small forward from Canada (Kendel Ross) who would become a driving force to their first NCAA tournament berth and win. They landed a great local recruit in Kristin Daugherty and followed it with local Kari Daugherty, Cassie Sant, Ally Malott and Andrea Hoover. Mixed in with the local commitments were a 6'4" center from Akron (Casey Nance), and players from Maryland, Kentucky, Minnesota, Illinois, Toledo and Louisville. Their latest commitment from a 6'4" post player from France shows how far the program has come and where it is headed.

Coach Jabir was kind enough to answer some questions for UDPride fans which are listed below.

What are your goals for the UD Women's basketball program?


JJ: Simply put, our goal is to win the Atlantic 10 Conference every year and be in the top two or three teams if we can't win it outright. We want to represent UD in the NCAA tournament as often as possible, continue to recruit great people who are great players and graduate our players. We want our players to leave UD as better people than they were when they got here.

How did you initially become involved in coaching and when did you realize this is how you wanted to make a living?

JJ: I was a gym rat in college and spent hours in the gym with my own team and then I would watch the women's team practice. Since I was a little kid I loved the game and was always very loyal to it. I was an English major and got a job as a technical writer. I hated it and was very bad at it. My school, Nazareth College hired a new women's coach and he asked me if I wanted to help. That's how it started.

Can you give us some information on recruiting and how it has changed since you first arrived at UD. The first year at UD it seemed that you were most concerned about getting good athletes who would work and play hard. Now you seem to seem to have an easier time getting your foot in the door on higher rated recruits.

JJ: Recruiting has changed dramatically in the past 8 years. When we arrived we tried recruiting blue chip players and none of them were very interested in UD. Instead we signed high character, hard working kids who weren't highly recruited. They helped change the culture of the program and helped bring a winning tradition that was easier for top recruits to wrap their heads around. As we improved so did our perception with those blue chip recruits. After making the WNIT two years in a row, the second round of the NCAA and winning over 70 games the past three seasons it has helped with the perception as well.

Can you tell us the responsibilities of your assistant coaches and how they have helped make this a better program?

JJ: Our assistant coaches are the backbone of our program. If anyone knows me well they know that I am not that smart. I rely on our assistants very much. They are involved in all phases of the program from recruiting, scouting, budgets, academics as well as game and practice coaching.

Casey is not at 100% but she still has a huge defensive impact on the games. Was there any thought about red shirting her for this season and how has she progressed since practice began?

JJ: Casey's progress has been tremendous. She heals so well and so quickly it is amazing. More than just healing quickly, it seems Casey doesn't really lose a step. She's never really rusty, if that makes any sense. Casey doesn't want to red shirt. She wants to graduate with her class and there really hasn't been a need to red shirt her since she's come back so quickly. She get's better every day.

The team seems to be playing much more consistently at this time than earlier in the year. Was some of that inconsistency due to missing Kendel a little bit?

JJ: I think our consistency early was due to learning new roles. I do think we missed Kendel a little. I took our captains a little while to find their voices and that's okay. I also think we went from sneaking up on people last year to taking people's best shots this year. We are not sneaking up on anyone this year.

I have been very, very impressed that Kristin has become a tremendous defensive player since arriving. Having one of your top recruits busting it on defense must work very well in setting an example for others. Can you expand on that?

JJ: I think Kristin is a great human being. She comes from a great, humble family and she only know one way to do things: she gives her best every time. She may not get it right every time but I know I am getting her best shot every time. She works very hard on defense because playing hard is very important to our program and everyone in our program. Kristin is just another player in our program and you are right when you say that having your top player busting it on defense helps everyone in setting an example.

The fast-paced offense you are running will appeal to fans and to future recruites who want to play professionally. How would you describe your offense?

JJ: Our offense is about getting the best, quickest shot we can get always applying pressure on our opponents on the offensive end. We want to beat the defense to a chosen spot and get the best shot tiring them out in the process, hopefully. It takes a lot of discipline and dedication to run every time. It looks easier than it is.

If a recruit's parents happen to read this what would you tell them about their daughter's possible future at UD?

JJ: Our players are treated with respect and love. They are given a great deal of responsibility and are expected to do good things with that responsibility. Growing up an honest, good human being is just as important as the degree they attain and the ball they put in the hoop. Our players will get one of the best educations in the country and will earn every bit of it.

---

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions coach! This is a very good basketball team that deserves more respect and more attendance than they are receiving. The team has several home games remaining but the biggest one is against Xavier on Saturday Feb 15th at 2pm. Hope to see you there.
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  #1  
By John C. on 01-27-2011, 06:28 PM
Great job on the article.

Probably one of the best hires Kissell ever made!
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  #2  
By rollo on 01-28-2011, 11:07 AM
Shouldn't the men's team have the same goals as the women's?
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  #3  
By UDBrian on 01-28-2011, 08:52 PM
Thanks John, I agree that Coach Jabir was a great hire.

And I agree with Rollo that the men and women should have similar goals.
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