CCU women looking to exceed preseason expectations

Coastal Carolina women’s basketball coach Jaida Williams was coy Monday in indicating that the Chanticleers will have a noticeably different style of play this season.

One she hopes will help the Chants exceed outside expectations as they were picked to finish 10th out of 11 teams in the Big South in the preseason coaches poll unveiled during the conference’s media day at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Charlotte Uptown hotel.

“As I said last year when we were picked fifth, preseason polls are preseason polls,” Williams said. “We’re going to put in the work every day to make sure we put together a team that represents what Coastal Carolina is about.”

Liberty was tabbed as the Big South preseason favorite for the 18th time in the last 19 years, receiving six of 11 possible first-place votes with Winthrop slotted second with four first-place votes.

The Chants curiously received the other first-place vote after finishing 12-18 overall last year and ninth in the league standings.

They also lose their two best players from that team as leading scorer AJ Jordan (16.9 points per game) graduated and forward Anna Vogt (13.9 points, 7.7 rebounds per game) left the program to move closer to home in Missouri, as Williams explained in the offseason.

But Williams is exceedingly optimistic nonetheless entering her third season with the program, and a large part of that confidence comes with the change in playing style she mentioned.

“Without giving too much away, I think when you see our team it’s going to be a different brand of basketball,” she said. “We ran a ton of quicks, pro-style basketball when we had AJ and Anna, but it’s a completely different style of basketball [now] so I think much more enjoyable for the fans to watch.”

Williams later added with a laugh that the Chants will aim to be the women’s basketball version of the San Antonio Spurs in their approach on the court.

“I think it’s more of a shared attack, more of a pass, move, cut type of attack. So the development has been a lot different,” she said.

Among the key returners from last season are junior point guard Ced Gibson (10.7 points, 3.1 assists per game), sophomore guard Jas Adams (8.5 points, 4.2 rebounds per game), senior guard Stephanie Isaacs (7.7 points per game) and junior forward Alexis Robinson (6.0 points, 8.1 rebounds per game).

Gibson actually underwent surgeries on both knees last March, one to repair a previous procedure and another to fix a torn meniscus that she played through in the other knee the second half of last season, but Williams said the point guard looks to be back to full strength.

“She looks amazing. She looks way better than she did,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, senior Nicole Isaacs joins the mix this year after sitting out last season as a transfer from Manhattan, and the Chants added a large incoming class. Williams is high on the impact Isaacs and forward Yasmin Miller, a 6-foot-1 junior college transfer, can make.

Overall, she feels the Chants have good depth and suggested she may use as many as 13 or 14 players in her rotation.

“When you see the style of play we’re going to be playing you’ll understand a little bit more,” Williams said. “Again, it depends on how quickly our freshmen develop. If they develop at the rate that they’ve been developing since July, then I think we’ll absolutely go 14 (deep). If freshman tendencies take over then we can go 10.”

Williams also has an entirely new coaching staff as associate head coach Heather Kearney and assistant coaches Terry Primm and Latisha Luckett all enter their first season with the program.

Sarah Smoak, who spent two years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, is now at the director of video operations for Miami’s women’s basketball program; former assistant William Clay left to become a math professor to utilize his advanced degrees, Williams explained; and Tom Goehle had to step away for an unforeseen family matter, she said, adding that he still checks in with the team often to send his support.

She said the new staff has come together smoothly.

“It’s been really, really good. I’ve been blessed to have really, really good basketball coaches and really, really good people,” Williams said. “Coach Kearney has helped tremendously with the defensive end of the ball and Coach Luckett has helped greatly with recruiting, as well as Coach Primm, and with player development. So it’s been a really, really fun time working with this group.”

And with so many new pieces to the puzzle, that coaching staff still has plenty of work to do before the Chants open the season Nov. 13.

“I guess the biggest question mark would be just the toughness. How tough are we going to really, really be?” Williams said. “I think the chemistry is there. Of course early on we still have turnovers that we want to shave back a little bit. How quickly are our freshmen going to develop? That’s probably the biggest question. No doubt they’re talented, but how quickly are they going to adjust to the college game?”

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "CCU women looking to exceed preseason expectations."