With the release of the Men’s and Women’s basketball schedules earlier in September, fans are excited to see what this season will hold. As the new season approaches, team members, junior Brooke Anya, senior Anne-Hamilton Leroy, and new head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery shared their feelings about this season and how they have prepared for this upcoming season.
After last year’s incredibly ground-breaking season, there is much expected from the team. But Lang-Montgomery says, “I don’t feel any pressure at all because this is a new season and a new team. And I’m excited to lead them.” Teammates Anya and Leroy shared their feelings and the feelings of the team going into this season saying, “I think there’s a lot of excitement, because, of course, what we accomplished last year, but also like Coach E was talking about just writing our own story as this new team.” Anya then says, “On top of that, we’re all different, and we’re entering into different roles. So that’s gonna be even more exciting with these new groups of women.” After last year’s season, the team only consisted of seven girls, but after recruiting, the team has added six girls to the roster, leaving the team with 13 girls.
With the first game of the season set for November 7th, Lang-Montgomery says that the team will approach this season the same as they always do, “We don’t look ahead to the next [game]. We focus on the one that’s right in front of us”. Leroy adds on saying, “I think a lot of it too, like Coach E was saying is in our preparation, too. For a lot of us, we’ve seen these opponents before.” But Leroy says that won’t stop their new recruits this season either, “From their previous experiences and how they’ve played, bringing that to our team, will make us best approach the conference schedule.” Lang-Montgomery says she expects her players to come in with the right mindset and be both mentally and physically strong. With that she says, “The mental approach… being ready, before you’re ready…you know I expect them to be in great shape, conditioning is really a big part of the game.” Lang-Montgomery also believes that teamwork is going to play a big role in a successful season. She says, “This summer, we spent a lot of time together, and we had a lot of fun getting to know each other and learn about each other. And becoming a great basketball team.”
As the new season grows closer and closer, Coach Lang-Montgomery is nothing short of thrilled for the season to begin saying, “I’m really happy to be here. I’m excited about the upcoming season.” Lang-Montgomery described her experience as “going to an amusement park, and you just have fun all day long, and then you go home and you’re just exhausted. But then you have so much fun the day before that you want to go back to the amusement park. And that’s kind of every day.”
The Rotunda will continue to stay up to date with the start of the season and cover future games.
