TexasGirlsBasketball.com to coach Schneider, "Congrats on your induction into the Hall of Fame. Give us some insight on what that felt like when you first found out."
I was dumbfounded. Pat Summit called to tell me and I just remember being so surprised and excited to even have been considered for nomination, much less actually selected.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com continued, "Playing for you country in 1980 must have been one of the highlights of your career, but a low as well when the boycott was announced. What were you feeling at the time?"
Being on the Olympic team was obviously the pinnacle of my playing career. Most people don’t realize that we still did play that entire spring and summer. The only tournament we missed was the Olympic tournament due to the boycott. We went to Bulgaria and played in the Olympic Qualifying tournament there and won the gold medal in that. The only team that didn’t have to participate in that was the Russian National team since they were the host team of the Olympic Tournament. Our gold medal indicated that we were at least good enough to have won the silver medal if not the gold had we been allowed to participate in the Olympics. I had turned down an opportunity to play on a team that traveled to Russia in the summer of 1979 because I wanted my trip to Russia to be as a member of the 1980 US Olympic team and that was kind of a challenge that I had for myself. The boycott was, without a doubt, a huge disappointment and the low point of my playing career.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com wants to know, "What are some of the reasons you are so excited about this year's high school season?"
We have three starters and one part time starter returning from last year’s team which earned a playoff spot in this very tough 10 team district. We have Haley and Kellyn’s size and what that offers in terms of an offensive and defensive presence. We have several very talented young guards who, with some experience under their belts, have the ability to be very good.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com asked, "A lot of people are talking about you guys (Monterey) as one of the teams to watch. What has to happen for your team to have a break-out season?"
Providing we can avoid injuries or grade issues, I think we just need to mature and gain the experience that can only come with playing games. We only have one senior (Haley), and we are built around four juniors and five sophomores. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of a couple of months and 20 games for our young players to mature in their roles due to the size of the district and the fact that we play our first district ball game the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That’s three weeks and maybe 7 or 8 games in. It’s going to be critical in terms of district standings that don’t give up early losses due to our youth.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com asked, "Coaching your own child has to be one of the most complicated situations in our profession. On one hand people will think you show favoritism and on the other you may prove to be too tough on your own kid. How do you balance this with your girls?"
#13 Kellyn, Mom and #31 Haley
It hasn’t been hard at all. Both of my girls work hard and are very deserving of the playing time and recognition that they have gotten. I have had a parent accuse me of playing Kellyn over her daughter simply because she is my daughter but I know in my own mind what my reasons are/and were for playing any athlete in given situations. I really work hard at separating my role as Kellyn and Haley’s mom from my role as their coach. All of my other players can escape from me and from basketball when they leave the gym and go home and I don’t think it should be any different for my girls. Of course, when we win….especially a big game…that’s all we talk about for hours and they will usually watch the game film with me. But when we lose, as soon as we leave the gym, I try to redirect our attention away from basketball. Usually I just ask them if they want to stop and get something to eat or drink on the way home. Sometimes we just sit in silence and all go to our rooms and close our bedroom doors after we lose but I rarely, if ever, even talk about it with them unless they bring it up first. I usually watch those game films alone or with my assistant. I love my girls and the experience of having the three of us on the same team for two years has been the most rewarding experience of my coaching career. It is really a very special feeling and I have honestly seen my girls grow closer as sisters as a result of being teammates.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com asked, "Last year, you relied heavily on three seniors in Rogers, Wiltz, & Perez to handle the ball, so now what happens? Are Jones & Armstrong prepared to fill this void or is there a new face in the picture that will do so?"
Ashley Perez was our point guard, Becky Rogers was a shooting guard and Toia Wiltz was a power forward last year. All three of them did a super job for us and leave some big shoes to fill. LeeSa Jones opted not to play basketball this year. The starting point guard position is likely to be filled by sophomore Stephanee Carillo and the two guard position by junior Toni Armstrong. Layla Salameh and Sarah Radloff give us good depth at those positions. Junior Kristyn Wilson will get the nod as the starting three player, sophomore Kellyn Schneider at power forward and senior Haley Schneider inside in the post. Sophomores McKenzie Smallin and A’Ja Griggs may become the best sixth and seventh players in the district and junior Micah Mills gives us depth at the four and five spot.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com said, "Haley obviously had a good junior year but what does she need to do to take things to another level?"
Haley is a strong leader and has always been an intimidating presence inside defensively and was named the District 2-5A Defensive Player of the Year last year. She worked hard this summer in the weight room to get stronger and really improved her range offensively. I would like to see her use a few more post moves inside and put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket. She has great hands and does a great job keeping the ball up high and squaring up on her jump shots. If she’ll work on adding some post moves to her game, she’ll take her offensive game to a new level.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com continued, "Kellyn as the younger sister seems to be on the brink of greatness. What is it that make her such a special player?
Kellyn is very mobile for a player of her size. She has played for so many years and has never been afraid to put the ball on the floor, so her ball handling skills are pretty good for a 6’4 sophomore. She has a good vertical, is long, lean and versatile…her wing span is ridiculous. Kellyn played outside on her AAU team much of last summer. Obviously, with her size, we will post her up but she can shoot the mid-range jumper as well as pull out and knock down the three pointer. She’s really very poised and has remarkable mental toughness for a young lady her age.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com asked Coach Schneider, "Wow, lots of big wins in '09 including victories over Plainview, West Mesquite, Frisco, Trinity Christian, Amarillo and the big one CORONADO! What impact does last year have on the mental state of your program going into this next campaign?"
Not only did our varsity have some big wins last year, but our Junior Varsity was one of the best in the area and had a great season as well, thank goodness. Hopefully, the habit of winning games will be one that our returning players as well as the new additions to our team will be determined to carry over into this year. Though many on our roster are inexperienced at this level, they are also very talented and I fully expect that they will rise to the challenge that this district poses.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com said, "You lost by 37 to Midland and then turned around and beat them a month later? How did you guys pull that off and what does that say about your teams' resiliency?"
Midland High had/has a very good team. They just man-handled us in Midland right before Christmas. We played horrible and Midland High had a lot to do with that. I was so proud of my team and their ability to just mark that game up to “one of those games” and come back and have such a great run after Christmas. We really do try to emphasize mental toughness as well as the physical attributes of the game. It’s up to our returning players to help our younger kids adapt the same mental approach this year. If that happens, we’ll have our share of good nights.
TexasGirlsBasketball.com inquired, "Tell us one of the funniest stories that has ever happened to you in your playing career."
#13 of the Lady Vols Jill Rankin skies over Anne Donovan
I always go back to this story when someone asks me this question although it wasn’t near as funny then as it is now. If you have read Pat Summit’s book, Reach for the Summit, there is a story on p. 107 about our 1980 Lady Vol team. To cut to the chase, we played horribly against South Carolina at their place and Pat made us pack our uniforms and go straight to practice when we got back to Knoxville the next day. She preached to us about how we hadn’t bothered to play forty minutes in those uniforms the night before and she assured us that she’d get that forty minutes out of us in our uniforms that day in practice. Well, being the senior leaders that we were, Holly Warlick, Kathy O’Neil and I decided that we needed to do something to lighten the mood for our teammates because it was a given that Pat was going to kill us. Her practices were grueling anyway, even more so when she was on a mission with a point to prove. Anyway, Holly says it was my idea but my memory tells me that she and O’Neil were just as responsible. We decided in the dressing room that if we were going to practice in our uniforms, then we would just introduce ourselves before practice just like the game announcers did. We went down to the tunnel in Stokely, which was down the hall and around the corner from Pat’s office…far enough we thought….and proceeded first to yell “And now…..Introducing #22 for the Lady Vols…HOLLY WARLICK!” Then “AND…now introducing #13….JILL RANKIN!” And we were jumping up and down like we were enjoying the cheers and applause from the crowd and O’Neil starts yelling for us to introduce her. Well, just then, Pat rounded the corner behind Kathy as she was introducing herself and running out, jumping up and down, laughing and cheering. Holly and I saw Pat and just turned around and started acting like we were shooting around… totally dissing a confused Kathy O’Neil. Needless to say that Pat was not humored at all and started yelling something along the line of “Oh, you think this is funny? I’ll show you funny!” The next hour was NOT funny but the story is one of the best ever. Pat had me tell her team that story last year when I was in Knoxville in November for the Lady Vol Hall of Fame Induction. Those players just looked at Holly and I like we must have been stupid to have ever done something like that….but even Pat laughs at it now!
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Kellyn
