Summer Q&A With Head Coach Ginny Boggess

Heading into her third season as Toledo's head coach, Ginny Boggess led the Rockets through an eight-week summer workout and practice schedule, with six new Rockets along with eight returners engaging in a summer that included several community service outings and the program's staple Blue/Gold Week. Coach Boggess talked about a high-energy summer from her players.

Looking back at this summer, did anything stand out to you as different as compared to past summer in your coaching career?

Boggess: I've been most impressed with this team's love of competition. They love to compete. Teams I've had in the past - when we finish we've got eight minutes left or six minutes left and I say 'what do you guys want to do?' This team wants to play. A lot of teams want to shoot or say 'hey, can we go over this?' This team wants to play and I really like that about these guys.

Outside of the competition, what else impressed you the most about this team throughout summer workouts?

Boggess: Our physicality and athleticism. I think we've leveled up in both of those areas. If we can stay healthy, knock on wood - I laugh when I say that because it's a part of sports, but it's something that certainly really hindered us in the second half of conference play last year - our depth is impressive. I'm really pleased with the amount of depth that we have. That's a credit to our coaching staff for really working hard in the portal and then it's always very important for us to recruit, retain, develop. We were able to keep most of our top kids which is great.

You talked about the physicality. Talk about the strength and conditioning workouts they did over the summer. How much commitment did the group have to those workouts as well?

Boggess: That's something that we've identified as a big priority in recruiting. We can drill rebounding all day, for example, but the best way to be an elite rebounding team is to recruit rebounders and then develop their skills. So, we recruited players that play with a natural physicality or players that have been exposed to the P4 level and know what next-level physicality and athleticism looks like. Then we plugged them with our exceptional strength and performance coach in the summer. That's where our culture really steps in. Even if they've been at a higher level but haven't trained the way we train or develop the way we've developed in the weight room, they all quickly bought in and got on board with what we're asking them to do. It's always a good sign when a player comes in and says, 'I'm sore and I did an ice bath for the first time,' and this was a junior. That just means we have a great culture that our players are taking care of their bodies, they're recovering at a high level, but also that they're sore enough maybe for the first time in her life to say, 'okay, I'll try an ice bath.'

Talk about the newcomers. How easy was it to get them adjusted and what energy did they bring?

Boggess: Tremendous energy, contagious energy, competitive energy. I think if you ask our team what Toledo women's basketball is all about, they all came here for the right reasons. They wanted to be in a style of play that fits them. They wanted to be around other really high-achieving young women. They wanted to be at a place that's supported in women's basketball. So the energy they brought in addition to that competitive energy is just an energy of pursuing excellence. They all came because they wanted to get better and you could feel that every day in workouts.

I think the first one to jump off the page from a leadership standpoint is Reagan Wilson. She's a natural leader. She is a young lady who enjoys bringing people along with her in the journey. She enjoys celebrating one another. She also leads by example and that's where her instant credibility came from. She was able to encourage and bring people along because she's also working at her max capacity every day.

Natiah Nelson has a high motor. The staff at DePaul told me that she never had a bad day and they were absolutely spot-on. She just brings it every single day and just brings that relentlessness. I think the word 'dawg' is a little bit overplayed at times, but not in this scenario. Natiah Nelson truly is a 'dawg' and I think her teammates are having a lot of fun playing with her.

Jyah LoVett is a pro in every sense of the word. She's a three-level scorer. She has a pro frame and a pro mindset. She works extremely hard. She attacks her process. She has a blast defending at a very high level and she's brought that energy with her every day. I think all three of those young ladies have something to prove and that's a really good thing. When you come to a place like Toledo where you have the resources and every opportunity to prove that, we're certainly going to open it up for them.

Judit [Oliva] has been here the least amount of time because she was playing for her national team [Spain], which we always want to encourage. What a sharp young lady. She's incredibly inquisitive. She has international high-level experience. She picked up very quickly and her willingness to do whatever the team needs, that's a really positive contagious energy of 'whatever you need, coach.' That has spread very quickly and so we're excited to have her.

And then anchoring us down low – it's been really, really fun to see KD [Kiera Edmonds] go from sticking her toe in the water, surveying and feeling things out to really laying it on the line, especially that last week for Blue/Gold Week. She's barely scratched the surface of what she's capable of, but she's one of the best shooters on our team and she brings a quiet competitiveness that's maybe different from some of the others, but you can tell she's here for all the right reasons. She's competing at a high level and I think the fun thing for her right now as she's getting her swagger back is she's mostly focused on competing with herself. She's trying to be the best she can possibly be and I think that's always a great starting block.

What energy did you see from the returners as summer went along and how did that influence the newcomers as they started?

Boggess: I think they received the transfers with openness. It's not uncommon for there to be a little friction between the newcomers and returners because, 'oh, you're bringing these people in to maybe take my spot.' We don't have that at all here. They welcomed our transfers with open arms. I think that that energy of inclusivity and, 'we're all on one team with one mission' was felt by the new players and I think it gave our players the credibility to be like, 'Hey, we're a team. We're on a mission here and we're all at Toledo to win championships and be the best student-athletes we can possibly be.'

You're seeing Faith and Miriam be more vocal leading from the sideline. I've been super impressed with Destiny Robinson and how she's returned to play – physically stronger, mentally stronger and has that confidence about her where she's just so steady. She's been a tremendous leader. Eva and Ella Weaver have really stepped into big, big roles for us conceptually from understanding the offense to teaching and empowering their teammates, but I think the biggest thing is these guys are having fun playing basketball and that's what we want.

Part of the summer is about community service. How does that community engagement, especially in this lighter period for basketball, help the program?

Boggess: I very much believe in community service and getting our young ladies out into the greater Toledo area, and giving back to all the people that support us so much. I also believe that philosophically, I get the opportunity to introduce young people to the power of philanthropy and how rewarding it is, and hopefully we plant a seed in our players that grows and lives on in them when they leave Toledo. We were out and about a lot and I was really proud. Sydney Workman on our staff really spearheads that for us and she got the players at a bunch of different events. What we found is this group especially loves working with children. We went to some summer camps and had some different opportunities there. They immediately gravitated toward the kids and started laughing with them, joking with them, shooting with them, whatever it is, and it was really fun to see that different side, that nurturing side, that fun side of our players when they give back to the community. We ran into a bunch of our fans as we were out and about, and I got so much positive feedback about how engaging and what great energy this team has.

A staple of the summer for you is Blue/Gold Week. How much fun is ending the summer that way? How does it help the program and can you give an insight to some of the games that you played this year?

Boggess: I think Blue/Gold Week is just as much fun for me as the players. They dove all-in, which they normally do and like we said, this team loves to compete, so that was really fun. We did everything from brain teasers to self-reflection to shooting competitions to "Minute To Win It"-type games. It was 20-20 going into the last 5-on-5. We did a five-minute scrimmage, two, 2:30 halves for all the marbles. That gives you an indicator of how competitive this group is and I think we did a pretty good job of making the teams evenly matched. We did field day in Larimer. We were kicking field goals, we were trying to kick a soccer ball into a tiny little net, to medicine ball tosses, to so many different fun things in addition to all of the basketball things. It's fun to make sure we remember that these kids want to have fun and want to play. So Blue/Gold Week was a great ending. Shout out Team Gold for that final victory there with Jyah LoVett's game winner!

One other thing I'll say on Blue/Gold Week is, you learn a lot about the team during that week and you learn a lot about your staff. You watch everybody really come together and, still be one team, one mission as Blue versus Gold, and watch those organic relationships grow. My first summer here, Kendall Carruthers hit a game winner and Khera Goss ran at her and they didn't know how to celebrate together because they'd never celebrated together. Now you fast forward two summers later, similar things were happening - learning how to celebrate, learning how to communicate with each other and what one another needs in any given moment, whether it's good moments or hard moments. Those are all things that make us closer and make us stronger from the summer.

You've had some new staff join recently. What have Doshia Woods and Deonte Henderson brought to the staff since coming to campus?

Boggess: Doshia has brought a wealth of experience and not just the success that she had as an assistant coach, but the perspective now of having been a head coach. I think one of the cool things is for her was looking around the city of Toledo and Toledo women's basketball and realizing how fortunate we are and how much of an opportunity this is for our recruits and our players to compete for championships and be successful at every level. She's given me some great insight to some things she wishes she would have done better and some things that can make me better as our leader, but also has really brought the ability to build relationships with players, with recruits and with our staff. She's just absolutely tremendous.

For Deonte, what a resume. How blessed are we to have a graduate assistant that's been exposed to the high level (the WNBA) that he has? So, we've talked a lot of hoops. He's just getting started officially and really getting rolling, so I'm excited for what he's going to bring to the staff. He's a servant leader. He wants to help. He wants to grow and learn, and he's so proud to be back home. That energy that he brings every day, I think, is building a tremendous amount of trust and respect among the team. I think the sky's the limit for that young man.

At the end of Blue/Gold Week, you talked to the players about being intentional in this period of relative rest these few weeks. Can you talk about what being intentional in rest you're looking for?

Boggess: I will say I'm growing in this area as well. I've always been taught that you don't rest until the job is done, and so you're almost resting to recover, and I think that's a really important thing. We talk a lot about recovery and restoration in our program, and I really want them to rest because the summer work is done, but I also want them to reframe rest as rest in preparation. More like 'I need a good night's sleep tonight for tomorrow, rather than I just got my butt kicked and I need to rest.' So I wanted them to reframe this three-week period of rest as resting in preparation for the work that is to come. Yes, celebrating the work that's been done, but looking ahead eagerly, looking ahead intentionally, and beginning with the end in mind. If a player plays 35 or 36 minutes a game over a 30-game stretch versus 29 or 30 minutes a game over a 30-game stretch, that's five or six full games of basketball that they're adding on at the end, so we're beginning with the end in mind, and we want them to do the same, to rest and be ready to rumble.

How exciting is it that there's this big build-up for the Cleveland Sirens and the WNBA coming back to Ohio, and playing in Rocket Arena which also hosts the MAC Tournament?

Boggess: Toledo is amazing because you get a little bit spoiled having access to Detroit and Ann Arbor. You've got access to Cleveland. You've got access to Chicago. You've got access to Indy. Coach Woods, coming from Denver, she's like, "I can get anywhere. I can get in the car and get to all these W games. I can get to all these great recruiting sites." So that was a good reminder for me. I think the momentum is real. I think the Midwest has tried-and-true women's basketball fans. Before it was popular, Toledo especially was way ahead of the curve with supporting women's basketball, but I think this is an incredible time. I'm so grateful for the access we have to all of it.

I hopped in the car a few weeks ago to Chicago to watch Natisha Heideman play with Seattle versus the Sky. So, to have the WNBA coming an hour and 45 minutes away is unbelievable.

Players Mentioned

Kendall Carruthers

Kiera Edmonds

Jyah LoVett

Natiah Nelson

Destiny Robinson

Ella Weaver

Reagan Wilson

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