2019–20 Indiana State Women’s Basketball Preview
When asked how she would like her program described, Indiana State head coach Vicki Hall had one word: “relentless.” Heading into her second season with the program, that’s the culture Hall is building.
Creating a culture isn’t easy. Every coach across the country wants to do it, but not all commit to the process. Hall and Indiana State are committed.
Hall made immediate changes, particularly to the team’s practice habits. “The way that things were done was done a lot different than I wanted to do things. Like lengths of practice, weights, different things,” she said. “We’re going to practice like a Division I program — what I’ve been through as a player and as a coach.”
But the program Hall is building isn’t for everyone. “Some of the players, this wasn’t the level they were looking for,” she said. And after a rough first season in which the team went 5–13 in conference play, Indiana State will be starting fresh this year.
The Sycamores are bringing in an entirely new roster. Fourteen new players. Eight freshmen. Six transfers. Not a single player returns from last year’s team. It is the largest turnover of any program in the country. It will be a difficult adjustment, but one that Hall felt was necessary to establish the program’s culture. “We had to change what the expectation was,” she said.
And there will be no existing expectations for Indiana State next season. They have a blank canvas to build habits and establish a new identity.
And that is exactly what Hall pitched. She asked every recruit, “We’re building. Do you want to be a part of building it? Or do you want to be a part of something already established?”
Pitching a brand-new team was a bit of a challenge to recruits, and freshman point guard Sommer Pitzer admits she was a little concerned. “[Hall] called me over spring break and said it would be an entirely new team. When I heard that, I was a little nervous because I [had] really never heard of that before.”
However, just because she was nervous didn’t mean she had second thoughts. Pitzer believed in the program Hall was building. “I was never thinking about going anywhere else,” she later added.
The players are embracing learning together, and Pitzer believes there are benefits to starting fresh. “I think it helps everybody,” she said. “So we’re not the only ones making mistakes. We’re not the only ones learning.”
It also has helped build that relentless culture Hall wanted to create. Pitzer noted how intense practices have been: “It makes practice really competitive because everyone is fighting for a spot,” she said. “It makes practices fun.”
But it won’t be a one-step process. Hall and her staff know that there will be some bumps in the road this year. “Patience is something that is paramount with this group because we are so new and we are so young,” Hall said.
And with freshmen come freshman mistakes. Indiana State will be learning by fire this season. No opponents will care that they’re one of the youngest teams in the nation. No opponents will care that they’re facing a challenge unlike any other team in the country.
But Indiana State believes in the players they have on the roster. “I have a high expectation. These young girls, they’re talented,” Hall said. She also noted that patience isn’t a justification for poor performance. “While we’re young and we have all new players, is that going to be an excuse? No.”
Indiana State enters the season as the freshest, youngest team in the country. They’ve committed to changing the culture and are looking to translate that to on-court success. They’ve laid the foundation. Now, it’s time to start building.
Indiana State begins its season on November 7th at Kansas. The home opener is December 3rd against Marshall.
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