Young IU women's basketball team says energy, passion will be trademarks

IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack never stopped smiling Friday night as members of the IU women’s basketball team danced their way into the 2007-08 season, showing off their moves as each was introduced at Hoosier Hysteria. Even Legette-Jack gave the crowd something to cheer about as she took the floor before taking the microphone and firing up the crowd, asking for fans’ support this season. \n“Will you stay with us?” Legette-Jack asked the crowd of several thousand, many of whom came even before women’s practice started. \nJunior forward Whitney Thomas said the team is ready to move from early morning offseason conditioning to full-out practice.\n“It’s great,” Thomas said. “We’re ready to get started. We had a long preseason getting in shape, getting ready, and we’re excited to finally start playing basketball.”\nJunior forward Kim Roberson agreed and said the team believes Friday night was the start of “becoming great.” \nLegette-Jack said she is excited to begin the season. Basketball “brings out the best of everybody,” she said.\n“This is our passion, and it takes us to a whole other level,” Legette-Jack said. \nA feature of this year’s \nwomen’s basketball team will be new faces. The team has six freshmen, one walk-on, one sophomore and a transfer on this year’s roster. Guard Nikki Smith is the lone senior on the team. \nHowever, the team’s veterans don’t seem worried about this youth movement. \nRoberson compared introducing the new players – especially the freshmen – to IU basketball to “taking a child to a candy store,” and Thomas said all the newcomers are settling in well.\n“They’re acting like they’ve been here forever,” Thomas said.\nLegette-Jack said she is especially excited about the freshmen.\n“I never thought that we could recruit kids that have the same kind of energy that I have,” Legette-Jack said. “Well, I really think my six freshmen take a pound of sugar and just pour it back. They have so much energy and passion.”\nLegette-Jack said the team’s new players worked with the team in the summer to develop chemistry and bond. \n“They’re sisters,” Legette-Jack said. \nThomas, Roberson and Smith all said the team thrives on constant energy, something they said comes from Legette-Jack. \n“She’s fun to be around because she’s just so passionate about the game,” Smith said. “And she just wants us all to enjoy it because she’s been there and she’s been through what we’ve been through.”\nDuring Hoosier Hysteria, the team worked on layups, went through weave drills and practiced 3-point shooting – something the team seemed to excel at Friday night. \nIn the highlight event of the night, sophomore guard Jamie Braun defeated Smith in a 3-point contest. Braun eventually faced sophomore guard Armon Bassett, the men’s champion, and lost to him by just one point. \nAs for the dancing, Smith joked that the players had nothing to do with Legette-Jack’s dancing show, while Legette-Jack said she teaches her players dance moves in practice. \n“That is from her Syracuse days,” Smith said, to which Legette-Jack later responded with an exuberant smile: “I’m the best dancer on the team ... That’s how we warm up. I warm the team up.”\nLegette-Jack said the team is working to build a tradition at the University, and Friday night was just another step in that direction. \n“We have a legacy that we need to create here,” she said. “We’re on a mission to create some (history).”