IU will have two new graduate managers on the sideline when the 2016 season begins, and while they’ll both be working toward the same goal, they couldn’t have taken more different routes to the coaching world.
Ten-year WNBA veteran Mistie Bass and former Maryland video intern Eddie Praley were announced as additions to IU Coach Teri Moren’s staff Tuesday.
Bass went to two Final Fours as a player with Duke and won a WNBA Championship with the Phoenix Mercury, while the 23-year-old Praley has bounced around in several coaching and student manager roles despite his young age.
Praley, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, said he reached out to IU about working for the team at the end of last season. He said he was a huge fan of the basketball culture in Indiana and said he liked what he saw from Moren and her team when Maryland played IU last season.
“The passion, the way she coaches her girls up — it was very infectious, even sitting all the way up in the stands watching them play while I was recording the game,” Praley said. “You could tell she had a lot of fight in her.”
Praley’s main role will be helping with video scouting, though he will also be looking to absorb as much information as possible from IU’s more experienced coaches, he said.
“One day I’d like to get into coaching, but right now I’m just taking it day-by-day and learning as much as I can,” Praley said. “I went after this position because I felt like it gave me a good foundation of learning about how to build a program.”
Bass will bring more than a decade of high-level college and professional experience to the table, which she said she is thrilled to share with the Hoosier players.
In her previous WNBA offseasons, she traveled overseas to play professionally and earn more money to supplement her domestic salary.
“Playing year-round for 10 years is quite difficult, and it’s taxing on your body,” Bass said. “Now is my time to put my feet in the water of coaching and see how it feels.”
Bass said the IU gig was one of several opportunities available to her, but she found the best fit in Bloomington. She, along with Praley, cited the up-and-coming Hoosier program as an exciting opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something special.
The Hoosiers reached their first NCAA Tournament in 14 years last season and finished with a 21-12 record. They lost just one player to graduation and return junior point guard Tyra Buss, who Bass said has a lot of potential for a great professional career.
“I have a huge passion for taking players and developing them both as players and individuals,” Bass said. “I’ve always been an energy player, and I want to be able to transfer that energy into coaching.”
She said one of her goals is to prepare each and every player on the team for a professional life after college, whether in basketball or in another field. Bass also said her experience as a college player will help her relate to the current players.
Praley is already in Bloomington and has been part of the staff for the past several weeks. However, Bass said she wouldn’t be in town until her current season with the Mercury ends, which will be sometime between late September and late October.
Bass said she has already spoken with Janese Banks, one of the three full-time assistants on Moren’s staff, and laughingly recalled how excited she was when talking to Banks about the upcoming season.
“I can’t wait to dive into things, learn as much as possible, and I’m excited to get to know the girls and their personalities,” Banks said.
