From brand new uniforms to a freshman-dominated roster, the Whitworth women’s basketball team is entering the 2024-2025 season with a roster full of fresh talent. Head coach Kenny Love and assistant coach Lisa Faucette are working hard on rebuilding the program into something of their own, as this is the first year that the roster will be made up entirely of players that Love has brought to the team. The coaches are building the team from the foundation up.
Although Coach Love is still new to the women’s coaching staff and has only three seasons of experience as the head women’s basketball coach, he has a lot of experience with Whitworth basketball. Love played basketball at Whitworth, where he received multiple Northwest Conference (NWC) recognition during his years on the team, and he also was an assistant coach for the men’s team from 2017 until he took over as head coach for the women’s team.
Among the roster of 12 girls, there are seven freshmen and two new transfers. With over half of the team graduating and leaving the team after last season, the coaching staff has prioritized recruiting young players who will be committed and consistent with the team over the next multiple years. Hopefully, the emphasis on younger players will reflect a strategic move to build the program for long-term success, with the incoming class bringing energy, talent, and enthusiasm.
Because there are no seniors on the team, every player has an “equal status.” Freshman Julianna (Juju) Jeross, who graduated from University High School in Spokane, WA, after playing varsity all 4 years, explained that “[Coach Love] has made it a big deal that age, positions, seniority, and hierarchies are not really a thing on this team. Everyone is pretty much on the same baseline level, and we’re all equal.”
The women’s team has been practicing for their season since the school year started. And while the players have gotten to know each other and grow in connection, they are still competing for a starting spot. Jeross explained that the team is really connected outside of practice, saying, “You can probably see us walking around campus together, and we always eat in the hub together.” However, in practice, the team is competitive, and “everyone is just competing for a spot.”
After finishing sixth in the NWC last year, the team has long-term goals to reach. Jeross said, “The goal for this season is just to build together and build the program to be stronger.” As the team builds their program over the years, they will have stronger seasons and reach for the NWC title. Jeross has long-term goals to reach, too. Among her hopes to be a starting small forward, Jeross aims to develop a leadership role on the team and be an intimidating player for other teams to watch out for as she continues her basketball career at Whitworth.
The women’s team has already had their first non-conference game, in which they lost to Carrol College. The team took it as a learning opportunity to practice playing as a unified team and to build off of what they needed to work on in practice. The team’s first conference game is against Pacific Lutheran University on Jan. 3 at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
