Head coach Bill Fennelly and players of the Iowa State women’s basketball team discussed new roles among returning and new teammates after a massive offseason of turnover.
Heading into Fennelly’s 29th season as the head coach of the Cyclones, the roster looks almost unrecognizable compared to seven months ago when the team hoisted the Big 12 Championship trophy.
Key departures due to the transfer portal and the 2023 graduating class left Iowa State with a pair of returners that saw real minutes, Emily Ryan and Nyamer Diew, to lead a young and inexperienced team that brought in five freshmen and three transfers.
While it is not an ideal situation for the veteran head coach, it is one that Fennelly is not afraid of taking on this season. At media day Thursday, Fennelly said that every season is like taking on a new job and that nothing is normal now in today’s NCAA.
Fennelly expressed that there are 10 players who have never or have barely played ‘at this level’ when talking about the challenges of heading into the season with the new roster, but also assured that even with their inexperience he is planning on having all five of them see time on the court this season.
“I told them when I recruited them that they are the foundation of the end of my time here and the future has to be now,” Fennelly said. “You can wait and feel sorry for yourself when things go bad or think ‘let’s go play’.”
One of those freshmen, Addy Brown, said that right when she and her fellow freshmen got to campus, Fennelly made it very clear to them that they would be utilized this year and they couldn’t waste any time getting equipped to the system.
Brown said as they were moving in Fennelly explicitly said that he ‘needs them ready today’ and that ever since then the new Cyclones have bought into the grind.
“We’ve all taken that chip on our shoulder and just put our heads down and gone to work,” Brown said. “Every single day in practice we just try and get better. Our focus is to limit turnovers and do whatever we need to do to stay on the court.”
Although the freshmen are still adjusting through scrimmages and different rotations in practice, one concern still remains high for the team and that is the timetable for Ryan who has been dealing with a lower leg injury for the majority of the offseason.
Fennelly expressed that while she may not be at her healthiest, Ryan should be good to go but on a ‘pitch count’ during the beginning of their non-conference schedule. During her rehab process her role as a leader has stuck out to Fennelly as she has welcomed her new teammates and not let the turnover get to her.
“I’ve never been around a leader like that,” Fennelly said. “She gets it, she understands it. I think the thing about her that is even more special is she has embraced the idea of looking around the room and there’s not a lot of people she’s played with before, if ever. That could be something you make an excuse for or you embrace that.”
Although Ryan has not been able to be on the court as much as Fennelly and the rest of the team would like, the newcomers have felt her presence from the sidelines as a vocal leader and have also built up rotations for when she does fully return.
Fennelly sees this unfortunate situation as one that the team can still build from and remains confident in Ryan still making an impact for the Cyclones, it will take some waiting.
“She’ll be ready to go when the time comes we just have to be smart about it,” Fennelly said. “I think in a weird way we are trying to rest her enough while giving these other kids even more opportunities to see so that when she does get back we know what we have and maybe a little bit more than if we asked her to carry the load the whole time.”
Ryan expressed that while this is not the ideal situation for her heading into her senior season, she is focused on getting back on the court as soon as she can and helping the team get to where they need to be in order to lift a trophy up for the second year in a row at the T-Mobile Center.
“Sometimes life deals you hands that you weren’t expecting and you just have to take it with what you can and make the most of every opportunity that you have and that’s what I’m going to do,” Ryan said. “I know this team will continue to work hard and do their part as well. We’re just going to come together as a team.”
Diew, also in her senior year, has taken on more of a leadership role on the court due to Ryan’s injury. She sees this opportunity as one to be the leader to the freshman she had when she transferred from Butler in 2021 and is focused on watching her teammates grow heading into the season.
“Being able to lead how I wish I were led at some points a few seasons ago, I get to be that person to the freshman,” Diew said.
At the end of last season, Diew played the best basketball she had since joining the Cyclones and showed a lot of optimism for her final collegiate season. With a larger role in the offense looming over her head, she has the confidence of Fennelly who believes she has the capability of being an all-conference player.
“The thing about Ny [Diew] is that she gets it and she understands the role she is in,” Fennelly said. “Her and Emily being the only two players with any experience, some players run away from that and some kids accept it and embrace it. She’s been fantastic since we came back in the summer.”
