Men's Basketball, Men's Sports, Women's Basketball, Women's Sports

BASKETBALL GUIDE: Q&A with Vic Cegles

Q: What are your thoughts on this year’s men’s basketball team?

Cegles: I think this is a transitional year. We made some changes and we have seven new players, and I know that it takes a lot of time for everybody to get together in terms of learning how to play together, learning what their roles are, which is such an important part of basketball. It’s just going to take some time for them to gel and know when to pick each other up. But the great part of it is, they’re terrific kids, and they’re coachable. They’re working hard, working together. All of the things you need to have to have a successful team. To me, the question is, over a period of time, do the leaders — I’ve never seen a championship team without leaders — so who’s gong to be the leaders of this team? And then to play the schedule that we play, which is … probably No. 1 in the country in nonconference, and I think that’s going to be a real challenge for us. We still have one transfer, Tyler Lamb, who’s ineligible until after the first semester. And he went to UCLA, and he’s a pretty good player, so not having him is going to be more of a challenge for us in the early season. I think we’re going to get better, and as I told Coach (Dan Monson), we don’t need to win the championship. We just need to win the tournament. We won the championship three years in a row, and I think it puts more pressure on us in the tournament. We can finish third or fourth in conference and then let’s go win the tournament.

Q: How about the women’s team?

C: I’m really excited about women’s basketball and what we’ve been able to put together as a nucleus of players. I think we have outstanding coaches, and Jody [Wynn] has been here for five years, and it takes time to build. If we stay healthy throughout the year, I think this may be one of our better teams in a long time. She has an outstanding nucleus of kids. They know each other; they like each other. I think that there’s a great vibe amongst the team, and having some new players will bring some athleticism. We needed some point guards handling the ball, so I think we’re a lot better on the perimeter. Hopefully Devin [Hudson] gets cleared and Bianca [Balthazar] gets cleared. The health thing is a real focus for us because we’ve been unhealthy for the last couple years, and now we just need to have everybody on the same page together, playing again.

Q: Are there any home games that you’re particularly looking forward to this year?

C: I think they’re all … any time you play you want to win. But if I look at it, Creighton and USC, and Loyola Marymount’s pretty good. That’s going to be three big games for us. I know for the USC game, the kids are off school, but I’m just hoping that we have a good turnout for those three games, and certainly the students make the difference in the atmosphere in the Pyramid. I’m sure we’ll get some USC fans coming to the Pyramid.

Q: What does the athletics department have planned with promotions this year?

C: It’s just about trying to get students on campus excited about athletics and get excited about men’s and women’s basketball. I think we work pretty hard at it. Have we been as successful as we’ve wanted? No, you never are … I think a big push is going to be with students. They make the atmosphere at any kind of athletics event, especially basketball. Student participation is critical for us. I think it’s important for the students to rally around athletics and to feel a part of this campus. You reach a point in your college experience — how much of your college experience is in the classroom, and how much is out of the classroom. And I think athletics has an important role in that. You look at all of the major schools who are playing football, and they get 10, 15 thousand students going to football games on every Saturday afternoon. We don’t have football, but with basketball it’s the same deal at major schools. We want to compete, we want to have kids come and I want them to have a good experience when they’re here. Homecoming is this weekend, so I don’t know what the vibe is out there. You’re on a college campus, so have fun. Support your teams, take pride in your teams. All of that stuff is part of the college experience. Hopefully they understand and participate, and it helps us and it helps out kids play harder and play better, that kind of stuff … If I want to clarify some things, it’s just I think athletics is such an important part of the college experience. I just want students to take advantage of that. I really believe that interaction with … whether you’re together in the residence hall, or if you commute or in a fraternity or sorority, that there’s such a benefit to participating in the activities that our campus provides. And it’s not necessarily just all athletics. Whether it’s in the arts or the interactions you have club teams or in organizations, that kind of stuff. A good thing about athletics is there is a pride there. When you play your rivals, when you play Fullerton and Irvine, you get a strong student crowd out there that is proud of who they are and what they’re about … I just want students to enjoy and take pride in this institution. It’s a great school.

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