The hype around NKU’s women’s basketball team has grown exponentially this offseason, and many know why: a very reconstructed roster. While this team is returning nine players from last season, they have brought in six new players, three transfer student-athletes and three freshmen. The maestro of all these moves has been new Head Coach Jeff Hans. Hans has a very impressive resume from his 13 years at Thomas More University, including three national titles at the Division III and NAIA levels. However, he is making a large shift from the Division II Saints to the Division I Norse.
“The biggest difference is all the help that we have with the budget and the different resources we have,” said Hans. “When you get on the court and you start talking about practice and those type of things, you know, it’s basketball, it doesn’t matter what level.”
Hans has experienced many different levels of women’s basketball in his career, from high school to soon Division I, and one of the things he has consistently done well is prepare his players for the next levels. Hans has produced many players who went on to have excellent careers in college and even in the professional leagues. At the same time, he will be stepping into a program that has coaches who have become synonymous with winning, but he feels his time behind those coaches has prepared him to assist his players.
“I think my years of experience and being here with Coach [Nancy] Winstel for those three years as an assistant and then also the years of GA has put us in a position with how to relate to people, relate to this campus and this university on ways to put our players in the best position to be successful,” said Hans.
One of the reasons he has formed so many elite players is due to the tough workouts and schedules he gives them. The Norse will be playing a challenging variety of teams this year, including former tournament teams, conference-winning teams and of course inter-conference teams.
“When you do this for as long as I’ve done it, you just cherish games. You love playing, you love watching all the work that you put into practice translate to the games and seeing how we can execute,” Hans said. “It’s a tough opening week but it all prepares us for the Horizon League.”
This opening week starts at home against a Middle Tennessee team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament and is returning most of their starters. The Norse then go on the road to face the 22nd ranked Kentucky Wildcats. They will end the week on the road against the Marshall Thundering Herd. another team that made the NCAA tournament last year and one that one 26 games that season.
Even with a tough schedule, Hans has the utmost hope in his team. He has not shied away from setting large goals for this time both in their court performance and who they are off the court.
“When we talk, start talking about the season overall, the goal is win [the] Horizon League from day one, [and I] said that from the time I got the job, and then get to the NCAA tournament,” Hans stated. “If you don’t set those goals a little bit lofty you’re never going to reach them, so we’re working for that part of it and trying to achieve that.
Hans said that the goal is to get better. There is no concrete measure for success as a team, but rather the success comes from the growth the team makes throughout the season.
“can we get better? Can we get better as young ladies [and] as players?” Hans questioned
One of the hardest jobs that Hans has faced since his arrival on campus as the leader of this team was gaining the trust of the team members. With a nearly completely refaced coaching staff in addition to a new-look roster, it is expected for there to be new goals and new ideologies instilled within the team. Finding a way to create team chemistry in the off-season was of great importance to him.
“The biggest thing to do that is getting them to buy into that vision and do the things that we ask them to do and understand and trust that at the end of the day, we want them to be successful,” Hans explained. “We can have the best scheme out there possible, best game plan, but if we don’t go out there and finish and trust our habits and the things that we build in practice then we’re not going to be successful that night, so knowing those things will help us.”
One of the biggest aspects for these players to buy into was Hans’ ability in the game. The mountain of accolades and wins can be very intimidating, but his humble and modest attitude has been a powerful factor in orchestrating a team that is led by the coach with the highest winning percentage in women’s college basketball today.
“It’s not about me, it’s about our players, about this program. It was about Thomas More and that’s how it is here,” Hans said.
Hans has held many positions on a basketball coaching staff, and he stressed how those years of experience have taught him the little things that can take a team from good to great. One of those factors is keeping your emotions in check on the sidelines.
“If they see me rattled and flustered then they’re going to be rattled, they’re going to be flustered, they’re going to be anxious so I can’t change,” said Hans. “I can show emotion, they can play with emotion, but then we gotta be able to have that composure to finish games at the end. [We] put them in those places so that when we get there in November, December, January, February, March, they know how to handle it.”
Hans is ready for the season and stressed to Norse Nation that they should also be ready and show out for this new team due to the success his past teams have had.
“Take a look at what we’ve done in the past. Start with what has been done at Thomas More and look at where we were there and all the transitions we had,” Hans said. “I mean you go from Division III to NAIA and in four years we’re able to have three championship game appearances.”