Wildcat Weekly: Jenepher Banker (2020-21 Episode 2)

9/23/2020 11:15:00 AM

Wildcat Weekly brings you inside the locker rooms of Western New York's Premier Division II Team with host Joe Kraus. In the second episode of the 2020-21 season, Joe is joined by Jenepher Banker, the veteran women's basketball coach who led Daemen to their first East Coast Conference championship and NCAA tournament berth last winter. Banker recounts the Wildcats' magical 2019-20 season and the process it took to build the culture within the program. She also goes in depth on ways the team has come together in recent months to unify their efforts in the fight for social justice and other societal issues. To view the full episode, click on the play button over the image above, or visit youtube.com/daemensportsinfo.

JENEPHER BANKER QUOTABLE...

On preparing for the season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic...
"We just really have tried to talk about staying positive. And it's certainly different than anything in the past. And so, one of our one of our taglines this year is actually unity in adversity, for a lot of different reasons to be honest with you. So that's something we've really focused on is not getting caught up so much in anything thrown our direction, but staying unified in what ever adversity comes our way."

On the culture of last season's championship team...
"Honestly, we've been working towards this for a few years, towards that culture for a few years. So it wasn't just an overnight kind of thing, we had been working really hard towards that. And all the players have also, really just a culture of wanting to win and wanting to, you know, our tagline last year was I got you. So everybody has each other's backs. We spend a lot of time talking about playing as a team. And I think our players do a great job with that, being a team where I think we have great leadership... You either have to have great leaders, you have to have great teammates, and I think we had both last year."

On the team's identity built around the #IGotYou mindset...
"We just felt like that was the next step that we had to make sure that we always had each other's backs no matter what. And so that was the tagline that everybody came up, or the team came up with to remind us, that no matter what, we have each other, and we'll take care of each other, regardless of what happens. When you repeat that a lot of different times, it's certainly helpful in getting you the result that you're trying to go for."

On the team's desire to be social justice advocates...
"The team is pretty passionate about it, really, right from the start of everything that happened in the spring. And why? I think is goes right back to our tagline, I got you. I think we, obviously, we truly believe that. So, obviously, that whole scenario affected certain [people]. We have people on our team from Brooklyn, we have people on our team from Michigan, all over the place, from different backgrounds, which is great, actually. Years ago, I thought that one of our strengths was our diversity within our team, so we've always kind of embraced that. And when this happened, we had some players step up right away and, and have some thoughts on initiative, and everybody just jumped on board. And one of the first things last spring was [everybody's right to] vote. Okay, we've got to get everybody to vote. So, immediately when everybody came back on campus, like by the end of the first week, we're like, okay, who's not registered? And if you're not registered, here we go. Here's the information. And let's just make sure everybody's registered by the end of the week, and everybody was, so we're 100% registered to vote. And so, that was that was initiative number one. I think it's important also to better educate ourselves and others on some history, and some things like that, and to learn to work together with people of all different kinds of backgrounds and cultures."

On student-athletes using their voice to bring about social awareness...
"Everybody's voice matters and I think that that's where we are now. And even in terms of those initiatives, I hope everybody understands that. We did that with our women's basketball team, but any organization or any individual should kind of have that mindset of 'they're 100% registered to vote. Regardless if they're talking about them and their roommate, or a different club, [it would] be great if everybody within their own circles made kind of a pact to be 100% registered to vote, you know? It's super easy to do. You just have to go on the website from your state, and just really type it in. And it's really easy to get the information on how to do that. And it's really easy to get absentee ballots. If you're in another state, and [at] colleges, a lot of people are [from] out of state, but it's really easy to get that. So it'd be great if everybody did that, like I said, within their own circles."

On recruiting...
"We're really committed to good people, and good students, as well as good athletes. So that's what we're looking for, a total person that sure is committed to wanting to be a part of our culture and being a part of a winning culture, but still also committed to doing well in the classroom and being a good person overall, and wanting [to be] the type of person that will want to get involved in some of these other initiatives. So when we recruit, we're looking for the total package. And sometimes sometimes [when we] see a red flag, we turn the other direction and keep moving. So I think, that's also why we have players that want to do the kinds of things we want, right? We look for players that would fit our culture."\

On the 2020-21 team...
"I think we have a fantastic group, both with returners and incoming players, I really do. So, hopefully, we'll be able to get on the court. We were all pretty devastated when we were in New York City practicing for the NCAA's and got sent home. So we were all pretty devastated with that, and hopefully we can get back on the court. And we have a lot of new players that are also great pieces to the puzzle. So we're super excited about about the season and hopefully, hopefully you have it in its entirety."

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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