Nov. 2, 2016
By Mick McGrane, GoAztecs.com Senior Writer
(@MickOnTheMesa)
While the foundation wasn't entirely faulty, neither was Stacie Terry being tossed the keys to a Cadillac.
There was the vacuum of veteran leadership, the chore of changing a culture and the task of identifying a starting five after the team's lone returning starter was lost to injury seven games into the season.
Terry, however, presented with similar trials at previous coaching stops, wasted little time getting her hands dirty.
"I've been a part of rebuilding at other schools. I had to do it at UCLA before (the UCLA staff) moved to LSU, and then we had to do it there," said Terry, who is entering her fourth season as head coach of the Aztecs. "But the cupboard wasn't bare in either those situations. Here, in our first season at San Diego State, we had some issues. We were really thin in some positions, and the one starter that we did have coming back ended up sitting out (23 of 30 games). There were injuries, there was a lack of depth on the roster, just a lot of things that we had to deal with. But now we have kids in here that believe in the things we want to do and, quite frankly, want to play for me.
"We've had our fair share of ups and downs the last three years, but I think it's just all part of the growing pains when someone new comes in and takes over a program, where you're trying to get everybody on the same page and have everybody completely buy in. I think that was the biggest hurdle we had to jump. Now everyone's on the same page. We're transitioning to a style of play that's a little more fit for the athletes we have on our team. I think going forward you're going to see a different team on the floor."
One looking to secure its first winning season since Terry took the reins in 2013.
And one with every intent of parting with its recent past.
The Aztecs may be coming off their second straight 12-19 season and absent from the postseason for four years, but don't think Terry and her staff haven't been chopping wood. A relentless recruiter who is fast filling cracks in walls subject to ill winds, Terry, though not allowed to discuss particulars, already is defining her 2017-18 class as "phenomenal."
She is adding size to offset rebounding deficiencies, adding international players whose talents have become prized by Mountain West elite, and augmenting toughness in a team tired of taking the opposition's best shot.
"Obviously, San Diego isn't a hard sell," said Terry, a native San Diegan who attended El Capitan High in Lakeside. "It's about getting back to the tradition of winning Mountain West championships and getting to the NCAA Tournament. We have everything we need to be successful at San Diego State.
"The kids we have now know me, they're comfortable with me, they're comfortable with the staff and they're comfortable with what we're asking them to do. We have kids who are in the gym all the time, gym rats who are working on their game without me challenging them or telling them to get in there. And they're also succeeding off the court.
"There's a different kind of vibe in our program right now. It's cool to be smart and it's cool to be a hard worker. And that sets the tone for the younger kids coming in. We've got people now who are interested in San Diego State. And I think it's just going to get better and better moving forward because we're able to recruit not only the real high-character kid, but also the the high-character kid who is a talented basketball player."
An asset that will go a long way in SDSU's reversal of fortune.
Much like her first three seasons, 2015-16 was not without teachable moments for Terry. A review of the numbers, though a poor measure of a program still under construction, suggest two things:
A) Placing a premium on rebounding and, B) Placing a premium on rebounding.
In the 11-team MW, the Aztecs finished ninth in offensive rebounds and 10th in defensive rebounds, a liability that, not surprisingly, also found them tethered to a ranking of ninth in scoring margin (minus -4.2). SDSU did not have a player finish the season ranked among the league's top 20 in rebounding.
It was not a deficiency lost on Terry, who in the aftermath of her team's loss to Colorado State in last year's conference tournament, made it a point of emphasis, saying, "We need to get better on the glass."
To that end, four players of at least 6-feet or taller, including 6-6 Nigerian native Naomi Ekwedike, comprise the 2016 class of newcomers. The others include 6-foot forward Khalia Lark, a transfer from Washington who will be eligible to join the team at semester break; 6-foot-2 freshman forward Monique Terry (no relation); and 6-foot-2 freshman forward Baylee Vanderdose.
"There are two things that we really focused on in the summer and in the fall, and that's our rebounding ability and our ability to knock down open shots," Terry said of a team that also struggled to score, finishing ninth in the league in scoring offense (58.1 points per game). "With rebounding, I thought we did a fairly good job last season of defending our opponents' first shot, but then we gave them second and third opportunities and let them become hard to guard.
"Over the past three seasons, we've probably had nine or 10 games where we've lost by less than five points. That changes the whole scheme of things in the course of a season. Those were things that we had to fix going forward, because our first-shot defense has really been pretty good, but offensive boards killed us. We've set goals of being in the top three or four in terms of our defensive rebounding, because I think that's a necessity for us to be competitive in the conference. We brought in kids who could really help in terms of rebounding. At the same time, we've also gotten bigger on the wings. But they're going to be asked to do more than they have in the past, because our focal point moving forward has to be our offensive and defensive rebounding."
As well as finding another scoring option to complement junior guard McKynzie Fort.
Fort, who earned all-MW honorable mention last season and a spot on the all-defensive team, ranked sixth in the league in scoring (14.4 ppg) as a sophomore. She finished as the team's leading scorer 19 times and also proved a tenacious defender, tying for third in the league with an average of 2.0 steals per game.
Fort was also SDSU's only player to average double-digit scoring.
"McKynzie has really grown her game over the summer," Terry said. "She was one of the premiere guards in the league last season, but her (3-point) shooting needed to improve. You're going to see a different player in McKynzie, and I'll be surprised if her scoring average doesn't increase even more. She'll be harder to guard now because she has more weapons.
"I think our whole junior class, with players like Cheyenne Greenhouse and Lexy Thorderson and Geena Gomez, all of them are going to be asked to contribute a little more, along with Khalia Lark when she becomes eligible next semester. They're going to be asked to contribute more scoring. And the seniors that we have, Ariell Bostick is going to be able to get to the rim and to the free-throw line more often with the changes that we've made to our offense. I think it will help her be not only more productive with her offense, but also with her assists. Kymberly Ellison is a knock-down three-point shooter who we need to be a little more consistent. But I think you'll also see more scoring from her, as well."
Greenhouse posted five double-digit scoring games last season, while Thorderson was the team's top three-point threat, knocking down 40-of-124 attempts beyond the arc (.323) to finish 13th in the league. Gomez ranked second to Thorderson in three-point field-goal average, and Bostick was the team's top facilitator, ranking 10th in the league with a team-high average of 2.9 assists per game.
Meanwhile, if the Aztecs can hold their own during a non-conference schedule that includes four teams that advanced to the postseason last year, the addition of Lark could prove significant. A product of Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, the junior wing shot an impressive 40.7 percent from three-point range as a freshman at Washington.
"Khalia is a strong individual who brings a toughness to the team that we were lacking," Terry said. "She can do a little bit of everything; she's very versatile. She can attack off the bounce and she can knock down the three. She was a shooter at Washington and she'll do that for us. She's a great rebounder and she can get to the rim whenever she wants to. I think she's going to be a huge addition on the offensive side. But the toughness she brings adds to the whole team dynamic."
Refusing to be hindered by borders in her quest to identify quality talent, Terry has also dipped into the international pool, a move that has proven particularly successful for defending league champion Colorado State. The Rams, who eliminated the Aztecs in the quarterfinals of last season's MW Tournament, feature eight international players among the 14 currently listed on the roster.
SDSU, meanwhile, in addition to the signing of Ekwedike, also added Abby Lowe, a 5-11 guard from Stockport, England. Arantxa Gomez Ferrer, a 6-foot sophomore forward from Valencia, Spain, appeared in 18 games for the Aztecs as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury in February.
"Our conference has been very successful recruiting international kids," Terry said. "It's new to me in terms of recruiting, but we didn't hesitate to reach out, because post players are hard to come by. We needed to get bigger.
"I knew Naomi was going to take some time in getting acclimated to the speed of the game, but she has completely surpassed my expectation and she'll contribute early and often. She's only been playing basketball for three years, but she desperately wants to learn everything she can to become a better player. She's like a sponge. It's wonderful because there are no bad habits to break. She's handled everything we've thrown at her. It's just a matter of getting her fitness level up so that can she play more minutes as the season goes along, but she's obviously an asset to us on defense, and she has great hands and footwork to finish around the rim.
"Abby is a slashing type of guard who can basically get to the rim anytime she wants. She adds height and depth to the wing position. Arantxa is coming off knee surgery, but she is looking better than ever. She's a phenomenal rebounder and she's working hard on her shot to become more of an offensive threat."
All the while bolstering the potential of a program that can sell not only San Diego, but the accomplishments of two other programs --- football and men's basketball --- that have achieved national prominence.
"What they're doing for the city and for our athletic program is giving us national attention," Terry said. "Coach Long has obviously gotten the football program to where it's now nationally ranked, and Coach Fisher has had his program (nationally ranked) for quite awhile. What's happening is that I can have a conversation with student-athletes now and say that even though we're not recognized as a Power 5 school, we're one of the top programs in the country in football and (men's) basketball, and that we can do the same in women's basketball. If Coach Long can do it with his resources and Coach Fisher can do it with his, there's absolutely no reason why we can't do it."