Wind Sprints With Cori Close & Kiki Rice, PLUS Toronto Tempo’s Teresa Resch

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where predictably, Christmas
shopping is yielding more presents for us than for our
loved ones. I just keep seeing so much stuff. I
need plush one. It's Friday, December sixth, and on today's show,
we chat with UCLA basketball head coach Corey Close and
starguard Kiki Rice about being the number one team in

(00:20):
the land taken down the defending champion game Cocks, how
the coaching game has changed over the last three decades,
and being a mini mogul at the age of twenty plus.
Toronto Tempo president Teresa Rush pops by to talk about
the WNBA expansion side's big name and brand reveal and
the accidental leak that spoiled some of the fun. It's
all coming up right after this Happy Friday Slices. Welcome back.

(00:55):
Here's what you need to know today INNA news. The
league was a real one. It's permanent, not tempo rary.
On Thursday, the WNBA officially announced that the Toronto expansion
side will be named the Toronto Tempo colors blue and red.
The logo a basketball with a T on it and
speed lines trailing behind it. Much more on that later

(01:17):
in the show. Another expansion side is having a busy week.
Two Tonight is the Golden State Valkyries Expansion Draft, the
first step in the team's roster creation. You can watch
live on ESPN at six thirty pm Eastern. The team
put out a helpful video explaining the ins and outs
of an expansion draft, so we don't have to here
you go, let's.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Explain the WNBA Expansion Draft. On December sixth, the Golden
State Valkyries will introduce their new roster of players acquired
through the WNBA Expansion Draft.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Here's how it works.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Currently, the WNBA has a total of twelve teams. Twelve
players make up a standard WNBA roster. Each current team
can protect up to six players from being selected. The
Valkyries can then select one non protected player from each team.
The Valkyries can also agree to select a player from

(02:08):
one team and trade them to another, or the Valkyries
can agree to select a player from one team and
trade them for cap space. They can also choose to
not select any player from a team out of the
pool of non protected players. Some will be twenty twenty
four unrestricted free agents. The Valkyries can only select one

(02:29):
of these players across the league. In addition, the Valkyries
won't be able to select any player that is under
core designation from a team. These core players are not
counted towards one of the six players teams can protect.
Once all of these decisions are completed, the Valkyrie selections
will be revealed on December sixth, twenty twenty four, at
three point thirty Pacific on ESPN. Make sure to tune

(02:51):
in on this historic night as we welcome our very
first players to the Golden State Valkyries.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Thank you for that, Valkyries. More WNBA. The Seattle Storm
announced on Wednesday that an external investigation into alleged harassment
and bullying by their coaching staff concluded with no violations found.
The same day, sources told the Chicago Sun Times Annie
Constable that two time WNBA champion Jewel Lloyd has requested
a trade out of Seattle. Sources told Costable that Lloyd,

(03:19):
the number one overall pick for the Storm in twenty
fifteen and that season's Rookie of the Year, was a
part of the investigation into Seattle after filing a complaint
detailing allegations against the team's coaching staff college basketball this
weekend lots of games on the slate. Here are a
couple matchups between ranked teams to keep an eye out for.
On Saturday at nine pm Eastern, Number two U con
takes on number twenty two Louisville on Fox. On Sunday

(03:41):
at four pm Eastern, Number twelve Ohio State hosts number
twenty one Illinois. Then at seven pm Eastern on ESPN two.
This is a big one. Number three South Carolina taken
on number nine TCU. They're the authors of that big
win over Notre Dame last week. Unrivaled News, the three
on three league tipping off in January, has signed Flaje
Johnson to an nil partnership. The LSU Star joints fellow

(04:03):
college hooper Paige Becker's already affiliated with the league. In
addition to the NIL deal, Flage, a successful rapper in
addition to being a hooper, will collaborate with Unrivaled on
content throughout the season. In college soccer, the semi finals
of the Ncaattorney aka the College Cup take place today.
It's an all acc field. The Atlantic Coast Conference, the

(04:23):
first league in the forty three year history of the
tournament to send four teams to the national semifinals. At
five eastern it's Wake Forests versus Stanford, then at seven
thirty eastern It's Duke versus UNC. Both games are on ESPNU,
NWSL News. With the season over, a lot of shakeups
at teams happening already. The Houston Dash officially split with

(04:43):
interim manager Ricky Clark. Angel City and GM Angela Hucles
mangan Wo have mutually agreed to part ways with assistant
Matt Wade Filling and his interim GM effective immediately, and
expansion club Boss Nation have announced their first front office hire,
naming EXFC Barcelona head of Management for Women's Football Dominic
GWASH as their new GM. College vib's first round matchups

(05:04):
in the NCAA tournament continue today, including all four number
one seeds in action, with play continuing through the weekend.
We'll link to the bracket in our show notes so
you can follow along. This week, ESPN announced this was
the most watched regular season of college volleyball ever, with
average viewers up twenty one percent year over year. Softball
News Athletes Unlimited Softball League AUSL has announced the names

(05:27):
of the four teams facing off in its inaugural season
the Blaze, the Volts, the Bandits and the Talons. The
first season will be a touring league before settling into
cities beginning in twenty twenty six. Finally, this year's Forbes
thirty Under thirty Sports class features a handful of women athletes,
including the Indiana Fevers, Caitlin Clark, LSU guard Flage Johnson,

(05:49):
USA rugby star alon Omar, USA hockey forward Leila Edwards,
Team USA soccer star mal Swanson, track phenom Gabby Thomas,
boxer Claressa Shields, and friend of the show, former UNC
field hockey standout turn head coach Aaron Mattson. We'll put
a link to the full list in our show notes.
We got to take a quick break slices. When we

(06:10):
come back. We're number one. We're number one. We'll talk
to UCLA coach Corey Close and starguard Kiki Rice joining
us now. She's the head women's basketball coach for the
UCLA Bruins, has been since twenty eleven. Before UCLA, she

(06:30):
had stops as an assistant coach at Florida State, U
SEE Santa Barbara and UCLA as a player for UC
Santa Barbara. She was a team captain during the ninety
two and ninety three seasons and led them to the
NCAA Tournament. In both seasons. She was mentored by legendary
coach John Wooden. She drops knowledge while driving in her car,
rides with Corey series and we've sipped bevies on the
floor of the New York Stock Exchange together. It's Corey close.

(06:51):
What's up?

Speaker 3 (06:52):
Corey? Hello there, Sarah. Thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
Thanks for being on joining her. She's a guard for
the UCLA Bruins. In her sophomore seas and she was
named All Pac twelve by the coaches and media and
made ap All America Honorable Mention, leading the Bruins and assists,
free throws made, and defensive rebounds, and was second on
the team in steels. She was named Gatorade Athlete of
the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year her
senior year of high school at Sidwell Friends School in DC,

(07:15):
and was one of the top recoups in her class.
She was also a soccer star in high school. She
was the first college athlete to sign an NIL deal
with Jordan Brand. So let me borrow pair ones Kiki
and we hung out on a yacht together in the
south of France this summer. It's keky Rice, what's up?

Speaker 4 (07:30):
Keeke Hi Sarah, Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Thank you both for joining me. It's a little less
glamorous than when we were hanging out in can but
it'll have to do on zoom. As you guys are
very busy being the number one team in the country,
let's go so exciting. Coach, I want you to start
by taking me into the locker room before that game
with South Carolina. They're the number one team, they're defending champs,

(07:53):
they've got a forty three game win streak. How do
you get your team to show up confident, not intimidated,
and ready to ball?

Speaker 3 (08:01):
One word preparation. You know we uh, there was a
calm confidence in the room, and you know, we have
a phrase that we've really adopted that it begins before
it begins, That it's not when it tips, it's all
the things before that. How you see yourself, you know
what the preparation is, your attention to detail. There really was.

(08:24):
We were sitting there and there was literally just a calm.
We just were reminding ourselves where our focus needed to
be and that we would have some emotional state changes
as we call them, and that those are just fuel
and you had to embrace those and you know, get
back to neutral and then make the next right step.
But literally, it really came down to one word, and

(08:45):
that's preparation.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
What a nice feeling for you to look around and
be like, WHOA, everybody's ready to go. Everybody's calm and
with it, Kiki. The size of that moment is very real,
National television celebrities in the crowd. This is a chance
to make a real statement about all the hype coming
into this season. Were you able to stay in a
normal routine and not get overwhelmed by the moment?

Speaker 5 (09:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (09:08):
I think you know, I did my best, and everyone
else on the team as well, just trying to keep
our routine and you know, treat it as obviously this
is a big game, but you know, we be prepared
for games all the time.

Speaker 7 (09:17):
You know, I'm a junior now, so I've played in
a few NCAA tournament games and big conference games and everything,
so I kind of understood what the environment would be like,
and I just tried to stay true to my normal
pregame routine and kind of stay focused in on the
game and not too caught up in all the extra
stuff going on. So I think just that focus on
you know, on court and being ready and getting prepared

(09:39):
really helped us.

Speaker 8 (09:40):
All.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, that's what they always say. You just have to
tie yourself. It's just a basketball game. I've done this
so many times, just a basketball game. It's hard sometimes
when you're looking over and seeing the famous faces and
knowing what's on the other side. Coach, you entered that game, oh,
win twenty against teams ranked number one in the AP pole,
and then after that game, the next time the poll
comes out, you our number one, first time in program history.

(10:02):
What's different this season?

Speaker 3 (10:05):
Well, I mean I have a great set of players.
Our depth in versatility is you know, really elite. We
can really be both you know. And don Staley. I
first want to give her a shout out. I thought
she was so classy and just you know, gave us
sort of our flowers so to speak, in that moment,
which is not easy to do in her position. And

(10:26):
I just think she's been really consistent, whether she was
on the winning side or in this case, the losing side.
I got to give her a lot of credit for that,
But one of the things she said in the press
conference is that it wasn't just one side of the ball,
like our ability to have elite defensive pressure and to
have matchups that are beneficial to us, and to create
offense off of our defense, and our versatility between Lauren

(10:49):
Betts being able to draw so much attention inside, keky
Rice being such a prolific scorer off the bounce getting downhill,
and now we're able to really shoot it. And I
think that's put spacing situations on teams that we haven't
had before. So, you know, I think that we're just
a different team. We're better, you know, I mean, I
think that's the reality of it. But I also think

(11:11):
there's a mental side of it. You know that we
talk a lot in our program about how you can't
outperform yourself image and you need to see yourself at
that level. Like if I we can have all the
talent in the world, but if you don't believe that
is what you've earned, it's not going to happen. It's
not going to manifest itself the way you want it to.
And so but I think this team really does believe

(11:33):
in what they've earned and I think they believe and
who we are collectively and the work they've put in
and we you know, it takes what it takes, and
you have to earn that kind of confidence, but I
think this team really has. But the secondary part about
that is, you know, let's have some humility and go.
You know, there's a lot of people who came before
us that taught us that sacrifice, that blaze the trail

(11:55):
that we now walk in. And we had over sixty
alumni at that game.

Speaker 8 (12:00):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
That was one of my favorite parts is being able
to share it with so many people that have believed
in us and bought in and have continued to support us,
but also blaze the trail that we now walk in.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
And truly in the college game, that matters because recruits
are showing up at places that have the history and
the continuity and the legacy that they want to be
a part of. And that is very cool that so
many of them were there to watch that moment. That's incredible.
Speaking of that, Kiki, you could have gone pretty much
anywhere top recruit out of high school a couple of
years ago. You have to make that big decision. What

(12:34):
drew you to UCLA.

Speaker 7 (12:36):
Yeah, I think, you know, when I came on my visit,
I immediately felt like the combination the coaching staff, the
players here at the school, just everyone that I was
meeting and going to be around was the right kind
of people for me.

Speaker 4 (12:46):
And I was really just really happy to hear Coach.

Speaker 7 (12:51):
Boy's message about how she felt like she developed me
into the player, into the young moment that I wanted
to become. So feeling like I was going to go
to a place that not only parts my develop on
the basketball court, but also everything that I'm interested off
the basketball court was definitely a big draw. And I
think another one for me, honestly was like wanting to
go somewhere where we hadn't won a national championship, we
hadn't been to a Final four, and to be part

(13:11):
of that first group to do that at school, I
think felt like UCLA that was a perfect place to
do that. And you know, as I can see everything
coming together and we're becoming, you know, the program that
we all want to be, it's just really exciting for
me to see.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, that's such an interesting attitude to have to instead
of saying I want to be somewhere that's known for this,
to say maybe I can be there and make it
known for that, which is a lot to put on
your shoulders, but says a lot about you as a
player and who you want to be, which is really cool. Coach,
we saw how much Caitlin Clark benefited from having this
organic rival in angel Rees. How much has the natural

(13:46):
rivalry with the other ascending team in la USC benefited
your program.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
I think I'm leaning fully into it. I think how
great every time someone asked me about that weekend when
Notre Dame was here playing USC and we were playing
South Carolina, I was like, this is Final four in November.
Let's go like, how awesome is this? I'm telling recruits
go to both games, go both places, you know, And

(14:12):
there's only one way I want to lean into that.
She's a great player, no question about it, and it's
made the rivalry even more fun.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
And she being Juju Watkins, I presume direct.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, you can say that. I'm not supposed to say no,
I'm just teasing, but no, I mean, and she Juju
Watkins is a great player, and she's sort of the
celebrity darling. She's the you know, we had a lot
of celebrities. They had even more celebrities. But that's sort
of what the differences of our programs, right It's it
just goes to show you can build programs and really

(14:42):
good ones in different kind of ways. They're very, uh,
celebrity minded, and they have a lot of like flash,
and we're sort of this like substance kind of you know,
just do this, do the work behind the scenes. And
I think there's probably I'm probably building it up as
bigger difference, and it is, but I think it's awesome.
It's awesome for our game. It's awesome for role modeling

(15:05):
in LA, it's awesome for the competitive drive it's going
to take going into you know, obviously we all want
to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. That's
what we're all working towards. And to have these markers
against a high level rivalry team right here in our
own backyard thirteen miles away, I think that just prepares

(15:26):
us for what kind of run, what it's going to
feel like, the urgency. You're going to need to have
the game planning when you know each other really well.
Not only do we play against each other and see
each other all the time, heck, our players have played
pickup together in the summer, you know, like it's there,
there's no shortage of familiarity. But I just think that
adds to the drama, like who can lock in, who

(15:48):
can do things and take away the other team strengths?
How does that strategy pull out? How does our game
planning adjust to that? And we both have very different
rosters really than what we had last year, but the
rivalry is just as good. But you know, I think
you've always done a great job with this, Sarah, and
I really appreciate the way you've grown our game and
grown women's sports. But I really see this not only

(16:11):
is good for UCLA and USC women's basketball, but I
see it as good for growing the game. And that's
really really important to me.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
It's so important as sports media to have stories to
cover that catch the eye in a different and unique way,
and having that rivalry in LA is a huge way
of doing that and your storytelling of separating the teams.
We're the blue collar team, they're the flashy celebrity. That's
helpful too, and that's a great way to motivate your
players as well. But you've got some celebrities on your

(16:39):
squad as well. I mean, Kiki is the star of
a docu series. You were part of the ESPN plus
Full Court Press alongside Kitlyn Clark Camila Krdo, So it's
so fun to watch, great to see your life behind
the scenes. How was that experience for you? Did you
enjoy it?

Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah, a very cool experience.

Speaker 7 (16:55):
I mean just being able to be a part of
Full Core Press and be with Kitland and and kind
of be able to tell our stories.

Speaker 4 (17:02):
It definitely took some time to get you ste all
the cameras being around.

Speaker 7 (17:05):
They were in the film room at practices back in
my apartment, so that took some just adjusting too, because
I've never, you know, been in that kind of environment.
But it was a really cool opportunity so to kind
of just get to tell my story in a more
in depth way. And I think as an athlete, like
I was always drawn to other athletes too, I felt
like I knew not just as a basketball player, but

(17:25):
you know, some people be on the court, So I
think for me to be able to kind of model
that for other young fans and everything, it was really
felt like a really cool opportunity and one that I
didn't want to pass up on.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, it was really fun to hear about your family,
all the Yale's and all the folks that we know
for other reasons that are part of your family. Did
you have ultimate edit both of you, coach, I'm sure
there were moments where you're like, yeah, you can't put
that in there. Wait, hold on, that's proprietary. Did you
all at the end get to look through and make
sure you got to cut what you wanted.

Speaker 7 (17:52):
We were both able to see all the clips and
everything before it was cut out, so definitely, yeah, definitely
were able to see them.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
There wasn't I don't really.

Speaker 7 (17:59):
Yeah that much of anything at all that I was like, now,
don't put in there.

Speaker 4 (18:03):
So it ended up being pretty good.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
I think they really had credit to them that they
really got the heartbeat of our program. And you know,
I really there's only one thing, and it had nothing
to do with content. It had to do with like
licensing and things like that, you know, so I really
didn't have a need to take anything out when I
got to see it in advance, So it was I
just thought it was great storytelling and I think just

(18:28):
to get to know someone like Kiki in a more
in depth way, but also the rest of our team.
It was really cool.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, well, you had a lot of people ready to
run through a wall for your coach, So I think
you came off on the right side of that in
terms of recruiting people being like, wait, I want to
play for her, Kiki. You're just twenty, you're starring a
reality series, you're the first nil athlete for Jordan Brand,
You're traveling the world, you're a mini mogul, and you
can't rent a car legally in most states. How are

(18:57):
you keeping yourself grounded and trying to stay a kid
in the ways that still matter?

Speaker 7 (19:04):
Yeah, that's an interesting question because I feel like it's
just the lifestyle and what I go through on a
data basis is just all what that I'm used to
because it's all really that I've been able to experience,
So it honestly doesn't feel too crazy to me. But yeah,
it is, like it is crazy sometimes to think about
there's a lot of things that I can't do yet,
and just because I'm twenty, but I've also had so

(19:25):
many incredible experiences that a lot of people don't get
to have throughout their entire life. So I'm really grateful
for that, but I think it's like it's crazy to
see all the doors that fastball is open for me
yet just already at such a young age.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
So gratitude on that, yeah, go ahead, Because people ask
me all the time like, oh my gosh, you're trying
to lead an NIL, You're trying to do all these things.
What is it like to have your locker room that way?
And how terrible that must be and how hard? And
I can tell you right away for the reason it's
not is because our highest earning athlete and who's had

(19:59):
the most opportunities, has the perspective of Kiki Rice, who
has humility, who is still others centered, who really just
sets the tone with her work ethic no matter what.
And so when you have a player, one of your
most accomplished players, especially in the NIL space, and has
the most humility and has the highest level of work ethic,

(20:22):
she's changed our entire culture in terms of the extra
work that's put in. It really isn't hard at all.
And so I just want to give you, Kiki a
shout out for your character and the tone that you've
said in our program, especially in these first two years
of NIL. It would be a very different story if
Kiki Rice wasn't the young woman that she is with

(20:43):
the character that she possesses.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, that is so true. That really sets such a
precedent for the rest of the team and also making
it feel like you're still part of everything, even if
there are ways that you're separated from the rest of
your squad, and Kiki, that gratitude is so important to
hang on to that because to your point, you know
any different, right, But I'll tell you what you want
to learn about it being different. Go ask a great
player from ten years ago what their college life was

(21:08):
like despite their talent, vastly different from what you're getting
to experience now. Or I'm sure just ask one of
your friends at school that isn't an nil top athlete
at us LAY, just an average twenty year old and
they're going to help you realize pretty quick just what
a gift it is. But I love your attitude around it.
It's just it's so good. Coach you. You kind of
set me up for my next question, which is, you

(21:29):
know you've been coaching in some capacity for over thirty
years and I would love to hear the biggest ways
your job has changed since nineteen ninety three. Cell phones
were a new wrinkle at one point, then nil deals
players being businesses on their own while still in school,
the massive leap and TV coverage in popularity, the transfer portal,

(21:49):
I mean, besides the basketball, the x'es and o's that
you get to mostly keep and hang on to. The
job of player management and team building has changed so vastly.
So what stands out to you.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
Well, I mean, you just did a very good synopsis
through the years. I mean, I do. I am still
of the age that I remember when cell phones came
into play and you know, like the craziness of that
and text messaging, and now we're talking about hundreds of
thousands of dollars and you know per player that they're
going to be, you know, making you know, I have
really two sides of it. That one is, I think

(22:24):
it's awesome for women specifically. I you know, women unfortunately
are not taught to think like entrepreneurs. They're not thought
to think about leveraging and maximizing all of the platforms
that they actually have that they just never have been
taught how to leverage in an appropriate fashion. And the
reality is is that I'm having different financial conversations with

(22:45):
our women that I ever have before. They're interested in
investing and how that they go about building their futures.
You know. We we've brought in a person who's really
a financial consultant for all of our players and from
everything from taxes to investing to say to you know,
planning things out for the short term and the long term.
And I think that's very exciting that, you know, the

(23:06):
fact of twenty years down the road, they're not going
to need basketball. They might want to have basketball still,
but they will not need it. And I think that's
a tremendous opportunity. And women are great storytellers, and so
this whole situation with social media, we didn't even mention
that piece, you know, coming into play in addition to
everything else. But for them to learn that to handle

(23:29):
that in the right way. You know, there's obviously wrong
ways and difficult traps that you can get into. But
so does money. You know, money can be a tool
that opens up opportunities, or it can foster greed and jealousy,
and so our challenge is to you know, use those
things in the right way, you know. But I think
the biggest thing is time for my from my shoes right.

(23:52):
Basketball coaching has been a lifestyle choice and an all
encompassing job for a long time, and now it's even hard.
And just speaking from me as a leader, I struggle
the most with the burden that's been placed on assistant
coaches and support staff. They are now doing twice the
work for not any more pay because the all the

(24:15):
money you know, from revenue producing and whatever else. I
am afraid of losing really good people from this job
because it is just so much and and that is
my biggest concern is how do we push it forward,
How do we take advantage of all these things, How
do we do all these great things for the sake
of these incredible young women which is why we're doing

(24:36):
this job, and not lose amazing mentors, because I do
think that's a danger. You saw it in some head
coaches already, right that are either jumping to the w
NBA or like you know, from Virginia's coach to Jay
Wright on the men's side, they're like, I don't need this,
I'm out just retire, No, and so, but those are

(24:58):
incredible x's and o's coaches, but also mentors of young people,
and so that is my concern of it. There are
incredible progress, you know, points that we should celebrate, and
I want our women to have as many opportunities as
they possibly can. I just don't want the unintended consequences
to overshadow those.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, sounds like we're calling on some brands to do
nil style sponsorship deals for assistant coaches. Some brand that's
about lending a helping hand, supporting, assisting. We need someone
to step in and start telling the stories of some
of these, you know, coaches that don't get as much shine,
but like you said, are putting in a ton of
work to help benefit the athletes and the programs. And

(25:40):
it is true. It is a lifestyle. It is an
all encompassing job that you really have to care a
lot about. And now you have players that might be
making more than the coaches. A lot of players make
more than the coaches, most of them, and it's great
to be professional in their approach and it probably helps
you start treating them professionally as well. But yeah, it's
a different dynamic than it ever was before, which is interesting.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
Well, just gives me a chance to say thank you
to all those people that are sacrificing so much for
the progress of our current women, which I want that,
but I also don't want to burn them out.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, and it's interesting you look at someone like Abby Wambach,
who part of the reason that Angel City came together,
as she gave this speech at the sb Awards about
retiring at the same time as Kobe and Peyton being
honored in the same way at the sb's walking off
the stage and thinking, shit, I need a whole new
career now. And the two guys don't have that. They
have generational wealth that their kids and their kids' kids,
and I got nothing, And these young women athletes can

(26:34):
start to accumulate wealth, can start to invest. I was
reading Kiki's bio while I was looking at Flage doing
nil deals for unrivaled. Paige Becker's is already investing in
spaces as a collegiate athlete. Flage has got a bunch
of lands she bought, and I'm like, man, they're passing
me by in my forties because they're already getting set
up as entrepreneurs to your point, which is just so impressive.

(26:56):
And it's going to create also this generation of female
athletes that have the capacity to be in ownership and
to be in front offices and spaces. That is going
to change the landscape of women's sport because it won't
be all men running things and women being the pawns
that they're operating with, which is going to be absolutely huge.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
You're Thatkiki, that's your deal, right.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
That's you. That's you. But it's about the basketball too, right.
You get and you earned what you got because of
your basketball. And I want to know who you're watching.
What are the players that you model your game after,
or you know, folks you watch because you want to
steal some of their skills for your own bag.

Speaker 7 (27:31):
Yeah, I'd say this last season of the w NBA
was probably my favorite that I've uh.

Speaker 4 (27:37):
That I've watched in recent years.

Speaker 7 (27:38):
I mean, of course the playoff run and the finals
Liberty and in lengths, that was definitely one of the
best sporting events that I've that have been able to
watch across all sports.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
Women or men. But yeah, I mean, I think when
it comes.

Speaker 7 (27:53):
To w NBA guards, I really love Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plumb,
Skylar Diggins.

Speaker 4 (27:59):
I think that so many different players that I've tried
to like watch.

Speaker 7 (28:02):
A lot and take little aspects of their game and
in general, I'm just a huge sports fan.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
Like Coach Bright, I always talk about basketball, football, whatever
it is. You watch all the all the games and everything.

Speaker 7 (28:12):
But I think just being able to watch all these
really high level players and see the areas that they're
excelling in and figuring out how I can add little
pieces of what they do really well to my game,
and I think that just helps me in terms of
my growth as a player. But also just like basketball IQ,
just watching all the all the games and seeing how
teams handle endgame situation and kind of what sets they're

(28:34):
running and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
It really helps me as a point guard out there.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
What do you need to add to your game? What
are you working on?

Speaker 8 (28:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (28:41):
Right now, I think this last off season and this
last season, I've really been focused on my like three
point shooting, catch and shoot, just really expanding my game.
I've always been a really good downhill driver driver, but
just adding more layers and to my game from that
standpoint has been something I've been really focused on. And
I think I've been kind of saying seeing a lot
of network payoff in the first few games of the season,

(29:02):
so I'm really excited about that. But I just think
continuing to keep that work up and as I get
to a higher level, I'm going to continue to need
to add more stuff. But I feel really good about
the development that have been making over these past few years.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Yeah, it has been evident. It has been evident for
you and for your team. Coach. I love asking successful
leaders to talk about a big pivot or a lesson
that changed perspective, something that they change their mind about,
because I love people who have found great success saying
that they still evolve and change mindsets. Is there something
that stands out to you that in the last couple
of years you've really changed your mind about, or you

(29:35):
used to do one way and you realize this is
a new way, in a better way.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
Well, Nil has forced me to change, you know. I
mean I think that a lot of people started sitting
back and going, oh, well, we'll see what happens and
then we'll do this. And I didn't want to be
reactionary in that, and we have had to change a lot,
but you know, I really I really had to view
that differently, like, this is got to be opportunistic. We're

(30:01):
in the number one media market in the world. How
do we do that? But also allow them to be kids.
I think that is a constant pivot for me right
now because the rules are changing all the time. You're
having to real time make decisions with this incredibly new
part of their college experience and so integrating that and
what other things do you have to say no to
and those kinds of things. But so I think nil

(30:24):
has been the biggest sort of pivot in my I'm
a very vision oriented person trying to create infrastructure that's sustainable,
and that has forced me to be very nimble and
not be able to you know, plan everything out, and
so that's had to do it that way. But I think,
you know, one way I had to just admit failure

(30:45):
is that last I thought, my first, you know, several
years of my head coaching career, like if you traced
our in game situations and out of timeouts, we were
very efficient, Like very rarely in the several years did
I ever feel like we didn't put our kids in
least in the best position to be successful. And quite frankly,

(31:08):
last year there were three games where I didn't feel
like I did my best for the sake of the team,
and I was not as good as I needed to be.
And so I needed to go back to the drawing
board and and I watched every one of those games
over and over again, planning some of those things out.
And you know, the reality was I wasn't my best

(31:30):
when my best was needed in the in a few
games last year. And so that's something I needed to
own and I needed to fail forward, so to speak,
just like I require of them and do my work
in the off season and hopefully we're better for them
moving forward. So, you know, I just think it's, uh,
you know, one of the things people say, what do

(31:50):
you have what do you have to learn to do
when you became a head coach? And honestly in different ways,
in different forms, to have the humility to ask for forgiveness,
I you know, and I expect them to own their
mistakes and so I need to own mine. And so
that was one just recently, just to be really candid
that I needed to do better for the sake of

(32:11):
our program and our team.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
I love that. Yeah, it's constant learning, and also that
respect that you give to them by being able to
admit your failings will offer up. It's mutual in that way.
All right, last questions for you, Kiki, do you have
personal goals for this season? Do you have numbers that
you try to hit and write down before you start.

Speaker 6 (32:32):
No, not really like numbers or anything that I'm just
obviously I'm hoping for like improvements and areas. And actually,
like one of my favorite things about that program is
how we have such a great like analytics staff, so
they really break down, like my game at every level
from an analytical standpoint.

Speaker 4 (32:47):
So at the end of like last.

Speaker 9 (32:49):
Year, we went through you know, all shot charts, areas
that I'm really good in, areas that need to improve in,
and I think like.

Speaker 4 (32:57):
To see growth in those areas. I think that obviously
I'm hoping to see and I feel.

Speaker 9 (33:02):
Like I'm like, you know, working in the right direction
and everything more so obviously whenever, one goal is.

Speaker 4 (33:09):
Just winning and that's really what I care about the most.

Speaker 8 (33:11):
And I think the fact that we have a new
team this year, a lot of a lot more depth
and like kind of different different abilities as players. I think,
like my rule is not necessarily always the same each year,
and like what the team requires for me is not
necessarily the same this year as it was last year.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
So I think just figuring out like how I really
best serve this team. I'm not saying I have like
individual personal goals from a number standpoint.

Speaker 7 (33:35):
I just want to win and be the best player
and most efficient player that I can for this team.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yeah, it's great to have those analytics though, because it
can just be improve and you'll be able to tell
by the numbers in a lot of ways. Coach, you
start Big ten play and that means a lot of
travel coming up. What's your expectation for being one of
those California teams that has it pretty tough in terms
of how much you'll be moving around.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
I think it's just very simple. Be the most prepared,
be completely process oriented, and uh, you know, minimize distractions.
I think performance equals potential. We have a lot of
that minus interferences. So don't allow travel to be an interference.
You know, pay it to plan well, have good time management. Thankfully,

(34:21):
our administration has supported us really well in terms of
how we charter and how we travel, and so I
really think that that's you know, last year, we did
four cross country trips in a row, four consecutive weekends,
all against ranked opponents, and we won everyone. And no
Big ten travel is going to be tougher than that.

(34:43):
And so the reality for me is that you know,
like it's don't even think about that. It's an interference
focus on your preparation, and like that's one of the
things you heard Keiki talking about is honestly, when you
look at numbers or outcomes or down the road, that
actually can turn into an and it can take you
away from being present focused and where is any fear

(35:06):
or pressure. It's either thinking about the past or thinking
about the future. So our job is to be really
really prepared and to play present every day. And even
yesterday we actually were battling our feelings, so to speak,
and I'm like, you know, we can. We do not
have time to coach your feelings. Your feelings are real,
they're valid, but they're not valid in between the lines

(35:28):
for these two hours, right, and so you know, yeah,
are you going to be tired traveling around? Yeah? So
what you know, And there's a clip I'm actually going
to show the team and I've showed it to him before.
Is Tom Brady going f your feelings? I don't even
swear you know, af your feelings being tired. Whatever the
reality is is, if you want what you want, if

(35:49):
you want to be about what you say. That doesn't
have a place you have to pre decide, that has
no place in your decision making. And so you know,
I'm thankful to be a part of the Big Ten.
The Big Ten in my mind, is making all the moves.
The Big Ten and the SEC are controlling a lot
of the decision making and where college athletics goes. And so,

(36:11):
you know, are there things that are sad about losing
college landscape the way we knew it? And yes there is.
Am I sad that the PAC twelve is no longer. Yes,
but I'm thankful to be a part of the two
most competitive conferences that are doing most of the decision making.
So let's go, and I'm excited about it, and we
are going to be completely process oriented and totally prepared.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
It's great advice for life, not just for sports. Most
of our fears, regrets, worries are taking place in the
past or the future. And if you try to remain
as present as possible and you prepare yourself for what's
in front of you and the present, good to go.
Speaking of what's in front of you, coach your athlete
beats you to this zoom called by about ten to
twelve minutes. She was one minute early, you were, in

(36:57):
fact late. I believe that calls for windsprint so well
forward to those and Keiki if you could videotape that,
we would love that content.

Speaker 3 (37:08):
So goes after that, I do apologize.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
Thanks to both of you so much for making the
time and congrats on what a great season so far.

Speaker 4 (37:20):
Thank you for having us.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
Thank you for having us, and Sarah just thank you
for what you're doing for women in sports. This is
a great You've been doing it for a long time
and I hope this platform continues to grow because you're
doing really important things. Thanks for letting us be apart.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
Thanks again to Cory and Kiki for joining us. Can't
wait for that video of those wind sprints. We got
to take another break when we come back. Toronto Tempo
President Teresa Rash talks about a wild week up north.
So happy to be joined by a special guest popping

(37:57):
in today. President of the Toronto Tempo w NBA expansion team,
tipping off in twenty twenty six, Teresa Rash back for more.
Thanks for coming back. First off, congrats on the name
and the brand launch. Let's start there. Tell us about
the tempo, the name, the brand, the colors, everything.

Speaker 5 (38:12):
Ah, I love it. It's great to be back. Longtime fan,
second time guest. Great to be back, Sarah. Yeah, really
excited to introduce Toronto Temples for the world today. When
we were awarded the team back in May, we knew
we were going to get to name this franchise and
we really thought about, like, well, what do we want
this story to be. What we about the origin story

(38:32):
to be of our name and logo, because that's going
to live on with it as well, and we really
wanted it to be a story of a collective. So
we went out, we did a name your Camp, Name
your Team campaign for inspiration. We got over ten thousand
people ninety eight countries interacting, ended up getting over one
thousand unique names and dwindle those down. We had a
community council that helped us with that. We had a

(38:54):
couple different professors who specialized in design and inclusive design
that helped us maybe see things that we might be
blind to. And ultimately Tempo rose to the top and
we're really excited to really change the name category like
this is what we love about it is it talks
about the game of basketball, and rarely do the names

(39:14):
actually talk about the sport that's being played, So we
felt really good about that. And then ultimately, once you
have a name, then you get to make a logo.
So once again we went back to the collective. We
put out a call for creatives. We ended up hiring
three different people to work with our creative agency as
well as our design agency. So it's a whole collective
of people touching on all these all these different ways

(39:34):
in and it was really fun process to go through,
and ultimately we're really excited where we ended up. Like
Tempo's is, we really identified with it because of the duality, right,
it can be fast or slow, but it's about control.
And ultimately, you know, Tempo is truly like the heartbeat
of competition. It's the pace, it's the rhythm of the game.
And we loved what that spoke about. Really excited about

(39:57):
the logo too, because it's very we wanted it to be.
But like my instruction to the designers is like I
better be able to draw this, and I'm terrible, terrible artists,
so it's not gonna be perfect, but I think I
can make it happen. And well, the other piece that
we felt good about here. That is a little unique
is that it's really unencumbered. Right, So a lot of
logos have some sort of restriction. It's in a circle,

(40:19):
it's in a letter, it's in the name or something,
and this has no restrictions.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
It's movement.

Speaker 5 (40:24):
It's the duality once again of the sharp angles, the
curved edges, and also even the speed lines. I like
the speed lines it carries through our primary global secondary logo.
The lines are narrow and then they get thicker because
that's what tempo is. So it's a lot of nuance.
And I think every time you go through one of
these processes, and honestly this is the first time for me,

(40:45):
but I definitely have studied a lot of other ones.
Sometimes you're like, oh, that seems like such a stretch,
like they must be just like making that up as
you go. But no, like these are really things we contemplated.
I'm here cross my heart, like these are things we've
done and are than anything we wanted to be really
transparent the process. I know that's something I talked about
last timos here and I feel very proud of that,

(41:05):
and I think that we've stayed really true to that
to this day and will continue to be like, we
want our fans to never question what we're doing. We
want to be really open so that they know what
we're up to and the decisions that we're making and
why we're making them.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
Well, I have to admit it rolls right off the tongue.
Toronto tempo sounds great, and looking at the details that
y'all posted on social media, the video with the sort
of metronomic beat behind it really spoke to that tempo.
Talking about the six the six lines are both for
the six Burroughs of Toronto, but also for the five
players on the court and the sixth man being the fans.
You're bringing in the sort of speed lines that are

(41:42):
slightly leaning toward the future. You want to grow the game,
change the game, move toward the future. There's a lot
of really cool stuff in there. And we watched your
process because you had on social media the cutting room floor,
you know, teams that didn't make the cut. You did
a whole podcast talking about the process of thinking about it,
names that you and then something came up and you
thought that's not going to work, or here's the things

(42:03):
that people would chant and it might not feel right
orself right. You had so much process behind. It was
today always supposed to be the launch day. Because we
know that there was a website leak on the WNBA site,
the drop down menu suddenly listed Toronto Tempo and everyone's like,
wait a minute, is this real? Is this the team name?
Clearly not the way you intended for things to go down.

(42:23):
Is this the day you were going to announce originally? No, No,
this is this is Oh my god, I'm stressing for
you to This.

Speaker 5 (42:31):
Is sports, Sarah. Does anything ever go is planned in sports?
Absolutely not. And we knew that, we knew we had
to have a contingency plan. We never knew what was
going to happen through the process, and you know, today
was destiny. It was supposed to be today, and we're
glad that December fifth is the Toronto Tempo birthday. We
feel really excited to be able to share it with

(42:51):
the world. Would we'd love to have merched right now, absolutely,
but we don't, And that's okay because we will very soon.
And definitely keep your eyes peeled because the Bordeaux and
Hydrogen blue are gonna look beautiful on you and with
all of.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
Our faces dough and hydrogen blue. Okay, I just said
red and blue, but Bordeaux and hydrogen blue very specific,
very important.

Speaker 5 (43:12):
Yeah, I mean that was a big part of it,
Like we wanted to stand out yet be complimentary. So
within the WNBA, there's reds and blues, but there's not
a Bordeaux and hydrogen blue. And you know, it's a
nuanced but it's also a very modern take on that palette.
And ultimately, Toronto professional sports teams are kind of either
blue or red. You know, you have the Maple Least
blue and you have the Raptors red, and we play

(43:35):
in that space too, but in our own way. So
we're really excited about that combination as well.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Okay, so what did the last couple of days look
like for you? Because there was so much intentionality, there
was so much of a plan in place that you've
been following for months. What's your reaction. Who reaches out
to you and says, uh oh, tempo is out.

Speaker 5 (43:55):
Yeah, I mean my social media manager the first person
gave me a heads up and.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
When it was terminally online, was the first to see it.
What a shock?

Speaker 5 (44:03):
Yeah, right, so it was great and she give me
a heads up and we monitored it and ultimately, you know,
I had to make a decision like do we presco
or not? And ultimately we wanted to make sure that
we shared the whole story.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
And I was going to say, that's such a bummer,
because when you do something like this, you want to say,
tempo and here's why, and here's the video we made
with it, and here's the colors that are coming with it.
And instead of that rollout, it was more of like
everyone reacts to the name, and then now we're going
to follow up with all that, so you kind of
knew that you had to get out right away.

Speaker 7 (44:32):
Then.

Speaker 5 (44:33):
I think we're very happy that we were able to
tell the whole story, right, And I do believe that
it has been received well. I think people get it.
I think people are excited about it, and yeah, it's
been a fun process too, Like out of chaos sometimes
comes the most most advanced evolution. And I can't wait

(44:53):
to see what comes out of this, you know, I
think no matter what day we launched, there'd been nuances
and variables. So more than anything, I mean, it was
meant to be today, right, That's what I'm taking away
from it. And I'm sitting here like very ready right,
Like we were able to tell the full story. We
were able to talk about tempo and what it means,
why it's important to us, why we love it, and

(45:15):
why we think Torontonians and Canadians will connect to it.
And it's been really fun, honestly, Sarah, like talking to
so many different people today. People are so interested, comments
were hearing back. Also, like you said, the cutting room floor,
there's a lot of people who are like, oh, but
my name didn't get picked.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
I suppose this is.

Speaker 5 (45:33):
Okay, or you know, and other people are like this
is amazing. Other people hate it. Like if everybody loved it,
I don'tink we'd have done a good job either. So
it's just fun to actually have it out in the world.
That's the best thing, is like to actually introduce it
to the world and have people be part of it,
because when people comment and engage, that means they care.
And there's nothing better than like to have people care

(45:54):
about what you're doing and.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
What the being invested yea invested in the w being
invested in an expansion to and a team that doesn't
have players or anything else yet, and to care this
much and be this excited about it is really awesome
and I love your attitude because there's no other option, right,
there's no other option. It's out there. This is the
plan now, and you're able to speak to it, and
you have all these elements ready. What would you have
had ready? And what can we expect to come? Besides

(46:18):
obviously you mentioned merch, is there other stuff that's part
of the roll up that will be yet to come
that we can expect?

Speaker 5 (46:23):
Yeah, And I would say it's always been the story
of our team is not going to happen in one day,
and so we can't wait to tell continue the story
this team in twenty twenty five. Right. So we'll have merch,
we'll have a GM, like we get to talk about
basketball soon like that would be great. We'll have a GM,
we'll hire a coach, and ultimately we'll get players Expansion
Draft next December. Obviously the Valkyrie tomorrow, which I'm very

(46:46):
excited about.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (46:48):
But then we'll also have corporate partners and community partners.
And as I've mentioned and you've mentioned, this is Canada's team.
So though Coca Cola Coliseum in Toronto will be our home,
we'll play games and other parts of Canada we can't
wait to share more details around that. So there's just
a lot to look forward to. And now we get

(47:08):
to say it's about the Toronto Tempo and not w
NBA Toronto.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Yeah, so cool. Well, we're super excited for you. We're
so grateful you came on to chat about it with us,
and good luck with the rest of the roll up.

Speaker 5 (47:17):
Thanks so much for having us. Thanks for sharing our story,
but then also just the story of women's sports. Sarah,
I wasn't kidding. I listen every morning I get my fixed,
and I've met so many incredible people through this podcast,
Like I just had it. I hadn't known of them before.
I'm kind of in a basketball bubble. So thank you
for sharing the stories of so many amazing female athletes.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
Oh my god, I love to hear it. She's a slice, y'all.

Speaker 5 (47:40):
I a se I should have started with that.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
We call Canadians, thanks to one of our listeners, maple
bacon slices. So that's what you get to be a
maple bacon slice. I'll take it. I'll take it. Thanks
again to Teresa for the time. We love that you're
listening slices, but we want you to get in the
game every day too, So here's our good game play
of the day. Follow the Toronto Tempo at Toronto Tempo

(48:03):
on Instagram and at Tempo Basketball on x Slash Twitter.
You can watch the Valkyries expansion draft tonight that's six
thirty pm Eastern on ESPN, and you can stay home
and catch all the college hoops, volleyball, and soccer action
this weekend. We're giving you full permission to get cozy
underso blankets and spend all weekend on your couch binging

(48:24):
women's sports. Let us know if you need a permission,
slip or a you know, get out a work card.
We always love to hear from you. Hit us up
on email Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com, or leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's super easy. Listener Jockolou showed you how on Apple
Podcasts with this review that they left quote Good Game

(48:46):
is one hundred out of five stars, smart interviews and informative.
Love to hear women with the same passion for women's athletics.
End quote and another slice said quote Sports. Yes, women's sports. Yes,
women's Sports. Hosted by Sarah Spain.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
End quote. See simple to the point, super easy to do,
and of course accompanied by five freaking stars. So go
do it now, rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices,
have a great weekend and we'll talk to you Monday.
Good game, Corey and Kiki, Good game, Teresa. A few
leaks that spoil plans for long crafted, carefully executed brand reveals.

(49:26):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and

(49:48):
Lindsay Crawdawell. Production assistants from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Wind Sprints With Cori Close & Kiki Rice, PLUS Toronto Tempo’s Teresa Resch