ROSEMONT, Ill. — Indiana women’s basketball players going through individual workouts in recent weeks have become accustomed to the once unexpected sight of coach Teri Moren shagging balls for them.
With veteran-laden teams in recent years, Moren let her assistants handle those development sessions while she would be up in her office planning practice or drawing up new plays.
Moren’s staff still runs those drills, but she’s been a constant presence on the floor.
It’s all part of the commitment she made to herself at the start of the offseason to delegate some of the responsibilities that prevented her from spending more quality time with her players.
“She’s on ball screens, she’s defending us, she’s out there hitting us with pads,” Indiana guard Shay Ciezki said Wednesday at Big Ten media day. “We’re nervous to like set a screen on her, but she’s out there at practice and involved in everything we do.”
Moren even stepped in at center and was calling out screens at a recent practice
“I call my parents all the time to tell them coach was active today,” Lenee Beaumont said. “I think she finds true joy in it. For so long she’s had a veteran-led group, there’s not so much she has to say every single day. Everyone is new here, there’s a lot of coaching that has to be done.”
Moren felt that the changes were necessary, given that IU was welcoming so many new faces to the program this year. She’s handed off a larger game planning role on the offense to Ali Patberg and is committed to maintaining those changes once the season starts.
“I’m usually down there just to be a cheerleader,” Moren said. “It’s not uncommon when we are doing workouts that the majority of our team is in the gym waiting to do their workout, and that gives me an opportunity to have those one-off conversations, check in with them as well. It’s been something I’ve really tried to be committed to doing.”
It’s fueled the energy behind the scenes as Moren fills the role of teacher and mentor to her players.
“It’s kind of like starting from ground zero, it really is,” Moren said. “It’s given me probably as much as our staff, there’s energy behind that. It’s kind of weird, right? Cause it’s daunting when you think we have one kid that’s played significant minutes.”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana women’s basketball players notice a difference in their ‘cheerleader,’ coach Teri Moren
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
