2022-23 Season Preview

2022-23

SEASON PREVIEW

Prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, West Virginia University coach Jon Hammond gives an outlook on this year’s team and what steady improvements the team needs to make to capture the program’s nation-best 20th NCAA title.

On his 2022-23 roster and his assessment of preseason practices:

We’re excited for this year. anytime you add one of the best shooters in the country and an olympic medalist (Mary Tucker), that’s obviously going to change your team. i think our team makeup has changed with bringing Mary in, and so far through preseason, practice has been good. There are still things we want to improve on. i think sometimes the pros and cons of few people leaving and few people coming in is you have consistency, you have a roster that you know and sometimes it’s harder to mix things up a little bit, too. But i think another huge difference is having JP (assistant coach Jean-Pierre Lucas) here. it’s always sad when someone leaves. Soren (Butler) was awesome. We did a lot of great things in his five years here, and change is inevitable. it’s part of the business. i was super excited to bring JP back, and as every coach is different, he’s different and brings something different to the team. i think what makes him such a good coach is his work ethic, his drive and his dedication to all the small details. We’ve kind of still been adjusting to everything. He’s learning the team, and they’re learning about him. We’re looking forward to getting the season started. Preseason is preseason. You never really know what’s going to happen. We’re fully aware there are some great teams out there that have been better than us for a few years now, and we kind of still playing catch up. But we’re looking forward to fighting this year and working as hard as we can to try and close that gap back up and seeing what we can achieve.

On the impact of adding senior Mary Tucker and her championship pedigree to the team:

We’ve gone quite a while now where we don’t have anyone that has experienced winning a national championship, to know what it’s like and the things you need to do for that to happen. Mary does. You can see how she trains and her expectations of herself – her striving for perfect but also the confidence she has in her abilities and her ability to perform. But also, JP – JP was not only a five-time national Championship winner, but it was right here. i think bringing those two in together, they’re kind of coming in saying ‘Yeah, we can win a national championship. it’s not going to be easy, but in order to do so, these are the things we have to do.’ it’s lots of little things like challenging the rest of the team, pushing the team a little bit more. For Mary, it’s just having someone who shooting higher scores on a daily basis in the range. now, everyone on the team has someone to look towards and push to get better or to chase. For some, it may take some pressure off their shoulders in matches to not have that expectation to try and be the top scorer. and JP, as well, is going to challenge them and push them for us to get better and improve.

On sophomore Natalie Perrin and how she can build off winning GARC Rookie of the Year:

natalie had a great freshman year. i think her attitude is one of her strengths. With her work ethic to come and train but also her attitude towards matches, she’s able to bring her best to competition. She’s not afraid of competition. Honestly, i think we’re just looking for her to get better. Smallbore was still pretty new for her last year, and she improved a lot, but there are sometimes a lot of easy ways to improve as a freshman because you’re getting coaching on a daily basis. You’re getting training on a daily basis, and you’re around