TicketsCINCINNATI - University of Cincinnati women's basketball head coach Michelle Clark-Heard and graduate student Arame Niang took part in the 2021 American Athletic Conference Basketball Media Days, held virtually this year.
Picked sixth in the pre-season poll, Coach Heard shared what she's most looking forward to as the season is about to start.
"Just really excited. Excited about our chemistry, excited about our growth from the summer to where we are at now. And just having a great time everyday just with them. Just getting everyone comfortable and learning the system and just working together."
As Clark-Heard heads into her fourth season as the head coach of Cincinnati, this will be the first season without reigning AAC Player of the Year I'Imari Thomas. She knows one person is not going to be able to replace Thomas and all that she accomplished during her time at UC, but she sees the overall potential with this years' team.
"What I am really excited about is just being able to have a collective group of young ladies that are looking forward to working together, to put all the pieces together so we can be great."
She credits Arame Niang and Jillian Hayes for being leaders and helping the eight new players, along with the other five returning, come together as a team and get better.
Niang was able to stay an extra year to play this season due to the extended COVID-19 eligibility and doesn't take for granted the opportunity to play another year.
"Having this extra year is everything for me. I'm looking forward to being whatever the team needs to succeed. Last year was very hard for us, but this year is something that we take very personal, coming from last year."
"At the end of the day, last year is last year. But I really believe that we grew during the whole season and everything that we went through," Coach Heard said in relation to what she took away from the odd season due to COVID-19. "The growth that they learned from last year to where we are at now, really helped them be able to be prepared to welcome all the new [players] in."
Two of the new faces joining this years squad come from overseas. Emerita Mashaire, from Finland, Lojain Elfatairy, from Egypt, both have experience playing for their national teams.
"The thing that I love about it is, it gives us the opportunity where you can also bring in some players who have played against professional players, players that have that experience," Clark-Heard said about having a strong core of international students on her teams. "We bring the ability for them to come from different walks of life, it helps us grow not only on the court but off the court."
Niang was originally recruited to the United States from Japan to play for Coach Heard when she was at Western Kentucky. Niang transferred to Cincinnati in 2019 to play for Coach Heard and couldnt imagine playing for anyone else.
"It's the relationship. I have never had anybody besides my family caring so much for me," Niang said. "As soon as we started talking, I knew this was the coach I wanted to come and play for."
Culture is important to Clark-Heard and is the base to who she recruits to come play for her.
"We've been really fortunate that the players that we have brought in, that the relationships that myself and the coaching staff had with them, kinda really understanding and knowing who we are as people and what we are looking for on the floor," Clark-Heard said.
This season, the team looks to bounce back from the 8-16 record from last year and Clark-Heard is excited about where the team is heading.
"One thing that I do look at is just the growth of our program and where we are now, I am really excited."
The Bearcats' host Finland for an exhibition match on Nov. 3rd before officially starting the 2021-22 season on Nov. 10th when they welcome Alabama A&M to Fifth Third Arena.
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
2021-22 women's basketball tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the Cincinnati Bearcats Ticket Office at 1-877-CATS-TIX or online by clicking here. Season ticket packages are $50 for adult general admission and $30 for youth (ages 4-12), seniors (age 65+), faculty/staff, and the military. The Champions Club is available for all ages for just $70 (ages 3 and under don't need a ticket).
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati women's basketball, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati WBB (@GoBearcatsWBB) and Coach Michelle Clark-Heard (@Coachheard) on Twitter. You can also follow the team on Facebook and Instagram.
Picked sixth in the pre-season poll, Coach Heard shared what she's most looking forward to as the season is about to start.
"Just really excited. Excited about our chemistry, excited about our growth from the summer to where we are at now. And just having a great time everyday just with them. Just getting everyone comfortable and learning the system and just working together."
As Clark-Heard heads into her fourth season as the head coach of Cincinnati, this will be the first season without reigning AAC Player of the Year I'Imari Thomas. She knows one person is not going to be able to replace Thomas and all that she accomplished during her time at UC, but she sees the overall potential with this years' team.
"What I am really excited about is just being able to have a collective group of young ladies that are looking forward to working together, to put all the pieces together so we can be great."
She credits Arame Niang and Jillian Hayes for being leaders and helping the eight new players, along with the other five returning, come together as a team and get better.
Niang was able to stay an extra year to play this season due to the extended COVID-19 eligibility and doesn't take for granted the opportunity to play another year.
"Having this extra year is everything for me. I'm looking forward to being whatever the team needs to succeed. Last year was very hard for us, but this year is something that we take very personal, coming from last year."
"At the end of the day, last year is last year. But I really believe that we grew during the whole season and everything that we went through," Coach Heard said in relation to what she took away from the odd season due to COVID-19. "The growth that they learned from last year to where we are at now, really helped them be able to be prepared to welcome all the new [players] in."
Two of the new faces joining this years squad come from overseas. Emerita Mashaire, from Finland, Lojain Elfatairy, from Egypt, both have experience playing for their national teams.
"The thing that I love about it is, it gives us the opportunity where you can also bring in some players who have played against professional players, players that have that experience," Clark-Heard said about having a strong core of international students on her teams. "We bring the ability for them to come from different walks of life, it helps us grow not only on the court but off the court."
Niang was originally recruited to the United States from Japan to play for Coach Heard when she was at Western Kentucky. Niang transferred to Cincinnati in 2019 to play for Coach Heard and couldnt imagine playing for anyone else.
"It's the relationship. I have never had anybody besides my family caring so much for me," Niang said. "As soon as we started talking, I knew this was the coach I wanted to come and play for."
.@Coachheard and @arame_n did great this morning during @American_WBB media days!
— Cincinnati W. Hoops (@GoBearcatsWBB) October 14, 2021
We will post the full media session later today 📺 pic.twitter.com/hvQVeMtK5t
Culture is important to Clark-Heard and is the base to who she recruits to come play for her.
"We've been really fortunate that the players that we have brought in, that the relationships that myself and the coaching staff had with them, kinda really understanding and knowing who we are as people and what we are looking for on the floor," Clark-Heard said.
This season, the team looks to bounce back from the 8-16 record from last year and Clark-Heard is excited about where the team is heading.
"One thing that I do look at is just the growth of our program and where we are now, I am really excited."
The Bearcats' host Finland for an exhibition match on Nov. 3rd before officially starting the 2021-22 season on Nov. 10th when they welcome Alabama A&M to Fifth Third Arena.
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
2021-22 women's basketball tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the Cincinnati Bearcats Ticket Office at 1-877-CATS-TIX or online by clicking here. Season ticket packages are $50 for adult general admission and $30 for youth (ages 4-12), seniors (age 65+), faculty/staff, and the military. The Champions Club is available for all ages for just $70 (ages 3 and under don't need a ticket).
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati women's basketball, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati WBB (@GoBearcatsWBB) and Coach Michelle Clark-Heard (@Coachheard) on Twitter. You can also follow the team on Facebook and Instagram.