Fresh off a record-setting sophomore season, junior Jillian Alleyne and the Oregon women’s basketball team is ready to get the ball rolling on a new season.
Last year, Alleyne set both the Pac-12 and Oregon single-season records for rebounds (494) and double-doubles (28). Her streak of 18 double-doubles set the Oregon record and tied the Pac-12 record set by USC’s Cheryl Miller. She was named to the All-Pac-12 team and earned Associated Press and Full Court Honorable Mention All-American status for 2013-2014.
Alleyne took some time before the team’s second official practice of the fall to chat with the Emerald about both her personal and the team’s progress, including lessons learned during her time spent in Eugene over the summer.
Just to start it out, how was your summer in Eugene?
My summer in Eugene was great. We were here for two months, and I did a lot of things. I went to the Lane County Fair, hung-out with my teammates and just enjoyed college. Basketball-wise, it was great. The coaches were in and out, so we didn’t really see much of them, but we got after it as a team, so it was good.
What is it like organizing practices without coaches and be able to trust in your ability?
It’s a new feeling for me because usually I’m not the one that’s very vocal, so when it comes to having to step up and be a leader and do those certain things, it’s different for me. But, I’m taking it day-by-day. Like I said, I’m not very vocal so I’m just learning how to talk to my teammates, learn that some people like to be handled this way, some people like to handled this other way and just organizing so it’s best for the team and not an individual thing.
Your major is something with communication, right? What has that taught you about being a leader and communicating?
My Communication Disorders and Sciences major has taught me a lot, actually, just in the format of communication. Learning that communication literally is imperative to anything that is going to be successful. You have to be fluent, you have to really bring across what you want to say when communicating with a team, as far as taking my major and putting it on the court is just making sure that you’re heard, that you’re very stern in what you’re saying. This is what we are going to do, we’re going to get it done and there are no options. And really just enforcing that this is how we have to do things if we want to win. I think that’s where we are at as a team. We can’t go back to where we were. We don’t want to lose, so it’s all about being firm and believing in what you’re saying and having others that believe too.
The team is all about optimism at this point, right? With 29 official practices to go before the season starts, what’s the mood or vibe on the team right now?
Very optimistic vibe. Everyone believes in what coach Kelly [Graves] has for us. I, in particular, am very excited about our system. We’re learning defense. I think that’s one thing that our team is really keen on, is our defense right now. A lot of us—it’s crazy because when we ran “the system” we didn’t really do defense. When coach Kelly first came in, I remember he asked us, “What was the floor screen?” And nobody knew. And so it’s just getting back to the fundamentals of basketball. And that’s what we are excited about—coach Kelly’s system. It’s a fast break, but it’s also, there’s some plays where we need to slow it down and there’s terrific defense.
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