New coach’s credo shapes team’s philosophy

The members of the UCLA women’s basketball are adjusting to a new season, a new coach and new outlook on the game.

With the addition of head coach Nikki Caldwell comes a fresh attitude and a new mantra to the women’s basketball program, dictated in the credo “always earned, never given.” In addition, there comes renewed optimism about what the Bruins are capable of earning.

Caldwell comes to UCLA after acting as the assistant coach at Tennessee, arguably the most prominent women’s basketball program in the nation.

For six seasons she assisted legendary head coach Pat Summit and helped take Tennessee to five Final Fours and two national championships.

“She understands what it means to be a championship program, and at the same time, we have a lot of winning programs here, but women’s basketball is not there yet,” junior guard Erica Tukiainen said. “We are getting there. She knows what it means to be a winner, what the sacrifices are.”

With such an impressive coaching resume, it was easy for the Bruins to be intimidated about what the new coach might bring to the team.

Despite the questions the players had about their new coach, the Bruins have seen nothing but a smooth transition. In one word, Tukiainen sums up the switch to a new coach as “positive.”

“It was like a fresh breath of air,” Tukiainen said. “You knew something was coming and you knew something very good.”

On a day-to-day basis, the Bruins have seen a change in the way that practices are run.

According to the players, team spirit is more intense than it was last season. Caldwell has made a point to create a unified team.

“Every day we drill being unified in all of our actions, whether it’s offensively setting a great screen for your teammate or making sure you make that extra pass,” Caldwell said. “We play this game unified, so we practice this game unified.”

According to Tukiainen, Caldwell coaches with discipline and focus, and she demands a lot from her players. Drills are not completed until the team gets it perfect.

“It was new, but at the same time it was nurturing and something that we needed,” Tukiainen said. “We are going back to basic basketball ““ it’s not rocket science. She wants to make sure that we understand the game of basketball.”

Whenever a new coach joins a program, there is always speculation about whether new recruits will stay to play for someone who did not initially recruit them.

When Caldwell was hired last April, freshmen guards Rebekah Gardner and Atonye Nyingifa stayed loyal to their commitments and became Bruins.

Gardner said she had no trouble sticking with her choice to play for UCLA.

“I already knew that UCLA wasn’t winning before, so I thought that when we got the new coach, maybe that would better the program,” Gardner said.

Nyingifa considered how the new coach would impact her experience at UCLA before deciding that it was still the right place for her.

“It did take me a lot of thought because there was the option of switching schools,” Nyingifa said. “But I knew Coach Nikki and her coaching staff had a good history on their belts so I was pretty sure that I was in good hands, so I stayed with UCLA.”

With a new outlook on the season, the Bruins are ready to take Caldwell’s “always earned, never given” motto and apply it to the success they hope to achieve this season.

“She’s an educator, she’s a coach, and she’s a role model,” Tukiainen said. “I have so much respect for her and I want to buy into the system. I want to follow her and I want to make sure the team gets together and that we are successful.”