Kymesha Alston #23 - Sophomore post player...and the life of the party!

A few words from Kymesha:

I love it here at my new school. Last semester I was just getting the hang of things but now I finally feel like i'm in "the loop". I feel like practices are going well for the most part. So far my favorite thing about practices are the drills that we do when we get to go up and down the floor in game like situations. There really is nothing that I dislike about practices except maybe the running, but that's nothing out of control. I love the energy that all the coaches bring to our practices everyday because we, the players, tend to feed off of it which in the end leads to a good practice. If I could coach practice for one day I would do less breakdown defensive drills, but incorporate them in more real game situations...because it easier to do it right in a drill than in a game. I would make a rule that every missed layup the team will run a down and back and the person who missed would do 10 pushups. If its a missed layup in a drill then it would be a line a layup, like down and back would be 2 instead of 1.

Because I have late classes and my only early class is online now, a typical day for me would be wake up at 10ish, breakfast, class, one life to live, training room, practice/dinner or dinner/practice, then "me" time. Me time could be me getting some work done or just simply relaxing and/or hanging out. This is just some input on how my semester is going so far.

Thanks to Kymesha for taking the time to send this to me so you guys can get to know her a little better. Since Kymesha transferred to RU last winter, she has to sit out this semester. Her first official game as a Lady Highlander will be on December 16th at Wake Forest University. We are all looking forward to the day when she can finally put on an RU uniform!

JRA

are we there yet?

Hello again RU fans! Not much going on worth writing about in the last few days in our world except that we've been having some great practices. I've been really impressed with our team's ability to bring 100% to the floor just about every day. Now, don't get me wrong. We have had a day or two that I've left the gym wondering what the heck they were doing and where they left their brains that day, but it's seriously only been maybe once or twice since practice began. It's 2 weeks and 2 days until we open up against TCU and the closer it gets, the slower the time is passing. It's almost like a long road trip in the car and I'm that little kid in the back seat asking "are we there yet?" I sat down at my computer earlier today and started on our trip itinerary for that trip and got even more excited than I already was. It just seems like when I start checking over our flight info and hotel stuff and practice times in Texas that the game is getting really close! We passed out all of the travel gear and bags to the team last week so they are ready to hit the road looking good. It feels like an early Christmas present to the girls and my office looks like an Adidas warehouse on days like that! We play a scrimmage game next Saturday at home and hopefully all of the first game jitters and nervous energy will all come out so we are ready to just relax and play on November 9th. Ok, time for me to get back to work. Keep checking back for a few updates from our players. They are supposed to be emailing me some things to post.
JRA

a note from one of our captains

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have written on the blog. I am really looking forward to the upcoming season. I have kind of stepped into a new role this year as captain. This will be a new experience for me at the college level but I am very excited about the opportunity. This week has been the first week of practice and it has been going pretty well. We have five awesome freshmen who have been catching onto things fast and our upperclassmen have been very intense during practice and I think that is contagious because our freshmen have been doing very well. We were picked to win the whole thing this year so we have been practicing very hard to make sure that happens. This year everyone will know who we are and know they have to bring there “A” game to be able to play with us. At the same time, we know everyone will be coming at as strong and we are working that much harder now. We are going to do great things this year. I feel it!!!
Vandy

Lady Highs picked preseason #1

Last week was a very busy week for me and that is the only reason it has taken me this long to talk about the honor that was given to our team last Tuesday. The Big South coaches and sports information directors vote each Fall to decide the preseason rankings and the preseason all-conference team. You guys will be excited to find out that our team has been picked preseason #1 and Kelli and Corrie were both picked to be a part of the 5 member preseason all-conference team! This is the first time since the 96-97 season that RU has been put at the top of that poll. For any of you who can remember, that pick followed the season when the Lady Highs won the Big South and reached the NCAA tournament for a 3rd straight time. Coach Porter told the team last week before one of our workouts and talked about what an honor it is to have the other coaches in the league think that highly of us and show us that respect. Being picked preseason #1 is something that we are very proud of. It shows the team that everyone else finally realizes what we've known all along...we have an extremely talented team this season filled with veterans and some exciting newcomers and we feel like this is our year to do something special. Coach Porter followed that news with a statement that got our team thinking and ready to work even harder. She reminded the team that last season we got picked preseason #5 and reminded them that we spent all of last season trying to prove that preseason polls don't really mean anything. Yes, it is an honor, but we haven't won anything yet! It's time to go to work.
JRA

preseason is finally over!

Friday morning was a great day for our seniors. It was officially their last day ever of preseason workouts and the last sprint they will ever have to run (in preseason at least). It was 7 oclock in the morning and we were all really sleepy but it was a great moment to watch when the seniors crossed the line and let out a yell. It made me think alot about how far they have come since preseason workouts their freshman year and how far they have brought this team. The coaches all told them throughout the recruiting process 5 years ago how they could come to Radford and help us build a championship team. We made a commitment to them and asked them to commit to our team and help us get where we finally are this season. We start official practice in 5 days and we are so excited about the way our team looks right now and the special season that we can potentially have this year. Kelli, Corrie, and Serena have put so much effort, sweat, and tears into our program and I hope this season has a storybook ending for them. I love them and they deserve it.

JRA

first victory of the season

Yes, it's a small victory and no, it doesn't go on our official record...but yesterday our entire team made their mile times. They did it together and that's what makes it such a big accomplishment. Everybody brought their A game on the same day. They all had individual goal times and everybody stepped up to the challenge. If you guys know Kelli D and know that she's 6'3", you know how impressive it is that she ran a 6:48 mile! Also, Kaylyn Crosier consistently ran between 5:30 and 5:40 mile times and was the fastest person on the team (as a freshman!). Our team is going to be so fast this season and our kids know that they are going to be the most well conditioned team on the court every game. I am so proud of them. One week of preseason workouts to go and next Friday we finally get to step on the court for official practice. We all can't wait!
JRA

Congratulations Coach Edwards!

We got up so darn early because we had a 8:30am game against Mexico. This was for 7th and 8th position and winning the game would be a moral victory for either team. No breakfast was available and the bus driver was 20 minutes late which was quite annoying to me. Not only did I not sleep because of the pain in my knee, I had to be warmed up and ready to compete at 6:30am. This is just crazy for me, being that it takes me a while to warm up my body. I am not young anymore. The locker room was freezing and I was a bit grumpy from not sleeping for four days in a row. I knew I have to compete so I shifted my focus to the game. There is not much to say about the game except that we lost even though we were leading for most of the game. We just went away from the game plan. My teammates played hard and I know they wanted to win the game. I came back to the hotel angry because the loss really affected me. I ate and took a nap they went to see the USA and Cuba championship game. The US was impressive in their win and showed off their young talents and veteran leadership. I cheered for them and in return they cheered for me when I got my award for most points in the tournament. I hugged Ann and congratulated her for the gold and she did the same for me and my award. It was a good to take that final picture with coach Donavan with the trophy and me in my Radford top. It seems like a great end to a lovely career as a player and a new start to an exciting one as a coach. My body is just not the same anymore but it sure went out with a bang. Thanks to Dianna Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tina Thompson, Seimone Agustus, Rebekkah Brunson, and Candice Parker for all the stuff they donated to my no-profit foundation. I am so looking forward to seeing my Radford staff and players for our new journey together.
Coach Edwards

Coach Edwards - Saturday, September 29th

Our loss to Cuba was a hard loss. We only lost by 14 points (76-62) and that shocked EVERYONE. We forced them to keep their starters in longer than they wanted. I had 18 points and eight rebounds for the game. Today, we go up against Chile. They have the home crowd in their pocket. The gym is always packed when the home team plays and they play off the energy of their fans.
I am still struggling with trying to sleep on the bed here in my two star hotel. I was actually awake at 7:30 this morning just to get out of the bed. Anyone that knows me knows that I don't voluntarily get out of bed at 7:30 any morning. My assistant coach suggested I put my mattress on the floor like he did. To add insult to this pain, each US player has a room to themselves with two queen beds in it.
It was nice to see my former teammate, Sue Bird, again. I hope to have more photos in my next blog. I brought my own computer but it is having a hard time connecting to the internet.
Coach Edwards