I read the media statement more carefully, and it was that outlet’s opinion that Utah coach Roberts is always quotable, and worthy of its personal award “state sportsperson of the year”.
I think Coach Roberts evolved as “always quotable” around the time UConn visited. Record lot of media attention on that game, and Coach Roberts was as good as Connecticut coach Auriemma with the media relations.
When the news broke about Utah start Gianna Kneepkens’ season-ending foot injury, Roberts said: “No one works harder and competes to win like she does. I know she will attack this like she does everything else, and come back better than ever. While this is adversity for our program, I believe in our players. I know we’ll persevere, and our goals are still achievable.”
These days, I judge coaches by their handling of media. I can’t tell which coaches are getting the most of the players in-game, or how much of a team’s success was won in recruiting and development. But I have some handle on whether a coach is talking to media in a perfunctory manner.
I’ve shared my opinion about what media expects to feed to the audience, and how coaches and student-athletes needn’t give more than that. Sandy Simpson was a master at this — he called media relations an obligation, but he didn’t kill the messengers. He played his part in the “reporter/coach song and dance” with integrity, and if you asked Coach Simpson to go beyond that, then he was really fun.
It’s that integrity I’m watching. Whether the coach is reading lines, or genuinely means it. Coach Roberts’ press statement regarding Gianna — seeing her in crutches, and Issy Palmer in street clothes, was hard on Thursday — was straightforward in that “what else is the coach supposed to say” manner.
What I’ve learned to appreciate about Coach Roberts is that she was talking as much herself as she was Gianna, and meant it sincerely. If Coach said: “Still think this is THE YEAR?”, she’d expect me to be honest, while skeptical if warranted.
I’d say: Kneepkens is a player with an innate ability to help the team achieve “better than the sum of their parts”. I think your task in 2024 is instilling that quality in Utes who don’t have it so naturally. It’s still THE YEAR, with 20-some games to determine the year of what.
I’ll fabricate a quote for Coach here. Call ESPN. “Our young players looked like young players against Weber State.”
It’s reasonable to put those words in Coach Roberts’ mouth, because they’re as true as “it is what it is”, and maybe the audience will take it within context of losing Kneepens. In other words, Gianna’s leadership — and leadership in minutes played — takes more than three months to cultivate.