At 6:30 a.m. the new look Cal Poly Women's Basketball program is wide awake and full of infectious energy.
In her second year at the helm of the program, Head Coach Shanele Stires is at the forefront of it all with her team knowing full well that most people outside the gym, don't believe the team has a shot this year.
Last year, she inherited a program that went 3-22 the season prior. In that year, she took what she had and made it a 10-18 program knowing full well that this season it would look different.
"There were quite a few players that were already here and you're trying to evaluate if they're a fit for you and are they going to be a part of your program moving forward," Stires explained of last year's process.
The evaluation period came and went and left standing was only four returners heading into this season: their leading scorer from last year, junior Annika Shah, redshirt freshman Sierra Lichtie, two-year starter Sydney Bourland and senior Natalia Ackerman.
“We compete all the time and I think that really pushes out the dog,” Shah stated.
San Jose State University transfer Sydney Richards is one of nine new faces this season as her and eight other transfers and incoming freshmen have taken to building the program from the ground up.
“I think we're moving at a fast pace," Richards said of the team's chemistry. "We're all getting it, all gelling very well together on and off the court. I feel like we're making the right steps forward. It's going to be a great season.”
“Our new players have very quickly, in a short amount of time, bought into our style of play, our standards, our culture," Stires added. "That's made, I think, the big difference in in terms of acclimating that new group in pretty quickly.”
A trait that binds the team together despite the new and old faces, is the energy of Coach Stires in year two at the helm of the Mustangs.
“It makes me smile, like right now, just thinking about it," Shah said of her head coach. "Her energy is so high level.”
Both the men's and women’s programs introduce themselves to the community Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m. for their Hoops and Horror event at the Mott Athletic Center introducing both teams in their Halloween version of Midnight Madness. The women’s first game is Nov. 2 at home against Simpson University.
