charge when someone is out of control.) Likewise, players no longer have weaknesses. They have “growth opportunities.” Players aren’t injured. They are “healing.” “We keep everything positive,” she says. “It is a mindset. The critics will say you need to be real. Well, I am as real as it gets. But you also have to keep a positive mindset because if there’s one thing I have noticed about this team when I first arrived, it was we really had to work on our selfawareness and confidence.” Koclanes has set about introducing behaviors she hopes will become tradititions. Players stay engaged on the bench by clapping twice for each made foul shot by a teammate and once on a miss. Warming up before the game with determination is expected. Players are to run off the floor for timeouts. Looking teammates, coaches, professors and others in the eye when talking with them is de riguer. The highlight of Koclanes’ first season was a 53-50 win over Penn on Feb. 22, the Quakers’ only loss in a 14-game span. Penn would go on to win the Ivy League title while Dartmouth would go back to work. “We want to be champions but we don’t necessarily focus on winning,” says Koclanes, who promised herself she would make her pregame and postgame speeches memorable in the manner of her legendary mentor while an assistant at Old Dominion, Wendy Larry. “If you get so caught up in outcome you are not going to get there. That’s our mindset. We are focused on the process. That’s another saying we have. Trust the process.” The first year was indeed a learning process, for the players as well as their coach. “As you know, some coaches come in and they dismantle right off the bat,” Koclanes says. “That’s not what I believe
in. I believe in coming in and listening. I was taught that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. I wanted to listen and I wanted to get a feel and a pulse for really what was going on here, and then gradually make the changes that needed to be made.” Along with RAP, Koclanes adopted the acronym CORE to summarize characteristics she deems essential to players in her program. They needed to have Character, a good Offensive skillset, Relentlessness in rebounding, on defense and effort, and a consistent drive for Excellence. Soon after her first season wrapped up Koclanes adjusted the roster and let the remaining players know what to expect. “We had very direct and honest conversations,” she says. “We said to the team just because you have a roster spot now does not mean you will have one come fall. You will have to earn it. I told them if you’re going to commit to something in your life, commit to it and do it right.” Spring was spent on skill development, what Koclanes likes to call “vitamins.” There was regular one-one one work with position coaches. Players were given strength and conditioning programs and were warned that a newer, more challenging fitness test would be coming. The coaches leaned on Assistant AD for leadership Stephen Spaulding to help the players understand their fitness responsibilities as members of a team, DP2 nutritionist Claudette Peck and the conditioning staff to help remake the players’ bodies and Director of Integrative Health Anna Terry to keep them going with massage and yoga. “We weren’t in the best shape last year,” Koclanes says. “As an athlete it all starts with your strength and conditioning. Your skills will only take you so far if you are
P E A K | WI N TER 201 4
15