THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the 2025 ACC Tipoff Q&A. I am happy to have the Miami women's basketball team on the stage with me represented by head coach Tricia Cullop going into her second season at the helm of Miami, as well as Gal Raviv and then veteran Ra Shaya Kyle. Ladies, thank you for joining me.
Tricia, you brought in the 15th ranked portal class consisting of seven players and combined that with the No. 10 ranked freshman class by ESPN-W. A lot of excitement in Miami right now. What should we expect from this team?
TRICIA CULLOP: Number one, we're bigger, faster, and stronger, which is music to my ears because this league is that.
Secondly, we can play fast offensively, and we can play aggressive defensively. We have the depth to sustain the level of play that we want to. That will be exciting for our fans.
THE MODERATOR: You've had a lot of success in your coaching career, 26th season now you're going into it. You look like you're 26 too, just so we're clear. As you went into the first year in the ACC what surprised you the most about this league?
TRICIA CULLOP: I don't think I was surprised by the talent, because when I was at Toledo, we had played Louisville, we had played Notre Dame, we had played multiple teams of that caliber.
But I think going through the league just the depth we needed to play the way we wanted to play was a little deeper than I imagined, but it was good because that really set the tone and the slate for recruiting of what we needed.
THE MODERATOR: I raved about both portal class and freshman class. Was there a certain emphasis? I mean, obviously recruiting is year-round, and you had already started. Was it more about this fits Tricia Cullop's coaching style or was it a little bit some of the lessons in year one of the ACC?
TRICIA CULLOP: Well, we wanted to get bigger, faster, stronger, without sacrificing what matters. So when we found players that were that, the next thing was, are they a good person? Are they a great teammate? Are they a great leader?
I'm a big culture person, and the winning that I've experienced in my career was all built on did we have kids who sacrificed for everyone and not just about themselves. We found that in all the players that we signed.
That's why I'm so excited about what we're building and what we have for this year, because all of them really work hard for each other, and our chemistry, even though we have 12 out of 14 new, is already in a really, really good place.
Tricia, you brought in the 15th ranked portal class consisting of seven players and combined that with the No. 10 ranked freshman class by ESPN-W. A lot of excitement in Miami right now. What should we expect from this team?
TRICIA CULLOP: Number one, we're bigger, faster, and stronger, which is music to my ears because this league is that.
Secondly, we can play fast offensively, and we can play aggressive defensively. We have the depth to sustain the level of play that we want to. That will be exciting for our fans.
THE MODERATOR: You've had a lot of success in your coaching career, 26th season now you're going into it. You look like you're 26 too, just so we're clear. As you went into the first year in the ACC what surprised you the most about this league?
TRICIA CULLOP: I don't think I was surprised by the talent, because when I was at Toledo, we had played Louisville, we had played Notre Dame, we had played multiple teams of that caliber.
But I think going through the league just the depth we needed to play the way we wanted to play was a little deeper than I imagined, but it was good because that really set the tone and the slate for recruiting of what we needed.
THE MODERATOR: I raved about both portal class and freshman class. Was there a certain emphasis? I mean, obviously recruiting is year-round, and you had already started. Was it more about this fits Tricia Cullop's coaching style or was it a little bit some of the lessons in year one of the ACC?
TRICIA CULLOP: Well, we wanted to get bigger, faster, stronger, without sacrificing what matters. So when we found players that were that, the next thing was, are they a good person? Are they a great teammate? Are they a great leader?
I'm a big culture person, and the winning that I've experienced in my career was all built on did we have kids who sacrificed for everyone and not just about themselves. We found that in all the players that we signed.
That's why I'm so excited about what we're building and what we have for this year, because all of them really work hard for each other, and our chemistry, even though we have 12 out of 14 new, is already in a really, really good place.
