Marquette announced Carolyn Kieger as the next women’s basketball coach Thursday afternoon at a news conference held at the Al McGuire Center.
Kieger addressed the media and immediately started talking about how great it was to be back at Marquette, where she played from 2002-06 and holds school records.
“There’s no place like home,” Kieger said. “It’s amazing to be back here. It’s comfortable with familiar faces.”
Throughout her news conference, Kieger talked about how her Marquette experience as a player really influenced her to become the program’s new coach. Coming from a big family, what she found at Marquette ultimately is what brought her back to coach.
“Marquette has always been a perfect fit for me,” Kieger said. “The values, family atmosphere and investment in people, the emphasis on character and integrity is what drew me to the institution in the first place and is drawing me back. There is only one way to win, and that is the right way.”
Formerly an assistant at University of Miami in the Atlantic Coastal Conference, Kieger hopes to bring a high-tempo offense to Marquette.
“I come from a great offensive system and the ACC where it’s run and gun,” Kieger said. “We’re going to push the tempo, we’re going to get up and down the floor, and we’re going to try to score as many points as possible.”
Junior guard Arlesia Morse was excited about the up-tempo style of offense, saying that it was something she and the rest of the team is excited about.
“She wants to have a run-and-gun mentality, get up in people’s face, playing hard, and I feel like that’s everything we’ve been looking for since being here,” Morse said.
Morse thinks that Kieger brings a lot to the table and is going to be a great hire by the university.
“She’s new, she’s young, and it’s about to be a new outlook on the program,” Morse said. “Just getting the opportunity to get to know her, just seeing what great things she’s going to be able to accomplish.”
Interim Athletic Director Bill Cords and Interim President the Rev. Robert A. Wild agree. Both said they believe Kieger is the right person for the head coaching position.
“So I got to say, I am very excited about having her come on board,” Wild said. “I was very pleased when I heard yes, she was willing to do it. So we are very, very happy about that.”
“I am so pleased and so confident in the future of women’s basketball at Marquette University,” Cords said. “This is going to be very good for women’s basketball, it’s going to be very good for the athletics program, it’s going to be very good for the university, and it’s going to be very good for the Marquette family.”
Kieger, along Wild and Cords, said the women’s basketball program and the athletics department as a whole are heading to unchartered territory.
“This is the perfect opportunity,” Kieger said. “Marquette basketball is going to new places. I know it, I’m confident of it. After talking to coach Steve Wojciechowski yesterday, and just meeting with the girls already, this is a place that is going to win championships.”
Kieger said throughout her news conference that Marquette meant a lot to her and helped her grow as a person, and she’s ready to do the same with the athletes she coaches. And she’s ready for the challenge of bringing Marquette a championship.
“There’s not another coach in the country that loves this place more than I do and that’s going to invest and work harder than me,” Kieger said. “In terms of all the intangibles and what it’s going to take to be successful here, I’m ready, I’m willing, and I’m really excited.”
