A 1 or 2 player that has a "Johna Goff" like way about her. Tina is a very good outside shooter, she is very confident and outgoing on the court, and very emotional. Tina has the potential to put up some major, big time scoring numbers. She will be a fan favorite to watch play. May have to play more minutes at the point guard spot until we get healthy there. She and I will have to be patient and allow her a chance to learn at that position.

Becca Badjorek-6'2" P Columbus, OH (St. Francis DeSales HS)

A 4 or 5 player that has actually surprised me at how ready to play she is. She is a hard working post player that will push upperclassmen for playing time. She is very driven to succeed and besides the lack of strength, has improved very much in the short amount of time that she has been on campus. She has outside range and inside skills. Has the potential to be a double-double for us.

Kelsey Corbin-5-9 G Fort Wayne, IN (Northrop HS)

A versatile guard that can play any perimeter position. Very athletic slasher who has worked on her outside shot. Kelsey learns quickly and is eager to improve. Has freshman All-MAC potential if she continues to get better. Can really get to the basket off the dribble and best of the freshman defensively. Was selected an AAU All-American this past summer in the 18u division as her team finished National runners up.

Teran Warner-6'0" P Middletown, IN (Shenandoah HS)

Is the first physical, blue collar post player that we have had since I have been here. Has a banger mentality. Recovering from shoulder surgery right now, so has not even gotten close to her full potential on the court or in conditioning. Has been released to practice, but cannot yet go full contact. Was a state champion in Indiana at Shenandoah and really has a winning mentality and attitude. In her four years in high school, Teran went 90-16. I look forward to the day that she can go full out! I'm sure so is Teran.

[BSUfans] What expectations do you have of your newcomers? Will any of them have to come in and be as much of a factor as Dana Collins was last year?
[Tracy Roller] Overall…. Every year it gets harder and harder for freshman to come into our program and make an immediate impact. That says a lot about our current team, but I feel that one or two of them may see some major minutes. They all are hungry to contribute right away. I'm sure there are a few upperclassmen who are going to continue to fight for their position. That is going to make us a better team!

Teran, Kelsey and Tina were our earliest commitments in the recruiting process that we have had here in the last 5 years. They all committed early spring of their junior years.

[BSUfans] You had several off-season moves in the coaching ranks. Can you talk about your new staff members?
[Tracy Roller] Duffy Burns-(1st assistant) As a 1985 graduate of BSU, we are excited to have Duffy back as part of the Ball State family. He was the head coach at Cleveland State from 1995-2003 and a great friend. His experiences while a head coach has already helped me grow as a coach. He has learned from awesome coaches and gone through those head coaching things himself. He understands the demands on you as a head coach and this makes him an excellent assistant. His philosophy is similar to mine, as he was a 3 point shooting, high scoring coach. His back round and knowledge of the game is unbelievable. Duffy is our post coach.

Stephanie White-(3rd assistant) Miss Basketball in Indiana, Purdue National Champion, Wade trophy winner, Kodak and Academic All-American, WNBA player for the Indianapolis Fever…what is there that is left for her to do? COACH! From a public relations standpoint, Stephanie is a tremendous hire for our program. She brings a lot of positive attention to our team and to BSU. I think this will be a situation where we can help her become a more experienced coach and she can help us become a better basketball team. It is also good for her because she can still play for the Fever during the summers and then coach in the winters. Stephanie is our point guard coach.

Jeanette Gray-She joins us as an administrative assistant on our staff. She just graduated in 2003 [bleep] laude with a 3.53 GPA in mechanical engineering from Valparaiso University as a Mid-Continent Conference regular season and tournament Champion and NCAA participant. I helped recruit Jeanette to Valparaiso when I was an assistant there and now she is coaching with us. She is now a grad student in Marketing and Management here at BSU and helping us out with our team. Due to NCAA rules, Jeanette cannot officially "coach" this season, but can be on the floor, at the games, in the office and travel with our program.

[BSUfans] Even though she was an All American, what does it mean to lose just one senior off of last year's team?
[Tracy Roller] The combination of experience that we have coming back and four newcomers is exciting for our staff. Although we are going to miss Tamara Bowie greatly, the current team knows that we had an incredible year with Tamara as our leader, but did not reach our ultimate goal of the tournament championship. They have a chance to do something that we have not yet done here. Our leadership now is driven to do just that. They are focused like no other team.

[BSUfans] What does the leadership and experience of Endress and Goff mean to this team?
[Tracy Roller] Everything! There is no one on our team that can ever doubt or question the work ethic of our two returning captains. When your leaders are your hardest workers, good things happen to a team. They both have incredible expectations on them as individuals, but they both realize that without the accumulative effort of our team, we cannot reach our goals. They have pushed others in open gym and worked on our team chemistry off the court. They are the definition of "leadership" in my opinion.

[BSUfans] How valuable will Dana Collins' experience as a freshman who ran the point be for her and the team heading into this season?
[Tracy Roller] Dana has not been healthy for about 7 months. She had bunion surgery in the off season and has had a very slow return to the court. The time off for Dana in my opinion has been valuable for her to develop the "X" factor that you must have to be a true point guard leader. It has made her develop her vocal leadership skills and knowledge of the game. As a coach (and I'm sure as a player) you want to have your point guard on the court getting experience through playing, and that is what happened to Dana last season. In the off season, she had to learn through other means. It has made her a better point guard. We look forward to her full recovery.

[BSUfans] What types of improvements did the players work on individually over the summer?
[Tracy Roller] Our defense is by far our skill in biggest need of improvement. As was our post position. After the Missouri game, we realized that we need to get stronger and tougher as a whole. We played very soft at times last year. The addition of the new players and continuing to improve in these weaknesses of our team have been what everyone has worked on.

[BSUfans] What type of a team will we see this year? Do you plan to use the same style of play this year as in years past?
[Tracy Roller] This is a very difficult question to answer until I see how much potential we have on the court. With only 3 days of practice and a very unhealthy squad, right now, we are just trying to learn the game of basketball. To develop the foundation of the building blocks of the type of basketball I want to play. The pieces are there, we just need time to fit them in.

[BSUfans] How do you feel about this year's schedule, with three tournaments and non-conference games against the likes of Indiana at home, Kansas, Louisville, and Chicago State?
[Tracy Roller] From a media standpoint, I think it's just story after story because of all the special interest games that we have. DePaul will be very strong again this season, some reports have them in the Top 25. At the East Carolina tournament, we have the chance to play Cleveland State, where one of my new assistants, Duffy Burns, was the head coach for the past eight seasons. Our home opener against Illinois State will have a special match-up as my other new assistant, Stephanie White, coaches against her sister, Stacey, who is a senior for ISU. The Hoosier Classic will be another exciting weekend. First off, it will be a homecoming for myself and my other assistant Jeanette Gray. I went to high school at nearby Crown Point and Jeanette just finished up her career at Valpo. Our opponent in the Classic, Indiana State, will be a re-match of last year's WNIT first round game. Louisville will be another special night as Tom and Nicki Collen, who was a BSU assistant last year, will return with their new team. We are also looking forward to hosting Indiana on New Year's Eve. Our players will definitely be motivated for that one because it is always difficult to get a Big 10 team to come to Muncie!

[BSUfans] Are you happy with the move from Midnight Mania to Halloween Hoopla?
[Tracy Roller] I am very happy! I never feel like we show very well on that very first day at midnight. A lot of people may not have ever seen us play that might be a midnight mania and I want them to see good solid basketball. We want to show them something that will make them want to come see us play later. I'm not sure if two weeks of practice will give us that, but I know we will be a lot closer than the first night! From a practice standpoint, everyone (including myself!) would be exhausted from that one chance to scrimmage for 15 minutes at 12:45am. It caused our "real" practices to be sluggish. As a coach, it is also nice to have that "carrot" to dangle out there of something to be getting ready for until the exhibition games. Everyone is excited the first week to practice, but then the work sets in! Also, our marketing group, the people that seem to be most interested in women's basketball are families. Older adults, young families and middle school aged children who love basketball. I really feel like the trick or treating and the 6-9 pm time block of Halloween Hoopla will be more marketable to this group. I really hope that families will bring their kids to show off their costumes…. I love that!

[BSUfans] What can the fans expect to see at Halloween Hoopla?
[Tracy Roller] A lot of fun! All ages will have plenty to keep them busy. Autograph sessions & trick or treating on the concourse. Basketball advice by Tim and I. Tours of the Arena facilities. The men's and women's scrimmages and contests of midnight mania. Prizes and fun! It will be very fan centered. And very hands on by all of us. We want the fans to know that we appreciate all the support that they give to us. So we will be out and about in the crowd getting to know the fans. And you getting to know the "new" us, on and off the court. All sports will be involved, as student athletes from other sports will be handing out candy & sporting their costumes!

[BSUfans] Talk about your long-term goals for the program.
[Tracy Roller] I feel like each year we build onto a tradition that has been just recently started. I know that it is very difficult to continue year in and year out with successful season after season. It is very amazing the dominance that the women's volleyball team continues to have in our conference. It comes from recruiting great players and a hard working staff. We have all those puzzle pieces that are needed to do just that. That is our long term goal. We want to vie for and compete for every year that NCAA tournament bid. I want to continue to have our seniors designing those MAC championship rings!

[BSUfans] Tracy, thank you for your time. Best of luck this season.
[Tracy Roller] Rob, the coaches and players of our program would like to personally thank you for your interest and continued coverage of women's basketball. I feel that each year, more and more people continue to become more knowledgeable about our team and the game of basketball nationally, as well as locally. I feel that they appreciate the turn around that has been happening here and how enjoyable our kids are to be around. But, it is you that continues to spread the word. Thanks for all that you do!