THE MODERATOR: Good morning, and welcome to the 2025 ACC Tipoff Q&A. I am happy to have Wake Forest this morning. Head Coach Megan Gebbia. We have Milan Brown at the end and Grace Oliver. Welcome, ladies.
MILAN BROWN: Thank you.
GRACE OLIVER: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: I think first, Coach, give us what brings you to be so excited about this team. A lot of new faces for you guys.
MEGAN GEBBIA: We had some resource turnover from last year. We had a lot of seniors. As a coach that's always nerve-wracking trying to bring the right people in. We had signed five freshmen, so we knew we had those people coming in, and a lot of scoring honestly in that freshman class in size and length.
We really had to go to the portal to replace some people. Grace is obviously one of the people we grabbed out of the portal.
You know, we needed shooting. We needed some experience at the power four level, and this team has been just unbelievable in the gym. I mean, they get in the gym all the time. They're working extra. They're a fun group. A lot of young kids, so their youthful energy and willingness to learn and grow, and they have a real competitive spirit about them and a toughness about them that, you know, I'm excited to see how that translates to the ACC.
THE MODERATOR: You mentioned scoring. Last year you guys averaged 14 assists, and you forced 17 turnovers a game.
MEGAN GEBBIA: Yeah.
THE MODERATOR: How do you capitalize now with the scoring parts that you have on the possessions game?
MEGAN GEBBIA: Yeah, I think we're possession-based and analytically-driven. We're trying to get the best shot every time down the floor. But what we noticed last year that transition really was one of our better options, so trying to score in the first eight seconds is huge. But we also have to not give up points in the first eight seconds on the defensive end.
That's a focus of ours this year.
Everybody can score, so it's kind of nice in the sense the ball moves pretty easily. I just keep telling them every day, if you are open and it's a good shot, you take it and don't think twice. I have a lot of confidence in the people that are on the team to score, and I think you're going to see us score more points this year.
THE MODERATOR: Milan, freshman; why Wake Forest?
MILAN BROWN: I felt like it was the perfect place for me to kind of to get my name out there, but also to be in a place that believes in me and that's really working to do something.
THE MODERATOR: So, Grace, we talked about the scoring. First eight seconds she wants you to get the shot up. The portal is so dynamic. Same question for you, why Wake Forest, especially now in a new stop?
GRACE OLIVER: Yeah, for me personally I wanted to play in the best conference in the country, and the ACC is just that. I felt that with combination of Wake Forest academics, you really couldn't ask for a better place.
THE MODERATOR: This is your fourth year at Wake Forest. Can you discuss just overall the coaching in the ACC? We know this is a fabulous conference. The coaches make this conference.
MEGAN GEBBIA: I think if you look at it from top to bottom, there is first-class coaching everywhere. We have a couple of new coaches in the league that are going to help bolster the league as well, and I just think with this conference, you know, you see I think we had six draftees into the WNBA. We had I think five different regular season champions.
So it's like you never know from year to year. This year could be a different school. So I think you're talking about night in, night out that you cannot take a day off. There are so many great coaches. I think players, as well. It's difficult to prepare and game plan every day for the type of players that we see in the systems and the schemes that coaches come up with.
We know that. We know that it's always a challenge, but it's a fun challenge, and I think that's why we're here. That's why they came and wanted to be part of the ACC.
THE MODERATOR: Milan, players say all the time they want to play fast, they want to play in transition. What's been the hardest adjustment for you learning to play fast under Coach's system?
MILAN BROWN: So, we definitely are working to play fast this year, but kind of something that we have to -- the freshmen had to try and get the hang of is trying to play fast under control, and that's something Coach has definitely honed in on.
Making sure we're making the right decisions even at a fast pace and kind of maybe show under control in every play. We are definitely are going to play fast. We're definitely going to be a really entertaining team to watch in transition this year.
THE MODERATOR: Grace, with so many new faces, what's the locker room of off-court feel been for this team, and what's the span as you try to gel to get ready for game action?
GRACE OLIVER: Yeah, I mean, this summer so far we have spent so much time together off the court. We would watch, like, Love Island every night as a team, so it's been great.
We definitely see that kind of transition to on the court, because obviously that's really important. When you have such a young team, having some veteran presence, people that have already played at the collegiate level kind of making those bonds both on and off the court is going to be a big emphasis for us this year.
THE MODERATOR: This question is for both players. There's so much tradition in this league. Is there anyone that either you've idolized who has gone through this league or you've patterned your own game after. Grace, I'll let you go first.
GRACE OLIVER: I think for me just in general you hear so much stuff about the ACC that I'm just excited to be here and play here. I mean, I'm really excited to play these games at the Joel kind of in front of our hometown, our home fans, so I'm excited.
MILAN BROWN: I just have to agree. I feel like every night is going to be a great game, and I'm really excited to play in front of the home crowd. I'm really excited to play amazing competition every night that the ACC brings.
THE MODERATOR: Milan, as a freshman, I know it can be overwhelming to think, oh, I'm a freshman, it's four years, but since you're so fresh from the recruiting process, what do you want your legacy to be?
MILAN BROWN: That's a really good question. I think I just want to be remembered as someone who is a top-level competitor, someone who doesn't give up and works hard on every play.
I think that's something that we see throughout the whole team and just embodying that will really be a really good legacy for me to leave.
THE MODERATOR: Grace, what is it about Megan that just fires you up or brings confidence to this team?
GRACE OLIVER: I think just seeing, like, how so far this summer she's so adamant about where we want to be in the ACC this year. We want to be the team that people don't want to play, people look forward to playing us at our home gym or whether we're coming to you. I think she's really brought the team together in that way.
Everyone wants to play for her. She's such a great coach. I mean, you feel the love both on and off the court, and think that personally that really drives a player. So when you have that feeling across the whole team, you're going to want to play for a coach like that.
THE MODERATOR: With all the newcomers, who is the one person who you think come ACC action, everybody is going to be talking about that maybe is flying under the radar right now?
GRACE OLIVER: For me I would go with Raven Preston. She's a transfer this year, a true junior. She previously played at Elon and she just provides us dynamicness to our team. She can do so much stuff. She defends off the ball, on the ball. She's a really good scorer. She's just very smart. I would say she's very consistent day-to-day, and that's the type of player I personally like to play with. It makes me feel confident every night to go out on the floor.
MILAN BROWN: I would like to second that. She's a veteran guard, so she's really -- I look up to her a lot. She really is composed under pressure. She makes the right decisions, and she's really smart.
I like watching her play to pick up on little things that I can add to my game. I also think it's going to be really fun to watch a freshman guard, Caitlyn Jones. I think she plays really fast. She's a really good floater, and she's going to be really entertaining to watch.
THE MODERATOR: I see you nodding a lot. Is there anyone differently?
MEGAN GEBBIA: I agree with those two. Raven is just one of those kids that fills a stat sheet. You're going to notice her sometimes; maybe not other times; but she's always going to make an impact on the floor.
With Caitlyn, she just so fun to watch. When the ball is in her hands, you just never know what's going to happen next, and I think those types of players are really entertaining.
THE MODERATOR: Megan, right now I know it's very early with practice, but where do you feel like this team has improved from a year ago, and what's that one thing that maybe is giving you a little bit of sleeplessness?
MEGAN GEBBIA: I don't sleep now.
THE MODERATOR: Of course, you don't.
MEGAN GEBBIA: I think the competitiveness. I see it day in, day out. We have a great group of practice guys that are really challenging in practice, and we compete with them day in, day out, and they are on it. That's been great.
One of the things that we're trying to get better at I think is the toughness aspect of adversity. When it hits, how do we react to it?
With younger players, you don't know -- they don't know what to expect yet. It's like trying to have those moments in practice where it feels like that in a game so they can respond better. I think that's one of the things that probably keeps me up at night.
But, you know, sometimes with young teams, you just put them out there, and they don't know what they don't know, and they just rise to the challenge. So I'm excited to see kind of what happens, but we're building on fourth quarters. How do we perform in fourth quarters?
THE MODERATOR: Here's the hardest question you'll probably have today: Of all the ACC coaches, who do you think gives out the best Halloween candy?
MEGAN GEBBIA: Oh, gosh, I'm going to go with Wes. I feel like Wes. Yeah, I'll go with him.
THE MODERATOR: To finalize, for each one of you, one-word answer: When I say "ACC women's basketball," what comes to mind?
MILAN BROWN: I would say competition.
GRACE OLIVER: I would say excitement.
MEGAN GEBBIA: Me? I get to answer?
THE MODERATOR: You get to answer this one.
MEGAN GEBBIA: There's a lot of actually words that come into my mind, but I think it's excellence.
THE MODERATOR: There you have it, Wake Forest. Look out, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports