THE MODERATOR: We welcome to the stage Katie Abrahamson-Henderson of Georgia. We welcome you to the stage.
We'll go straight to questions.
Q. You signed four top-100 freshmen. Can you speak to the process of trying to instill your system and teach a group of talented newcomers.
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: Last year signed the top. I'm a big foundation coach. I really like to build the foundation. I'm all about empowering women. My coaches and I do a really good job of development. I've always been that way.
Usually our players stay with us. They don't usually hop into the portal. That's just kind of what we're comfortable with. We're a big family.
This class coming up is going to be a really good class, too.
Q. You get a player like Roxane Makolo. Speak about her and what she's going to bring to your program.
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: She's our secret weapon (smiling). Well, she's not anymore. Actually Roxane, we recruited her at UCF from Canada. She ended up going to Purdue. Obviously when the portal opened up, we didn't have to sign as many in the portal this year, we went after her right away because she really fits our style of play.
She's really aggressive. Defensively she's really defensive-minded. She's going to be on the front of our press. She's our type of young woman that education is really big to her. She's getting her master's degree. I love that about her. She speaks three languages. She's pretty cool that way.
She's been a great addition to our team, just in leadership, how she plays and everything. Too bad she's not our secret weapon anymore. Obviously, some of the first games you're going to see why we brought her to Georgia.
Q. Last year very uncharacteristic obviously for Georgia and for you. How did that season change you? Did it change your philosophy at all? How did it motivate you and the team for this season?
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: I mean, obviously our first year we brought our culture in. I'm going to talk about culture all the time. Our second year was like our first year, if it was natural recruiting, process of going into a first-year head coach.
Obviously all of us learned a lot from that season, especially our coaches. Now really our culture is in. Everybody that's at Georgia right now, my coaching staff has recruited. It's kind of like the energy and everything in practice is way different.
We're at that point where now we just keep building the blocks and building everything that we're doing. I mean, it's kind of an incredible energy this year. A lot of people walk in, and they're like, Whoa, I can see this. This is exactly what Abe's teams are really like.
This year is really fun.
Q. I wanted to ask you about your transfers. You brought two in. One of them is here with you today. I just wanted you to speak a little bit about your two transfers.
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: Specifically? I got all kinds of things I know about them.
Q. What they bring to the team, what you're expecting from your two transfers and how they can help your team this year.
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: Yeah, I mean, obviously Roxi is going to help a lot. She's very dynamic. Really strong. She's a seasoned vet. She's been playing for five years. Just coming onto our team with Asia, all of our upperclassmen, she's been a breath of fresh air for all of them.
Her basketball IQ is really, really good. She's really been doing a great job for our freshmen, helping our young kids. Obviously we only signed two portal kids, transfer kids, 'cause we want to really build foundation with freshmen and players that want to stay for four years at Georgia. I think that's personally the way Coach Abe wants to do it.
Nyah is from Kentucky. Knew her obviously when we played against her. Same kind of young lady. Great experience, has played in the SEC, knows the SEC. Had a great coach at Kentucky. We needed another post player on the floor. She's bringing all kind of the same things that Roxi is bringing. The basketball IQ is really big.
When you have four freshmen coming in, you need a lot of people that have a lot of really good basketball IQ, a lot of positive energy and great leadership. Actually, that's what they both bring to us.
Q. The SEC didn't just add two programs, they added two very quality programs. Is that something that you look at? Do you do some off-season scouting with new programs coming in?
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: Yeah, definitely one game at a time. Obviously I've known both coaches for year. I don't know if you know, I was in the Big 12. Obviously I know both the schools very well, Coach Schaefer very well.
It just strengthens the SEC. It's going to be a lot of fun. Have I watched film on them? Absolutely not. I've watched everybody over the years. I'm a basketball person. I think they're just a great addition to the SEC, for sure.
Q. What needs to be done overall with your team to make the improvement, in the win column?
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: Well, we got to stay injury-free. We had two ACLs last year. That did not help us at all. That's not an excuse.
In the off-season we have been in the weight room, injury prevention, making sure we're taking care of their bodies. We actually use those catapults a lot. You know what those things are? It's a new thing. They put them on their back and it tells how much they're putting out. We've really been trying to follow those things.
The season's very long. We want our bodies to stay healthy and understand that we don't want a lot of injuries this year. I think that's the first thing.
Then just great leadership. Asia has been an amazing leader for us. So has Roxane. They've been really two great leaders for all of our underclassmen. I think that's super big to have that. I always say if your best players aren't your hardest workers, you're not going to have the best team. Now our best players are our hardest workers, so everybody underneath them follows them. I think those two things are going to be big.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you.
KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports