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#UNC forward Ciera Toomey at women's basketball media day
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0:00
They were I mean a little bit
0:01
emotionally pickup and you had the
0:03
postseason workout. So
0:06
what were you thinking about why you
0:08
were in that spring mindset?
0:10
I think the biggest thing was coming off
0:13
the season I wanted this year to look
0:14
differently for me personally. I thought
0:16
as a team you had a lot of success but
0:18
obviously for me I'm like I wasn't
0:20
satisfied with how I did and I think
0:23
that was even more motivation. So just
0:26
to get right back at it. We have a
0:27
couple weeks obviously, but for me, I
0:30
kind of got right back into it and just
0:32
really wanted to change the trajectory
0:34
of the season early on.
0:36
To be satisfied with this year, what
0:38
would that mean for you?
0:40
I feel like I'm someone who's I'm never
0:41
really quite satisfied. Um, but I think
0:45
just improvement and just seeing
0:48
confidence in myself, seeing confidence
0:51
in everything that I do on and off the
0:53
court. um being able to trust those
0:55
around me and this team has done a good
0:57
job. We've grown a lot together and I
0:59
think that that's played a huge role in
1:00
that trust. Um and just winning a lot of
1:03
games.
1:05
Kayla and Bruce still be hanging around
1:07
this team despite her playing career. As
1:09
someone who has dealt with knee injuries
1:10
yourself, how meaningful is that to see
1:12
her still play?
1:14
Kayla is she's a gem of a human being. I
1:17
mean, she's so helpful on and off the
1:19
court. like you said, she's dealt with
1:20
the injury, so we finally do that
1:22
sometimes. Um, hers is obviously taken
1:24
out of the sport, which is super
1:25
unfortunate, but she uses her energy in
1:28
different places and it's been really,
1:29
really helpful. Um, yeah, she's played
1:32
with so many different types of people
1:33
and so like it's cool to talk to her
1:35
about like how I can improve my game
1:37
because she sees the sport and approach
1:39
coaches aspect. So, like
1:41
I feel like sometimes she'll talk to me
1:43
about how he's like, she'll tell me what
1:46
he's worked.
1:48
How did she help you when you were
1:49
rehabbing last week?
1:51
Yeah, she was she was super helpful.
1:53
She's just like a motivator. She's been
1:55
through it. So, she knows emotion. She
1:56
knows that you um I really looked to her
2:00
cuz she was also
2:02
cool to just sit down and talk to you
2:05
about how she could feel the same exact
2:08
way, but she was
2:11
[Music]
2:14
um thinking about your last year. Uh
2:16
what's something that you learned last
2:18
year or something that surprised you or
2:20
something that you had to adjust to any
2:22
and all?
2:22
Yeah, I think I learned a lot about
2:24
myself. I learned that I can
2:28
I can deal with adversity like I had
2:31
dealt with adversity off the court so
2:32
much leading up to that that last year
2:35
when things weren't going as well as I
2:37
had anticipated. I mean, I feel like
2:39
belong to every season because of high
2:41
hopes and aspirations and stuff and it
2:44
hardly ever goes to plan. Exactly. Um,
2:47
and I felt like last year I found myself
2:48
being like, okay, what can I do? So, I
2:50
think I showed myself that when things
2:52
get hard, I don't just like give up. Um,
2:56
there was a lot of a lot of days last
2:57
year where like practices were my that
3:00
was my Super Bowl because if I did well
3:01
in practice, I gave myself an
3:03
opportunity to be in the game and I
3:06
think I put in so much work and
3:09
obviously the season went as it did. But
3:11
just to keep that work and use what I
3:13
learned in those moments still this year
3:15
with a better mindset just higher level.
3:18
Do you have any specific moments or
3:20
memories that you point that you were
3:22
thinking those things or feeling those
3:23
things?
3:25
I think it was
3:27
one of those things where I was doing
3:29
like individuals at state that were like
3:31
really hard and
3:34
so an individual is just like a workout
3:35
with my position coach. So my position
3:37
coach is coach Joe and so we would come
3:39
in and we would we would just work like
3:42
really hard like I would always come
3:43
back into the locker room like sweating
3:45
and like looking as if I had already
3:46
been through practice but I still had to
3:47
then do lift and our actual practice. I
3:50
think in those moments I would come into
3:51
the locker room and everybody be like,
3:52
"Oh my god, you're working hard today."
3:53
And it's like, it's nice to hear that in
3:55
that moment obviously because you were
3:57
just worked really hard and did that
3:59
just to hear that. I don't know. I I
4:01
think those moments I was kind of like,
4:02
"Okay, this is for something after all.
4:04
It might not feel like it right now, but
4:06
this is something that's going to pay
4:07
off in here."
4:08
And you're hoping pay off this year. How
4:10
are you feeling using all that you
4:13
learned and grew there into this season?
4:15
I'm feeling good. I mean, last year I
4:17
learned so much on the court, off the
4:19
court, all of it. So, I just took all
4:21
the all the lessons and
4:25
took some time in the offseason to kind
4:27
of do a factory reset, but keep those
4:29
things. And yeah, I think it really
4:31
helped me become more positive about
4:32
basketball.
4:34
Hey. Um, were there some things that the
4:37
coaches coaches have told you to work on
4:39
in the offseason to help you kind of go
4:40
for that sophomore a soft bump that
4:43
people talk about to have a really a
4:45
really good sophomore season?
4:46
Yeah, I think it's it was just like
4:48
being confident in myself. I think it
4:49
helped that physically I feel better. I
4:51
feel stronger, feel quicker. Um, so
4:54
obviously the physical aspect leads into
4:56
the more confident just just everyday
4:58
things. I mean, I feel like I'm better
5:00
on defense, moving better laterally. um
5:03
better in transition. Um so I think just
5:06
she basically kind of was just like you
5:07
need to be confident in yourself and you
5:09
need to like actually show that when we
5:12
play. I think sometimes I think so much
5:14
that it doesn't always show.
5:17
Yeah. And I was wonder obviously last
5:19
year we had a phenomenal player Maria
5:22
playing and do you think that there were
5:24
was any any part of your game that you
5:25
think that you've improved on in the
5:27
offseason especially that uh maybe held
5:31
you back from some minutes last season
5:32
potentially.
5:33
Um
5:36
I think I've just implemented a more of
5:39
a post side of my game in high school
5:43
and in just like travel basketball. I
5:45
really was kind of more of a guard oddly
5:48
like I I lived on the perimeter of more.
5:50
Um, and just with the change of the
5:52
landscape of our team this year that
5:53
that I really had to work on that and
5:56
last year I I feel like I got into that
5:58
on a defensive side because I would like
6:00
you said like be going against Maria.
6:02
Um, but this year to build that part of
6:03
my game offensively, it's been really
6:05
interesting.
6:07
I guess having and having gone against
6:09
people like Maria and Alyssa in practice
6:11
for the past for the past few years,
6:13
like how has that prepared you to step
6:16
into which you imagine would be a much
6:18
bigger role because now like obviously
6:21
with you and Blanca being two of the
6:22
main centers for the lineup. How has
6:24
that kind of like motivated you to work
6:26
even harder coming into this season?
6:28
Yeah, I took a lot of what I learned
6:30
from them last year and kind of gathered
6:32
it and focused that all that energy into
6:34
improving that part of my game. um they
6:37
were two great players and it was I'm so
6:39
glad that our times like over overlapped
6:41
here at Carolina. Um so definitely just
6:43
using they really led by example so
6:46
using that part. Um and yeah I think
6:49
it's just been fun to like watch film
6:52
from last year and just see the
6:53
difference in our team but also see like
6:55
where my game has grown to the point
6:57
where I'm like oh my god that's
6:58
something that Maria or that's something
6:59
that Alyssa.
7:02
I saw that you golfed in high school and
7:04
you still like to golf. Is there
7:05
anything from you playing golf that
7:08
people can take into basketball?
7:11
Yeah, it's it's actually fascinating
7:13
because I think they're two really good
7:14
sport counterparts. Um they they're so
7:17
different. Like golf is so individual
7:20
and calm and slow, whereas basketball,
7:24
your success depends on you plus other
7:26
people, plus the rest of your team. Um
7:29
and it's chaotic, it's fast. So, I feel
7:31
like golf has brought me some calmness
7:34
in that storm sometimes where I remember
7:38
those moments on the golf course where
7:39
I'm like, "Okay, I just needed to take a
7:41
breath." I might not actually have the
7:42
time to take that breath in basketball.
7:44
Um, but I do like to think that it
7:47
allows me to not like panic at certain
7:49
moments or like when uh practice or
7:54
when like games get crazy and stuff. I
7:56
like to think that golf has has really
7:58
helped me like mentally. I think I think
8:01
it's definitely the most physically
8:03
physically I don't really know what golf
8:04
for me for basketball. But uh yeah and
8:06
and like you said I still golf. So I
8:08
still
8:11
try to get out like
8:13
maybe every other month. It's really
8:15
hard with our schedule. We have a lot of
8:16
good courses around here but I have a
8:18
good connection with a hard time with
8:20
them and just some friends from the golf
8:23
program. So it it's nice when I do get
8:25
out and I think it now more than
8:28
anything it helps sometimes if I just
8:29
need to disconnect the ball around.
8:33
Yeah.
8:34
Thank you so much.
8:36
Um one more thing Sarah the Can you talk
8:38
about how how important the camaraderie
8:40
and the UNCC family has been because
8:41
it's clear like on social media and at
8:43
the games and pretty much anywhere how
8:45
tight this group is. Like how does that
8:47
helped the encore chemistry and I mean
8:50
you can really tell that everyone just
8:51
loves being out there with each other.
8:52
Yeah, I think that's that's one thing
8:54
that's grown in our culture since I got
8:56
here. I mean, my freshman year, I
8:58
thought our team was so close, but when
9:00
I look back, it's like our program just
9:02
really does a good job of finding people
9:03
who are going to love each other, who
9:05
are really genuinely good people. And I
9:07
think that plays a huge role in why we
9:09
are so close, cuz we look around and
9:10
we're like, "Wow, I want what's best for
9:12
this person individually throughout our
9:15
entire program." Um, and we just have a
9:17
good time together. That helps. And all
9:19
those things build relationships that do
9:21
end up being important on the court. Um
9:24
it's trust, it's respect, it's all that.
9:28
And I think in my time here, it's really
9:31
shown that like we really value that as
9:35
a program. And even with our recruits,
9:36
we're like, "Okay, we can see this
9:38
person being someone who we welcome into
9:40
our family." And like you said, that
9:42
leads to us success. And I'm hoping that
9:44
this year, just like last year, last
9:45
year we were super close and this team
9:46
feels like we're right there with it.
9:49
Thank you so much.
9:50
Thank you.
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