Georgia Tech Basketball: Everything From Karen Blair's Introductory Press Conference

Georgia Tec AD J Batt worked quickly to find a new Women's Basketball Coach and yesterday, announced that Maryland assistant Karen Blair was going to be taking over as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets program. Today, she had her introductory press conference and here is everything that she had to say.

Opening Statement...

"Great thank you thank you everyone for for being here and I want to you know, I extend my sincere gratitude to President Cabrera and J Batt and Jon Palumbo. You know I've been in this business for over two decades and I've waited a long time but going through this process it was really easy for me to see that this was the right fit for me. I value a high academics you know and I want to be able to play competitive basketball and I want to be in a community that loves basketball. I've seen it from the very beginning with these people that they're very passionate about this program and so I'm just again I can't say to you enough about how thrilled I am to be here and be part of the Yellow Jacket family but I would be remiss if I didn't you know acknowledge a few people that have helped me along the way as you guys know this is a, coaching is a labor of love and there's a lot of people that have poured into me from my youth days that's the reason that I am a coach and then all the coaches that I've worked for and I'll just start by talking about Coach Brenda Frese. Coach B. at Maryland. She's going to be a future Hall of Famer. And all I can say to her is it's been an honor to work for her, you know, and just to be alongside of her for the ride. I don't think there's anybody that works as hard as she does, and she had put so much trust and allowed me to do so much within that program, and it was just such a great working relationship to be able to have. And Brenda, I just thank you for your competitiveness, the passion that you showed, and just a consistent standard of excellence.

I mean to win as much as she wins every single season, it was great to be able to learn from her. And I know I'm going to take those lessons along with me. me. They continue to show me support and they mentor me. And you've got to have those people in your life that just continue to keep it real when they need to be able to keep it real and you know just be able to pull just give you the support when you be able to need that support. Last is Rhonda Rompola. So I played at SMU for Rhonda Rompola and I also was coaching with her for ten years. She was the one that gave me a shot to get into coaching. I wouldn't be here today without her and she has been a very important person in my life that just believed in me, gave me this opportunity and has allowed me to live this life of coaching that has given me purpose. It has grown me as a person and it just brings me joy. I can't express to you anything as like I just love basketball. I love being around young people. This is, you know when you know what you're meant to do is what you're meant to do and I know I'm meant to do it and I'm meant to do it here with these people.

Last thing I'll say, I had a chance to talk to Coach Nell today. And like you said, I mean, Nell is just a fabulous human. I've known Nell for years upon years, the legacy that she has not only built here, but just her career. I'm like, Nell has impacted so many people throughout her career. I mean, players, coaches, I mean, there's just so many. So I have the utmost respect for her. I mean, she has built this program. You know, it's, nationally renowned, gone to Sweet 16. She's set the standard, that the standard is to go to the NCAA tournament. That's what you guys brought me here for. You guys have brought the standard, it's here. I want to continue to grow that and that to be the standard for us going forward, is that we're dancing, we're dancing in March.

To the players that are here, thank you. Thank you for coming. Like again, the reason I'm here is for you. My job is to support you, To lead you, challenge you and to make you the best that you can be and that includes in the classroom and then also, you know on the court, you know, my job is for you to get your Georgia Tech degree You know and you leave here with a great college experience that for me is what it is. I'm still really close with my sisterhood, I actually have a couple of them in the front right here, so this has been my sisterhood and there's many more I could probably but I appreciate them showing, but that's what I want you guys to have. I want you guys to have that student -athlete experience so Georgia Tech is always home for you. That is what it's about, is when you leave here, this is your Georgia Tech family and you always know that you can come back to that and that you always have great feelings of your time from when you were here.

To every player I've ever coached, every colleague I've ever worked alongside and to my family and friends, I thank you for the support. I'm not here today without that. This job is about people. It's about relationships, trust and growth. I hope I can do the same for these young ladies and, you know, the young ladies in the future. And to the Yellow Jacket community, this is what I can tell you. I'm ready. I'm here to work. You know, I want to compete and I want to lead with integrity. That's what it's about for me is we want to compete to win. We want to have a standard of excellence. That's what we will work towards every single day. And again, I'm excited about it. I appreciate you guys for bringing me here and I'm ready to get to work. So thank you."

1. On her plan for the program...

"Yeah, I think my first plan right now is these student athletes that are here right now in this room. Like the current team that is here, it's really important for me to, you know, to meet with them, get to know them, them to get to know me. And so that's like right now as my first. And then secondly is getting into the, you know, getting into the portal and making sure that we have a really competitive roster for next year so those are you know my, my priorities is right now."

2. On prioritizing players who fit her style of play or getting the most talented players...

"At Georgia Tech there has to be the right fit you know you you've got to want to be able to have the competitive academics and you want to be able to have the competitive basketball. That's not for everybody, but there is and the student athletes that you that will bring here and the student athletes that are here, that's special. That's a special fit. So I'm for me, it's about finding the right fit and what we need and what gels with what we currently have. I think any good coach will tell you there's always different roles that need to be filled and that's my job to get that figured out."

3. On the players who are already in the portal and high school recruiting in the State of Georgia...

"Yeah, I mean, that's one of the things that's so intriguing about Georgia Tech is where we're located. I mean, our job is we want to make sure that we're recruiting our city, our region, and our state. That is our job. We want to to be able to keep these athletes here, and that's going to be my biggest selling pitch. We don't have to, I mean, again, we're a global brand. Does that mean that we can recruit nationally? Absolutely. But we have to make sure that we're taking care of home base. Again, this has been a bit of a whirlwind of a process. So hiring a staff is definitely on my radar. But like I said, first and foremost, it's making sure that I take care of the student athletes that are here first."

4. On her style of play she wants to implement...

"Yeah, I mean, I think you have to first figure out what your roster is. If you're asking me from an offensive standpoint, I like to play with pace and space. I'm a big person that has to do with ball movement and player movement. I also want players to learn how to play the game. I'm not a coach that wants to sit up here and run 75 quick hits, and I want them to learn. Like that's a part as players, as you're playing the game, and as the season goes along, they should be learning each other, learning each other's reads. So, offensively, that's kind of what it's about for me. From a defensive standpoint, you know it's about controlling tempo. You've always got to be able to control tempo, and you've got to be able to disrupt rhythm. So, depending on what your roster looks like, you know then you'll be able to kind of put that in place."

5. On her philosophy about NIL and the transfer portal...

" I think if you talk to anybody that knows me, I love a challenge. And if we're not saying we're facing challenging or interesting times right now in athletics, then we're kidding ourselves. But for me, I actually embraced it these last three years that is kind of as the you know as a number two that's what I was working on that was my number one job was trying to figure out how to best go forward in this new environment so I embrace it I'm excited about it and I know right now that this program is very well supported and that's another reason that it made it a really easy decision to be here."

6. On the players that have already entered the portal...

"Yeah, absolutely. I mean that's my top priority is to talk to all the players that are you know that are here at Georgia Tech I want to keep them you know like this is important to me. They've started here at Georgia Tech, and I want them to be able to finish their time here at Georgia Tech."

7. On recruiting in Atlanta...

"I mean, that's the beauty of being here. You know, like there's just so much talent that's really close to this university. And That's why I said it's going to be a focal point for myself and my staff is to keep those players home. This is a great place to be, you know, we're building, you know, this program has a really good foundation. I think Nell's done a good job. There's a lot of momentum surrounding this program and this university and we want to sustain that and elevate it."

8. On the Transfer Portal...

"Yeah, I mean, this is what you have to remember as somebody that's been doing this for 26 years. I also have built up a pretty good network. I mean, I wouldn't be a good recruiter if I didn't have a really good network. So this is the part you kind of like at this part of your career. You actually have a lot of people that are kind of coming to you and want to help you. I mean, again, this is a relationship business, so it helps me that right now over the last two days, I've gotten a long list from a lot of people, and now it's my, you know, when I have the second, hopefully, tonight and tomorrow, to kind of be able to settle down and do that. So it's challenging, but again, I know that there's gonna be a lot of really good opportunities. My job is to make sure that I get the right fit for our program and our university."

Additional Links

Updated ACC Baseball Standings: Georgia Tech Surges to Second Place After Sweeping Stanford

Former Georgia Tech Forward Ibrahim Souare Makes Transfer Decision

Maryland Assistant Karen Blair Named the Next Head Coach For Georgia Tech Women's Basketball