Gail Goestenkors Media Availability August 3, 2006 Head Coach Gail Goestenkors On putting together a practice squad for the national team: “My assistant, Tia Jackson, is always in charge of our practice guys. We have more opportunities with the USA Team because the practice guys we have, have to be in school and eligible to play, where as what we can get now is basically anybody. She’s talked to a couple of our best practice guys and told them to spread the word. We’re trying to get them all lined up and find out from [USA Basketball Head Coach] Anne [Donovan] when she wants to have scrimmages. Obviously, I would love to have my players scrimmage against them but that goes into our two hours per week when I can actually be on the court with them. There are NCAA regulations that I don’t think would allow me to watch them. I’ve talked about having Duke’s men’s team, perhaps. I think that would be good experience for them and for us. We’re looking into all those things right now.” On what she expects to get out of her experience with the national team: “I’m really looking forward to working with Dawn Staley and Mike Thibault. If things go the way they could he may be in the championship game. I’ve watched his teams play and I really like what I see. He’s an excellent coach and Dawn does a great job as well. I know a lot of Anne’s style because we’ve worked together but I haven’t worked with her as a head coach so I’m quite sure I’ll learn a great deal from her. I always learn from other coaches and certainly anytime you go overseas and you get to see all of the foreign teams play, they always have different styles and that’s always a great learning experience.” On the possibility of the national team being coached by a college coach again: “I think that if they did use a college coach, and I think they could especially now that the men’s national team has Mike [Krzyzewski] doing it, I think Dawn Staley would be a great next Olympic coach. She’s been an Olympic player and in the WNBA and has a really good feel for those players and what they’re comfortable with. I think it would be someone who has WNBA experience and some Olympic experience and that she would really be ideal.” On Alana Beard: “The national team is loaded with talent and Alana is certainly no exception. I think the advantage that some of these players will have over her is experience. They’ve been in the Olympics and on the World Championship team so they really know what it’s all about. I know Alana will help us; I have no doubt about it. Will she be a star? I don’t know. Alana is very comfortable in a team atmosphere and this is about her gaining experience so that she will be a great leader for the national team and hopefully the Olympic team down the road.” On coaching Alana Beard again: “I can’t wait to have her back in Cameron and to work with her overseas as well. She’s excited. We stay in contact a couple times a week. She’s so deserving of this honor and I couldn’t be any happier for her.” On the impact of her national team schedule on the Duke women’s team: “Fortunately I have great assistants. Gale Valley probably knows, better than me, how I like things done and what our system is. They’ll be in charge of all the individual workouts. Fortunately we get to train here so that really helped me feel better about things because I certainly didn’t want to be away from my team for so long. I just have total faith in my assistants and in my team; they’re very self-motivated.” On Duke as a training site for the national team: “I mentioned it. I thought that Duke would be a great place to have the practices and I explained my situation and that it would be difficult to me. They were very open to the idea and the more we talked about it the more sense it made.” On what she is looking forward to the most with coaching the national team: “Probably coaching Alana and working with Anne Donovan. Anne has become a very close, dear friend of mine so I’m very much looking forward to working with her again and with her as the head coach and having Alana as one of my players.” .