St. John's University Athletics
QUOTES: 2023 St. John's Women's Basketball Media Day
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella, Jillian Archer, Unique Drake, Amber Brown, Jailah Donald, Skye Owen, Jayda Brown, and Ber’Nyah Mayo spoke to the media day at Carnesecca Arena
St. John’s Head Coach Joe Tartamella
Opening statement…
“Welcome everyone, as always we appreciate all of you being here. Obviously, coming off the year that we had we’re excited about the group we’ve brought in. We brought in a lot new faces, as we’ve added eight new players. We had an opportunity this summer to get a head start in a way, when we went over to Italy and Greece and played a few games so that was exciting for us and our group. Just an incredible experience for them. Also, it gave us the opportunity to see some of the new faces that we have and what they are going to be able to do for us kind of in their first look on the floor… We are much younger than we were, so we have really good days and we have days where I try to have a lot of patience as well. We are continuing to be a work in progress, but I do think this group works really hard. I think we filled some of the needs we needed to fill with the loss of six players to graduation and two to the portal. Our staff has been working extremely hard. I added Danielle Patterson, who played for us the past couple of years, now as a GA (Graduate Assistant) for us. She has done an incredible job so far. I also added a familiar face in Aaliyah Lewis as the director of recruiting for us. She was our point guard for the championship team in 2016. I feel like our staff is in a great place. The energy level they bring every day I think translates over to our players. We are excited about the growth we have seen from a lot of our young ones. Obviously, the opportunity to bring back four of our players from last year and their ability to translate the leadership that was shown last year by a veteran team to this group that has eight newcomers. The excitement is here. This is always like the kickoff of the season to me. Like I said, I appreciate you guys being here.”
On entering his 12th year as the head coach…
“Not really, but in a way it does. I blink my eyes and I can still go back to 2013 and feel like I am right there. For me, no, every season is so different, every team is so different, and just the opportunity I’ve had here. Forget about year 12, you think about year 21 or year 22 for me in this program. I was 22 years old when I started here. Looking back at that number is a little bit more daunting to me personally. But no, it's been an incredible place for me to be and grow and learn. I am a product of what St. John’s is and what they want people to be. Not only just as a student but as a professional. Along with being a product of the BIG EAST, I take a lot of pride in being a young coach at the time to me that was the best in the country.”
On playing at UBS and Madison Square Garden this year...
“New York provides us with so many opportunities and we tell our recruits and our players that all of the time. To have the opportunity to play at different venues, to be on different stages for people to see you, especially in those types of arenas, it’s priceless, Gives you a little more energy, a little more boost. Playing UConn there at UBS and getting pounded by 30 wasn’t fun I can tell you that, but the next game we were able to play there I think that prepared us to win when we played them the second time. But, being back at the Garden is special, I can’t say that enough. December 16th to be a part of the Holiday Festival playing at 6 p.m. against Villanova, there’s no better stage, to me, in the game of basketball than being at the Garden. Our players are extremely excited, I’m excited, I think it puts not only our program but our league in a tremendous spotlight to be in that venue. I never take that for granted I can promise you that. I think we have been in there 11 or 12 times and it's special every time we go in there.”
On the returning players to the roster...
“ You look at our returners first, you look at Unique Drake, who will be the most veteran player on our team. She was the BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year last year and earned that right without question. So Unique is going to be a big part of what we do as she kind of moves into a role she had as a starter, but someone who will really have to pace us throughout the year. Between her and Jillian [Archer], Jillian comes back as I think the third-leading rebounder in the league, she had a number of double-doubles last year, just an incredible player. I think she took a huge jump in her development last year when she got here to us after she transferred in. Jillian and Unique are our veteran players, they are both fifth-year and sixth-year players for us and they have been great leaders to our younger players. Then also, Jailah Donald who you didn’t get to see much of last year. She averaged about 20 points per game in the three games we played overseas. She’s going to be a big one for us to step into the spotlight as well. And Skye [Owen], who was with us also has got to be a big part of what we are going to do on both ends of the floors, especially at the point guard position. Those four really have the opportunity to make an impact. Unique and Jillian who did last year from the standpoint of minutes and contributions. But Jailah and Skye need to bring us something as well and I think they both will.”
On the newcomers to the roster...
“When you look at some of the kids we brought in, Amber Brown from Pittsburgh. She’s 20 rebounds away from 700. She’s an incredible athlete, started 110 games in the ACC at Pittsburgh. She brings us a veteran quality, a certain toughness that we love to play with. Along with bringing in Ber’Nyah Mayo who was a champion at UMass. She was their starting point guard, she won an Atlantic 10 cregular season and conference tournament championship, she’s played in the NCAA tournament. Someone who has been battle-tested in high-leverage moments and so they have both been terrific. Our other two transfers in Tara Daye, who came from DePaul, obviously knows the league, athletic, defender, plays extremely hard. Phoenix Gedeon, who came from Robert Morris is an incredible rebounder, stong-bodied kid, and gives us some depth in the frontcourt. We are excited about those four. And our younger players continue to improve, when you look at Julie [Bahati], Nevaeh [Wingate], Tyonna [Bailey], and Jayda Brown have all come in and taken leaps and bounds from the summer. We are excited about the group we need all 12 of them. I like what I saw this summer.”
Graduate student forward Jillian Archer
On her preparation for this upcoming season after last year’s success…
“I would say our approach is the exact same as last year's. Really just coming out every day to compete. I think the biggest thing is effort at the end of the day, so that is something we try to instill into practice every day and it’s apart of our culture at this point. There is definitely a big difference from last year in regards to the experience we had last year. As a younger team, we have a lot of players who want to come in and learn every single day so really trying to incorporate that as well.”
On what she learned from playing in the tournament last season…
“The tournament run was a crazy experience. It was definitely overwhelming at the time, but as I reflected back on last season I think I learned a lot about perseverance. I think the biggest thing for us is knowing that on any given day the game could go any way. So just giving it our all and staying focused on what we can control. There’s a lot of things in basketball that you cannot control. It’s a game of runs and highs and lows. So we just need to stay focused.”
On playing at Madison Square Garden this season…
“It’s a surreal feeling knowing that we are going to be playing at Madison Square Garden. It’s an amazing opportunity getting to play in front of all of those people at the Holiday Festival and I’m really excited about it. Last year we got to play UConn at UBS Arena and it was an amazing atmosphere, so I think playing at MSG will be even better.”
Redshirt senior guard Unique Drake
On the team’s trip to Europe this summer…
“The Europe Tour was a great bonding experience for the team. We really got to know each other off of the court and each other’s personalities. The practices before the trip were really important for us. We got to go over those last few touches of playing [against] each other before we played someone else, which was very important.”
On having Danielle Patterson around the team in a different role…
“I love Danielle and seeing her every day on and off the court is really nice. She is still a great leader and she’s very organized, so she helps us out a lot. I’m just very happy she still has a role with us here.”
Graduate student forward Amber Brown
On the team’s expectations…
“I wouldn’t say there is pressure, but I feel like it is a challenge that I’m excited to rise to and it is what we play the game for. I’m excited that they were winning [last season] and I’m excited about doing the things necessary to get back there.”
On what drew her to play for Coach Tartamella…
“Coach Tartamella’s honesty was a big factor in my decision. He was very blunt about his game plan on how to grow me as a player drew me to him. He was very straight-forward about why he needed me in his program. I respected his honesty and that’s what drew me to him and his program.”
Sophomore guard Jailah Donald
On the expectations she has for herself…
“I really just want to stay consistent, work hard and be a leader. I want to have fun but most importantly I want to win, that is really what I pride myself on.”
Sophomore guard Skye Owen
On the team’s strongest asset…
“I feel like as a team, we have all just been learning and building together. We are so much younger, so I’ve had to pick up more of a leadership role which I wasn't expecting. We are all learning and building together.”
Freshman guard Jayda Brown
On adjusting to playing in college…
“It’s definitely been an adjustment but I’m loving it. My teammates help me out and the coaches have been great in helping. I’m loving New York and it has been a great experience so far.”
Senior guard Ber’Nyah Mayo
On the culture at St. John’s….
“It’s definitely new to me because of the school that I just came from. It's an honor for me to wear this uniform because of the history that comes from this school.”
Opening statement…
“Welcome everyone, as always we appreciate all of you being here. Obviously, coming off the year that we had we’re excited about the group we’ve brought in. We brought in a lot new faces, as we’ve added eight new players. We had an opportunity this summer to get a head start in a way, when we went over to Italy and Greece and played a few games so that was exciting for us and our group. Just an incredible experience for them. Also, it gave us the opportunity to see some of the new faces that we have and what they are going to be able to do for us kind of in their first look on the floor… We are much younger than we were, so we have really good days and we have days where I try to have a lot of patience as well. We are continuing to be a work in progress, but I do think this group works really hard. I think we filled some of the needs we needed to fill with the loss of six players to graduation and two to the portal. Our staff has been working extremely hard. I added Danielle Patterson, who played for us the past couple of years, now as a GA (Graduate Assistant) for us. She has done an incredible job so far. I also added a familiar face in Aaliyah Lewis as the director of recruiting for us. She was our point guard for the championship team in 2016. I feel like our staff is in a great place. The energy level they bring every day I think translates over to our players. We are excited about the growth we have seen from a lot of our young ones. Obviously, the opportunity to bring back four of our players from last year and their ability to translate the leadership that was shown last year by a veteran team to this group that has eight newcomers. The excitement is here. This is always like the kickoff of the season to me. Like I said, I appreciate you guys being here.”
On entering his 12th year as the head coach…
“Not really, but in a way it does. I blink my eyes and I can still go back to 2013 and feel like I am right there. For me, no, every season is so different, every team is so different, and just the opportunity I’ve had here. Forget about year 12, you think about year 21 or year 22 for me in this program. I was 22 years old when I started here. Looking back at that number is a little bit more daunting to me personally. But no, it's been an incredible place for me to be and grow and learn. I am a product of what St. John’s is and what they want people to be. Not only just as a student but as a professional. Along with being a product of the BIG EAST, I take a lot of pride in being a young coach at the time to me that was the best in the country.”
On playing at UBS and Madison Square Garden this year...
“New York provides us with so many opportunities and we tell our recruits and our players that all of the time. To have the opportunity to play at different venues, to be on different stages for people to see you, especially in those types of arenas, it’s priceless, Gives you a little more energy, a little more boost. Playing UConn there at UBS and getting pounded by 30 wasn’t fun I can tell you that, but the next game we were able to play there I think that prepared us to win when we played them the second time. But, being back at the Garden is special, I can’t say that enough. December 16th to be a part of the Holiday Festival playing at 6 p.m. against Villanova, there’s no better stage, to me, in the game of basketball than being at the Garden. Our players are extremely excited, I’m excited, I think it puts not only our program but our league in a tremendous spotlight to be in that venue. I never take that for granted I can promise you that. I think we have been in there 11 or 12 times and it's special every time we go in there.”
On the returning players to the roster...
“ You look at our returners first, you look at Unique Drake, who will be the most veteran player on our team. She was the BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year last year and earned that right without question. So Unique is going to be a big part of what we do as she kind of moves into a role she had as a starter, but someone who will really have to pace us throughout the year. Between her and Jillian [Archer], Jillian comes back as I think the third-leading rebounder in the league, she had a number of double-doubles last year, just an incredible player. I think she took a huge jump in her development last year when she got here to us after she transferred in. Jillian and Unique are our veteran players, they are both fifth-year and sixth-year players for us and they have been great leaders to our younger players. Then also, Jailah Donald who you didn’t get to see much of last year. She averaged about 20 points per game in the three games we played overseas. She’s going to be a big one for us to step into the spotlight as well. And Skye [Owen], who was with us also has got to be a big part of what we are going to do on both ends of the floors, especially at the point guard position. Those four really have the opportunity to make an impact. Unique and Jillian who did last year from the standpoint of minutes and contributions. But Jailah and Skye need to bring us something as well and I think they both will.”
On the newcomers to the roster...
“When you look at some of the kids we brought in, Amber Brown from Pittsburgh. She’s 20 rebounds away from 700. She’s an incredible athlete, started 110 games in the ACC at Pittsburgh. She brings us a veteran quality, a certain toughness that we love to play with. Along with bringing in Ber’Nyah Mayo who was a champion at UMass. She was their starting point guard, she won an Atlantic 10 cregular season and conference tournament championship, she’s played in the NCAA tournament. Someone who has been battle-tested in high-leverage moments and so they have both been terrific. Our other two transfers in Tara Daye, who came from DePaul, obviously knows the league, athletic, defender, plays extremely hard. Phoenix Gedeon, who came from Robert Morris is an incredible rebounder, stong-bodied kid, and gives us some depth in the frontcourt. We are excited about those four. And our younger players continue to improve, when you look at Julie [Bahati], Nevaeh [Wingate], Tyonna [Bailey], and Jayda Brown have all come in and taken leaps and bounds from the summer. We are excited about the group we need all 12 of them. I like what I saw this summer.”
Graduate student forward Jillian Archer
On her preparation for this upcoming season after last year’s success…
“I would say our approach is the exact same as last year's. Really just coming out every day to compete. I think the biggest thing is effort at the end of the day, so that is something we try to instill into practice every day and it’s apart of our culture at this point. There is definitely a big difference from last year in regards to the experience we had last year. As a younger team, we have a lot of players who want to come in and learn every single day so really trying to incorporate that as well.”
On what she learned from playing in the tournament last season…
“The tournament run was a crazy experience. It was definitely overwhelming at the time, but as I reflected back on last season I think I learned a lot about perseverance. I think the biggest thing for us is knowing that on any given day the game could go any way. So just giving it our all and staying focused on what we can control. There’s a lot of things in basketball that you cannot control. It’s a game of runs and highs and lows. So we just need to stay focused.”
On playing at Madison Square Garden this season…
“It’s a surreal feeling knowing that we are going to be playing at Madison Square Garden. It’s an amazing opportunity getting to play in front of all of those people at the Holiday Festival and I’m really excited about it. Last year we got to play UConn at UBS Arena and it was an amazing atmosphere, so I think playing at MSG will be even better.”
Redshirt senior guard Unique Drake
On the team’s trip to Europe this summer…
“The Europe Tour was a great bonding experience for the team. We really got to know each other off of the court and each other’s personalities. The practices before the trip were really important for us. We got to go over those last few touches of playing [against] each other before we played someone else, which was very important.”
On having Danielle Patterson around the team in a different role…
“I love Danielle and seeing her every day on and off the court is really nice. She is still a great leader and she’s very organized, so she helps us out a lot. I’m just very happy she still has a role with us here.”
Graduate student forward Amber Brown
On the team’s expectations…
“I wouldn’t say there is pressure, but I feel like it is a challenge that I’m excited to rise to and it is what we play the game for. I’m excited that they were winning [last season] and I’m excited about doing the things necessary to get back there.”
On what drew her to play for Coach Tartamella…
“Coach Tartamella’s honesty was a big factor in my decision. He was very blunt about his game plan on how to grow me as a player drew me to him. He was very straight-forward about why he needed me in his program. I respected his honesty and that’s what drew me to him and his program.”
Sophomore guard Jailah Donald
On the expectations she has for herself…
“I really just want to stay consistent, work hard and be a leader. I want to have fun but most importantly I want to win, that is really what I pride myself on.”
Sophomore guard Skye Owen
On the team’s strongest asset…
“I feel like as a team, we have all just been learning and building together. We are so much younger, so I’ve had to pick up more of a leadership role which I wasn't expecting. We are all learning and building together.”
Freshman guard Jayda Brown
On adjusting to playing in college…
“It’s definitely been an adjustment but I’m loving it. My teammates help me out and the coaches have been great in helping. I’m loving New York and it has been a great experience so far.”
Senior guard Ber’Nyah Mayo
On the culture at St. John’s….
“It’s definitely new to me because of the school that I just came from. It's an honor for me to wear this uniform because of the history that comes from this school.”