University of North Carolina Athletics
Catching Up With The Tar Heels
July 15, 2005 | Women's Basketball
July 15, 2005
As UNC women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell and rising junior guard Ivory Latta wrapped up working at Carolina's summer basketball camps this week, both took time to chat with TarHeelBlue.com about the summer, the coming season and the 30-4 Tar Heel campaign that ended in the NCAA Elite Eight last March. (Click here for 2004-05 season review.)
After camps finished on Thursday, Hatchell hit the road for recruiting. Latta headed home to McConnells, S.C., for two weeks before she travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., as a finalist for the USA Basketball World University Games team. At training camp, which begins July 28, the team's roster will be trimmed from 16 players to 12. If she makes the cut, she'll leave for Turkey with the team on Aug. 5. The World University Games competition will take place in Izmir, Turkey Aug. 10-19. (For release, click here.)
The Tar Heel players return to campus on Aug. 28 and start fall classes on Aug. 30.
TarHeelBlue.com: What do you think you gained from going through USA Basketball trials in Colorado Springs in June and are you excited to go back?
Ivory Latta: "When I first got out there, I was kind of nervous about all the good competition that was out there, but that went away probably within an hour after I got off the plane and I saw some of the girls that I knew. I know I'm going to have a good experience out there, playing with all those great players and hopefully making the cut and traveling to Turkey."
THB: What do you think of the prospect of going to Turkey?
Latta: "At first, I was a little scared and I'm still a little nervous about the plane flight, but I know it would be a highlight of my career, going to a place like that."
THB: What has it been like to team with some of the players you compete against during the season, Duke's Monique Currie and Alison Bales?
Latta: "The whole group is just a bunch of good girls. We come together and play as one and it's all good. Things change when the season comes, but when we're out of season I don't mind playing with them, hanging out with them."
THB: What has your summer been like so far?
Latta: "I've been working camp, working out, traveling, going back and forth trying to see my family as much as I can, so it's been kind of busy."
THB: With all five of the incoming freshmen and most of your returning teammates on campus, have you been playing a lot of pickup ball?
Latta: "Absolutely. We've been playing at night with the freshmen, playing against some guys. So far I like what I see - I believe our freshmen will bring what we need. Whatever the coaches want them to do, I know they're going to go out and do it to the best of their ability. They're coming in with the right mind - hey, we're at the University of North Carolina, we're going to go out there and play hard and come in and try to win as many games as we can."
(For information on the incoming Tar Heel freshmen, click here.)
/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=205479602
THB: As you look ahead to the season, what are your thoughts on this year's team?
Latta: "We had some big losses from last year, but we've got players that can come in and do some things that that Nikita (Bell), Kenya (McBee) and Leah (Metcalf) did. I believe we're going to do very well. We're going to do better that what people expect from us."
THB: After winning the ACC title last year, what kind of motivation is there to make it two in a row?
Latta: "There's always motivation to win something like that. I think we're going to be motivated every single game, no matter who we play, where we play, what time we play. We're going to be motivated to get back to where we were last year and have a great season."
THB: Erlana Larkins is already competing with the Under-19 team, Ivory Latta is a finalist for the World University Games team and Camille Little tried out for the squad. What do you think your players will gain from their involvement with USA Basketball this summer?
Sylvia Hatchell: "Experience is the biggest thing. They make new friends, it's a tremendous education and they get to see different styles and philosophies in coaching. They just grow in a lot of areas as people."
THB: How has your summer been so far?
Hatchell: "Busy! We've had record numbers at our camps and recruiting is really, really going well. I've got more kids calling me than ever, wanting to come to Carolina because of how we play. So far it's been a great summer, but extremely busy."
THB: As you look back now, what's your assessment of last season?
Hatchell: "Any time you win 30 games it's hard to complain, but we know we could have done better because we know we could have played better than we did in the game we lost against Baylor. But I think it just makes the players more hungry. They're feeling really good about the team next year, even though we'll miss the graduating seniors. The freshman class is extremely talented. They're all here in summer school and the kids are playing a couple of night a week. Of course, I can't watch them, but the other players have been telling me that the freshmen look really, really good."
THB: What contributions do you expect from the freshmen this year?
Hatchell: "I think several of them will play. It's an extremely talented group and they fit our system really well. I think they're going to make us an even better team."
THB: What carryover do you expect after winning the ACC Championship last season?
Hatchell: "When you're playing in the best conference in the country and you've won that conference, you know that everybody is after you and that you're the measuring stick. You know you can't let your guard down, that you've got to work even harder to stay there. It's hard to get there, but it's even harder to stay there and that's what our players will be working for."
