When Syracuse head coach Luke Jensen resigned on Jan. 29, the program was two days away from a road trip to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State.

Assistant coach Shelley George, who coached under Jensen for seven years, finally received her chance to direct the program. George’s familiarity with the players led to an easier transition for the interim head coach than if she hadn’t known the team. And now she has the challenge of helping her young squad prepare for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In her mind, the expectations for Syracuse should not be tampered despite the coaching change early in the season.

“I want to win matches, and see the girls get better every day at practice,” George said. “I want to see competitors and see better fighters.”

So far, George has led her program during one of the more difficult starts in program history, as the Orange is currently winless as it enters conference play this weekend.

But even with the slow start, George has done a good job building relationships with the Orange’s younger players and strengthening the pre-existing ones.

Junior Breanna Bachini has been accustomed to George for three years now, which is why she feels that the change at head coach hasn’t been too difficult.

Bachini is appreciative of the connection that she has formed with George during her time with the program.

“To be quite honest, it doesn’t feel like too much of a big transition,” Bachini said. “My relationship with coach George has been very good, so it has been very natural.”

Junior Amanda Rodgers views the coaching change as an easy transition for returning players as well. Rodgers also said George’s ability to provide comfort to her players both on and off the court has stood out early on.

“She’s more of like a mom,” Rodgers said. “She’s more understanding and you can talk to her because she’s a woman.”

George is quickly making her presence known as the interim head coach, despite the uncertainty surrounding the coaching situation beyond his season.

Her focus lately has been telling her younger players to close out matches when the opportunities arise.

“When we’re up in a situation, being able to close out matches and take advantage of those opportunities,” George said. “We work on it every week. We’re always looking to get better each week and learn from our losses.”

Through the early weeks of her reign as interim head coach, George is seeing her players provide the same amount of effort they showed for Jensen at the start of the year.

Bachini doesn’t believe the atmosphere within the team has been different with a new leader at the helm.

“Every single day we come to the practice, we’re under the mindset that we’re going to play our absolute hardest,” she said. “Our mindset has not changed.”

George is not dwelling on this situation, nor does she intend for her players to be phased by the coaching change early in the season.

Amid the rapid change that is affecting her and the program, George is showing confidence in her ability to anchor Syracuse in what is arguably the nation’s best conference.

“I’m really embracing the challenge. I’m excited for this,” she said. “I love these girls, I love this team and we’re just trying to all get better each day we’re out there.”

Published on February 17, 2014 at 11:09 pm