2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Schedule | Game Notes
 
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 12^th-ranked Davenport women's basketball 2012-13 season is one day away from tipping off at home against No. 19 Cardinal Stritch. As the countdown to the 6 p.m. tipoff on Friday is near, we take a look at the final piece of the weeklong preview. Monday opened the preview with the guards and wings, Wednesday featured the forwards and posts and on Thursday, we look at head coach Mike Williams, his staff and the schedule, which includes the only improving Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference.
 
While the six-time defending WHAC champion Panthers lost four of five returning starters, the WHAC coaches still believe they have a chance to win its seventh straight after receiving five first-place votes with 128 points for a second place finish behind Concordia.
 
“I was pretty surprised,” the second-year head coach said. “I think Davenport has had that tradition that keeps you up there. A lot of the WHAC coaches identified that our recruiting class is pretty good and that probably put us up there.”
 
But Williams said he would need help from his senior class, especially from Karli Harris, to prove the WHAC coaches were right about Davenport.
 
“Karli sometimes wills you to win on her own. I think she is capable of being one of the top players in our league,” Williams said. “She brings a lot to the table. Last year we saw Cornerstone had one player that kind of carried them. Those are probably some of the reasons why were picked as high as we were.”
 
Williams said he's starting to adapt to the team a lot better now after using the previous season getting to know them and the school.
 
“The level's changed things a little bit and last year it took me awhile to adjust some things to this level. But I think after going through the process for one year, it should be a pretty smooth transition to year two,” Williams said.
 
The coaching staff made several changes during the offseason but returning for his second year is Jonathan Goei. Williams said he has enjoyed Goei's coaching style and praises on how the two are on the same page.
 
“He's kind of the silent assassin. He doesn't say a lot but when he does it's very meaningful,” Williams said. “He's kind of in charge of his own team and does that. He's so well rounded and has so much experience at coaching that he kind of takes that group and goes with it. I don't really have to check on it or worry about it, which is a good thing. He's doing a lot of the same things because we are going to flip a lot of players back-and-forth because there is a lot of parity, a lot of balance in our program. He's teaching the same things we are teaching and we're going to get some push and pull from that and I that is really good from our end.”
 
Williams added two former Davenport players, Jori Monnich and Karlee Despres, to his staff during the offseason.
 
Monnich, who played for the Lady Panthers from the inaugural season in 2002 until 2006, served as the team captain her senior campaign and led them to the WHAC Tournament title in 2006 and to the NAIA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. She returns to her alma mater after serving a similar coaching role at Siena Heights for two seasons. Williams felt he made the right choice of bringing back former Lady Panther as his assistant coach.
 
“She's a very positive, organized, task-minded person that works her tail off,” Williams said. “She relates very well to the players and is not afraid to add things during the practices and during the games. I think it is still a process for her to try to feel out what my expectations of her are. So far, she's been a huge asset to the things we are doing.”
 
After a standout four-year career which includes last year's Davenport Female Athlete of the Year and first-team All-WHAC accolades, Despres now takes on a new challenge by leading her teammates from the bench. While she is new the coaching world, her talents and connection with the current Lady Panthers provide a good mix needed for the coaching staff.
 
“I think more importantly she understands me after playing for one year,” Williams said. “She's able to offer some input to me on what the players need or want or where they are at and some things I don't read, which has been very good. She's very organized, very intelligent and very positive. She's taken on a lot of different hats and all of them she has done a good job.”
 
Completing Williams' staff is Brian Morris. Morris joins the Panthers after coaching at Grand Rapids Union High for seven years, three with the boys program and four with the girls varsity program. He also coached the girls Lakeside Elite team to the AAU in 2012 and was the runner-up in the state of Michigan.
 
“Brian's got experience coaching and he understands players and kids these days and the best thing is he just cares,” Williams said. “He cares so much about the players as individuals, the direction we are heading and want to be part of a college program. For me, he's just so positive and energetic and he provides a lot of insight. His understanding of basketball is off the chart and that's another resource for me.”
 
While his staff has an understanding his coaching style, Williams talked of the importance of him being a leader and using the resources available.
 
“I think it will be my job to utilize them in a better capacity, which I'm trying to work at doing,” he said.
 
The start of the season will be a learning curve for Williams' program, starting with nationally ranked Cardinal Stritch Friday and NCAA Division II Northern Michigan on Nov. 10.
 
“We play two really good ones to start. Cardinal Stritch is really good. They probably should be ranked higher because they got a lot of returners and they were in the national tournament last year,” Williams said. “Of course Northern Michigan is probably one of the top teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. We probably could be 0-2 to start the season but that's okay because I think if we can grow from it and learn from it, then we hit a stretch of some conference games and head to California.
 
Williams learned from his conference colleagues that the WHAC just gets stronger every year.
 
“It really has taken a step up,” Williams said. “I was new so I didn't know that but the conference coaches said last year was probably the strongest as its been from top to bottom, and now with the addition of two more teams and plus some of the teams have gotten a notch better, this probably is a step up this year. The conference is going to be pretty tricky this year.”
 
 
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