Four Tennessee women’s basketball players met with the media on Thursday afternoon over Zoom to talk about the Lady Vols’ 2020-21 season. Taking part in the session were sophomore guard Jordan Horston, redshirt senior forward/center Keyen Green, redshirt junior guard Jordan Walker and freshman guard/forward Marta Suárez.
Sophomore Guard Jordan Horston
On what she has learned from her freshman season that she plans to take into her sophomore year:
“(I think) just slowing down and playing my game and letting the game come to me. With this year, from last year, even though it was cut short, I still learned a lot of things—the flow of the game, team chemistry, what passes I should make and what passes I shouldn’t make. Overall, it’s been experiences that have helped me with everything.”
On not having a set schedule yet:
“This part of not knowing, I guess it’s exciting because of just not knowing what’s going to happen, but we’re preparing for whatever. You know, that’s just what you’ve got to do—prepare for whatever is thrown at us.”
On her feelings on the home matchup against UConn:
“I’m ready for that game. I’m excited for that game. It’s at home at Tennessee. My family is going to be there. Our fans are going to be there no matter the number. Even if it’s no fans, I’m just excited to play them and have to opportunity to try and get that win. This is why we play, it’s for those big games like that, so I’m excited.”
On what she did over the summer to get stronger and Coach Harper saying she’s the strongest person on the team:
“I wouldn’t say I’m the strongest person on the team, but I am getting stronger. I give all credit to Ty (Tyler Watson). He’s been putting in a lot of work to try and get our bodies in the right shape, and we’ve just been doing what he’s set for us. I’ve just been eating right and training my body, and it’s been working out for me. I’m just going to continue to keep doing that and try and get stronger. But I wouldn’t say I’m the strongest person on the team. Keyen (Green) has got me beat. Keyen’s strong.”
On this year’s newcomers Jordan Walker, Keyen Green and Marta Suárez:
“Marta is my roommate, so we already have that connection. She’s really funny off the court. You’d never even guess. If you talk to her, you’ll guess it. She works so hard, and she’s just dedicated and in the grind and really wanting to get better. That’s what I’ve seen. With her, I remember the first day she got here she was in the gym trying to get better. She works really hard. She communicates, and she’s a positive body that we need. Jojo (Jordan Walker)—she’s crafty. She’s real crafty. She’s quick. She can lock down and defend, and, like I said, she’s another positive person that we added to the team. She’s on the same page as we are. She can shoot the ball. I feel like getting her was a great pickup for us. Keyen—she has experience, and so does Jordan. They both have experience under their belts, so that’s always a positive. I was talking to Eric (Trainer) today about Keyen. Her energy is just so contagious. Once she gets out there, she works hard, she communicates, she encourages us, and it’s just really contagious, honestly. Everyone just wants to feed off of that. I feel like that’s something that we were missing last season—that energy consistently. I feel like that’s what they bring to the table.”
On Jordan Walker transferring and playing the point guard position:
“She came in here ready, and I’m just so happy that they recruited her and that they got her here. You all don’t understand how good she is. She really will surprise a lot of people. I was going to work hard regardless of if there was another point guard or not, but I’m just happy that we got somebody so that we both can get a break. We both can hold our own, so that’s a good thing, too.”
Senior Forward/Center Keyen Green
On her impression of the team and her excitement to play:
“I love the girls. I feel like I came in and just fit right in (and) didn’t step on any toes while assuming a leadership role on this team. I feel like we’re all just family, like we’ve known each other much longer than these past couple of months. I’m super excited to get to play with them. Just feeling the general vibe in practice and how hard everyone is willing to go and compete for each other—that always makes for a great team. I’m excited to get out there and compete with them.”
On transferring and playing in the SEC this season:
“That was actually one of my reasons for leaving the mid-major level. I wanted a bigger challenge. I think that’s what it’s going to be. I think the SEC is going to be more of a challenge for me. Games like UConn, they’re a challenge for everybody, but that’s what I was seeking when I came here.”
On her completely-virtual recruitment process and now being on campus:
“I had conversations with (the coaches) and Zoom calls with them, so I felt like I kind of knew them pretty well already. Meeting somebody is different, but I think I was lucky in this case in that, and a lot of players aren’t in this position, that the coaches were the same people when I met them that they were over the phone. That doesn’t happen too often. A lot of coaches are just selling the dream, but these coaches were the same, and they’ve been the same. They’ve been very consistent.”
On her role this season and being a senior leader on the team:
“I see my role as just that. I think I’m a leader no matter what room I’m in. I feel like I just kind of assume that position, not in a narcissistic way, but just because that’s the way that I am. I think that will be my role on this team, just to continue to encourage and lead with my experience – lead vocally (and) lead by example. (I’m) just really trying to get everybody going in the same direction and on the same page.”
On her impression of the Lady Vol culture:
“I think it’s just the family aspect. I don’t really know what I thought it would be, but I’ve heard that at a lot of Power Five schools, the biggest difference from mid-major to high-major is that it’s more of a business. I feel like I have the same family feel here that I did at the mid-major level. It makes it easier to compete when you love the people that are standing next to you.”
On not being the only transfer this season:
“It’s been super nice to have JoJo (Jordan Walker) here just because we’re on the same page. We both have not been here. We both came from a mid-major level. I think the biggest thing that we can kind of relate about is the gratefulness of being here. We’ve seen what our schools had, and we see how much more Tennessee has to offer us. I think that comes out in how we play. We play hard because we know that this level is going to be more difficult than what we came from. We play hard because we love our teammates. We know what it is to lead a team and what a team needs to succeed. It’s been great to have somebody else with that kind of experience.”
Redshirt-Junior Guard Jordan Walker
On going through the process of being a graduate transfer along with Keyen Green:
“It’s been an amazing experience thus far, especially with having Keyen here, because she’s able to relate with me when we’re going through things or when we’re on the sidelines; we’re able to talk about it. We can compare and contrast things that we’ve been through at other schools to here. It’s also just cool to have someone to lean on when we’re going through the same things.”
On the difference between playing in the MAC versus the SEC:
“I think that the biggest difference is going to be the size, speed and strength of guards. I will credit the Mid-American Conference, we did have some great teams and great players in that conference, but I just feel like the size, speed and strength is going to be one of the biggest things. I’ve seen that here in practice playing against some of the guards on our team, as well as down in the post with some of those post players. There are bigger post players changing and altering some things, but I think that it’s a great challenge, and I think it will help set me up for the next level.”
On the biggest adjustment in coming to Tennessee:
“The biggest adjustment was just switching from initially just playing that two spot to then going back to the one. I’ve played the one my entire life until I got to college, and then that’s when I started playing the two position. But I feel like with this team and the things that we do, it hasn’t been too challenging to make that adjustment. The coaches have helped me, pointed out things that I can do better, and they’re constantly pushing me to be the best player that I can be. So, I feel like going up against those bigger opponents, I’ll be ready for that.”
On being able to play after the uncertainty of the offseason:
“I’m extremely excited that we’re going to move forward and play this season. It’s been a long offseason being in quarantine. Just making that transition to being back on the court, that was one big piece of excitement, as well as now getting into the season and being able to see it and feel how close it is.”
On the biggest difference between playing point guard and shooting guard.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a ton of difference. I feel like it’s a little bit of a different mindset with the one and the two. With the one, you get your teammates going. With the two, most of the time you put your head down and score getting to the basket. I feel like, though, with my teammates that I have now, it’s been a super easy transition, because I have confidence in them that they can score and go make a play, but they also have confidence in me to score and go make a play. That’s been one of the things that has helped me make this transition.”
Freshman Guard/Forward Marta Suárez
On finally getting to campus and what she anticipates her role to be on the team:
“The few months that I’ve been here in Tennessee have been way better than I could have ever imagined. Basketball wise, studies, my teammates – it’s all been great. So, it’s been a really good three months.
“As far as my role on the team, I’m really excited about the season. Of course, as a freshman, I don’t expect to have such a big role on the team right away. My biggest goal right now is to be a plus as much as I can, never a minus. Not just on the court, but off the court. On the court, I can use my size and abilities as a way to help the team, but I think off the court I have a big role in the way of trying to keep the team positive and competing and giving our best.”
On having to quarantine immediately after arriving in the United States for the first time:
“It got to a point where I thought I wasn’t even going to be here until December, so it was great news when they told me I could come here in August. But the first two weeks after I got here, I was stuck in a hotel room. I’m a really active person, so it was a little bit difficult, but I was still able to do Zoom calls with the team, and I started to get to know all of them. In some ways it actually helped me to get in before actually getting here. It was definitely a little bit difficult to adjust at first to the schedule because of the time difference in Spain as far as times we eat, different sleeping times, but my roommates and coaches were always there to make sure I was doing good with everything.”
On the difference between playing in Europe versus in the U.S.:
“There are some differences, but it’s not as much as I thought. The game here focuses way more on one-on-one players, while in Europe it focuses more on plays with screens, pick and rolls, et cetera. Obviously, the bodies are different here. There is way more contact here than in Spain. In Europe, the game tries to avoid contact more. But at the end of the day, it’s still basketball, and every team has its own different plays and different motion, so it’s not that big of a difference with that. It’s the physical point of view that is the biggest difference here.”
On the unusual recruiting process she experienced:
“My recruiting process was interesting because I didn’t get to visit or anything with any school. I was looking for a school with good basketball and good studies. When I commit to a school, I’m committing for four years; I never plan on changing schools or anything. The most important thing for me was to choose the right people, because I’m going to be here for four years and those people are going to be my family. Since the first Zoom call I had with the coaches here, they gave me a family and team feeling that I thought was right for me. I still believe that was the correct choice.”
