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New coach and alum Gorski to lead women’s basketball

One of Bradley’s most successful women’s basketball players is back on the Hilltop. 1996 Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Andrea Gorski was hired in April to take over the reigns of the women’s basketball team at her alma mater where she should feel right at home.

Gorski ran the offense as a point guard for the Braves from 1988-1992. Now she’ll be in charge of running the whole team from the sideline. However, she never expected to be back at Bradley as a coach.

“When I played, I always thought I would coach,” Gorski said. “I always thought of myself as a coach. When you’re a point guard, you’re calling the plays anyway. I just didn’t know where it would take me … It’s fun to see what’s the same and what’s different now and to get re-acquainted with everyone here.”

As far as her coaching style is concerned, Gorski knows that as a new coach, it’s important for her to put an emphasis on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

“Because it’s a new system on both ends, I would say [the focus] is equal,” Gorski said. “It’s a different scheme defensively than they’re used to and definitely different offensively. Normally, I would say I’m more defensive-minded. But right now, we’re teaching everything new, so we’ve been spending equal times on both ends of the floor.”

Gorski is inheriting a program that has seen its fair share of struggles over the recent years. The women’s team hasn’t had double-digit wins since the 2012-2013 season. Her approach to turn that around is more simple than some would think.

“Before you can become a championship team you have to eliminate losing,” Gorski said. “And we’re not talking about losing in the loss column. We’re talking about losing behaviors; missing layups, missing free throws, turning the ball over, not getting loose balls and giving up offensive rebounds. All of those things need to be eliminated, and if we can eliminate those things, we eliminate losing.”

The Braves are young. They currently have five upperclassmen and seven underclassmen, with more than half the team not yet acquainted to the stress of Missouri Valley basketball. However, Gorski stresses the youth of this team won’t have a factor on the outcome of the season.

“They’re all new to us, and they’re all new to the system,” Gorski said. “We don’t really look at what class they’re in and how much experience they have. It’s really who’s performing on the court. If you’re a freshman, and you’re outperforming someone else that’s been here for two or three years, you’re probably going to get more playing time.”

As for how the upcoming season will play out, Gorski said she really isn’t good at predictions. But she does have a goal of seeing her team improve throughout the year.

“I think our focus right now is, everyday to just take a step in the right direction,” Gorski said. “Eliminate losing, and trust the process. Make sure we’re committed to trusting what we’re doing, trusting each other and trusting the coaching staff… I think [the team] is working very hard. They’re all coachable. Every kid is on board in terms of coming to practice, working hard and giving it their all.”

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