Featurette: Meet Conant’s new girls basketball coach: Ms. Deirdre Naughton

Girls varsity basketball team, with Coach Naughton

Crier Sports editor Ashley O’Connor sits down with new girls basketball coach Deirdre Naughton.

Crier: What is your experience with basketball?
Naughton: I went to New Trier High School and played basketball there. Then I went on to play basketball at DePaul University.

Crier: Do you have any experience coaching prior to Conant?
Naughton: I was the Assistant Varsity Coach at New Trier High School from 2011-2013, then coached one year at York from 2012-2013

Crier: Is the season off to a good start?
Naughton: Right now we are 5-2. Our two losses came to two very good basketball teams : Prospect and Fremd.

Crier: What do you expect for the rest of the season?
Naughton: We are a veteran team and expect to be competing for a conference title and play deep into the post season.

Crier: What is a typical practice like?
Naughton: We focus a lot on fundamentals . Our practices are high energy with a lot of focus on doing everything at game speed. We like to get up and down the floor a lot in practice and be the best conditioned team on the floor.

Crier: Who is your sports idol? Favorite basketball team?
Naughton: My favorite team is the DePaul Women’s Basketball team! My sports idol growing up was always Michael Jordan.

Crier: Do you have any pregame traditions?
Naughton: Before every game, we stand shoulder to shoulder, hold hands, and pass on the squeeze to the teammate next to us. It helps us to remind us we can’t win without every player on the team.

0