 Hi, I'm Kate Young and you're listening to This is Purdue, the official podcast for Purdue University. As a Purdue alum and Indiana native, I know firsthand about the family of students and professors who are in it together, persistently pursuing and relentlessly rethinking. Who are the next game changers, difference makers, ceiling breakers, innovators? Who are these boiler makers? Join me as we feature students, faculty and alumni taking small steps toward their giant leaps and inspiring others to do the same. The boiler maker spirit is everything. Every time I walk down the tunnel, the chills I get. Every time I turn on Northwestern to see Macchi Arena, the chills I get, the environment at Rasei, the crowd at Holloway, the 14,000 strong at Men's Games. There's just something different about the black and gold. Purdue is well known for many things. It's the number one public university in Indiana and a top 10 public university in the country. Purdue is ranked seventh as the best value school in the US and sixth in the world for utility patents. We're ranked in the top 10 in the country for innovation four years running. We've frozen tuition for 11 years now. We're also, of course, known for our ties to space. We talked about that a few episodes ago with NASA's space suit engineer, Amy Ross. But when people think of Purdue, I know another thing that comes to mind too, athletics. So many alumni I've talked to on this podcast have said some of their favorite memories at Purdue were attending various athletics games with friends. And it doesn't hurt that Purdue historically has successful athletics teams and produces top tier athletes like Drew Brees, Lee Roykeys, Glenn Robinson, David Bodaya, Annie Drews, John Wooden, and of course, our friend of the podcast, Jim Everett. And basketball, well, basketball always seems to stand out. We are in Indiana after all. When people think of Purdue, they think of the first man on the moon and NASA and game changing innovation and a leading agricultural program. But they also think of basketball. In September of 2021, Katie Gerald's Miss Indiana basketball 2003 and a former Purdue basketball player herself was named the head coach of Purdue's women's basketball program. Basketball legends like Tamika Ketchins and Katie Douglas were quick to comment and congratulate Coach Gerald's. There was a certain buzz going around about this new era for the women's team. I noticed it on social media. I heard others talking about it. There was an excitement and energy in the air. We were fortunate enough to talk to Coach Gerald's about her experience leading the women's program so far. And let me tell you, if you love Purdue, you will love Coach Gerald's. I'm sure it's been a whirlwind, this whole past year for you. But tell us how you're feeling right now. Your first year as head coach of the Purdue women's basketball team. Wow. Every day I walk down the tunnel or every day I walk into Cardinal, this feeling of just pure joy. I'm a little kid waking up on Christmas morning to see all the gifts that Santa brought me. That's what it is. It's still surreal. And I have this inkling that that's the way it's going to be my entire coaching career here. Coach Gerald's was born and raised in Indiana. She led Beech Grove High School to a Class 3A state championship title in 2003, the same year she was named Miss Indiana Basketball. Another fun fact about her high school career, she was named the Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year and the McDonald's All-American. She then won the MVP award at the McDonald's All-American game this same season as another basketball player you may have heard of, LeBron James. Coach Gerald's chose to play at Purdue in college and was a three-year starter for the Boilermakers during her career from 2004 to 2007. She was named the 2004 Big 10 Freshman of the Year. And as a senior, she set the Purdue single game record with 41 points at Wisconsin in 2007. She was also drafted into the WNBA as the seventh overall pick in the draft, the highest selection ever from Purdue, and the top 10 pick in Big 10 history. Coach Gerald's played for the Seattle Storm for three seasons before playing basketball professionally overseas. She came back to Indiana and spent eight years as the head coach of Marion University in Indianapolis. The team won back-to-back National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Women's Basketball National Championships in 2016 and 2017. And Coach Gerald's has the most wins as a coach in Marion history. She was also named a three-time NAIA National Coach of the Year. I asked Coach Gerald's if coming back to Indiana after her years of playing professionally was always part of her life plans. I never really thought I wanted to coach until I started playing professionally and then I just thought maybe this is a path I could do being from Indiana coming to Purdue. I went to play for the Seattle Storm for three years, played in Europe for seven years and then brought me back to coaching in Marion in Indianapolis. And I probably would have never applied for the job if it wasn't in Indy. But my family is there and then I had it made at Marion. You know, I could coach a game, go out to dinner with my parents, my nieces and my nephews were always there, my siblings were there. Purdue was going to be the only place that was going to pull me away from that job. And here I am. Tell us about how this job came about, how you went from Marion to come over here. Coach Versup called me. They were in the Big Ten tournament last year and called me and I met with her and Nancy Cross. We had dinner and just kind of said, you know, hey, this is, I've got one more year left on my contract. We do this whole head coach and waiting thing the way Coach Painter did it with Coach Katie and just felt like it was time for me. It was time for me to make that jump. I always was going to wonder if I was going to be good enough to coach at this level with what I believed in on the court and all of that stuff. So it just felt right. The timing was right for me. I spent eight years at Marion and we'd won a lot of championships in the conference and in the national scene. But it was just time and, you know, things fast-tracked a little bit quicker with Coach Versup retiring in September and me taking over. But four months since the job is head coach, I'm just living my dream. Did you always dream of a Division One coaching career? I always dreamed of coaching at Purdue. That was it. I always wondered if I was going to be good enough to coach at the Division One level in the Power Five, but it was only going to be Purdue to pull me away from that job. Don't do this for the money. That's not why we do what we do. I tell people all the time, my job might be to win basketball games, but my calling is to help empower and influence young women 18 to 22 year olds and get them ready for their own life. Are there any favorite stories from this season about whether you're impacting these young women's lives or maybe it was something that happened on the court? Anything behind the scenes you want to share? Put me on the spot here. I think every day there's always something that happens and you're just like, wow, this is why we do what we do. We've had some situations this year where beyond basketball, whether it's a kid needing help off the court, we live in a time right now, especially our younger people who they're in college, but last year it was a COVID year, right? So they didn't get to experience that. And now all of a sudden they're thrown right back into it in the lives and the pressure of the pressure that social media puts on young people these days and trying to empower them to mentally get through those things. I think that's the biggest challenge today in coaching the fear of failure. It's instantaneously, right? When I missed the shot, when I played here, nobody saw it. If I turned it over, if I missed something, nobody saw it until the next day in the paper. Now it's instant. And I think that social media aspect of our lives today is in teaching young people how to be able to handle those mistakes and getting through those. That's the tough part of the job right now. Do you think that that's the main thing that's different from when you played here at Purdue? Is that whole social media? Absolutely. If I failed, like I said, you didn't know about it until the next day in the paper or unless you watched it on TV. But now you could be anywhere in the world. And if I airballed a free throw or missed a game-winning shot or a poor defensive assignment or anything, or even a game-winning shot, it is instant. And someone around the world is seeing it at that very moment. And we all know that social media has changed our world for good and the bad, but teaching young people how to handle, whether it's failure or success is a massive part of our job. And speaking of empowering and influencing young women, well-coached Gerald was at Purdue. She played for Coach Christie Curry. Well-coached Gerald was on the team. The Boilermakers won two Big 10 tournament titles, and they never missed the NCAA tournament, reaching three Sweet 16s and one Elite 8 during those four years. Coach Gerald said Coach Curry was the leader who impacted her most throughout her basketball career. She was my coach. They recruited me here to Purdue, and there was no way I was going to be able to say no to her. The relationship, the bond we had right away, I knew I didn't want to play for another coach. And it was heartbreaking because she left after my junior year, and I got to play for Coach Versa in my senior year. But it was probably the best thing for me. Challenged me in different ways. I didn't know I was ready for 21, 22-year-olds. We don't understand all of what's happening in front of us. But looking back, it was a really good thing that happened for me to have the opportunity to play for Coach Versa in my senior year. Those two, I lean on heavily. I talk to Coach Curry quite a bit, once or twice a week during the season. Just the impact she's had on my life is beyond words. When you talk about you played overseas, you played in the WNBA, is there anything that you're bringing from that career when you played professionally into your coaching now? I always like to say I'm a student of the game, and I think we all are. In World Thieves, we all steal from different coaches and different things we see. But I think there's probably a piece of all of the coaches I've played for. And I've made that my own style, whether it's Coach Curry or Coach Versa, back to my high school coach with Coach McNeu, my AU summer coach, playing for Ann Donovan in the WNBA, Brian Nagler. And a lot of European coaches, just different styles, what to do and what not to do. But at the same time, they've all helped mold me into who I am on the sideline today. I asked Coach Sherrill about how she uses her professional basketball experience in her job as a coach now. Is there any trait that defines you as a player throughout your career that you would also say that you're bringing into your coaching now? I think two things, calm and confident. I think if anyone watched me play, I was, I never got rattled. I would get excited and there was some fire underneath me, but always stayed calm. Things are never as good as they seem and they're never as bad as they seem. Just trying to live in that moment right then. And then confident. Confident that I know that all the work that I've done as a player, I feel good about. And then as a coach too, all the film that I've watched, all the preparation we put into our team, just confident in what we're doing. And you see that, right? On the sideline, it's stressful situation. And I'm going to be calm over there and confident. I want the team to really feed off of that. I think those two things really sum up who I was as a player and who I am as a coach. As for recruiting and molding the spoiler maker team, Coach Gerald says there's no shortcuts when it comes to finding the right young women. And when you think about recruiting the right teammates, the right fit at Purdue, what is the right fit for you and your team here today? We're going to be blue collar. We're going to work our tails off every single day. I want a group of young women who bleed black and gold, who knows what it means to have Purdue on your chest. And what does that mean? It means that I'm going to do things the right way. It means I'm going to show up on time. It means I'm going to go to class every day. I'm going to do what's right in the weight room. I'm going to take care of what I put in my body. I'm going to be a great outstanding citizen in our community. I'm going to reach out in the community and I'm going to help young people help inspire our youth and never cut a corner. We're never cheating here. We're always going to do things the right way here at Purdue. And then when you do win championships and you do have individual accolades, it just makes it that much more meaningful because you know you've done it the right way. The Purdue women's team kicked off their season on November 10th at Western Kentucky, winning their first game of the 2021-2022 season. On January 16th, Purdue battled Indiana University at Mackie Arena. The game went into overtime with the Boilermakers eventually losing 68 to 73 to our biggest rival. But it showed the Purdue community two things. The Purdue women's basketball team was truly competitive against the top five team in the country. And Coach Gerald certainly isn't waiting around to create a top tier competitive team. Here's Coach Gerald in a press conference after that game. But I think the message I shared with them, when I took over in September, people kept saying we're a few years away, four or five years away. And I just told them guys, like, it's right here. It's right now in front of us. We're not waiting. I told them that in September that we're not waiting to get Purdue back on the map. It is right here in front of us. The crowd, us playing with the top five team. It's them. It's their effort every single day. It's their togetherness. It's their willingness to listen to me and buy into everything we're asking them to do as a staff. We don't want to wait four or five years. This group doesn't want to wait for other people to come in here. They want to be the reason this program gets back. And I think you see that every day. And I think today was just a more of a shining example of who they are and what we are trying to do. There was a huge response to this on social media. If that isn't the Boilermaker spirit, I don't know what is. I asked Coach Gerald about that tough loss and that special moment she shared in that press conference he just heard. I hope everybody heard the authenticity behind that because it was truly authentic and it was exactly what I told our team. And that game against Indiana was January 16th. I took over September 16th. So that was our four months together as a staff, as a team. And in four months, we were able to almost knock off a top five team. Imagine what we can do when we are together a little bit longer. But I told them in September, and I tell you right now, and I said it after the Indiana game, we're not waiting. We want to get Purdue back on the map when early 2000s, late 90s, this place was it in the big 10. We held the Barnburner trophy. It was never down in Bloomington. And it is our job to make sure we get that back and it never goes back down there. What do you tell the team after a rough loss? But it was such a great game, right? What are they feeling in the locker room? And what do you have to tell them to get them ready for the next game? I mean, they feel hurt, right? And they're heartbroken. And I'm not so sure that's how it's been in the past. But I walked into the locker room and you could just feel the hurts, each one, whether they played or not, you could feel how much they poured into that game and how hard it was to walk away without a win. That's when you know you've turned the corner, right? When something like that really hurts you. The message was, hey, guys, we're right there. It's one play here. It's one play there. We're right there. It's right now in front of us. It would take the rest of the day and let it hurt. We took Monday off after the game and let it hurt. But we came back to work the next day and we got after it. The message was, let's let this be the one that fuels that fire when we don't feel like we can practice when we're sore, when we had a big exam and we're stressed about something off the court. Let this be the one that every time you walk onto the court, this is the one that motivates you. There's a loose ball. We're going to jump on it. There's a rebound that has to be had. We're going to jump on it. I have a feeling that we're going to respond the right way and it's going to be a fun rest of the way. The women's basketball program hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2017. But that doesn't scare Coach Gerald. She's ready to rise to this challenge. Do you think there's any secret key or ingredient that you can start getting competitive in those big 10 championships and winning those again? I think it's just hard work. You know, it's hard work. Obviously you've got to be a little lucky along the way. You've got to be injury free. You've got to do all those things, especially now in the COVID world that we live in. You've got to get lucky in that regard. But for the most part, it's hard work. It's stuff done behind the scenes when no one's watching. You know, everybody saw what we did from two to four against Indiana. But nobody saw what we did the day before. Nobody saw what we did the day before. And everybody that sees the two to four, that's the kind of effort we have to get in and we have to put in every single day. And that's the next step for our basketball team and our program is making sure that we're working as just as hard as we did in those two hours of the game. And when we do that, it's not going to be an eight point lead with three minutes ago. It's going to be about a 15 to 20 point lead because we know we have done the work and we will have trusted that. And she does admit there's been challenges along the way so far in this journey as head coach. The biggest challenge probably is just we have a group that hasn't been together. You know, they're still learning my language. The staff is still learning my language. We're still learning each other. And we really hadn't been in a moment like that together in a crucial game so far yet this season and trying to learn on the fly. I've heard other coaches, you know, at the other end of the sideline say to her team, Hey, remember two years ago, we were in this situation, we're going to do this. Well, we don't have anything to reflect on that. We've only got four months of practice. And I think that's been the most difficult thing for me is not having all that time with them. But when it's there, it's going to be really special. As I mentioned, Coach Cheryl's went to Purdue. She played for Purdue. So she understands the incredible Boilermaker community. She lived in it and now she lives in it again. And her taking over as head coach after being a star player for Purdue is similar to former Purdue player and current head coach Matt Painter, taking over for Coach Jean Katie within the men's basketball program. Coach Cheryl's discusses the tight-knit athletics community from when she attended Purdue to today and what all this support and excitement means to her. You referenced how you're following in Coach Painter's footsteps a little bit. You are doing what he did with Coach Katie. How does that make you feel? It's really cool. I think I was here my senior year was when Coach Painter and Coach Katie were doing that transition. And it was really cool to be a part of from the outside looking in. And he was huge for me this summer and helping me. We were all under the assumption that Coach Versup was going to be the head coach and I was going to just be on the sideline waiting my turn. But he was great for me. I leaned on him. I leaned on Elliot Bloom and they really helped me through the process. When Coach Versup retired, I was anxious and nervous and excited, all different kinds of emotions. I knew that I was ready. And honestly those two guys, Elliot and Matt, really did a good job of, you know, this is the best thing that can happen for your program. Stay with it. Trust the process and take every little win that you can. And we're doing that. And we're probably winning more ball games than people thought we would. I love how we see on social media the men's team is really successful. You know, you're coming in and having this awesome, exciting season, the volleyball team, the football team. What does this community mean to you? You know, when you look at all these different high level coaches and supporting you and tweeting at you and admiring you. Yeah, it's really cool. You know, Coach Hondale came in the office yesterday and just to talk to us. You walk by the men's office and paints there and Terry and Paul and, you know, all those guys, they're the family here, right? It's just different. It's just different. You know, Coach Brown's excitement for our basketball team. What they did in the fall, I think with football, women's soccer, volleyball, and obviously the hype around our men's basketball has, I think it's helped lift our women's basketball team because we don't want to be the one, right? We don't want to be the doormat of Purdue athletics. And it's helped lift our entire basketball team to try to make sure we're chasing those guys and we're staying up with them. But the love for each other's programs is true and real and genuine. I mean, anytime I can turn on any Purdue athletics morning event, CS winning, it's, you know, it's everything. It's what makes Purdue so special. Did you have any times in your career at Purdue where you guys were also kind of trying to keep up with the men's or, you know, both enjoying that success? Yeah, we were, we were actually the one probably everybody was chasing because we were really good. We were really, really good. I mean, I think the men were starting to struggle and then Matt came in and got the baby boiler group in and really just catapulted the men's basketball program. But, you know, Coach Hondel was young in his career when I was here. I think at the time, Joe Taylor was here leading the team and Kyle Orton was our quarterback and probably a fumble away from going to the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. And, you know, I just remember going to all those sporting events, going to the volleyball games were some of my favorite times with my teammates at the football games when we're chasing a Rose Bowl championship. It's always been about the black and golden. And you don't know it until you come on campus and you truly ingrain yourself into being a Purdue boiler maker. But once you do and you live it every single day, it's just, it's a different kind of life and it's just a really special family. And it's clear that it's not just the athletics program that is excited about the fresh energy and authenticity that Coach Gerald brings to the women's basketball program. Fans are truly excited as well. We talked about the coaches are supporting you and this whole athletics community is supporting you, but the fans are really excited and paying attention. What does that mean to you? It's special. It's humbling. What makes it so exciting is I'm excited for our team. I don't know that I've ever seen a student section like that. Not when I played here. Remember when I turned the corner and walked down the tunnel to go into Mackie and I saw the students. I mean, I can't say on camera what I mumbled to myself because I was so taken away by that and the atmosphere and my biggest hope is I understand that the women's, you know, sometimes people can misjudge the women's game and what it can bring because we don't dunk. We don't fly around. We don't do that. But one thing about our basketball team is that we kind of do fly around on the defensive end and we play really, really hard and I think we can be pretty entertaining to watch because we do those things. My hope is that those students think, man, this group is fun to watch. And if we get just some of those guys to come back and maybe bring a buddy and just really fall into watching our basketball team, but it's really, really cool for our team because I know how hard we work every day and to come out there and with that kind of crowd and that kind of support, whether it's in the game, in the community, social media, whatever it is, this group really deserves it. Coach Gerald's reiterated throughout the interview how much that huge student section and fan support at that game against IU meant to her team and to her. It was really special to hear. Okay, so the goal of this podcast is to get to know these remarkable Boilermakers on a personal level. Sure, we can talk about basketball plays and wins and losses, but what are the little things, the everyday things that you'll walk away knowing about Coach Gerald's after listening to this episode? I like your shoes, too. Thanks. Well, I want to talk to you about shoes. Coach Gerald has a passion for shoes. In fact, one of her team assistants who saw us setting up for this interview, let us know about her shoe collection and wondered which pair she would wear for this interview. For the record, she went with a pair of black heels and I went with some gold glitter shoes that I just couldn't pass up the chance to wear knowing Coach Gerald's loves a good pair of producing shoes. In her introduction press conferences head coach, Coach Gerald's even made a remark about shoes and how it helps her in a way relate to her players. She said, quote, you know, it wasn't that long ago that I was here at Purdue, at least that's what I tell myself in my mind every day. So I can relate to them a little bit, speak their language, try to have the cooler shoes than they do. But that was it. That was number one, just connecting with them on a different level. Coach Gerald explains her love for a good pair of shoes. I know, or I heard that you have an extensive shoe collection. Tell us more about that. Well, my mom and dad, well, my mom especially, you don't need to buy any more shoes. They'll have a lot of space in my house. I've always liked them, right? And honestly, it's one of the first things I do when I see people, I always look at their shoes because, oh, do I need those pair, right? Do they match the black and gold? But I just feel like especially nowadays shoes really resonate with young recruits. Yeah. And because we're in this era of COVID era where we're allowed to kind of like dress down on the sideline, right? So you just got a Purdue shirt and maybe some sweats or some casual pants on. It makes it easy to throw on a pair of Jays. And at any time I see a black and gold pair, I am most likely going to find a way to get my hands on them. Do you have a favorite pair? Yeah, my mid ones, the shoes I wore against Indiana, the Jordan ones, they're just mid-high, but the gold really, really pops there. If you follow Coach Gerald on Twitter, at Katie Gerald's four, you can catch some of her favorite black and gold pairs. By now, you know that this job for Coach Gerald's is a dream job. She loves Purdue. I asked her about her favorite times at Purdue while she was a student. Volleyball games were probably the most fun and they're still, because it just hollowed in so small and so loud. And there was no air conditioning back then, so it got really, really hot in there. But those were always fun. For us, my freshman year, we won the Big Ten tournament. My senior year, we won the Big Ten tournament. And in those two moments, really stick out. As good as we were, we never won a Big Ten regular season title. So I've got my work cut out for me as a coach. We're going to make sure more banners fly. And when it comes to that Boilermaker spirit, Coach Gerald's exudes, she explains why there's no place in the world like Purdue. The Boilermaker spirit is everything. Every time I walk down the tunnel, the chills I get, every time I turn on Northwestern to see Macchi Arena, the chills I get, the environment at Rase, the crowd at Holloway, the 14,000 strong at Men's Games, there's just something different about the black and gold. But like I said, once you're in it and you become a part of that family, you know that you are in it for the rest of your life. And really, there's nothing better than being a Boilermaker. I'm so thankful for the support. And I know that we're not a few years away. It's right here in front of us. And we're going to get this place back. The Katie Gerald's era is here. Let's ride. If you'd like to watch our full video interview with Coach Gerald's, head over to youtube.com slash Purdue University. And if you're enjoying our This is Purdue podcast episodes, please be sure to leave us a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify and share our show with a friend. And as always, Boiler up.