Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/46359
"" I want them all to leave here better people than how they first came in. I'm talking academically, socially and athletically—all the areas in which you grow and develop in college. Much has been written about the challenges Kelsey will face as she transitions into her first head coaching position. After a prolific run as an assistant coach at a number of universities including Florida, Virginia Tech, and most recently her alma mater, Stanford, she's finally the head honcho. Beyond having to learn a new group of players at a new institu- tion in a new city, the big step up requires a change in mindset as well. Sportswriters like to point out that as head coach Kelsey can no longer be a friend to her players. Kelsey doesn't anticipate having a problem. "My door is always open to these girls, but I don't need to hang out and be their buddy," she says. "I don't really get why people think coaches need to be friends with their players anyway." That statement is a bit ironic given that over the course of our hour-long interview, one theme we kept returning to, whether chatting about basketball, community work, or Kelsey's recent wedding, was friendships. "Her girls," as she affectionately refers to them, are not only the friends Kelsey has made and stayed close with since her childhood days in Georgia, they are a group of women from various stages of her life—several who joined Kelsey as members of her wedding party in August. "These are my oldest and dearest friends, my best friends, and I just love them all to death," laughs Kelsey. "I was one of the last to get married and they couldn't wait until it was my turn! To see all my girls there, I was just like…yes! My girls are here!" Add to the list of "her girls" is another group of women who attended the wedding: her all-female roster of assistant coaches. October 2011 bravamagazine.com 43