Following Shannon Reidy's abrupt resignation from her position as head coach of women's basketball, the team and the program found themselves swept up in the winds of change and uncertainty. On April 6, after nearly a month of wondering, the Ramblers were finally informed of their new coach, Eric Simpson.
Simpson is definitely the man for the job, the perfect choice to bridge the gap between the past program and the change that is to come.
Every stepping stone of his life seems to have led him to the position of head coach here at Loyola. He attended St. Ignatius in Chicago for high school and played basketball at Northwestern University. He has coached at three different Catholic high schools in the area and has worked at Loyola for the past four years. He worked with men's basketball coach Jim Whitesell, and played alongside men's basketball assistant coach Pat Baldwin at NWU. Finally, for the past two years, Simpson has worked under Reidy as an assistant coach.
Having established himself in the Chicagoland area, Simpson sure makes the world seem a little smaller, and the strong ties he has created should serve the team in future recruitment prospects.
As for the present team, Simpson is eager to continue working with them. He said, "The current Ramblers roster possesses the basketball skills, work ethic and the will to win games." Sophomore Brittany Boeke expressed her excitement about the coming year, saying an advantage to having Simpson as a coach is "he already knows a lot of our strengths and weaknesses."
Junior Elyse VanBogaert described the new coach as "one of the bright spots in the program the last two years."
Simpson places a lot of emphasis on "creating a positive environment for the team," a vital characteristic for a smooth and happy transition to succeed. As for success, he believes that "winning is the outcome of a successful process. The most ingenious game strategies will fail if the players don't have the skills to execute them." As a result of this belief, his strategy is focusing mainly on developing players' skills.
The team started post-season workouts with their new coach right away; Boeke says they are going great, and junior Jessica Hylton said, "He is already teaching us new drills that are beneficial to how we can improve in the summertime when we're on our own."
As for the change that is sure to happen, VanBogaert said, "I think the way we play is going to change a lot. Simpson has a lot of great ideas for changes and it's already started."
The new coach is treading carefully on the tightrope between past strategies and his own ideas for change, and it will be interesting to see if he can stay balanced and bring success to the program. He has a thorough plan, focusing on defense, turnovers and rebounds, all of which were problem areas for the Ramblers this past season. Simpson wants to improve these areas in order to "break with the past."
And it seems the Ramblers are ready for the change: "We are looking forward to a great season, but taking things one day at a time," junior Keisha Collins said.
"He pushes us really hard, but everyone is ready and willing to work very hard for him. I think he will be able to bring out the best in all of us. I am confident in his ability to lead us to many wins next year," mused Boeke.
Hylton added, "I am looking forward to working hard and having a great last season as a Rambler!"
Make sure to check out the Ramblers in Gentile when the winter of 2009 rolls around to see for yourself the improvements they've made.
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