AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) — What is Kristen Sharkey feeling as she steps into her new role as the women’s basketball head coach at the University at Buffalo?
She played at UB from 2010 to 2015, then moved up to assistant coach, and was later on her way to Syracuse University as associate coach for one of the most celebrated local coaches in recent times, Felisha Legette-Jack.
In just weeks, she’s had to quickly build her roster of players for the present and the future. Only two players remain from last season’s WNIT championship group.
Is Sharkey feeling overwhelmed with this first-time head coaching challenge at her alma mater, nervous or filled with anxiety?
Not at all.
“I am full of joy,” Sharkey said. “I feel like a little kid again.”
Sharkey spoke Wednesday night to a room full of supporters from the UB Newman Center, Catholic Campus Ministry for the North Campus.
She brought her newly assembled team of young women who hail from several states, Australia and Spain.
Sharkey also brought her coaching philosophy, which all based on the acronym P.A.C.E. It’s such an important theme that it is displayed on the back of the players’ t-shirts.
It stands for Positive Attitude, Accountable, Compete, Execute.
Sharkey calls it her blueprint for growth and greatness, not just on the court, but in life.
“P.A.C.E. controls everything we do,” Sharkey said. “It lays a foundation, a daily standard designed for everyone.”
The players are getting their first taste of Sharkey’s blueprint as they start full practices this week.
They are learning the “I’ve got you” mentality that Sharkey preaches, which means they must have each other’s backs.
Sharkey wants her Bulls to play fast-paced basketball, dictating the tempo through aggressive defense. She aims to “control the glass.”
Players are learning that it’s a different ball game, a different “feel” than the culture that hard-charging former UB head coach Becky Burke took with her when she opted for the head coach job at the University of Arizona after leading the Bulls to their first-ever WNIT championship.
With the uncertainty of NIL (name, image, likeness) financial pressures looming over all of college athletics now, Sharkey said the transfer portal “doesn’t scare me.”
She pointed out that she is raising money for her program, with a goal of $100,000 by Sept. 1.
Her players, she said, have made a 60-hour per week commitment to their sport, on top of their academics.
“When people don’t have to worry about where their next meal or their next tank of gas is coming from, you don’t know how great you can be.”
“If you’re serious about supporting women’s sports, we are the highest ranked women’s sports team in a two-hour radius,” Sharkey said to the audience.
Anaya Coleman, known as A.C., is a senior point guard from Pittsford, N.Y., now playing for her third college team.
She said Sharkey and her staff have given her “an immediate sense of belief” in herself and what she can bring to the table.
Coleman said the opportunity to join this team “provides redemption for a lot of us. We’re coming together and aiming to do something great.”
That’s an attitude right out of the coach’s P.A.C.E. playbook.
Sharkey is loaded with slogans: Excellence is a habit. Growth is the goal. Pace yourself for progress.
Those slogans are designed to serve up success for Sharkey and her players this coming season.
Without hesitation, she said, “We’re going after a championship this year!”
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Jacquie Walker is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 1983. See more of her work here.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
