Locked On Women’s Basketball: Coquese Washington talks Rutgers, Kiyomi McMiller and WNBA boom

They first discussed the current moment that women’s basketball, and women’s sports in general, is in, from the growing popularity of the NCAA and WNBA to the Olympic stage in Paris.

“This is, to me, probably the seminal time in terms of coverage and appreciation of our sport,” Washington said. “There’s no question been so many talented players over over the years, when you talk about, Nancy Lieberman and Sheryl Swoopes, and Cheryl Miller, legends of our game, but this is kind of the seminal time in terms of being a mainstream topic of conversation … You turn on Stephen A Smith’s First Take in the morning, they’re talking about women’s basketball in a positive way. They’re talking about game, not any scandal or controversy, but they’re talking about the game … So when you look at the numbers of people who are watching the WNBA games, who are watching the college games, who are watching the Olympic basketball games, and it’s just a great time to be in women’s athletics … in general, but women’s basketball in particular. … it just warms my heart and bodes well for future women’s basketball players like my daughter, who’s a teen and loves basketball, and the young girls who are dreaming of going pro and dreaming of going to play in college, to have the kind of support, broad based support, that we’re getting now, is just really, really cool to see and be a part of.”

Then Coquese Washington and Howard Megdal discussed incoming five-star recruit Kiyomi McMiller, who committed to the Scarlet Knights in April. McMiller was the first high school athlete to sign a Name, Image and Likeness deal, when she became a Jordan brand athlete in 2023.

“I think if I had one word to describe Kiyomi, it would be dynamic,” Washington explained. “And when you watch her play, when you see how her teammates feed off of her, she has elevated the competitiveness in the gym. She has elevated, along with some of the other players that we’ve got in, but she’s elevated the play because of her ability, what she can do, her scoring ability, her passing ability, her defending ability, her speed. So when you talk about what we want to build, and how we want to build this program, it starts with getting dynamic players, and so Kiyomi was really our first really true recruiting class. 2024 class was our first real recruiting class.”

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“So bringing her and [incoming freshman Zachara Perkins] in, two dynamic players that can do multiple things on the floor, that’s where, really, where the floor is for us in terms of, now, we want to, every year, we want to add a couple more dynamic players to play with them. But I think what she brings to the table in terms of just dynamic play and and her ability to make her teammates better is really incredible and exciting for us as coaches, and it’s going to be exciting for our fan base, for sure.”

Tune in to hear more from Coquese Washington about Rutgers’ upcoming season, the team’s incoming class of transfers and fresh faces, and more. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!