July 15, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Big 12 heightens its focus on the women’s game
By The Next
'This is just a great time to think, every day, how do we elevate women's basketball?'
On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Missy Heidrick sits down with the new vice president of women’s basketball and championships at the Big 12, Dayna Scherf. Heidrick and Scherf discuss all the changes happening within the conference, and focus specifically on the growth of women’s basketball inside the Big 12.
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“We are headed to the new-launch, 16-team Big 12 conference,” Heidrick says to open the show. “And as part of the Big 12 leadership team, there probably hasn’t felt like a ton of stable ground,” she says to Scherf later on. “How exciting and reassuring is this time for you now?”
“It’s a really exciting time,” Scherf reaffirms. “We’re now a 16-team league, it’s exciting … to see how things have changed. It’s a really big time for us.”
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Later on, Heidrick and Scherf discuss Scherf’s new job, a role which she will be the first person to fill. Heidrick wonders why this felt like the right time for the Big 12 to create this specific position. “I think, really, it’s because of the growth and trajectory of women’s basketball,” Scherf says. “It’s a really exciting time in women’s basketball right now, and it needs a little more attention than it did before. This is just a great time to think, every day, how do we elevate women’s basketball? How do we do it on social, with our content, collaboration … how do we make memorable experiences for our student athletes?”
Heidrick and Scherf close out the show by discussing what Scherf might expect from the new-look Big 12, which launches on August 2. When asked what she thinks her role might be throughout the season, Scherf focuses on communication. “We’re doing roughly monthly calls and conversations with teams [in the conference] to get input … we’re expanding the network.”
“All 14 of our teams last season were in the top 100,” Scherf adds. “That’s pretty incredible for a league of our size.”
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