Two words. That’s all head coach Shauna Green needed to create a phrase that has since become the new-look Illini’s identity and culture and big piece in the team’s resurgence this season: #OneWay.
Green does not remember the origins of the mantra, but she knew it encapsulated everything her program was about when she came up with it while coaching at Dayton.
“I just wanted to really put everything together in terms of what we wanted our program to be about, and that was a word that came to my mind,” Green said. “It’s everything we do: doing it the right way, as hard as we can, as disciplined as we can, as passionately as we can, as together as we can. That’s the #OneWay, and the only way we’re gonna do it is that way.”
After six successful seasons in Dayton, Green has brought the same identity to Champaign in her first year with the Orange and Blue. The Illini have bought into the coaching staff, and the team is reaping the rewards of that culture shift.
Toughness, both on and off the court, is at the forefront of the #OneWay identity, Green says, and she has turned to both players and coaches to implement and embrace that philosophy.
“It takes everyone,” Green said. “We have the vision. I, as the leader, have the vision, and I have to get that vision across to our team so they understand what it means. I gotta help them, too, understand how to go about building it, but then I put some ownership on our team, especially this past year. It’s a brand-new team.
“I gave them some ideas of things they needed to do to come together as a team and a family and build those relationships. I give them credit, because they took that ownership, and they put a lot of time into getting close off the floor.”
Green also turned to players and staff she coached at Dayton, including current Illinois director of scouting and player development Jenna Giacone. Giacone competed at Dayton from 2016-22 and helped lead the Flyers to five regular-season Atlantic 10 conference titles, two A-10 tournament championships, and four NCAA tournament appearances.
In her first season in a coaching position, Giacone puts the #OneWay approach into her daily life, even if she can no longer play.
“I can’t necessarily approach practice with the mindset to make shots and play my best defense because I’m no longer doing that,” Giacone said. “Whether…
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