It’s 8:30 a.m. and early in the school year — the first official meeting between the Brandeis University women’s basketball team and new head coach, Julie Pritchett, has just begun. The returning players on the roster had been part of the selection process after the retirement of former head coach Carol Simon earlier this year. Some had been in contact with well-wishes and congratulations after Pritchett’s hiring as the sixth women’s basketball coach in school history was finalized. But now, bright and early, it was Pritchett’s time to outline her vision for this team. 

Princhett wants her team to take things step by step as they rebuild.“We’re gonna be gritty, we’re gonna play hard, and it’s going to look the same no matter the score. We’ll be supportive, positive, and high-energy, but we’re going to  have an attack mentality,” Pritchett said in an Oct. 22 interview with The Justice. 

Not withstanding off-the-court issues leading up to Simon’s administrative leave in 2023 and retirement a year later, the team has been dissatisfied with their performance on the court. They went 6-19 in 2022, Simon’s final year, and 5-20 under interim head coach Jill Latanowich in 2023. The Judges are 2-26 in conference play over that same span. Pritchett will obviously look to turn these results around, but she knows full well that bringing a brand new system to a team with 11 of 15 players returning is no easy task. Pritchett credits her players for their maturity and adaptability in learning a new system and philosophy. “This group has been great, [and] there’s been very little friction,” she said, adding that “they’re very open to change, and they’re working so hard.”

Pritchett’s approach to coaching and team-building comes from a long history in women’s basketball. She played at the University of Southern Maine while studying education before working with the Womens National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty for a year, shadowing legends like Becky Hammon and Teresa Weatherspoon. She worked at the University of Rhode Island for a year before taking a position at Regis College, going 128-87 in eight years. That took her to Division II St. Anselm College in 2013, where she led that program to its first National Collegiate Athletics Association Tournament berth since 1999. She was there for four years, coached at University of Massachusetts Lowell for a year, and then moved to Pine Manor College, where she worked until its dissolution and absorption by Boston University in 2020. She got back into coaching with an assistant position at Babson College in 2021, but jumped at a head coaching opportunity at Brandeis when the position opened up. 

Having been in the basketball world for over 20 years, Pritchett has seen the game and its coaches evolve. She concedes that the coaches of the past were often much harder on their players. Unlearning that style and adopting a caring, holistic approach was both one of her biggest professional challenges, but also a personal mark of pride. She points to coaches like University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors, or her own coach at the University of Southern Maine, the legendary Gary Fifeld, as influences on her style and approach. Drawing on her education background, the court is her classroom, and the first step to success will be building a culture where players are accountable and competitive, but still fiercely loyal to one another. 

Pritchett hopes fans will see a gritty, high-energy team when they come to games. “It’s a chance to watch high-energy basketball,” she pitched. “Hopefully, of course, we put some points up on the board, but the ball is going to move a lot,” she said, noting that “the more exciting and up-tempo we play, the more people will want to watch.” However, she’s aware of the importance winning has on fan engagement, as well. “We have to have some success, we have to win some games,” she said.

Pritchett is a realist and knows that success will take time. She has a goal to win a third of the team’s conference games this year — maybe a modest mark, but one that would be a marked improvement over a 1-13 conference record last year. 

Building success for this team started in the offseason with a preseason bonding trip and team dinner, and depends on the new traditions Pritchett hopes to start. Pritchett feels success will come from creating a competitive environment and a willingness to be uncomfortable. “Being uncomfortable creates growth,” she emphasized. “We’re gonna win some games, and we’re gonna lose some games,” but Princhett wants her players to be able to ask themselves every day: “can we be proud of our effort? Our focus? Are we getting better?”

The women’s basketball team will begin their season with the Brandeis Invitational against Framingham State University Friday, Nov. 8 and will start conference play next year, Jan. 11, at New York University. If Pritchett is to be believed, Brandeis fans will be seeing a different team than they’re used to after that first opening tip-off.  Listening to her conviction and competitive spirit, it is hard not to believe her. She has big visions for the student experience, packing the gym with cheering fans and holding half-court shots for prizes at halftime, but all of that will come with success. But as the women’s basketball team builds that success — from games, to film sessions, to practices, to ropes courses —  their pitch to the fans, as Pritchett put it, is simple: “With change comes opportunity. It’s the chance to watch the transformation of a team.”