What Grace Berger Said After Indiana Fever Selected Her in First Round of WNBA Draft
NEW YORK — Monday night, former Indiana women's basketball guard Grace Berger was selected in the first round of the 2023 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever.
Berger's No. 7 overall pick was the highest of any women's player in Hoosier program history. She addressed the media following the selection.
On how Berger fits into the Fever's offense...
BERGER: So I'll answer the Walnut question. Walnut is my dog. He's getting boarded right now. So he's not very happy that he wasn't invited to New York with me, so I'll have to buy him some Fever gear to make up for it.
I mean, in terms of what I can bring to Indiana, I just feel like I don't know what skills necessarily are going to translate anything like that, but I do know that my passion for the game, my competitiveness, my grittiness and my willingness to do whatever the team needs on any given night will be there and that will translate. I'm excited to get there and see what my coaches want from me and do that to the best of my ability.
On what she accomplished during her bonus year as a Hoosier...
BERGER: Yeah, I mean, first off, as a team we were the first No. 1 seed ever for our team. We won the most games and everything like that. So we were just, I think, set the program up for a lot of really good success in the future, which means a lot to me.
I think as an individual, I was just able to kind of become more mature in my skill set. I played a lot at the point guard this year, which I hadn't in previous years. So I think I was able to just fine tune some of those skills, the leadership aspects, the handling the offense, really having the ball in your hands a lot.
I think it was the right decision for me.
On the feeling of being drafted...
BERGER: Yeah, I didn't really know what it would feel like. I knew it would be amazing, but I think I was just more...just really grateful and full of emotion when I heard my name called, especially being there with my dad, who had been taking me to Indiana Fever games since I was six, seven, eight years old. It was just two hours up the road from Louisville, Kentucky, where I'm from. We got to go to those games and watch Tamika Catchings, watch Katie Douglas, watch them win that championship.
To get called was surreal but to get called by a team you've been going to with your dad since you were really little, I think just made it that much more special.
On helping build the Indiana Fever back up...
BERGER: Yeah, I think it would mean a lot to me. I think I was able to win a good amount in college, so I can bring some of those characteristics over, but I really think looking at that roster, some of the young talent on it, that's super exciting.
You obviously have Aliyah Boston, who we all know is amazing and going to have a great impact on the team. And then NaLyssa Smith, Queen Egbo, Destanni Henderson. The list goes on and on. To be able to play with that much talent, that much young talent and come in with them and learn from them and grow with them, I think it's something that I'm really excited about.
On if she had an inkling the Fever would select her...
BERGER: Yeah, I mean, I think I knew the Fever were interested, but you never know until draft night obviously happens. I wasn't getting my hopes up or anything like that, was just keeping an open mind.
I knew the Fever were a team that obviously just playing in Indiana for the past five years, the community is so special for me. The community is so excited about women's basketball. I was really sad to leave Indiana, but now obviously I'm staying here, so I'm super grateful for that.
Like I said earlier, my dad would take me to probably four or five games every summer of the Fever. So I think just to be able to see those strong women, like I mentioned, Tamika Catchings, Katie Douglas, Briann January, see how hard they competed, how tough they were, how much passion they had for the game, I think I modeled myself off of them and it was huge and very instrumental in the development of my own game.
On Teri Moren accompanying Berger to the draft...
BERGER: I mean, it was unbelievable to have her here. She means the world to me. She means so much to me, and I can't even begin to state how much of an impact she's had on obviously the player I am but the person I am, the woman I am to where I feel really prepared entering this next phase of my life because I've had five years under the best coach, the best leader, the best strong woman that I could possibly look up to.
To be able to share a night with her, it was just really special.
On the part of her game that improved the most during her extra year as a Hoosier...
BERGER: Yeah, this was the first year that I was the main point guard on the floor. I had the ball in my hands the most. I was running the offense, getting my teammates where they needed to be. Then obviously just the leadership aspect on both ends of the floor that comes with that.
So I think just fine tuning those point guard skills, using my voice, getting my teammates where they need to be and really being that extended coach on the floor were the main things.
On playing in front of Indiana fans — both Hoosiers and Fever...
BERGER: Yeah, I think one of the things that was the most special to me in my five years at Indiana was just to see the excitement in the community of women's basketball grow, to where I'm at now, and it just seems like obviously people are crazy about basketball in Indiana, but they're crazy about women's basketball in Indiana.
We were able to kind of build that fan base at Indiana that was so special to me, and then obviously at the professional level I think that excitement just takes a next step up.
Hopefully we have a lot of Indiana Hoosier women's basketball fans there now during the summertime, huge Indiana Fever fans.
On fitting into the team next season...
BERGER: Yeah, first of all, as a point guard, who wouldn't want to have Aliyah Boston to pass to in the post? That's about as much of an automatic bucket as you can get. I've played with her before at USA Basketball, and I think obviously we all know what she can bring on the court, but just the person that she is off the court, how much she loves the game, how genuine of a person she is, how kind of a person she is. I just couldn't ask for a better person to go on this journey with.
To say I'm excited to be her teammate is definitely an understatement.
On getting to the rim more last season...
BERGER: Yeah, I mean, obviously the mid-range is my favorite shot. Anybody that watches me knows that. But I think a part of my game that I've always known I could be good at is finishing at the rim. I worked countless hours with Coach Box, our assistant coach at Indiana, on different finishes, getting to a spot and finishing over bigger, stronger, quicker defenders. Obviously you can't be a one-dimensional player at the next level.
So me getting all the way to the rim in addition to my mid-range and my three is just going to hopefully serve me well in terms of making a roster and contributing.
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