Defend the Block: Kiser Looking Forward to 'Another Huge Jump' with Wolverines
7/21/2021 9:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Features
On this week's edition of the "Defend the Block" podcast, Emily Kiser discusses her tight-knit connection with her recruiting class, her growth as a player over the years, and some early impressions of this season's team. Also, men's basketball video analyst Jaaron Simmons stops by to break down his role with the program and his head coaching opportunity in The Basketball Tournament this month.
By Brian Boesch
During the University of Michigan women's basketball teams climb under head coach Kim Barnes Arico, there have been plenty of critical moments and days. Few have had as much long-term impact as Nov. 8, 2017, when Michigan officially welcomed one of its best recruiting classes ever. Four of the five members of that class -- Amy Dilk, Naz Hillmon, Emily Kiser and Danielle Rauch -- were critical pieces to the program's run to its first Sweet 16 last season.
While Arico and the Wolverines recruited Dilk, Hillmon, Kiser and Rauch, the idea of a Sweet 16 was merely that, an idea. Still, Michigan women's basketball was dripping with potential, which can be a powerful recruiting pitch.
"I didn't necessarily want to go to a place that was already fully established," Kiser said on this week's edition of the "Defend the Block" podcast. "I really believed in what Coach Arico and the coaches sold me, and what they were looking to do here."
Kiser and her classmates embraced that vision, which allowed them to hit it off right away and become great friends and teammates.
"I really wanted to come in with a big class, with people that were really like-minded," Kiser recalled. "Now, coming into our senior year, it's almost an expectation to make the NCAA Tournament, where back in our freshman year, that was still a goal every single year.
"Now, we want to make an Elite Eight, a Final Four -- all of that -- so just being able to continue to move those goals forward is really exciting."
To reach those goals, Arico knew the culture and the mindset had to continually evolve. Kiser still remembers Arico's challenge to that freshman class in their early days on campus -- do everything at a higher level. Arico encouraged Kiser and the others to think about where they want to see the program after four years and establish a culture to accomplish that.
"(It's) crazy that we're now seniors, for sure," Kiser said. "We have done some of the hard work, but there's still another huge jump we can do."
That hard work yielded a Sweet 16 appearance on March 23, which is arguably the most impactful day in program history. However, that likely would not have happened without Nov. 8, 2017. The women who made both of those days so special are hoping they can add some more landmark days in the coming months.
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