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| Syndey Umeri chats live on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. |
The Wahoo Central Chat with Sydney Umeri
Virginia women’s basketball freshman forward Sydney Umeri chats live on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
Umeri, who won a gold medal with the 2011 USA U-16 team at the FIBA Americas Championship, has started every game so far of her rookie campaign. She scored a season-high 12 points on the road at Liberty.
The Cavaliers will be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 5 when they host Michigan in the Big 10/ACC Challenge. The game tips at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.
Submit your questions now. Questions will not appear until the chat starts.
Become a follower of Virginia Women’s Basketball on Twitter at @UVaWBBHoops.
Follow Wahoo Central by selecting the tab located on the top navigation bar on VirginiaSports.com.
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Wahoo Central Moderator: Good afternoon everyone. We are just about to get under way, so feel free to submit questions for Sydney. |
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| C. from Afton: How has your first year at UVA met your expectations so far both on and off the court? |
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Sydney Umeri: On the court, I am being pushed to become a better player by the coaching staff. I have such wonderful teammates, which is why I chose to come to UVa. |
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Sydney Umeri: Off the court, it has met my expectations because I chose UVa because it is a great academic school and in my classes I have definitely learned a lot. |
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| Roanoke: How do you mentally prepare for each game. |
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Sydney Umeri: I definitely look through my scout frequently. |
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Sydney Umeri: I go through in my head what my team needs me to do for us to be successful. And I just make sure that not only am I ready, but my teammates are ready and we are all on the same page and pumped up. |
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| Charlottesville: How much does the fan atmosphere add to your game. |
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Sydney Umeri: There is a reason that home games are called home games. Having a group of people who want to have you succeed is great. You can tell when it gets really loud when we make great plays that it really helps our momentum and helps keep us going. |
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| Haley (Charlottesville): What’s it like getting so many minutes as a true freshman? |
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Sydney Umeri: It is definitely a humbling experience. It pushes you mentally, because there are definitely other players who have had more experience, so it pushes me to perform at a higher level. |
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| Michael, Charlottesville: You were a post against Tennessee, what was that like to get out there and play against such a big team? How did you prepare? |
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Sydney Umeri: Playing against a big team, the game plan is always different. We knew they liked to lob the ball into their posts, so with us being shorter, it would be difficult to defend. We prepared by going through our zone rotation and making sure we were moving on a string together as a unit. |
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| Danny, Charlottesville: How does the team feel going in to the game against Michigan tomorrow? Especially after hard times during the tournament? |
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Sydney Umeri: Our team feels pretty confident going into this Michigan game. We know they are a solid team. But we are confident in our scout and our ability to get it done on defense, leading to better offense. |
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| Kevin (Northern Virginia): Funniest person on the team? |
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| ARTHUR M KROLL (Keswick): Delighted to have you join the Hoos. What can the “bigs” on the squad do to improve team offensive rebounding? Seems like the team in not getting its share of second-chance points, especially on missed free throws. Can the forwards get more aggressive/physical in such situations without drawing fouls? |
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Sydney Umeri: The bigs, we can do our work early, as far as box outs go. If we do that, fouling won’t be an issue because we will have position. As a team, we realize that these new rules are definitely changing the game. And if we do our work early, we will get what we want in the end, which is usually a rebound. |
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| Kyle, Roanoke: As a freshman is there anyone on the team that you particularly look up to? Who would you say your role model on the team is? |
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Sydney Umeri: The seniors in general. They have great leadership. Each one brings something to the table I can learn from. |
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| Joan: What was your favorite part of the trip to Grand Bahama Island? Had you ever been to the Caribbean before? |
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Sydney Umeri: I had been to the Caribbean before, but my favorite part of Grand Bahama Island was getting the opportunity to get to spend Thanksgiving with such a wonderful team as well as getting to spend a day on the beach with them just hanging out off the court. |
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| Dinwiddie: What does it take to be able to play at UVA? |
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Sydney Umeri: It takes a person who can be mentally disciplined as someone who can roll with the punches and accept constructive criticism. |
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| Nicole: What was it like playing on the U-16 team in the FIBA Americas Championship????? |
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Sydney Umeri: It was definitely a lot of fun, but definitely one of my hardest basketball experiences. Playing on such a talented team helped me realize what hard work really is and helped me develop a strong work ethic that has helped me out here at UVa. |
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| Susan: Aside from playing basketball, what has been your favorite part of your first semester at UVA? |
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Sydney Umeri: My favorite part of my first semester at UVa is getting to know the people on my hall and other students on campus. I have gotten the chance to meet some really interesting people and I truly have made friends that I will have the rest of my life. |
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| Salt Lake City: What do you enjoy the most playing basketball on the college level |
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Sydney Umeri: I really enjoy seeing the hard work I put in before I got to the collegiate level pay off. And I really enjoy getting to play with such a great group of girls. Getting through a tough practice or a hard game is always so much easier with them around. |
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| Michelle: What part of your game do you want to improve over the course of this season? |
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Sydney Umeri: I definitely want to improve my ability to handle the pressure on the perimeter as well as taking long twos and threes. |
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| Ken: What’s your most memorable basketball related moment? |
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Sydney Umeri: I think it was the day I signed to the University of Virginia. I was blessed to have a wonderful recruiting process and I am glad I got to end it by choosing such a wonderful school. |
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Sydney Umeri: Thank you everyone for submitting your questions. I had fun answering them. Hope to see you tomorrow night at JPJ for the Michigan game. Go Hoos! |
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Wahoo Central Moderator: Thank you everyone. And thanks, Sydney. |
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