Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Continuing To Take Toughness To Another Level
October 29, 2019 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
Emma Guy is helping lay the foundation for BC's upcoming season.
When Joanna Bernabei-McNamee accepted the head coaching position at Boston College, her first order of business was to sit down with the team's returning players. She understood the challenge of being a new coach because the players weren't recruited by the incoming staff. It essentially meant there was a period of re-recruitment where she would want to sell the existing players on her goals and style.
Emma Guy was the first player to take the new coach up on her offer to meet. It wasn't some major watershed moment featuring a negotiation or detente, but it remained a key moment for the Eagles. It became a jumping-off springboard for last season, and it became the cornerstone of the first steps of how the team would seamlessly transition and buy into the new staff's message.
"She made me feel fortunate to have her in the program," McNamee said. "What she does on the floor and what she's talented at really suited the offensive style that I have. I never had to change my style to suit what she was going to bring to the table. She's a kid that I would have recruited, and that was a blessing in disguise."
One year later, Guy is more than just the linchpin for the Boston College women's basketball program. She's an established leader in the locker room, a warrior who overcame hardship after hardship to become a top-flight ACC player. This year, she's also a team captain, having had the moniker bestowed upon her as she prepares for one last run with her teammates at the nation's toughest conference.
"I don't think it's going to start hitting me that it's my senior year until that first game," Guy said. "I just keep focusing on looking towards the first game of the season, and I just get excited for what this team can do and how far we can go. It's just exciting to think about the potential that we have."
Guy's journey is a well-documented example of how a player makes an impact by force of sheer will. She earned her way into the starting lineup as a freshman, starting 13 of her 30 games and averaging just under 20 minutes per game. She became a central focus of the team's inside-out style, and she recorded 24 assists to go along with 17 steals and 16 blocks. But her development stunted the next season when injury and illness limited her to 16 appearances.
It created a secondary facet to her offseason that was already going to be complicated by the change in the coaching staff. McNamee's offense centers on the post in a fast-paced, inside-out style. It already was going to require a rewiring of basketball style, one where players had to learn to play tight while thinking loose. Adding a physical rehabilitation component to it was only going to make things that much tougher.
But Guy rallied, becoming the team's statistical leader in nearly every major category. She averaged over 14 points per game and added 6.7 rebounds per game. She was especially lethal on the offensive glass, where her 85 boards were nearly 20 more than her next closest teammate. She finished with a career-high in field goals made (186) and was the only Eagle with 200 rebounds, individually scoring a double-double in three different games, including a 30-point, 14-board game against Syracuse.
"I didn't realize how big of a player or how effective I could be on the court," Guy said. "Once I started playing as a bigger presence and a scorer, I realized my personal potential. It kept spurring me to go forward. A majority of it came from (assistant coach Yolanda Griffith). She gave me confidence in practice and whenever we watched film. She reminded me what I'm capable of, that I'm good enough to do (things on the court). She likes to tell me that she wouldn't get on me unless she thought I could do what she was asking. That let me know that I'm able to play at a high level."
Guy's story deserves a storybook ending, but the truth is that sports don't always grant wishes. She worked her way back from an abbreviated sophomore season to become a force, but she suffered a knee injury at the end of last season. It resulted in offseason surgery, which subsequently threatened to unravel the work she put into last season.
It's another speed bump to struggle with, but the coaching staff indicated a full trust in her return and her trademark grit. It's why the team named her a captain for the upcoming season after playing through last year without electing a formal team leader.
"The one thing that I hate is that we couldn't fulfill the goal at the end of last year," McNamee said. "So this year is going to be a lot of mind over matter. She needs to take the mind over the matter where she knows that she'll have some limitations but can bring her attitude to the table. I think she can do it. She comes from a good, blue-collar, upstate New York family that's about work ethic and getting a job done. She's a tough nut. As a captain, she's going to learn how to let that toughness spill out (to others)."
It all comes back to that first meeting between McNamee and Guy. There was an instant connection that fostered an immediate trust, and there's no doubt on either side. The coaching staff understands that the player is going to overcome any and all hurdles to lay a foundation for the team, and the player plays with a full trust in the process. It's exactly what helped BC explode out of the gate last year, and it's a reason why the team is ready to attack this season with the same attitude and energy.
"(The new coaching staff) came in and we doubled our wins total," Guy said. "It made all of us want more for this year. Coach Mac is always harping on things to make us better. She tells us to sprint to a spot or how to communicate. She gets on us for the little things. Once we start tying those things together, we can move forward.
"When I was looking at BC and was recruited by BC, I saw a fantastic opportunity," she explained. "I watched the team with my dad, and BC always felt like a program that was on the come-up. I saw myself as the player that could make an impact in whatever role I was asked to play, but I never really thought that I could be in a position that I'm in right now (as a captain)."
Emma Guy was the first player to take the new coach up on her offer to meet. It wasn't some major watershed moment featuring a negotiation or detente, but it remained a key moment for the Eagles. It became a jumping-off springboard for last season, and it became the cornerstone of the first steps of how the team would seamlessly transition and buy into the new staff's message.
"She made me feel fortunate to have her in the program," McNamee said. "What she does on the floor and what she's talented at really suited the offensive style that I have. I never had to change my style to suit what she was going to bring to the table. She's a kid that I would have recruited, and that was a blessing in disguise."
One year later, Guy is more than just the linchpin for the Boston College women's basketball program. She's an established leader in the locker room, a warrior who overcame hardship after hardship to become a top-flight ACC player. This year, she's also a team captain, having had the moniker bestowed upon her as she prepares for one last run with her teammates at the nation's toughest conference.
"I don't think it's going to start hitting me that it's my senior year until that first game," Guy said. "I just keep focusing on looking towards the first game of the season, and I just get excited for what this team can do and how far we can go. It's just exciting to think about the potential that we have."
Guy's journey is a well-documented example of how a player makes an impact by force of sheer will. She earned her way into the starting lineup as a freshman, starting 13 of her 30 games and averaging just under 20 minutes per game. She became a central focus of the team's inside-out style, and she recorded 24 assists to go along with 17 steals and 16 blocks. But her development stunted the next season when injury and illness limited her to 16 appearances.
It created a secondary facet to her offseason that was already going to be complicated by the change in the coaching staff. McNamee's offense centers on the post in a fast-paced, inside-out style. It already was going to require a rewiring of basketball style, one where players had to learn to play tight while thinking loose. Adding a physical rehabilitation component to it was only going to make things that much tougher.
But Guy rallied, becoming the team's statistical leader in nearly every major category. She averaged over 14 points per game and added 6.7 rebounds per game. She was especially lethal on the offensive glass, where her 85 boards were nearly 20 more than her next closest teammate. She finished with a career-high in field goals made (186) and was the only Eagle with 200 rebounds, individually scoring a double-double in three different games, including a 30-point, 14-board game against Syracuse.
"I didn't realize how big of a player or how effective I could be on the court," Guy said. "Once I started playing as a bigger presence and a scorer, I realized my personal potential. It kept spurring me to go forward. A majority of it came from (assistant coach Yolanda Griffith). She gave me confidence in practice and whenever we watched film. She reminded me what I'm capable of, that I'm good enough to do (things on the court). She likes to tell me that she wouldn't get on me unless she thought I could do what she was asking. That let me know that I'm able to play at a high level."
Guy's story deserves a storybook ending, but the truth is that sports don't always grant wishes. She worked her way back from an abbreviated sophomore season to become a force, but she suffered a knee injury at the end of last season. It resulted in offseason surgery, which subsequently threatened to unravel the work she put into last season.
It's another speed bump to struggle with, but the coaching staff indicated a full trust in her return and her trademark grit. It's why the team named her a captain for the upcoming season after playing through last year without electing a formal team leader.
"The one thing that I hate is that we couldn't fulfill the goal at the end of last year," McNamee said. "So this year is going to be a lot of mind over matter. She needs to take the mind over the matter where she knows that she'll have some limitations but can bring her attitude to the table. I think she can do it. She comes from a good, blue-collar, upstate New York family that's about work ethic and getting a job done. She's a tough nut. As a captain, she's going to learn how to let that toughness spill out (to others)."
It all comes back to that first meeting between McNamee and Guy. There was an instant connection that fostered an immediate trust, and there's no doubt on either side. The coaching staff understands that the player is going to overcome any and all hurdles to lay a foundation for the team, and the player plays with a full trust in the process. It's exactly what helped BC explode out of the gate last year, and it's a reason why the team is ready to attack this season with the same attitude and energy.
"(The new coaching staff) came in and we doubled our wins total," Guy said. "It made all of us want more for this year. Coach Mac is always harping on things to make us better. She tells us to sprint to a spot or how to communicate. She gets on us for the little things. Once we start tying those things together, we can move forward.
"When I was looking at BC and was recruited by BC, I saw a fantastic opportunity," she explained. "I watched the team with my dad, and BC always felt like a program that was on the come-up. I saw myself as the player that could make an impact in whatever role I was asked to play, but I never really thought that I could be in a position that I'm in right now (as a captain)."
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