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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 81 S haron Versyp loves molding a team into her vision. Perhaps that's why she likes the current group of Boilermakers, because with an extremely young group — 10 of the 12 scholarship players are underclass- men — she might be more easily able to build. That'll come with challenges, too, like figuring out the best options at point guard and power forward, and allow- ing their young players to grow. Versyp, Purdue's 12th-year head coach, considered those questions during our conversation in late Sep- tember, just before the start of official practices. Gold and Black: What do you like about this team? Versyp: "(Andreona) Keys and I talked the other day about it, and what she's so excited about is that there's a bond, that this group wants to be great, wants to be in the gym, wants everything. It's not a have-to, where (players) feel obligated to. It's differ- ent. "It's a feel that you want and a culture that's hard to describe. From top to bottom, we have that. In all my years, we've had really good teams and eight players might feel that way, then others feel like, 'Oh, I have to do this.' Keys, as a senior, is so excited to lead two juniors (including walk-on Abby Abel) and 10 freshmen and sopho- mores because of their attitude and enthusiasm, and they're always want- ing to be in the gym. They are with each other all the time and really love to have fun on and off the court, all of them. And before, it's not always been like that. You still have a great culture and get along but it's not every single person. So I think there's pieces there, but there's still a lot of intrigue and a lot of unknowns." Gold and Black: You thought you developed that culture again toward the end of last season? Versyp: "I thought our run, Ashley (Morrissette) and Bridget (Perry), they just stepped up. I can tell you what you want, but when you're leaders, you need to say what The Challenge Ahead Versyp embracing young Boilermakers BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com Charles Jischke