It’s all about the process for coach Mike McLaughlin in his 15th season with Penn women’s basketball

Coach Mike McLaughlin has had plenty of time — 39 years, to be exact — to figure out what goes into building a successful women’s basketball team. According to him, it’s all about the process.

“We all want to see what we're going to do in March. Every team does around the country,” McLaughlin said. “If you lose sight of what the process looks like day to day [though], then you struggle. We're going to be a different team — hopefully a better team — when we get into January than we are now.”

Come Friday night, McLaughlin will be stepping onto the hardwood floor for his 15th season at the helm of the Quaker program. His time with the Red and Blue has been an illustrious one thus far. The four-time Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year has guided the team to four Ivy League championships while posting a 0.745 all-time win proportion and a 0.600 win proportion while at Penn. 

What makes things different for this year’s rendition of the team? The extended amount of time that the group has already spent together. 

Most years, the players don’t actually get to meet each other until the school year starts. This year, the 17 players got together over the summer for a trip to Italy to play some exhibition games. As a result, McLaughlin has already seen positive effects with regard to how this year’s rookie class has seamlessly integrated itself into the Quaker mindset. 

“We've been together a little longer than some normal teams I've had,” McLaughlin said. “We started earlier, so some of the freshmen got a bigger opportunity than anyone we've had here in a while …. When they started school, they were more comfortable than some of the kids I've had in the past.”

McLaughlin has had plenty of experience with recruiting rookie classes that can have an impact starting from day one. During his tenure at Penn, he has coached six different Ivy League Rookie of the Year winners — with the most recent being now-sophomore guard Mataya Gayle. 

“She’s still learning aspects of the game and that’s why I think her ceiling is a lot higher than what you're seeing now,” McLaughlin said of the Atlanta-area native. “In terms of being that kid that can do everything — she's a gifted scorer, speedy, quick off the dribble, passionate. She's so invested in the team and her teammates. She has all these qualities, and I think you're gonna see so much more growth this year from her.”

If McLaughlin has learned anything during his tenure with the Red and Blue, it’s the importance of embracing history. When it comes to the Quakers, there’s no lack of that. For starters, the team gets to call the Cathedral of College Basketball — better known as the Palestra — its home. In addition to being a member of one of the oldest Division I athletic conferences in the country, Penn is also a member of a more local conference: the Big 5. 

Earlier this summer, the Philadelphia Big 5 athletic directors announced the inaugural women’s basketball Big 5 Classic set to take place in December at Villanova, which will be an early test for this young Quaker squad.

“For me, it's about educating some of these young kids about the Big 5,” McLaughlin said. “I always do this, you know, being in the Palestra, you walk around the arena and you see all the Big 5 history. I have to take them through it and let them know what they're walking into.”

This focus on defining what it means to be a Quaker extends into McLaughlin’s team captain selection. This year, the captaincy falls on the heads of senior guards Stina Almqvist and Lizzy Groetsch. 

“I want them to lead by storytelling by telling the [team] about what these tough games look like, the [overall] experience of being at Penn, the challenges at Penn, the difficulties and celebrations — all that,” McLaughlin said. “I want them to share that and lead the [team] through their own experience to help us grow better leaders and younger leaders.”

The last time Penn featured at an NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament was in 2017. The road back requires the Quakers to go through an Ancient Eight conference that has been loaded with talent despite flying under the radar at the national level. Notably, last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year, Columbia’s Abbey Hsu, now plays professionally in Europe while the 2023 recipient, Princeton’s Kaitlyn Chen, now plays for a stacked UConn squad. 

Thus, the road back to an NCAA appearance will be a tough one, as the Quakers were polled to finish fourth in the Ivy League. McLaughlin embraces the challenge, knowing that if his team can survive the gauntlet of a schedule ahead of it, then it will be more than prepared for a Cinderella run in March.

“There's no doubt, in the last 10 years — [the Ivy League] — it’s been exceptional,” McLaughlin said. “It's just now getting the notoriety that it probably should have had 10 years ago … it's just a really good league. It's [got] very talented kids. It's a very well coached league … whoever gets [to March] is going to be a really good basketball team.”