Every new season brings a fresh start, but for first year head Coach Greg Flemming and the 2026-2027 women's basketball team, this marks the beginning of a new direction for the program. With a new staff leading the charge and a refreshed roster, the Panthers are eager to make their mark and prove that they can compete with the best of Region IV.
 
What does it take to build a successful program? That is exactly the question that takes center stage as Coach Flemming and his staff open their regular season October 31^st against Illinois Valley Community College. While this team may be full of fresh faces, Coach Flemming highlighted a few key incoming players that he expects to play big roles if they're going to find success this season.

• Carmani Sharkey – Coach Flemming will look to the point guard from Orr Academy to be one of the prominent leaders on the team. Described as "a tough player", by Flemming, the freshman from Chicago plays hard and with a lot of passion, all expected qualities coming from PG position.
• Kennedy Williams – Noted as one of the most skilled players on this year's roster, Williams was a four-year varsity starter for Bolingbrook High School, where winning games and competing in conference was the standard. The Raiders finished 1^st in the conference three of Williams' four years on the team, accumulating 99 total wins over that time. Bringing in players who come from winning programs will certainly help Flemming and the Panthers.
• Makayla Edwards – Edwards, who also comes from the same successful Bolingbrook program as teammate Kennedy Williams, looks to be a leader as well while seeing much of her time at the forward position. Edwards will be expected to do a lot of things well for the Panthers, which Flemming thinks she is more than capable.  "Edwards is someone this team can really feed off of and she's a great rebounder with a high basketball IQ.  She can guard the entire court top to bottom if need be", notes Coach Flemming.
• TaKevia Sashington – The lone sophomore on the team transfers in from College of Lake County, where she appeared in 17 games for the 26-win Lancers. Adding a player with experience of winning at this level is important for Flemming, who notes his expectations of her are to lead by example.
• Camiya Marshall – The Proviso East product is described by Coach Flemming as "very athletic, one of the best defenders on the team." Flemming expects her to bring the energy on defense to help the team get going when needed. "She's a spark plug, just a ton of energy. Competitor", noted Flemming.

While the team may be relatively inexperienced, the excitement of this upcoming season extends well beyond Flemming's incoming noteworthy players. Some of the most successful teams are tightknit groups; those with chemistry and comradery. Having a team that supports each other can mean the difference between wins and losses throughout the season for Coach Flemming. This team seems to have exactly that, as Coach Flemming made it a point to note the closeness of this group. "This team really gets along, we might have a lot of new players but many of them have played together previously, they all care for each other and hold each other accountable. They are there for each other. That leads to winning." Throughout the course of a season there are going to be ups and downs, so putting together a group that will stick with one another is important.
 
One of the big challenges for any coach at the junior college level, regardless of the sport, is trying to mold and shape the identity of the team with the start of each year. This is especially something that can be difficult for a totally new team and staff, but for Flemming, he and the Panthers start with a clean slate.  His goal is to turn them into one of the scrappiest, fastest, and toughest teams in the region. "Physical toughness is important, being flat out tougher can make a lot of teams uncomfortable", noted Coach Flemming. "I want to set a little bit of a different tone from the past couple years. I want to put us in a position to contend." For Flemming, winning starts with beating teams in the little areas of the game.
 
Coach Flemming might be in his first year as Head Women's Basketball Coach here at Morton College, but he is no stranger to the game. Flemming noted a few prominent coaches that have helped to shape his style over the years. The first of which is Dawn Staley from South Carolina, the programs all-time leader in wins. The Gamecocks head coach, who has three national titles under her belt, is where Flemming draws some of his non-negotiables from.  Scrappiness, toughness, and discipline are three of the noteworthy traits that he hopes to instill in this year's team. Flemming previously spent time as an assistant coach to the current Morton College men's basketball head coach, Jon Rush, who he noted as a big influence for how he currently goes about business as a coach. "He's brilliant when it comes to the X's and O's, one of the best coaches I've been around with how he goes about business." The last coach that Flemming mentioned as a big influence was former South Suburban College men's head basketball coach, John Pigatti, who showed him firsthand how to run a program while he was his assistant. "He gave me the experience when it comes to being consistent about doing the little things." All three of these coaches have played a big part for Flemming to get him where he is today as a basketball mind.
 
Every single season presents new challenges, especially for a first-year staff. In fact, the overarching theme for this year across the board is going to be new. New players, new coaches, new direction for the program. "Your team is only as good as your coaching staff. Having younger coaches who haven't been on this side of the game for very long combined with the fact we're going to heavily depend on big things from freshman," noted Flemming as this season's potential biggest challenge. Coach Flemming and his staff seem plenty prepared for the upcoming season, making it noted that although staying disciplined could be a big challenge for the Panthers this year, he is very aware that holding players accountable is going to be a big focus. Coach Flemming and his staff have a clear plan in place for this upcoming season, and a vision in mind to be successful. You can define success in many ways, but Flemming and the Panthers look to start trending in the right direction beginning October 31st against Illinois Valley.