Berenato’s bunch gets bigger this off-season

Amy Kunich sat quietly at the press conference table, and never fielded a single question. … Amy Kunich sat quietly at the press conference table, and never fielded a single question.

Pitt’s diminutive 5-foot-6-inch senior point guard will likely contribute much more during the season, but at Media Day, she was just the opposite of what people wanted to talk about: size and youth.

If bigger means better, then coach Agnus Berenato’s 2004-05 Panthers are already miles ahead of the 6-20 mark they ended at last year. Berenato touted her new recruits the day before the team’s first practice, two of whom should make a huge impact on the front line for Pitt.

Vika Sholokhova, a forward from St. Petersburg, Russia, and Marcedes Walker, a 6-foot-3-inch center from Philadelphia, bring much-needed size to the Panthers, and Berenato talked about both of the athletes on Friday.

“Vika plays the [small forward] position, and she’s very confident of her abilities. She likes to shoot,” Berenato said. To the last part of her coach’s assessment, junior Cheron Taylor added emphatically, “A whole lot.”

“Marcedes is huge and light on her feet. She has great footwork for a female her size,” Berenato said, adding, “She could be a linebacker for coach [Walt] Harris.”

The focus on size continued as discussion turned to 6-foot-3-inch sophomore forward Jennifer Brown, who was announced at the press conference as one of the team’s three captains this season, with Kunich and Taylor being the other two.

On having a sophomore captain, Berenato said, “She has energy on the court, and the players look to her for leadership on the court.”

“When Jen came in excited last year, the team got excited, and on the other hand, when Jen came in down, the team was down. No matter what her emotion, the players take that on, and that is a sign of a leader,” said Berenato, who finished in saying, “We will still have problems, but already there are fewer than last year, and when Jen is a senior, I want her to teach the younger players.”

“This off-season, I worked on getting stronger, and being a complete player to help the team win,” Brown said about her own improvements.

Guard play was not discussed during the press conference, except for mentions by coach Berenato of her other freshmen for this season. Joining this year’s team are Karlyle Lim, from Chapel Hill, N.C., and Shavonte Zellous, from Orlando, Fla., both of whom were all-state high school players and track stars at their respective schools.

Berenato also talked briefly about one other addition to Pitt’s team, although not for this season. Mallorie Winn, a junior guard who transferred to Pitt from Berenato’s former school, Georgia Tech, was described by her coach as “probably the best player on our team right now.” She cannot play this season because of NCAA transfer rules.

“We’re a year older, a year wiser, and hopefully the ladies are a year more experienced,” said Berenato of her program as a whole entering year two.

When asked about her goals, she said what they strive for are “not local wins, not Big East wins, but wins on the national level; we want to cut down the nets.” Berenato ended the press conference with a message to Pitt fans about where the program is headed in years to come.

“They had better get their season tickets now, because we will be in the top 20, and we will win national titles here.”