What Gonzaga assistant coach Stacy Clinesmith said ahead of 2025-26 season

Coach Lisa Fortier takes a very new look roster into Gonzaga's final season in the WCC, a conference her program has dominated over the past 20 years.

This year's squad has plenty of new faces, with four transfers and three freshmen joining a key group of returners led by star sophomore guard Allie Turner.

However, the faces on the sideline are familiar ones, with Fortier and her staff — including husband Craig and assistants Jordan Green and Stacy Clinesmith — entering their 12th season together in Spokane.

Clinesmith sat down with Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI to talk about this young group and how they are coming together, what it's like recruiting in the modern NIL and transfer portal era, and her work with Turner and the rest of the team's guards this offseason.

(Watch the full interview at the bottom of this story)

On Gonzaga's continuity as a coaching staff

"For me, personally, Lisa has done a really good job of being a great leader, but also giving us space to do our own thing and thrive in what we do. That's really important as coaches to let people do their own thing, but also be part of what we're trying to do as a team. I think she's done a really good job as a leader. I've grown in so many areas just being at Gonzaga. The attention to detail that Lisa wants us to have is incredibly important, and I think that's something I've really grown in. We do a lot of teaching on the court, and I think constantly growing and figuring out new ways to push our players. All that has kept me here, but also being in Spokane and being part of this community and the Gonzaga community is something that is really special, and I think once you're here, it's really hard to leave."

On the beginning of her relationship with coach Fortier

"We used to play pickup against each other back in the day. I think I was playing in the WNBA at the time, so I've known Lisa a long time. When she got the head coaching job, I happened to be up here for Easter visiting my family. I just said 'Hey can I come in and chat?' I wanted the job really bad. I wanted to be back in Spokane. My whole family is still here, so I feel like I bugged her until she hired me. I feel really fortunate she hired me and I was able to be back with my family."

On the developing identity of this young Gonzaga team

"It seems like this group really likes to hang out together, and I think that's really important for team chemistry. Although they are coming from a lot of different places...I think their joy of being together off the court is going to really help us on the court. It's going to be a lot of coaching and teaching on our end. But that's kind of the fun part about it. It's challenging as coaches, we have to come up with a different offense for this group or maybe a different defense, and that's the fun part. So far they seem like a group that really clicks and enjoys each other and I think that's half the battle."

On differences in recruiting in the NIL and transfer portal era

"Our mindset so far has been continuing to recruit freshmen to keep bringing in players that will continue our culture along. We've built a great culture here, and it's a little bit tougher with portal kids. We try to get kids that want to continue that culture, but really the freshmen are the ones that hopefully will be here for four years. That will be the experienced ones. We do find that when players choose other places, at times they will come back. If they do end up in the portal and we've had a good relationship with them, we sometimes can get those kids back the second time around. So I think having good relationships with recruits is important because you never know what could happen."

On recruiting players who fit the Gonzaga program

"A lot of what we look for as coaches is how they get along with their teammates on the court, how they get along with their coaches on the court and then off the court. We talk to their parents, we talk to people that are around them a lot, their coaches. We look for kids that are coachable. Good players, but [also] good people. We live in a place where Spokane loves Gonzaga basketball, so we have to find players that will fit into our community and will love the community as much as the community loves us."

On her focus with developing the team's guards

"I really focus on our point guards and in the offseason a lot of decision-making stuff, coming off ball screens, being able to create when the shot clock is winding down. I really focus on a lot of decision-making. In the offseason, it's a lot of knocking down shots and honing those skills and getting the reps. Jordan () and I work with the guards mostly but if we're going to get down to it, I'm the point guard coach. Which I love. That has been something I love to do and I really love trying to make them better. That's the best part of the job is helping them get better."

On Allie Turner's breakout season and continued development

"She went crazy last year. It was really, really fun. I watched her since probably her sophomore year of high school. It was interesting to see how it translated to the college level.

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