♪ ♪ This program is brought to you by the members of WCNY.

Thank you.

Coming up on "Gamechangers", we'll break down the team's first road performances of the year.

Then we'll get to know Dominique Darius.

As she gives us a behind the scenes look at what the team gets up to off the board, We'll join coach Jack and the Salvation Army, and celebrate the start of this year's Red Kettle Campaign.

And finally, we'll look ahead of the team's return to the dome before an ACC matchup on the road.

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Their first debit card.

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Set spending limits.

Manage where they make purchases.

View their account activity.

When they're ready, they can grow into an account they own.

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♪ ♪ >> Three games since the last time we spoke with you here, coach, and some impressive wins.

We'll start with the Wagner win.

Would you like most about how your team played against Wagner?

COACH JACK: Defense.

Defense is my mantra for this year.

It's been my identity, all my career, but I let it slip away last year, and we were trying to get that back.

We're trying to really own that power.

>> Yeah, certainly, we're locked in holding Wagner to 29 points.

We also saw Jasmine Cooper start as a freshman.

What impressed you in practice and in some of the early games to give her that starting nod?

COACH JACK: She would do whatever it takes for us to have success and I know how unselfish she played, and how, four other players can play with her.

And we're still trying to search for that vibe that's starting five.

We're going to continue to change it and try to grow it and move it around.

But what's been constant for us is Jasmine Cooper and her commitment to just being an amoeba to the team and just blending in to where we were needed the most, whatever that might be.

>> Well, one of the four players that scored in the game was Olivia Schmidt.

She was out there for the first time, and she hit two big threes.

Great to see her healthy and playing like herself.

COACH JACK: Yeah, you know what?

Sometimes you just kind of look and see what's in front of you, and you just keep the people in front of you in front of you.

But now that she engages in herself back into practices, you kind of see what you've been missing.

I see the spark plug.

She's a feisty, fiery Staten Island young lady who really, throws her chest out and says, You know what?

I might be smoked, but you're going to have to come after me every single possession, because there's no backing down in her.

So the more she gets healthy in that leg, the better we're going to be for the team, I think.

>> So the transition now to the tournament that you played in, the women's Showcase tournament, great support in this road trip to Mohegan Sun Arena, and I know it means a lot to you when the fan base turns out for your team.

COACH JACK: Man, this is so incredible.

look in the stands and see Linda Lurch there and to see Cammy and Phil and their family is there, and a host of the parents and this warms my heart because the fan takes is growing just leaps and bounds on the road for us and it's been great at home.

I just can't thank the donors and the the fans and their alumni for support.

>> Your team won in the first game against Utah, and then went up against one of the best teams in the country in Michigan lost that one.

But starting with the Utah game, what did you take away from how your team played and really played great in the second half?

COACH JACK: They locked eyes.

They locked eyes with each other, they locked eyes with the opponent, and they never looked at the score and said, "We're out of this thing.

And so therefore we surrender."

They really are engaged to defense.

They flew around the floor, everyone we put in.

We didn't lose a beat, and I just feel they felt like we stayed cohesively together and I think that it made me believe that this is a team that's gearing out for something bigger than this moment, and they had some real ideas that, you know, post season it could be a part of our story too.

>> And I know you want your team's idealities to have the identity of defense and rebounding.

We really saw that against Utah, 24 offensive rebounds in that game.

COACH JACK: Absolutely.

It's about, you know, rebounding is nothing you coach up, really.

It's a heart moving.

I thought that against Utah, we just said we were not going to be denied.

You know, you box us out, we swim moved around.

You know, you box us off, we use our arm and pulled forward, and we just found every way to go out the board.

And, we also got fouls because it too, but we did to put another kid in, and then other kid did the same thing.

And so we just want them to go after what they believe belongs to them, and that's the rebound.

That's the thinkless spot right there.

That's what I did as a student athlete.

I went after the rebound, because to me, that's the microcosm of life right there.

That's nobody's going to give you anything, you gotta go get >> And the MVP of the Utah game, rightfully so, was Dominic Darius.

She gets her first career double double, 16. points, 10 rebounds.

She really played great in the second half of that game, especially.

COACH JACK: She's owning that power, like the first half of that game.

I think she might have had zero points, you know, something low.

>> I think it was two points, yeah.

COACH JACK: Two points, and then you look in the halftime, she's the one talking and saying, got to look at this.

You got to think about that defense.

Communicating with a team when I walked in in the locker room about what we have to do to be able to be better, and then because proud of her journey.

>> so big win over Utah, then you turn around, then get a ton of time to scout Michigan, who's one of the best teams in the country, and took the climb to the brink.

Would you take away from going up against one of the best teams in the country in Michigan?

COACH JACK: I just here with them that, you know, no one has ever a national championship in November we're going to win, and we're going to learn.

We're not going to lose.

We have to understand that.

It's not about Michigan.

It's not about, you know, their ranking, and it's not about Howard University.

It's not about, you know, Auburn it's about who are you when the walls are closing in on you?

Who are you when they trap you in that corner for the third time?

Why would you continue to make that same mistake in life?

You keep going back to that same guy.

You keep going back to that same chick, and you know that's a mistake, right?

And you keep going and that's the life lessons I'm trying to teach our young people.

Take another route, go to the middle of the floor, go to the other side of the floor, where they're not as strong with chose right hand, and then we can Become better equipped for not just in game, for the game of life.

>> Syracuse University is a good friend of the Salvation Army, where's so grateful for all they do.

It's good to see them giving back.

>> Just watching my mom feeling like she had cold because she had so many people taking care of us.

For that, I'm always internally grateful that I'll always give to the Salvation Army.

(bell ringing ( >> Good morning, everyone.

Welcome to the official kick off of the Salvation Army kettle season.

The kettle drive is something that we do every year.

that is been around since 1891, and it helps us to raise funds through in order to do our programs and meet the needs of the community.

We're excited to be here at Salt City Market today to ring in another year of hope, generosity, and community spirit beginning tomorrow there will be kettles at up top 19 locations throughout Onondaga county.

100% of every dollar that's dropped in the kettle stays here locally in our county, supporting families in need, providing food, shelter, youth programs, and so much more.

A special thanks to Coach Jack for being here today, for demonstrating what true teamwork looks like, both on and off the court.

COACH JACK: Let's go.

Come on, we got to do the right thing 'cause it's the right thing to do.

Do the right thing 'cause it's the right thing to do.

Come on, Coach.

I'm looking at that bag.

Come on, Coach.

Let me make sure you put it in this.

Oh, yeah, you going to wait there.

Just I'll tell you one thing.

I am a witness of what you can give to someone, and they become.

I grew up in this city, we would go down on Erie Boulevard, and a Salvation Army little spot there, and we would go and get clothes, because my mom was a single mom when she couldn't afford.

It's my city.

It's our city.

And wherever you are at, you don't just exist, you become a part of that culture and you think that if you are excited about living in Syracuse and Grazing in beautiful weather, this is a warm place.

This is place that buys into you if you buy into in it.

So if you can help out, please, just give us a dollar.

Give us five dollars, whatever you got, give us your time, you give you those things, you're already a part of this community, so why not embrace it?

>> Coach Jack reminds us that when a team comes together with a purpose, whether it's to win a game or to give back to the community, amazing things can happen.

>> And so what you did was help grow this person here, who is now your women's basketball head coach.

I'm excited about being able to give my time, money, effort.

I hope you can join me and help the next Felicia Legette Jack to become something special.. ♪ ♪ >> Let me get you.

>> Just take it to whoever you want.

>> So, dawn gave me the digit at camera.

We have to entertain the people.

>> We could just like smolder and look into the camera.

You see.

>> This is my favorite thing ever.

Every single time, Dom gives me your camera, I, like, make a promise and I'm going to buy with myself.

But it's yet to happen.

Hmm.. Hey.

Yeah, no, you eat.

No, I ate the photos.

♪ ♪ ♪ I don't know when Dom's posting or transitions, but they're coming.

Okay, we're trying to get some people to some TikTok, so we'll see how this goes.

Go crazy.

Go crazy.

Go crazy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> This thing is heavy!

This is Dom's camera.

How are you holding this at all time?

>> You have to join the military for medical school?

♪ ♪ >> The creativity, the content and background, tell me mother about why that's something that you have gotten into?

>> So I started vlogging more consistently last year, right.

I red shirted, I had so much time in my hands.

I'm like, "You know what?

I'm just going to start vlogging, capturing this year, and it turned into something that I was not, like, expecting, where people were, like, saying that they appreciate the vlogs because they get to see my teammates, and my teammates were watching it like, I just try to show authenticity through my content of like, my journey, and that's, like, the main focus of what I wanted to do, and it's kind of turned into people tuning in and being fans and supporting wherever I'm at and just my journey and I think it's awesome, because that's kind of the goal I wanted to have with it, but it's turned into something pretty cool.

> Yeah, you've got this really great basketball pedigree, high level player in high school, play that great schools, USC and UCLA.

Coach Jack has talked about why she wanted you with your pedigree and the experience that you've had.

Why did you want Coach Jack and why did you want Syracuse?

>> I love Coach Jack.

She's awesome.

Funny story.

Her and my father have known each other for decades, and I say that not to age her, but her my father, but my dad played at Syracuse, and I'm obviously Coach Jack played at Syracuse, so there's a lot of ties there.

You know, Coach Jack and my dad, and they talked before when I was in high school, like, Yo, she's like, I love your daughter, da dah.

And she's like, "If she ever decides to, you know, like, look at other schools, like, you know, let her know, and so when I got into Portal this time around, then I was like, you know, like, let me look at more at the East Coast schools, because I went to go back home and play in front of my family.

That was really important to me.

And Coach Jack, the first phone call I had, I just loved it, you know.

She's very passionate.

I say this all the time.

She'll run through a wall for you.

but I want to do the same for her, and she's just that coach that uplifts you and makes you believe in yourself and your dreams and to encourage you, but also challenge you in the same sentence and you can't find a lot of coaches that know how to balance that will.

>> You mentioned your dad and his incredible career here as a football player, how full circle does it feel for you and for him that you ended up back representing the S and wearing the orange?

>> Yeah, I have a joke with him.

I'm like, I tell him I like, you know, they're going to forget that you wear that number here, you know?

And I was like, you know, I'm going to take on that number, and they're going to see you as, " ohh, that's her father."

said, " oh, that's Donovan's daughter, you know?

So I have that joke ahead, he But me and my dad have a really good relationship, and he's just so proud of me.

I think, you know, knowing the journey I've had, I've been to this point of not playing, being that, and being able to be here is somewhere that he calls home and being one of the captains, and being one of the leaders, and one of the people that, you know, the coaches and my teammates look at to help us win these big games.

He's just a super proud father, and he always tells me how proud proud of me he is.

That's awesome.

>> I love that joke.

>> And he's okay with that too.

He's cool with that.

>> I'm sure it is what he wants for you too.

>> And I think that in the early going here, you're kind of making that be the case.

So has it been difficult at all for you to kind of get back into that role after a few years of being a little bit more behind that?

>> Definitely.

I think the pressure that I was putting on myself before we even had a game, you know, I made I meet with a mental coach, and we have a lot of talks about my anticipation for, what might happen, and it didn't happen, or it may not never happen.

I think for me, I was like, I want I don't want to let my team down.

I don't want let my team sound, and my coach is down, and that was putting so much pressure on myself, and I wasn't kind of playing or performing with freedom that I should have.

And I think knowing that just has me now be able to just be, like, in the present moment.

And I think allowing myself to just be grateful for the opportunity that I'm in now, because that's what hasn't been, you know, consistent for me the past few years, so now that it Is now, just be grateful and enjoy every moment.

and we're like, let's just be loose liked noels and just enjoy every moment.

>> Being in the moment, is there anything that surprised you or that you've learned about this group now that the games have actually started to take place?

>> I mean, definitely, like, we could be really dynamic.

We have a lot of really talented players.

I think the main thing is just, like, being locked down defenders, being a team that, you know, other teams don't want to play, you know, I think offensive will come with time.

I believe that, but I think defense should be really, I want, and I know our coaches and teammates want it to be your vocal point, because, you know, there's a lot of teams that make Maybe they don't score 100 points, but they limit the other teams to 40 or 50th, and that's what matters.

And having that be your focus, I Think that will take us along and I'm excited to see how we develop over time.

>> What does the ideal chapter in Syracuse look like for Dominique Darius?

>> I would say, like, you know, accolades are just, like, you know, winning ACC championship and everything like that, making it too deep into the tournament.

But honestly, like, I just want to have fun, you know, I want to, you know, be there for my teammates, I want to have fun with basketball again, and just be present, 'cause I can't predict the future, so I think, obviously the accolades just the titles is what is the main focus and, like, what everybody says, but how I internally feel I just want to enjoy basketball and take every game for what it comes.

>> Starting with Howard, a really good mid major team.

They knocked off Providence early on in the season, so they'll be a tough test on Sunday.

COACH JACK: It's going to be tough.

They are predicted number one in their conference in.

She's done a tremendous job approach there, and she's been there for a long time, so she has a rhythm, has a system, and people that come and play for her, she just kind of replaced them into the place people that she's she loses because of graduation.

And one thing I like about her is that she keeps her kids there for four years.

They really are excited about going to Howard.

They're excited about playing for her, and they stay.

And so they got a continuity more so than we do.

to be honest.

And so it's going to be a challenge.

They're going to press us, they're going to watch that last game and play against Michigan came out and then we struggled against the press, and that's her system in new ways, so we've got our hands full, and I think that we were going to learn some more.

We learned a lot of lessons, and hopefully we're going to make different mistakes and not the same.

>> What are the keys to improving on breaking the press when you see it again?

COACH JACK: I'll go forward.

Not sideways.

>> Stay out of the corner.

>> Please stay out of the corner.

I think they were a little nervous against Michigan.

But anyway, Howard is going to present that same issue.

They're going to be athletic and they're going to be long, and so we're we've got some ideas of what we're going to do, and hopefully we'll get it done in a week and get organized again.

>> Yeah, that came will be home on Sunday, and then it'll be Auburn as part of the ACC SEC challenge.

Auburn, the last time we saw them was in the NCAA tournament.

Now they've got a new head coach, different look to their roster, but that'll be a great test for your team.

COACH JACK: Absolutely.

They're playing great basketball right now.

They're playing in the full court, pressing kind of team and In run around, player to player a lot.

But they also run the matchup.

My former player, assistant co as well, is on that staff over there, and I'm certain they're going to be prepared for what we bring to the table, and it's going to come down to who wants it more and who's who's it and down and putting it in and lock it in the toughest and that's your heart and it's kind of personal for one of our kids going in.

That's where they came from.

So hopefully we can get her out there and have her, you know, show them what they're missing.

>> Yeah, well, it's funny how that works now in the transfer Portal.

Leila just played against her former team and now, big o against Auburn coming up.

And after that ACC play is here.

The first ACC game early on in the season.

SMU was able to beat you guys in a close game last year, and always important to win games in the league, and that'll be a tough road game.

COACH JACK: It is always tough on the road in ACC.

She's was in Arizona, and we played them in the NCAA.

Her team's always defensively sound.

ACC is a different genre, really.

She's struggled a little bit in non conference, but come ACC time, I know that she's going to be ready and defending her home court, it's going to be a tough challenge for us.

So it's going to be neat to get out there and just play other people, but I just hope that they understand that this coach here, you have the right to begin again, and so the judgment is not on yesterday.

The judgment is on your character, about your today, as you lead yesterday behind.

So our challenge is before us is a tough road ahead, I think that we growing young women, it's going to be prepared for a growing ahead.

>> You always use this word I love, percolating.

When you're talking about the team around this time of year, it's still November.

It's still early, but you're seeing some signs right of the team coming together, and I'm sure you like where your team is at right now.

>> Yeah, I love this team.

I love this team because they talk basketball.

I love the team because they gingerly raise their hands and said, that was on me, we didn't have a lot of that in the past.

And so it's more forgivable when you can admit you're wrong and to me, 59 years old, I just let them see every day that I make mistakes, and I raise my hand and I just love that they we talk basketball.

And so we still, you know, getting all of our pieces together, you know, I thought offensively, you know, we have to kind of engage through plays.

We got to kind of know what we're in.

We got to know our system, I know it's only been a short period of time, but if we can run the plays the way, I know that they've been designed, we're going to get open shots, and then the open shots, guys, we' gotta hit them.

We're going to hit the open shots.

And the end of the day, I can make excuses all day long about why the shots aren't going.

The shot gotta go down, and you gotta make shots.

15 for 17 in our last game on the free throw line.

We've taken enough shots to win the game.

And we're not even coming close.

We're just throwing it up there.

We have a lack of confidence in our ability to make shots, and that's something you can just change right away.

>> Well, one of the players that I think of that their best days are definitely ahead of them.

That's Jasmine Cooper as a freshman.

She was given the Bank of America Hard Hat Award for the performance against Wagner when she got her first career start.

What is the things that you're looking to see from her to continue to grow as a freshman right now?

COACH JACK: She's the blind side.

I call her a blind side because she's one of those who do whatever it takes for us to have success.

She's the one that people that's going to give you the towel when you come down out, and you need a towel to wipe your face.

She's the one that's going to dive for a loose balls.

She's going to take the open shot.

We're going to give her hip on no shots, so pretty sure.

But she's going after the rebounding, and she does all little things, and she rolls above a ball into her hat.

>> Three points.

Three assists, two steals, a plus 23.

It's easy to discover.

Who is hard hat of the day, none other than the blind side.

[ Cheers and Applause ] [ Cheers and Applause ] >> I think up and down the roster, we did a really great job looking into the scale what we do.

And -- [ Cheers and Applause ] >> That's the blindside right there.

Every day you shape their skills.

Their confidence.

And now they're financial future.

Introducing Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking for Family Banking.

A parent-owned bank account, a hands on banking experience for your child.

No monthly maintenance fee until your child turns 25.

Their first debit card.

Mobile and online banking access.

Flexible parental controls right from where you manage your account.

Set spending limits.

Manage where they make purchases.

View their account activity.

When they're ready, they can grow into an account they own.

The same account and debit card numbers with more features.

Each step helps them on the path to financial freedom.

What would you like the power to do?

Bank of America.

This program is brought to you by the members of WCNY.

Thank you!

♪ ♪ ♪