With 31 years of coaching under her belt, head coach Nancy Fahey brings a wealth of experience and a fresh outlook to the Fighting Illini women's basketball program. Fahey's impressive resume boasts 737 career victories and five national championships. She has been inducted into four halls of fame, including the National Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, and coached Washington University to 29 NCAA Division III National Championship appearances.

What is it like to play for someone with a prolific record like that?

"Incredible. There is an intensity, you have fun playing for her," Illinois graduate assistant Jenn Dynis said. "There's this new energy, she gets excited, it makes you get excited."

Dynis, a native of Chesterfield, Missouri, spent two seasons playing under Fahey at Washington University. Dynis' ties to Fahey run deeper than that, however, as the St. Louis native, Dynis began attending WashU basketball camps at a young age.  

"Coach Paz (Director of Operations Dianna Pasley) was the first one to teach me how to shoot with the correct form. I was the water girl for the team when they won the championship in 2001. Now I get to work for Coach Fahey every day. I've known her since I was eight years old, so in my lifetime I've known her as the Coach Fahey, then I knew her as my coach, Coach Fahey. Now I know her as my mentor and friend."

Dynis knows firsthand what it's like to be on the court under Fahey's direction.

"When you play for Coach Fahey, just play hard. If you make a mistake, make it hard. Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability. She has patience and understanding. When she's on the sidelines, you can feel her passion and her intensity, but you know that intensity is good. It's all her passion. It's what she loves to do. The fact that she's been coaching for so long and she still has that same passion she did when she started, that rubs off on people and it makes you want to play harder."

Fahey's passion doesn't just stop at the court, however. While ball is life for Fahey, she makes sure her players know that there is more to life than ball.

"I think that's her greatest strength and why she's always had great teams, because her kids trust her. They know, first and foremost, you are a person to her, you're not just a basketball player. She understands you have a story. Coach Fahey knows every single player she has ever had for the past 32 years by name and by story. She even remembers the stories of some of the kids she has recruited. That's a special thing you don't find everywhere and it's undervalued."

"Her mantra is just be you," Dynis said of Fahey's advice to her players. "Be who you are, and if anybody else has something to say about it, that's their issue. If you can be confident in the person you are, then that will show not only out in the world but on the court. She's always prided herself on developing not just women, but leaders."

Fahey has been working with the Illini squad for several months now, and the program has just begin official practices. Fahey welcomes five newcomers to her 2017-18 squad, and has been working with Illinois' 10 returners. Fahey's passion will be on display for Illini fans to see when the Orange and Blue open the season against Fort Wayne on November 10.