Basketball season is nearly upon us. Monday afternoon marked the first day of official practice for Purdue women's basketball which is preparing for its third season under the direction of head coach Katie Gearlds.

After the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016-2017, the Boilermakers are looking to continue building off of last season's success in 2023-24. Last season's progress has also made Purdue hungry for more according to senior Madison Layden.

"I think that just gives us more motivation and confidence this year that we know we can get there," Layden said. "It's gonna take a lot of work but I think we have a lot of motivation to get there."

Layden is a part of the core group of returners from last year, which will be the back bone of this year's team. The veteran forward is joined by fellow seniors Jeanae Terry, Abbey Ellis and Caitlyn Harper, along with junior wing Jayla Smith.

That group has been with the Boilermakers' head coach since she took over the program in 2021 and have now evolved into Purdue's core group of leaders heading into the season.

"The core that's back, [except] Caitlin have been with me since year one. So, those four have bought in and it's just a really fun group to have lead our program," Gearlds said.

While Gearlds has a strong nucleus of returners that have played significant minutes for the Boilermakers over the last couple of years, Purdue welcomed a giant recruiting class filled with talent to West Lafayette this off-season. Gearlds has been impressed by her leaders and their willingness to teach the younger crop of Boilermakers heading into the season.

"I think our five returners have done a really good job of kind of leading and teaching the new group what's expected. With that being said, the new group has just bought into the culture we're trying to build," Gearlds said.

That class includes top 100 recruits Mary Ashley Stevenson, Rashunda Jones and Amiyah Reynolds (who will redshirt after having surgery in February), along with talented wings Emily Monson and Sophie Swanson.

Stevenson, who is expected to find herself in a sizable role this season, believes the group is well rounded and has the potential to make an impact on the program in short order.

"It's really exciting to see all of us who are all very different players make our impacts in different ways and do that as a really close-knit group," Stevenson said.

The incoming freshmen have showed their head coach a lot both on and off the court in just a short time on campus, which has Gearlds ecstatic for the future of the group.

"Everything we thought they were is exactly what they have been for us," Gearlds said. "I think the community here and the university will love this group. I think it just goes back to they want Purdue to win and they bleed black and gold."

Purdue also welcomes a pair of transfer forwards to the mix, Mila Reynolds from Maryland and Alaina Harper from Grand Canyon, both of whom figure to see time in the front court this winter.

In addition to all of the new faces on the court, Purdue also welcomes two new assistant coaches to the fold to start the year who Katie Gearlds says are "exactly who I thought they were going to be."

Kelly Komara left her position at Marquette to join Gearlds' staff in West Lafayette, where she was a standout on the 1999 National Championship team and an assistant coach under Sharon Versyp from 2014-2016. The former Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year returns to her alma mater and shares the same love for the program as Gearlds, who thought that wasn't possible.

"I thought I loved Purdue more than anybody. I don't know that that's true. I think Kelly might have me on that one," Gearlds said.

Former Toledo assistant who has deep ties to the state of Indiana, Mark Stephens, also joined the staff in West Lafayette and has already made his presence felt. As recruiting coordinator, Stephens was instrumental in landing highly-touted sisters Amiyah Reynolds and Mila Reynolds this off-season, along with 2024 in-state guard Jordyn Poole.

Gearlds shared that the Boilermakers' recruiting operation has been night and day since Stephens stepped on campus earlier this year.

"Everything about our recruiting world has changed because Mark has taken us to another level," Gearlds said. "He's elevated that part of our program."

The assistant coaching duo joins forces with Gearlds in the quest to take Purdue to the next level moving forward.

As Purdue aims to do just that, Katie Gearlds dove into what her team focused on during summer workouts. In addition to a lot of skill development work, the Boilermakers made improving the offensive end of the floor a priority this off-season, which was an area the team struggled in last year.

"A lot of stuff on the offensive end as a team. We actually didn't touch defense until the fall, and it's very not like me. Normally, we kind of let our offense try to evolve as the season goes on, but just looking at numbers, we've been pretty solid defensively. We just can't score the basketball and so that's kind of where we shifted our focus to the summer," Gearlds said.

While Purdue was in the top three of points allowed per game (65.2) in the Big Ten last season, the offense wasn't able to hold up its end of the bargain. The Boilermakers averaged just 70.5 points a night, which ranked fourth-worst in the conference.

The Boilermakers lost leading scorer Lasha Petree from a season ago (14.7 points), along with three point specialist Cassidy Hardin (7.5) points. Gearlds and company do return Abbey Ellis and Caitlyn Harper, who both averaged double-digits in 2023. However, the Boilermakers' head coach sees another candidate to help with the offensive production who is primed to take a leap as a junior.

Former Indiana Miss Basketball winner Jayla Smith has shown flashes of brilliance during her college career, but Gearlds says the junior is a "surprise" candidate and needs to take a leap for the Boilermakers to be successful.

"I think that's up for debate. I think there's a lot of people who could probably surprise in the five that we have back. We talked about it last year. We really need Jayla Smith to take a big step. Just losing Lasha to graduation and what Lasha gave us offensively. You know, we need Jayla to take a bigger step," Gearlds said.

Smith closed last season on a high note, averaging 10.3 points on 54% shooting over her final three games of the year, including a game-winner against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. The junior wing also had a mid-season stretch that saw her score in double-figures in five straight games.

If Smith can translate that potential into consistent success on the offensive end, Purdue's offense may receive the boost it needs this season.

An improved offense could lead to what Katie Gearlds ultimately wants. More wins. The once national powerhouse program has been on an upward trajectory during Gearlds' tenure after years of inconsistencies.

Going hand-in-hand with the success of last season came a bigger buzz and a belief from fans that the program was trending in the right direction. The next step for Purdue is getting back into Big Ten title contention, which Gearlds has strived to accomplish since she returned to her alma mater over two years ago.

"We've got to put a winning product on the floor. I think we've started to take those steps. We started take those steps because I think we play hard and we're fun to watch, but the next step is us winning all those games.," Gearlds said. "We talk about where we want to take Purdue and where we want the program to go. We can't just talk about it and not do anything about it."