Featured Image: Khorri Newton

While Jazz Bond has been racking up ASUN preseason awards such as the ASUN preseason player of the year and ASUN preseason defensive player of the year, all cards are on the table as she looks to lead her team to an ASUN conference title; something they have never done before.

Her tenure at UNF has been one filled with personal success after transferring from the University of South Florida after her freshman season. At UNF, she set the single season block record with 87 last season and also earned ASUN second-team honors in 2019 and 2020. Even with all these accomplishments, she stresses the importance of team success and the need to ‘win everyday’.

For us, it’s just taking everything day-by-day, doing what we do everyday, going into practice with a win everyday mentality.” said Bond. “So for us, just taking everything day-by-day and having our newcomers learn our system so that we’ll be successful when the season starts.”

Being successful on the court is something the Ospreys have struggled to do since their inaugural D1 season in 2005. With the extended break and a handful of new Ospreys joining the team after losing key starters like Janesha Green and Adrienne Jackson, Bond and the coaches are utilizing the extra time to build chemistry and get ready for the season.

Bond said that the team was utilizing Zoom in the summer and connecting through ways that are essential in this COVID-19 atmosphere. Bond also mentioned that when she and her teammates arrived in August, things started to get back to normal on the court and the newcomers have adjusted well to D1 competition.

“Coach Gibbs and the rest of the staff did a good job of having Zoom calls,” said Bond. “We have a lot of newcomers this year, so we had to start building our chemistry pretty early.”

While Bond and the crew will be continuing to build chemistry and a winning mentality, Bond hopes that her recognition as ASUN preseason player of the year will contribute to overall success. 

“First I would like to say that I’m very grateful for receiving that honor and I appreciate the recognition that the coaches and the conference gave me,” said Bond. “But what really matters to me is that it translates to overall team success.”

So what does Jazz Bond want to accomplish this season?

“This year for me, it’s all about winning,” said Bond.

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