By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

It didn’t take long, JD Gravina said, for the high of a championship season to wear off.

Gravina’s Western Illinois women’s basketball team shared the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title, then won the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

But it was after the loss to North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when Gravina started thinking about next season.

“It’s a weird feeling,” Gravina said, sitting in his office before one of the Leathernecks’ spring workouts last week. “I will say the jubilation of last season wears off faster than I would like, or anyone else would like. Actually, even the night after the North Carolina game, I had that post-great-season depression. It’s over, and you’re bummed about it. And then you start thinking, ‘How do we do that again?’”

Western Illinois lost four starters from a 26-6 team, including OVC player of the year Mia Nicastro. Raegan McCowan, another starter who was averaging 17 points per game before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in December, entered the NCAA transfer portal after the season and announced on Thursday she was committing to Houston.

But instead of going for a quick fix, Gravina is getting ready for next season with the players still remaining and the freshmen who will be coming in during the summer. In an era when so many coaches go shopping in the transfer portal for immediate help, Gravina is playing a long game.

Starter Kaylen Reed and guard Madison Davis, who averaged 19 minutes per game last season off the bench, return. And Gravina knows he has players on the bench who will be elevated to bigger roles.

Gravina pointed to guard Shelby Bowman, who scored 2,582 points in her career at nearby West Central (Ill.) High School, but has been a role player in her first two seasons with the Leathernecks.

“She’s come in here and been behind experienced guards like Allie Meadows, like Addi Brownfield, and she understands that,” he said. “Now she’s going to get the opportunity to play more. She’s worked hard for that. As has everyone else on the bench.

“A lot of schools are about how much money can they deal out. Here, it’s how many minutes can we deal out.” 

Gravina doesn’t have the financial resources to go deep into the transfer portal, a reality for so many mid-major programs.

He doesn’t mind.

“It’s actually easier for us,” Gravina said. “Not having the money to throw around is nice, because we’re just not going to play that game. All of that is pushed aside. I hear coaches complain about it, and I’m like, ‘That’s not my problem,’ which is nice. And then it is a little bit about being creative.

“I think coaches in our position, with losing all of that experience, would get a little desperate, go try to get five or six kids out of the portal. That isn’t what we’re trying to do. This is the core of our team, and maybe we’ll add a piece or two. Where we have to dig is, like, finding NAIA players. Maybe a kid that didn’t play at all at the Power 4 level and just wants to play, and isn’t worried about the money. We’re kind of looking at that kind of player.”

Redshirt freshman Kennedy Herrig and freshman Sidney Skrobot are back after coming off the bench last season. Maria Messling, a fourth-year forward, is coming off a medical redshirt season. Junior guard Ainsley Holthaus also returns.

Gravina was planning on redshirt freshman Katelyn Eggena taking over in the post, but Eggena tore her ACL in the North Carolina game and will miss the season.

“I think she could have been one of the best posts in the conference,” Gravina said.

Gravina has signed four freshmen in the 2026 class. Melaina Grandquist, a 5-foot-11 forward from Bowler, Wis., and Jaelyn Jones, a 5-11 guard from Walton, Kentucky, signed in the fall. Mya Robinson, a 5-9 guard from Troy, Mo., and Mylee Stiefel, a 5-7 guard from Burlington, Iowa, signed in the spring.

“All of them have a chance to contribute,” Gravina said.

Gravina also received a four-year contract extension after the season, another commitment that he appreciates.

“For me, personally, it’s really nice,” he said. “To get that commitment, they understand that you’re going to have ups and downs. From my perspective, to mentally commit here, it’s put me in a good spot. I already felt good about this place, and the life I have here with my family.”

Still, he did draw some interest from other programs after the season. He listened, but ultimately chose to stay in Macomb.

“It’s funny how you go to the NCAA Tournament, and you’re one of the hotter names,” he said.

I thought I had a better, more enjoyable situation here.”

It’s a situation that Gravina hopes to build on after a championship run. It didn’t take long to start thinking about what comes next. 

“Losing so much experience, there’s that slap in the face, like, ‘Here’s where the challenge is,’” he said. “Then you look at your young kids, who have the ability to play, and with the kids coming in, and I think we have such a great core of young players. You get really excited. You’re excited for those players to get their chance.”

Photo: Western Illinois coach JD Gravina talks to his team during a timeout in last November’s game at Iowa. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)