Another blow to Big East: Olsen in transfer portal

[MilfordHusky]

As Geno noted, the mid-majors are becoming like the minor leagues in baseball, as a result of the new transfer rule and NIL.

 

[AmeriConn]

Lucy OLson to UConn IMHO would be a BAD fit as she has 2 years remaining in eligibility and would counter act UConn's 2025-2026 recruiting class!
Whereas Kaitlin Chen is a one year pickup!

Won’t Paige be gone in Olson’s second year?

 

[Blakeon18]

Paige would probably be gone in Olsen's second year. Then again as of now
Paige has 2 years of athletic eligibility left. COVID year....frosh year...does not count...medical
redshirt with injury last season. Would she have to get a special OK from the NCAA for that injury
season...does the NCAA 'tend' to frown on 6 years?

 

[AmeriConn]

Paige would probably be gone in Olsen's second year. Then again as of now
Paige has 2 years of athletic eligibility left. COVID year....frosh year...does not count...medical
redshirt with injury last season. Would she have to get a special OK from the NCAA for that injury
season...does the NCAA 'tend' to frown on 6 years?

I think Paige could use some help in the scoring department. Lucy would be my choice to help win a NC.

 

[mordmerrier]

Source: Villanova's Lucy Olsen, nation's No. 3 scorer, in portal​

Villanova scoring star Olsen in portal, source says

Villanova's Lucy Olsen, who averaged 23.3 points as the nation's No. 3 scorer this season, is in the transfer portal, a source told ESPN.

www.espn.com

Apologies if this in the portal thread. Just thought it deserved its own.

Kiki Iriafen + Lucy Olsen = 12

 

[mordmerrier]

Lucy OLson to UConn IMHO would be a BAD fit as she has 2 years remaining in eligibility and would counter act UConn's 2025-2026 recruiting class!
Whereas Kaitlin Chen is a one year pickup!

I disagree... Yes Chen is a solid veteran player, but Lucy is a BUCKET! We've seen it TWICE the past 2 years. If she's willing to accept fewer minuets and improve her draft stock...we should grab her. Especially losing 2 PGs next year. I would worry more about KK now - than Kelis later.

 

[Longtime fan]

View attachment 99378

I bet USC is in the mix as well. Keep in mind that they had several " grad student" players on the court with JuJu. They have to move on and be replaced.

 

[Longtime fan]

I think Paige could use some help in the scoring department. Lucy would be my choice to help win a NC.

Still trying to wrap my head around this portal thing. I know it’s good for the women to be able to change schools for a better chance to shine. The same for the coaches. But I hate the fact that schools like Iowa/LSU and others get to reload and stack their teams without doing the hard work like long term recruiting or any of the work that other coaches did to get these athletes to their present state. There really should be a limit on how many of these top tier athletes a coach can bring in. Look at Kentucky. The coach is already bringing several top tier players from his VA Tech team, and will likely bring in several others from the portal. Money/portal/NIL will make it really tough for teams that try to build their programs by recruiting high school players. I just hope that the Big East will gain a few top tier or very talented new coaches and the bring in some of these talented athletes. Otherwise, UConn will not have any competition in the league!

It is the way of the world now. We may not like it, but we have to deal with it. Either that or retire.

 

[JoePgh]

I think Paige could use some help in the scoring department. Lucy would be my choice to help win a NC.

So Azzi, Allie, Ashlynn, KK, Caroline, and Sarah aren't sufficient to provide Paige with "help in the scoring department"?

If Geno were to sign Lucy, that is the message that he would be sending to all of them. It's not a message that would enhance their morale.

 

[MSGRET]

Won’t Paige be gone in Olson’s second year?

Olsen has only one year of eligibility left, she is a Junior this year and next season will be a Senior. She is the class of 2025 who is not eligible for the COVID year. Students that were playing in 2020 are the only one's that are. That means that Paige's class is the last to be able to play past their Senior year.

Most of the 2020-24 class only can play next year if they wish. Paige maybe able to play an additional year if she wants to ask for a medical waiver after this year's COVID exemption.

 

[maple]

Looks like another local sub shop has some NIL money to burn. Dont underestimate how the allure of NIL money is driving this portal.

NIL is seriously wild. A tattoo shop I follow on IG (I know the owner from another shop I used to go to) has a NIL deal with a WBB player at Binghamton. I actually thought it was a joke when I first saw the post, but you gotta respect the hustle I guess …

 

[BBallF]

I thought UConn handled Olsen well this season. Kept her below her scoring average. I don't know how she would do against competition that is not Big East.

You mean Nika handled her well. I was at the Villanova away game. What a job she did on her.

 

[Zarathustra]

I believe she only has one year of eligibility, she is in the same class as Amari is.

LUCY OLSEN... The Villanova WOMEN's Basketball Web site lists LUCY as
a Junior for the 2023 - 2024 year. Ms. Olsen played 33 games in 2021- 2022.
37 games in 2022 - 2023, and 35 games in 2023 - 2024. Where is the evidence
that Lucy has two years of eligibility? I agree with MSGRET.

 

[AmeriConn]

It is the way of the world now. We may not like it, but we have to deal with it. Either that or retire.

Embrace it.

 

[JBK]

So Azzi, Allie, Ashlynn, KK, Caroline, and Sarah aren't sufficient to provide Paige with "help in the scoring department"?

If Geno were to sign Lucy, that is the message that he would be sending to all of them. It's not a message that would enhance their

It is time for us to win a national championship again for Geno. I would not worry about freshman - if they are good they will learn and play. Injuries have dramatically impacted our team the last few years and we can always benefit from talent and experience. The way I see it. — she can be our Cam Spensor or we just traded Ines for Olsen - kinda like that trade.

 

[Skeets]

Sadly; the Big East is slowly falling apart. UConn came in and saved the league. Even though men’s basketball is still competitive on the women’s side it has fallen tremendously.

Last year I wrote in wishing that Maddie Siegrest would have stayed for her Covid year. That would have been a treat to watch Villanova compete.

The league lost players like Morrow and Parks. I’m not sure of how many more to the portal and graduation.

After this season ended I knew that Duffy would be leaving for a better opportunity. Well deserved for her and family. She was a bright star that the league lost because the league is falling apart.

On the women’s side without UConn the Big East as a whole is no better than the Atlantic 10. We still have Creighton that will make the tournament year after year if they recruit. But how many top 100 players come here? That is unless your name is Connecticut.

The split many years ago seemed perfect for the conference. But now with the super conferences becoming a reality I bet that the Big East wishes that they never would have split up.

I traveled and watched our UConn women play. Games at Rutgers were brutal. Villanova wasn’t a walk over. And do I not mention Notre Dame. Ouch! At DePaul was always a battle. Syracuse still has their game winning basketball from when they luckily beat us.

Where does this conference go from here. With two recent men’s championships one of the larger conferences will finally get off their ass and ask why is UConn still in the Big East.

Not going to happen until UConn grows some semblance of a football team. Mora's got a real big job to do...

 

[Skeets]

The idea of limiting the number of transfers a school can accept is starting to grow on me. How many kids would be jumping into the portal if there were a limited number of opportunities? Something like 1 per school per year (plus maybe 1 for 1 for every transfer a school loses). Would lend some sanity to the portal and prevent teams from stacking without developing players. I don't know how foreign students would be handled. Perhaps as recruits, not transfers.

 

[oldhusky]

Olsen has only one year of eligibility left, she is a Junior this year and next season will be a Senior. She is the class of 2025 who is not eligible for the COVID year. Students that were playing in 2020 are the only one's that are. That means that Paige's class is the last to be able to play past their Senior year.

Most of the 2020-24 class only can play next year if they wish. Paige maybe able to play an additional year if she wants to ask for a medical waiver after this year's COVID exemption.

And this makes Olsen more not less attractive to us. If we had no roster limit concerns over the next couple of years, of course we would prefer 2 years vs. one, but any player we add now that has 25/26 eligibility potentially limits who we can pursue from the 2025 class. A one year rental does not. Having said that if the player was good enough and a big (Beers) it might be worthy trade off, but even then if Kiki became available she would be a much better option for just one year.

I am not sure if there is any guard currently in the portal with 2 or more years left that is worth pursuing, and maybe only Beers among the bigs. One year players is entirely different, we could add two of those.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Olsen has only one year of eligibility left, she is a Junior this year and next season will be a Senior. She is the class of 2025 who is not eligible for the COVID year. Students that were playing in 2020 are the only one's that are. That means that Paige's class is the last to be able to play past their Senior year.

Most of the 2020-24 class only can play next year if they wish. Paige maybe able to play an additional year if she wants to ask for a medical waiver after this year's COVID exemption.

Paige doesn't need a waiver because she didn't play at all in the 2022-23 season. You apply for the medical waiver to get a season back if you've played in a small number of games at the start of a season before suffering a season-ending injury. From an eligibility standpoint, Paige simply took a year off. Paige has 6 years to play 4 + 1 Covid seasons. Next season would be her 4th in 5 years, so she'd have one more after that.

 

[Rowdy831]

It's not always greener grass on the other side of the fence as shown with Hailey Van Lith.

It is rumored that Hailey Van Lith made more money in one year with LSU than she could make in 5 years at the WNBA max so I think in her mind it was worth it. I think Kim made a huge mistake trying to make her a point guard while sitting a top recruit that plays point. Now both of them are in the transfer portal.

 

[BBallF]

It is rumored that Hailey Van Lith made more money in one year with LSU than she could make in 5 years at the WNBA max so I think in her mind it was worth it. I think Kim made a huge mistake trying to make her a point guard while sitting a top recruit that plays point. Now both of them are in the transfer portal.

Money isn't everything. She needs to have a really good year next year because last year really diluted the value of her stock after college. At her size, she has to play point in the W and did not do well with it this year. She averaged 38% from the field, 33% from the arc, and less than 4 assists a game as a point guard with Reese and Morrow on the team and averaged 11.6 ppg, 6th on the team as a returning 3rd team All American.

 

[HopJim]

Not sure why all the negative comments. Big East has proven its ability to attract and develop big time talent. Once the players prove they are in the running for national recognition, its up to the specific teams to keep them in place. For many of the HS players in the 50-100 ranking, this is an ideal situation to show their skills against some of the nation's top teams (i.e. UConn) and build their brand. As the Big East teams hire more top coaching talent, transfers will be less of an issue.

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

View attachment 99378

I dislike the ideology of Iowas basketball program. You literally had the all time leading scorer and still didn't win it all, and you're going to go back and do it all over again by getting another top 5 scorer?? I love my Uconn be cause team basketball and quality trumps individual accolades

 

[Longtime fan]

So Azzi, Allie, Ashlynn, KK, Caroline, and Sarah aren't sufficient to provide Paige with "help in the scoring department"?

If Geno were to sign Lucy, that is the message that he would be sending to all of them. It's not a message that would enhance their morale.

Pretty good point you make, Joe. I think Geno would vibe interested in a great rebounder for the post area, as opposed to another scorer.

 

[Urshurak]

I dislike the ideology of Iowas basketball program. You literally had the all time leading scorer and still didn't win it all, and you're going to go back and do it all over again by getting another top 5 scorer?? I love my Uconn be cause team basketball and quality trumps individual accolades

Well, it didn’t this year…..Iowa won.