Another blow to Big East: Olsen in transfer portal

[Gus Mahler]

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.

Minuets are on their way out anyway. [just funnin']

 

[tower1]

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.

That would make them work harder in fixing there mistakes. Competition is healthy especially in D1 sports !

 

[kidfrom360]

Lucy Olsen to Iowa. Interesting

 

[#12in21]

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen commits to Iowa women’s basketball

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen has officially committed to Iowa, potentially filling a gap left behind by seasoned seniors graduating from the program. A high-scorer who has been compared to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Olsen averaged 23.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game last year. She...

dailyiowan.com

 

[ConnManFan]

Nobody anywhere has compared Olsen to Clark. This doesnt move the needle at all on Iowa's prospects next season.

 

[HopJim]

I may be the contrarian here, but having Olsen get her career off to such a strong start is not a negative against the Big East. She likely will get a high profile spot somewhere and accelerate her career. Not different than many of the top 20 teams that have seen high transfer activity. Would suspect many will see the opportunity to excel at a Big East school - some will stay for 4 years, some like other top players will transfer. I any case, Big East will continue to attract top talent.

 

[Zonepress]

I may be the contrarian here, but having Olsen get her career off to such a strong start is not a negative against the Big East. She likely will get a high profile spot somewhere and accelerate her career. Not different than many of the top 20 teams that have seen high transfer activity. Would suspect many will see the opportunity to excel at a Big East school - some will stay for 4 years, some like other top players will transfer. I any case, Big East will continue to attract top talent.

You might want to rethink the last line of you
Post
The new big east has been unable to “attract top talent “ at all
Just review hoopgurlz 2024
Big east wbb is a mid major league other than uconn
Creighton lost their best player to the portal
Marquette lost their coach best 2 players and
A top recruit
Villanova lost their best 2 players to the portal
Maybe the portal will be kind to big east teams
Next years big east will be way weaker than this year and 2024 was not strong at all
All of which is not helpful to uconn

 

[hookshot]

Nobody anywhere has compared Olsen to Clark. This doesnt move the needle at all on Iowa's prospects next season.

Nobody is touting Olsen as a another Clark, but she is the type of high volume, reasonable accuracy shooter that the Iowa offense has been built around. Versus any identified alternative, of course she moves the needle somewhat on Iowa;s prospects, she also is coming from a very well coached team that has the same style as Iowa, and may upgrade their defense a bit also. Can't imagine a better match. Clark is over, time to stop talking about her except in the pro context

 

[Blakeon18]

I thought she might go to Iowa State...she does move the Iowa needle up a bit...my guess is that she would
have moved the ISU needle up to better their chances of a final four....with the talented group of frosh the
Cyclones have....notably Crooks. Olsen is legit.

 

[Urshurak]

Prbably a good move for her. If anyone thinks she is going to pick up the mantle from CC though, yikes. Not happening. Talk about pressure.....

 

[hoopsfan22]

You might want to rethink the last line of you
Post
The new big east has been unable to “attract top talent “ at all
Just review hoopgurlz 2024
Big east wbb is a mid major league other than uconn
Creighton lost their best player to the portal
Marquette lost their coach best 2 players and
A top recruit
Villanova lost their best 2 players to the portal
Maybe the portal will be kind to big east teams
Next years big east will be way weaker than this year and 2024 was not strong at all
All of which is not helpful to uconn

Mid-major leagues, excluding UConn for now, are just going to be the farm system for the so-called power conferences. It'll be like bigger schools picking off the best/proven juco players in the pre-NIL era. Now schools can just hit the central clearinghouse for players up for bid (a.k.a. portal) and buy the best players you can afford.

 

[oldude]

As we continue to see top WBB players from the BE leave for greener pastures, I have started to wonder if UConn isn’t a victim of their own success. That may sound odd, but think about how very hard it is for any other BE team not named UConn to win a BE championship (regular season or conference tournament).

This past year, UConn lost 6 players to injury and still breezed through the BE schedule undefeated in league play. While Geno continues to praise and promote the BE, players throughout the league have to wonder whether there’s any real opportunity to “break through” UConn’s dominance.

This not only applies to winning conference championships, but NIL opportunities as well. Paige, Azzi and other UConn players suck up all the air when it comes to lucrative NIL deals, leaving the rest of the league chasing table scraps. So for someone like Olsen, transferring to Iowa probably resulted in an immediate and substantial increase in compensation.

I don’t have any easy answers to the departure of top WBB players from the BE to Power Conferences. I wish that I did. For now, I just have to hope that Geno and company can continue to maintain UConn’s national excellence despite the continued exodus of top talent from the conference.

 

[Zonepress]

As we continue to see top WBB players from the BE leave for greener pastures, I have started to wonder if UConn isn’t a victim of their own success. That may sound odd, but think about how very hard it is for any other BE team not named UConn to win a BE championship (regular season or conference tournament).

This past year, UConn lost 6 players to injury and still breezed through the BE schedule undefeated in league play. While Geno continues to praise and promote the BE, players throughout the league have to wonder whether there’s any real opportunity to “break through” UConn’s dominance.

This not only applies to winning conference championships, but NIL opportunities as well. Paige, Azzi and other UConn players suck up all the air when it comes to lucrative NIL deals, leaving the rest of the league chasing table scraps. So for someone like Olsen, transferring to Iowa probably resulted in an immediate and substantial increase in compensation.

I don’t have any easy answers to the departure of top WBB players from the BE to Power Conferences. I wish that I did. For now, I just have to hope that Geno and company can continue to maintain UConn’s national excellence despite the continued exodus of top talent from the conference.

The answer is to get better players
Get crowds of more than 500
For a start
Honestly I don’t see it happening at all

 

[jitro1]

I really hope she does. Love this kid. She’s Geno’s kind of player

ESPN reporting she is going to Iowa.

 

[jitro1]

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.

headed to Iowa per espn

 

[oldhusky]

You might want to rethink the last line of you
Post
The new big east has been unable to “attract top talent “ at all
Just review hoopgurlz 2024
Big east wbb is a mid major league other than uconn
Creighton lost their best player to the portal
Marquette lost their coach best 2 players and
A top recruit
Villanova lost their best 2 players to the portal
Maybe the portal will be kind to big east teams
Next years big east will be way weaker than this year and 2024 was not strong at all
All of which is not helpful to uconn

Agree with all of this. Just want to add that I think NIL has contributed a great deal to the loss of some of the best players from the Big East and Mid Major Conferences in general. It used to not be a factor, but when the 5th or 6th best player from a top power 4 program can make as much as the top player from a Mid Major school, of course the players will leave.

Now most players at Mid Major programs probably can't expect much, but if you a star in your league and good enough to get an offer from a top Power 4 program you can increase your earnings substantially as I understand it. The Big East isn't losing a ton of players, the problem is the best ones are leaving, basically anyone who can make it at a Power 5 school, and reap the money that comes with that.

It isn't just the players either, but the coaches as well. In general the new financial reality is the difference between the Power 4 teams, and mid major teams will get even bigger. For Uconn the challenge will be the conference schedule will become too boring, not offering enough interest or challenges, and all the must watch games will out of conference. Just the new reality i suspect.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

 

[CL82]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

NIL money?

 

[Fastbreak]

Lucy Olson helps Iowa fill the Void left by Caitlin Clark as they Build for the future​

 

[oldude]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

$$$$$$

 

[JoePgh]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

If she aspires to a WNBA career, she might reasonably believe that it's necessary to prove herself against stronger competition than the Big East (other than UConn) offers. And she is right that if she can score 20 ppg against Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, and the new West Coast entrants to the B1G, she will be a first round draft pick next spring.

You can say, "But Maddy Siegrist was a top draft choice last year coming out of the Big East". True, but she didn't play a lot of minutes in her rookie season, so WNBA general managers might not be ready to do the same thing again with Lucy. It certainly reduces her risk if she can prove herself enough so that they don't have to take that risk.

She will certainly get plenty of minutes at Iowa.

 

[maple]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

I also don’t get it. It honestly feels like maybe she just looked at Iowa as a chance where she’d be allowed to just shoot as much as she wants to.

 

[HuskyNan]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

Villanova fans (of the men’s & women’s teams) on Twitter are bemoaning the defection of so many players to the portal and are blaming the fact that the Big East’s media contract is with FloSports and that players don’t get seen. It’s a valid reason, IMO, if a player has pro aspirations

 

[Dogdude]

Yeah, they messed up the FloSports thing. The whole streaming business bubble is another issue, but certainly connected. Ripple effects will be everywhere, as in where will all the employees of the Pac12 network go. It will be a while for it to settle down though. Oh, for the days of 4 years eligibility and done.

 

[FormerCTrez]

I do wonder what Olsen thinks are the benefits to her by going to Iowa for her final year in college? More exposure? Riding the CC wave? A better coach for her? Better competition? I’m just not seeing it.

Possibly a lot more NIL dollars.