Chances are ripe for two UCONN players to get All-American Awards

[RSHERMVIKES]

IMHO both Meg Walker at SF and Crystal Dangerfield at PG will be named to the 2020 All-American on the WBCA list of 10 players!
I also think Meg will get on the 5 member AP and Coaches list!
These two players numbers throughout the season are comparable to the top players around Division I!

 

[Glenn]

Honestly, I think Megan is a go, but crystal won't. She is a point guard that has not excelled at assists and others like Sabrina and Harris of USc will take her slot

 

[ucbart]

Personally, I don't think either will. Megan could be on it, but she did not show out well in our 3 losses.

 

[oldude]

Not sure about the AP, but the 10 player WBCA is likely for Megan and possible for Crystal. I believe that WBCA voting includes the 1st or 2nd weekend of the tournament, so it’s important that Megan & Crystal continue their outstanding recent play.

 

[oldude]

Honestly, I think Megan is a go, but crystal won't. She is a point guard that has not excelled at assists and others like Sabrina and Harris of USc will take her slot

I agree that Ionescu & Harris are the top 2 guards in the country, but I haven’t seen a 3rd guard better than Crystal, so on the 10 player WBCA team, I think Crystal has a legitimate shot if the coaches select 3 guards.

 

[bballnut90]

I agree that Ionescu & Harris are the top 2 guards in the country, but I haven’t seen a 3rd guard better than Crystal, so on the 10 player WBCA team, I think Crystal has a legitimate shot if the coaches select 3 guards.

Dana Evans and Rhyne Howard get spots for guards. Carter too if eligible. Walker should be on a team, Dangerfield is a long shot IMO for WBCA but could make 3rd Team AP. Same with Kiana Williams at Stanford.

 

[DefenseBB]

For the WBCA, I do think Walker gets on, for the 5 team WBA, she's on the outside looking in-Cox, Ionescu, Howard, Sabally, Harris would seem to rule. Hebard would be the 6th. Meg would be 7th but who knows.

Regardless, it has been an unbelievable year for Meg. No way anyone would have guessed a year ago at this time she would be in discussion for AA status this year!

Very happy for her and I do hope Anna gets named to the All-Freshman 1st team as she has earned that-despite being robbed of the AAC ROY.

 

[oldude]

Dana Evans and Rhyne Howard get spots for guards. Carter too if eligible. Walker should be on a team, Dangerfield is a long shot IMO for WBCA but could make 3rd Team AP. Same with Kiana Williams at Stanford.

Evans and Williams are possibilities, but I’m prejudiced. Crystal is better. As for Howard, she’s had a great year, but she, along with MD’s Charles, strike me more as wings than guards.

 

[bballnut90]

Evans and Williams are possibilities, but I’m prejudiced. Crystal is better. As for Howard, she’s had a great year, but she, along with MD’s Charles, strike me more as wings than guards.

Howard is more of a wing but is listed as a guard. Williams and Dangerfield are incredibly similar players IMO. Same strengths and weaknesses. Crystal's percentages are better, Kiana has played a much tougher schedule. Edge Crystal. Evans gets a spot over either though IMO.

 

[oldude]

Howard is more of a wing but is listed as a guard. Williams and Dangerfield are incredibly similar players IMO. Same strengths and weaknesses. Crystal's percentages are better, Kiana has played a much tougher schedule. Edge Crystal. Evans gets a spot over either though IMO.

As I indicated in an earlier post, I think WBCA voting continues through the 1st two weekends of the Big Dance, so a lot could depend on how these players and their teams perform over the next few weeks.

 

[DefenseBB]

As I indicated in an earlier post, I think WBCA voting continues through the 1st two weekends of the Big Dance, so a lot could depend on how these players and their teams perform over the next few weeks.

Come on Oldude, get on that research and make it more assertive-does it or does it NOT continue through the 1st two weeks???

 

[oldude]

Come on Oldude, get on that research and make it more assertive-does it or does it NOT continue through the 1st two weeks???

So you forced me to go and check how the WBCA picks its 10 AA’s. It’s a little complicated, so pay close attention:

• A HC in each division (I.e. Div I) can nominate any number of players from their own team.
• The HC submits their nominees names to the WBCA in a form provided by the WBCA that includes a statistical breakdown of their performance during the season, along with a write up about the nominee that should include: impact on the team, team success, attitude, academic eligibility and sportsmanship.
• Every HC in Div I then gets to vote on the complete list of candidates by region. Not sure exactly how many regions there are, but let’s assume there are at least 4.
• The top vote getters from each region then go to a committee of coaches selected by members from each region who then select the 10 AA’s, POY, COY, etc.
• I believe in past years Jose Fernandez from USF was the AAC representative on the committee.
• I believe that the committee meets to make their selections during FF week, and the award recipients and AA team is announced the day before the Championship Final.

 

[j66kicker]

So you forced me to go and check how the WBCA picks its 10 AA’s. It’s a little complicated, so pay close attention:

• A HC in each division (I.e. Div I) can nominate any number of players from their own team.
• The HC submits their nominees names to the WBCA in a form provided by the WBCA that includes a statistical breakdown of their performance during the season, along with a write up about the nominee that should include: impact on the team, team success, attitude, academic eligibility and sportsmanship.
• Every HC in Div I then gets to vote on the complete list of candidates by region. Not sure exactly how many regions there are, but let’s assume there are at least 4.
• The top vote getters from each region then go to a committee of coaches selected by members from each region who then select the 10 AA’s, POY, COY, etc.
• I believe that the committee meets to make their selections during FF week, and the award recipients and AA team is announced the day before the Championship Final.

I looked at this on the WBCA site too. I think "regions" is for some NCAA division(s) lower than D1, or NAIA. My interpretation is that "D1" functions as a "region" in the text which covers all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, and that all D1 coaches vote for nominees from all of D1.

But, more pertinent to the question, the site did not give a time table for the voting and committee selection - only for the announcement ("during the WBCA Convention", which is during the FF). It may be, as you believe, that the committee makes their selections during the FF week, but I always thought it was after the conference conference tournaments and before the NCAA tournament started. ???

 

[Plebe]

I looked at this on the WBCA site too. I think "regions" is for some NCAA division(s) lower than D1, or NAIA. My interpretation is that "D1" functions as a "region" in the text which covers all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, and that all D1 coaches vote for nominees from all of D1.

The WBCA has five "regions." Here's the breakdown of finalists by region in 2019:

WBCA ANNOUNCES REGION FINALISTS FOR 2019 NCAA DIVISION I COACHES’ ALL-AMERICA

wbca.org

 

[DefenseBB]

So a few comments:
1. Oldude is correct, all the past years, the winners were announced on 2016-4-2; 2017-4-1; 2018-3-29; 2019-4-4 so that is the final four weekend. So Morgan Tuck was honored on April 2, 2017
2. Plebe is also correct that the WBCA announces the Region winners one week before the final winners. The Region winners make up the pool of candidates for the final 10 person team.

We can keep an eye out on the Region winners to see which Husky's make the first cut. Of curiosity to me is how they define a region as Baylor, Texas, USF, UConn and Oklahoma State were all in the same Region (#3). So it must be determined by an assessment where your league is designated-who knew we were Texas...
Here's the 2016 Team with our 3 Ladies! Will Oregon replicate this?

2016 WBCA Division I Coaches All-America Team announced

The WBCA announced its 2016 Division I Coaches All-America Team at the site of the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis. Five members of the team are competing in the Final Four including: Kelsey…

www.hoopfeed.com

 

[bbfanLA]

Here's the 2016 Team with our 3 Ladies! Will Oregon replicate this?

2016 WBCA Division I Coaches All-America Team announced

The WBCA announced its 2016 Division I Coaches All-America Team at the site of the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis. Five members of the team are competing in the Final Four including: Kelsey…

www.hoopfeed.com

UConn has had 3 players named to the WBCA team 6 times.
2002: Bird, Cash and Taurasi
2009: Montgomery, Charles and Moore
2014: Dolson, Hartley and Stewart
2015: KML, Jefferson and Stewart
2016: Jefferson, Stewart and Tuck
2017: Williams, Collier and Samuelson

Tennessee is the only other school to have 3 named back in 1999 with Catchings, Holdsclaw and Randall.

 

[bballnut90]

Here's the 2016 Team with our 3 Ladies! Will Oregon replicate this?

2016 WBCA Division I Coaches All-America Team announced

The WBCA announced its 2016 Division I Coaches All-America Team at the site of the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis. Five members of the team are competing in the Final Four including: Kelsey…

www.hoopfeed.com

UConn has had 3 players named to the WBCA team 6 times.
2002: Bird, Cash and Taurasi
2009: Montgomery, Charles and Moore
2014: Dolson, Hartley and Stewart
2015: KML, Jefferson and Stewart
2016: Jefferson, Stewart and Tuck
2017: Williams, Collier and Samuelson

Tennessee is the only other school to have 3 named back in 1999 with Catchings, Holdsclaw and Randall.

I think they're a lock to have 3 unless they lose in an early round game. Very impressive company.

 

[willtalk]

The fact that they are slotted for high WNBA picks would play a major factor.

Home fans need to remember that there are quite a lot of payers that they never get to see. Most of the time they make their picks based on players they have watched and core stats. The people that vote generally have a broader perspective and number of players they are picking from.

 

[bballnut90]

The fact that they are slotted for high WNBA picks would play a major factor.

Home fans need to remember that there are quite a lot of payers that they never get to see. Most of the time they make their picks based on players they have watched and core stats. The people that vote generally have a broader perspective and number of players they are picking from.

Not sure if this is in reference to Oregon's trio, but all 3 deserve it.

Ionescu will be everyone's consensus NPOY. No one is ever close at this point.

Hebard is averaging around 17/10 on 68% FG with massive showings against Stanford and UCONN.

Sabally averages 16/7 and has been stellar is almost every big game. Sort of like Morgan Tuck in 2016 in that her numbers are good but not AA caliber at first glance, but she shows up in big games.

It's also a weaker year for talent in WCBB. The freshman class looks really strong and deep, but junior/senior classes look weak.

 

[willtalk]

Not sure if this is in reference to Oregon's trio, but all 3 deserve it.

Ionescu will be everyone's consensus NPOY. No one is ever close at this point.

Hebard is averaging around 17/10 on 68% FG with massive showings against Stanford and UCONN.

Sabally averages 16/7 and has been stellar is almost every big game. Sort of like Morgan Tuck in 2016 in that her numbers are good but not AA caliber at first glance, but she shows up in big games.

It's also a weaker year for talent in WCBB. The freshman class looks really strong and deep, but junior/senior classes look weak.

No, it is not. I have always been a fan of Sabally. in fact, I posted on multiple sites that I thought she might be the best player in her class right after seeing her play in the High school Jordan Classic All-Star game where she did very little scoring but still impacted the game. I do think that Hebard while a very very good college player might not transition that well into the WNBA. She did set the record for most consecutive shots without a miss in her Jr season. One thing about Sabally, she is on a very well balanced team so her numbers might not be as good as if she was the major go-to player on a team.

 

[bballnut90]

No, it is not. I have always been a fan of Sabally. in fact, I posted on multiple sites that I thought she might be the best player in her class right after seeing her play in the High school Jordan Classic All-Star game where she did very little scoring but still impacted the game. I do think that Hebard while a very very good college player might not transition that well into the WNBA. She did set the record for most consecutive shots without a miss in her Jr season. One thing about Sabally, she is on a very well balanced team so her numbers might not be as good as if she was the major go-to player on a team.

Senior class was definitely weak IMO compared to 2019 and 2018. Just not the same depth of quality of depth despite the stars being outstanding (ex. Sabrina, Cox, Satou). Hebard seems like Crystal Langhorne 2.0. I think she'll do fine in the league but Sabrina/Satou should be stars. Agree about Sabally's numbers being lower than you'd expect due to teammates.

 

[cohenzone]

Personally, I don't think either will. Megan could be on it, but she did not show out well in our 3 losses.

How did other candidates do against decent competition? UConn only lost to teams ranked ahead of them. Megan actually had a decent game against Baylor, not so much in the other two. If how kids played against the better competition is a measure, Crystal had good games in all of the losses.

 

[ucbart]

Senior class was definitely weak IMO compared to 2019 and 2018. Just not the same depth of quality of depth despite the stars being outstanding (ex. Sabrina, Cox, Satou). Hebard seems like Crystal Langhorne 2.0. I think she'll do fine in the league but Sabrina/Satou should be stars. Agree about Sabally's numbers being lower than you'd expect due to teammates.

I agree, re: Hebard. She is too small to be that much of a "paint only" post player in the W.

 

[oldude]

I agree, re: Hebard. She is too small to be that much of a "paint only" post player in the W.

In addition to how well Hebard does in the W, I think there is a legitimate question on Ionescu’s ability to step up to the next level as well. Don’t get me wrong. She is the NPOY, and one of the smartest and most efficient players I’ve ever seen. But at the next level, she will be challenged at both ends of the court matching up with players, night in and night out, that are quicker, more athletic and, in some cases, bigger. For instance, how would Ionescu do if she were matched up with Gabby Williams?

 

[cohenzone]

In addition to how well Hebard does in the W, I think there is a legitimate question on Ionescu’s ability to step up to the next level as well. Don’t get me wrong. She is the NPOY, and one of the smartest and most efficient players I’ve ever seen. But at the next level, she will be challenged at both ends of the court matching up with players, night in and night out, that are quicker, more athletic and, in some cases, bigger. For instance, how would Ionescu do if she were matched up with Gabby Williams?

Dunno. Larry Bird was no great athlete. He was just a great basketball player. First time I saw Ionesco was in the MickeyD game. She just stood out. I wanted her at UConn. I suspect she’ll do okay.

 

[eebmg]

In addition to how well Hebard does in the W, I think there is a legitimate question on Ionescu’s ability to step up to the next level as well. Don’t get me wrong. She is the NPOY, and one of the smartest and most efficient players I’ve ever seen. But at the next level, she will be challenged at both ends of the court matching up with players, night in and night out, that are quicker, more athletic and, in some cases, bigger. For instance, how would Ionescu do if she were matched up with Gabby Williams?

I am sure she will have transition issues but she will adapt. The important thing is to get the right players around her and a coach that can optimize her skills.

 

[oldude]

Dunno. Larry Bird was no great athlete. He was just a great basketball player. First time I saw Ionesco was in the MickeyD game. She just stood out. I wanted her at UConn. I suspect she’ll do okay.

Yes, but Bird was 6’9”, playing the 3-spot on a team with Parish & McHale, so he was a size mismatch on smaller players, and if you tried to put a Big on him, he would step outside and knock down 3’s.

Ionescu reminds me of another great college basketball player from a number of years back: Ernie Digregorio. Ernie D was one of the most exciting and talented college basketball players I’ve ever seen. But when he got to the pros he couldn’t match up with bigger and more athletic players, and he unfortunately earned a new nickname, “Ernie No-D.”

We have more recent examples from UConn’s own backyard of great college players that are struggling to establish themselves in the WNBA due to limitations in size or athleticism. Mo, KML & Lou all come to mind.

 

[oldude]

I am sure she will have transition issues but she will adapt. The important thing is to get the right players around her and a coach that can optimize her skills.

Reminds me of similar comments about KML and Lou.

 

[eebmg]

Reminds me of similar comments about KML and Lou.

Well, Sabrina is at least as good as Plum. It took Plum time and she is still more inconsistent than I like at times but she is now an established starter and potential National Team player

 

[cohenzone]

Yes, but Bird was 6’9”, playing the 3-spot on a team with Parish & McHale, so he was a size mismatch on smaller players, and if you tried to put a Big on him, he would step outside and knock down 3’s.

Ionescu reminds me of another great college basketball player from a number of years back: Ernie Digregorio. Ernie D was one of the most exciting and talented college basketball players I’ve ever seen. But when he got to the pros he couldn’t match up with bigger and more athletic players, and he unfortunately earned a new nickname, “Ernie No-D.”

We have more recent examples from UConn’s own backyard of great college players that are struggling to establish themselves in the WNBA due to limitations in size or athleticism. Mo, KML & Lou all come to mind.

We’ll find out. Sabrina isn’t small. She’s also the best passer of that group. Meaning whomever guards her has to respect that. I hope she succeeds. A fun player to watch.