Creighton WBB coach - tradition vs the portal

[BRS24]

Coach Jim Flanery sticking to tradition when building next Creighton women's basketball roster

With its tournament loss some weeks in the rearview, Flanery is hoping that isn’t how this past season is remembered. “We had the highest seed that we ever had as

omaha.com

And while just 13 months removed from a historic Elite Eight run, Flanery’s eyes are set on continuing to build upon the foundation that’s kept his program intact for so long.

Flanery isn’t interested in inserting the wrong piece of the puzzle into a core that features Morgan Maly, Lauren Jensen and Emma Ronsiek. Don't get him wrong, it’s tempting. Virtually every coach has seen their hand slip into the portal as it radiantly glows back at them with win-now gambles. But he’s chosen to bet on his system and culture.

 

[Dublin]

Flanery isn’t interested in inserting the wrong piece of the puzzle into a core that features Morgan Maly, Lauren Jensen and Emma Ronsiek. Don't get him wrong, it’s tempting. Virtually every coach has seen their hand slip into the portal as it radiantly glows back at them with win-now gambles. But he’s chosen to bet on his system and culture.

As things change over time, you must adapt to be successful. With this attitude, his days of future success are numbered.

 

[bballnut90]

As things change over time, you must adapt to be successful. With this attitude, his days of future success are numbered.

Could just be he doesn’t want to implement that strategy with this group of players since they have a good thing going and solid chemistry. Once this core leaves and if he experiences some notable transfers I think his tune would change.

 

[genzhusk]

They desperately need at least one 6-3 post so that they’re only 2 inches shorter than other elite posts. Right now their two post players are 6-1.

 

[Zarathustra]

They desperately need at least one 6-3 post so that they’re only 2 inches shorter than other elite posts. Right now their two post players are 6-1.

I heard that Creighton has a secret weapon to stretch Morgan Maly to 6'4". !! Go Morgan!!

 

[Rowdy831]

I like his commitment to the players he recruited and I think he has a noble optimism for his future teams. The problem though is you can't keep players from leaving your program without notice and when that happens you have to replace those players out of of the normal channels and then the portal becomes a great tool.

The Portal is here to stay I just hope it works for the players. The sitting out a year at least made kids really think if it was worth the risk, now there really isn't any mechanism in place to reduce the pace of decision making. I still think Elite programs should stay away from it and recruit the players that commit to the program, maybe I'm just a dinosaur.

 

[Carnac]

“To push UConn harder to win the league,” Flanery said. “I’m not saying we’re gonna win it, but we’ve been third the last two years. It’s a really good league. … Can we compete with (UConn) and have a go late in the year?” That's the goal of every team in the league every year. Only two players have transferred out of his program since the fall of 2009. And while just 13 months removed from a historic Elite Eight run, Flanery’s eyes are set on continuing to build upon the foundation that’s kept his program intact for so long.

There are lots of reasons players transfer. One is being recruited over, thus cutting into your anticipated playing time for the coming season. As bballnut 90 said "Could just be he doesn’t want to implement that strategy with this group of players since they have a good thing going and solid chemistry. Once this core leaves and if he experiences some notable transfers I think his tune would change."

Team chemistry is a very delicate thing to build, cultivate and maintain. Two players lost in 14 years is something to behold. It appears his way (philosophy) is working for him. LSU's Kim Mulkey won the NC with (I believe) 6-7 new players from the portal, so it's hard to argue with the idea of building a team TO WIN NOW from the portal. I also read that one coach has no 2023 class recruits coming in, and instead plans on "restocking her roster strictly from the portal.

I saw a cartoon here that depicts the portal similar to that of a grocery store. When you unexpectedly lose 2-3 players, where else can you go to replace them? The recruiting period for the 2023 class is over. I just checked.... every one of the top 100 players ranked in the ESPN Hoopgurlz class for 2023 has signed/committed.

 

[undersized]

The weakness of this article is that it fails to mention Lauren Jensen was herself a transfer.

 

[BRS24]

I like his commitment to the players he recruited and I think he has a noble optimism for his future teams. The problem though is you can't keep players from leaving your program without notice and when that happens you have to replace those players out of of the normal channels and then the portal becomes a great tool.

IMHO, Geno, without saying it out loud, is of a similar philosophy. He establishes relationship players and stays with them. The portal may enhance what you've already got, or it may end up solving a problem you cannot foresee (Lou), and managing either is a very delicate balance. UConn wants players to develop over 4 years, and with the chemistry shown by the team over the past few, Geno would be hard pressed to change to a portal type of free agency each year.

 

[DeepThreat]

I wonder how much contact time a coach gets with a player in the portal. It seems to me recruiting a kid out of HS gives a coach more time to develop a relatywith said players, whereas with the portal maybe not so much. And if that transfer is a one and done, his approach makes sense.