early returns on transfer

[nwhoopfan]

Open to anything. Big surprises? Not living up to expectations? About what was expected?

Madison Conner at TCU is the biggest eye opener for me so far.

Louisville lost quite a bit of scoring from last year (top 3 and 5 of top 6, I'm not counting Verlhurst since she left so early in the season). There was an obvious void there. They brought in high scoring transfers Kiki Jefferson (1800+ pts in 4 years at JMU) and Jayda Curry (900+ in 2 years at Cal). They are averaging 8.3 and 8.8 ppg thus far. Not what I had envisioned for them.

Also Destinee Wells at Tennessee. Over 1600 pts in 3 years at Belmont. Averaging a bit under 7 ppg for the Vols, but almost all of her scoring was in 1 game (18 out of 27) out the 4 she's played. Maybe that'll get her on track? I wasn't expecting her to be their leading scorer with who else they have, but I didn't think she would be an afterthought barely scoring at all.

 

[nwhoopfan]

oops thread title should be transfers as in plural

 

[Puppy Love]

LSU certainly made out….

 

[nwhoopfan]

LSU certainly made out….

I think they've been settling in and contributing well since another player stepped aside for a minute or two...

 

[nwhoopfan]

Paopao seems to be fitting in well at South Carolina.

Prince is also doing well at TCU.

Oregon St. fans seem to be really happy with Kelsey Rees, playing a bigger role than she ever did at Utah.

 

[DaBball]

How many mid-/low major transfers have actually made an (early) impact at high major programs?

I’d be surprised if it was much more than a handful.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oops, Betts at UCLA probably should've been mentioned right off the top. Thriving there it appears.

 

[nwhoopfan]

How many mid-/low major transfers have actually made an (early) impact at high major programs?

I’d be surprised if it was much more than a handful.

I'd really have to rack my brain thinking about that. In recent memory Lopez Senchal at UConn immediately jumps to mind.

 

[nwhoopfan]

How many mid-/low major transfers have actually made an (early) impact at high major programs?

I’d be surprised if it was much more than a handful.

Thought of a few more. Dyasha Fair was obviously very talented when she was at Buffalo, not that surprising she's been good after following her coach to Syracuse.

Raina Perez didn't put up big numbers but I think she pretty clearly was a key cog in some very good NC State teams after coming over from Cal St. Fullerton.

I think Haley Cavinder silenced some doubters last year, having a very solid year for Miami after 3 years at Fresno St. Hanna on the other hand had very little impact.

Those are all fairly recent. If I put my thinking cap on I could probably come up with some more.

 

[BruinGold]

Oops, Betts at UCLA probably should've been mentioned right off the top. Thriving there it appears.

I know her parents are over the moon. They appear to be pretty happy about Sienna opting to come to UCLA, as well.

I still think that the team has to figure out how to get Betts the ball more, and adjust on defense. I note that in late action in a close game, Close moved Betts away from the low post and into the high post or out onto the wing, and then had the better free throw shooters drive to the basket. But Betts was 9-9 from the floor and 4-4 from the line in that game. So, I am not sure what the thinking is there.

 

[Lorcan]

I'd say that Nylah Young, formerly of Hampton, is having a good start at William and Mary.

Charlisse Dunn (VT) has helped Davidson to an upset of Duke.

Matharu at Florida has been a good spark for them.

Payton Verhulst is having herself a season at Oklahoma after departing Louisville.

Dre'Una Edwards has been integral for Baylor.

Those are the few that come to mind.

 

[Lorcan]

You could even argue that Beyonce' Bea's start at Wazzu has been an important piece of the puzzle as Wazzu marches towards a matchup with Maryland.

 

[triaddukefan]

Early returns at Duke are promising. Mair is a definite upgrade at PG over former #30. Esmbo has been really solid for us as well. 7.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, and 2.4 bpg playing an average of 22 minutes a game.

 

[CalWBBfan]

Marta Suárez for Cal is averaging 26 minutes per game, 16.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg and shooting 44% from 3 point land (11/25). Ionna Krimiili was leading scorer, but has sat out the last two games with a knee tweak. Her stats for only 3 games 15 ppg, shooting 55% from 3 point land (8-15) in 22 minutes per game. McKayala Williams has also been playing well....sort of a jack of all trades player who can step up as needed averaging 31 mpg and 7.4 rpg.

 

[Dynastic]

Oops, Betts at UCLA probably should've been mentioned right off the top. Thriving there it appears.

Yeah I wish Uconn had played the Portal. Size matters it’s basketball. Wemby is known for something and it’s not his conversation ability (I.e. Britney, Vegas). Not sure about transfer rules… maybe we can make a move this season. I love all our teams, but we aren’t going to make every shot and a rebound would be nice. Happy Thanksgiving !

 

[Geew1992]

Yeah I wish Uconn had played the Portal. Size matters it’s basketball. Wemby is known for something and it’s not his conversation ability (I.e. Britney, Vegas). Not sure about transfer rules… maybe we can make a move this season. I love all our teams, but we aren’t going to make every shot and a rebound would be nice. Happy Thanksgiving !

How do you know UConn didn’t??

 

[Dillon77]

Marquette has started 6-0, with wins over Illinois, Boston College and Arkansas, among the six victories.
They've gotten solid contributions from their two most recent transfers:

• Frannie Hottinger, the 2022-'23 Patriot League player of the year while at Lehigh, is averaging 9.0 ppg and, perhaps more importantly, 8.5 rebounds per game. She plays alongside fellow Minnesotan Liza Karlen.
• Lee Volker, the former High School All-American at St. Paul VI before spending two years at Duke, comes off the bench and contributes 6.2 ppg and 3.5 rpg.

My hunch is Hottinger, who averaged more some 20 ppg at Lehigh, has held back on scoring while Marquette holdovers Jordan King, Karlen and, especially, sophomore McKenzie Hare lead the way. She could get more involved as the Golden Eagles get further into the season, especially in Big East play.

 

[Dillon77]

Taking a look at the Irish, the transfer who has made the most contributions is grad transfer Anna DeWolfe (from Fordham). DeWolfe, a combo guard, was brought aboard to be a little Dara Mabrey, a bit of a back-up for whomever the lead point guard was. She's done all that and her role as "glue" has grown with Soni Citron out for the foreseeable future.

She's averaged 29 minutes per game (3rd on the team, when Citron was playing; now 2nd behind Hidalgo);
8.8 ppg, 4 assists per game and 2.8 rpt. She's not really broken out her three-pt. shooting, but had a solid scoring day with Hidalgo at Ball State.

Perhaps her major role has been tag team partner with her precocious frosh back-court partner, Hannah Hidalgo. They seem to genuinely like each other and feed off each other, well.

 

[oldude]

I just watched a video that takes a much longer view of the situation in Baton Rouge with Reese. Well before the Kent St game, Mulkey had a problem with her superstar, who was not posting up hard, not hustling and playing “Ole” defense. Reese’s defense was a particular problem. While Mulkey frequently criticized her “team’s” defensive effort in the early games, she was clearly referencing Reese who wasn’t getting into a good defensive stance and was often seen standing around watching opponents score.

Whatever you think about Aneesah Morrow, she always plays hard. With the ongoing problems with Reese, along with the injury to Sa’Myah Smith, Morrow has been a godsend for LSU, earning All-Tournament honors for her outstanding play in the Cayman Islands Classic.

 

[Dillon77]

I just watched a video that takes a much longer view of the situation in Baton Rouge with Reese. Well before the Kent St game, Mulkey had a problem with her superstar, who was not posting up hard, not hustling and playing “Ole” defense.

Whatever you think about Aneesah Morrow, she always plays hard. With the ongoing problems with Reese, along with the injury to Sa’Myah Smith, Morrow has been a godsend for LSU, earning All-Tournament honors for her outstanding play in the Cayman Islands Classic.

Speak truth here, @olddude.

Aneesah was an undersized forward who tried to do everything for DePaul.
Now that Reese is ???, she's virtually the perfect person to step up in regards to rebounding, scoring.
And, candidly, she may have more scoring tools at this juncture than Angel (who really has to develop a jumper).

Now that we're out of the world of Flohoops, i'll watch a game to see how she and Van Lith are working with each other.

 

[oldude]

Speak truth here, @olddude.

Aneesah was an undersized forward who tried to do everything for DePaul.
Now that Reese is ???, she's virtually the perfect person to step up in regards to rebounding, scoring.
And, candidly, she may have more scoring tools at this juncture than Angel (who really has to develop a jumper).

Now that we're out of the world of Flohoops, i'll watch a game to see how she and Van Lith are working with each other.

In the video I mentioned above, there is a play when Van Lith attempts to feed Reese in the post. Reese does a terrible job of pinning her defender, who gets around her to steal the entry pass. Reese then proceeds to yell at Van Lith for not feeding her a “perfect” pass. With Poole also in the doghouse at LSU, Van Lith, who also plays very hard, is another critical addition for the defending champions.

I’m reasonably sure that grades have nothing to do with Reese’s absence. What is baffling is that if it was just about “lack of effort” Reese would be sitting on the LSU bench. But she has missed 4 games, and her friend Poole has missed 2games. Something else happened between Reese, Poole & Mulkey, that nobody is talking about. With Kim going radio silent, we will probably never know what happened to cause her to suspend her star player and supposed team leader for 4 games and counting.

 

[Dillon77]

In the video I mentioned above, there is a play when Van Lith attempts to feed Reese in the post. Reese does a terrible job of pinning her defender, who gets around her to steal the entry pass. Reese then proceeds to yell at Van Lith for not feeding her a “perfect” pass. With Poole also in the doghouse at LSU, Van Lith, who also plays very hard, is anotherOne critical addition for the defending champions.

I’m reasonably sure that grades have nothing to do with Reese’s absence. What is baffling is that if it was just about “lack of effort” Reese would be sitting on the LSU bench. But she has missed 4 games, and her friend Poole has missed 2games. Something else happened between Reese, Poole & Mulkey, that nobody is talking about. With Kim going radio silent, we will probably never know what happened to cause her to suspend her star player and supposed team leader for 4 games and counting.

One of my gripes with many coaches -- including Kim -- is going "radio silent" (as you put it) when dealing with issues. I'm not talking about medical issues, where the injured person is protected by law on disclosures, but on issues such as these. Angel turned 21 in May and is an adult. We're clearly beyond the time of "protecting the amateur student athlete," so what gives? If it's a violation of team rules or she looked at you funny, own up to it. Is she having personal issues and you've granted her time off? Well, state that, too. A coach can protect innermost secrets yet identify a root cause...there's an entire industry predicated on this.

I think you're onto something with the triangulation issue, but don't expect to hear anything straight or even hypotenuse about it....at least not from Kim.

p.s. Agree with you on Van Lith. There's a lot about her game I'm not a fan of ... but giving full effort isn't one of them.

 

[Gordo]

Kim had said that we would know more about Poole when they got back from the Cayman Islands. Has she released anything, did I miss it? Mulkey is never going to tell us anything about the Reese situation or about any player she reprimands. She believes it's none of our business, and besides it's much more fun to read between the lines and speculate. I think the benching told us all we need to know.

 

[GamecockFam]

One of my gripes with many coaches -- including Kim -- is going "radio silent" (as you put it) when dealing with issues. I'm not talking about medical issues, where the injured person is protected by law on disclosures, but on issues such as these. Angel turned 21 in May and is an adult. We're clearly beyond the time of "protecting the amateur student athlete," so what gives? If it's a violation of team rules or she looked at you funny, own up to it. Is she having personal issues and you've granted her time off? Well, state that, too. A coach can protect innermost secrets yet identify a root cause...there's an entire industry predicated on this.

I think you're onto something with the triangulation issue, but don't expect to hear anything straight or even hypotenuse about it....at least not from Kim.

p.s. Agree with you on Van Lith. There's a lot about her game I'm not a fan of ... but giving full effort isn't one of them.

I disagree. I think these things should be treated internally unless the action has something to do with the public. The public has no right to this information and if I were a coach, I would take the same approach as Mulkey. There is more to lose when this information is made public, even a basic root cause, because of the compounding issues made through online harassment in social media and in the news. People will run to conclusions. She is protecting her players and trying to build trust. I think it is her intent to heal the relationship.

 

[Dillon77]

I disagree. I think these things should be treated internally unless the action has something to do with the public. The public has no right to this information and if I were a coach, I would take the same approach as Mulkey. There is more to lose when this information is made public, even a basic root cause, because of the compounding issues made through online harassment in social media and in the news. People will run to conclusions. She is protecting her players and trying to build trust. I think it is her intent to heal the relationship.

Obviously, I take a different tact.
Per your point about conjecture and possible harassment in social media by giving a basic statement of truth., I think that's a heck of a lot better than saying nothing; thereby leading to what @Gordo writes:
"She -(Kim) believes it's none of our business, and besides it's much more fun to read between the lines and speculate."

Angel Reese was/is arleady getting slammed over this a heck of a lot more than Kim Mulkey is and I've read a few articles asking why Kim can't state the basic nature of the issue (Reese/Poole after all are at the heart of it). The more you let it linger, the more it festers. State what's going on and the news cycle moves on. (As for those who live on social media, there will always be the haters: just look at how some fans won't give things up years/decades later.).

I've been a coach and for middle school - early high school female athletes (yes, the "mean girl" years) and
deciding how to work with various "publics" in an array of situation is always a challenge. One thing I learned is that things go public...fast. Better to get a handle on it.

That said, I highly doubt that Mulkey is going to budge.