Elite 8: who won't be back?

[Vowelguy]

which is another way of saying, who loses the most to graduation?

ND loses Allen, which is huge, but returns a lot
Ore was all youngins, but can they handle going from the hunter to being the hunted?
Bay loses a few key players but is well stocked
FSUs returns Romero but returns Thomas

Stanford loses Samuelson and McCall
SC loses Coates
Miss St ?

I think FSUs window may have closed. I also don't know if Tara can pull another rabbit out of the hat.

I would expect UConn, SC, miss st to be back.

 

[Go/huskies]

Stanford has some really good players coming in one being versatile Wing/Forward Dodson, I think they have a chance to win the PAC again, and possible final four run.

 

[Phil]

FSUs returns Romero but returns Thomas

Presumably you mean:
FSU loses Romero but returns Thomas

 

[chrissaran]

Don't forget. ND gets Thompson from Stanford for her senior season.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

1. Baylor loses quite a bit IMO-Alexis Jones, Alexis Prince, Nina Davis. They return a plethora of post players but only proven guard is Kristy Wallace.

2. ND--loses Allen but how long will it take Thompson to get acclimated to running the Irish offense

3. FSU-missed it's chance

4. Oregon has to deal with PAC12 next season which will be tough again.

5. South Carolina--loses Coates and likely Kaela Davis

6. Mississippi State-loses Dillingham, Chappel, Richardson, and Okorie but return the core.

 

[rugbymate]

Don't forget. ND gets Thompson from Stanford for her senior season.

But, and I don't like saying this, uncertain as to Turners health

 

[Huskee11]

I predict the final four next year will be:

UConn
South Carolina
Notre Dame
UConn second team

 

[Dillon77]

which is another way of saying, who loses the most to graduation?

ND loses Allen, which is huge, but returns a lot
Ore was all youngins, but can they handle going from the hunter to being the hunted?
Bay loses a few key players but is well stocked
FSUs returns Romero but returns Thomas

Stanford loses Samuelson and McCall
SC loses Coates
Miss St ?

I think FSUs window may have closed. I also don't know if Tara can pull another rabbit out of the hat.

I would expect UConn, SC, miss st to be back.

Great start. Some further thoughts:

- Besides Leticia Romero, Florida State loses Brittany Brown, a perpetual energy machine, and Ivey Slaughter. Thomas and Wright return, but it will be tough to replace both Romero and Brown, the heart and soul of this rendition of the Seminoles.
- With SC, everyone is back save Coates, plus PF LaDazhia Williams joins to train with Wilson.
- Stanford has a new whiz kid PG -- Kiana Williams -- coming in, plus Maya Dodson, who could very good.
I think the Aussie, Alanna Smith, can move into McCall's role, but I think the big loss will be Samuelson. Having two outstanding three-point threats (along with McPhee) is tough for teams to handle.
- ND has Lili Thompson, the Stanford grad student, taking over PG duties for Allen, which will help with that loss a bit. But the huge question mark is the status of Brianna Turner, which we really won't begin to know until after the surgery. We've got two frosh bigs coming in with Mikayla Vaughn and Danielle Patterson, but they can't be expected to make immediate impacts. Until then, expect the "core four" of Mabrey, Ogunbowale, Young and Boley to lead the charge, guided by steady eddy Kat Westbeld.
- I think UConn and Miss. State look good to keep their chips at the table and Oregon should only get better. With Kelly Brooks coaching, I don't see regression.

 

[SCspur]

I'm not to sure about Baylor .... they have some good recruits coming in but if they couldn't get it done with seniors I doubt they can do it with freshmans.

Miss St loses a good crop of seniors as well. Dillingham, Okorie, Chapel, and Richardson are big pieces to that program and will be missed. They return William, Vivians, McCowan, and Roshunda Johnson but did they bring enough good recruits to maintain the tradition?

ND will be the most interesting. They only lose Allen but that's a HUGE lost. IMO that's almost as big when they lost diggins. They have Lili Thompson to replace her but is she the same caliber player as Allen and a willing PASSER? Briana Turner must rehab this summer to so that might halt her further development and stamina because it's tough to come back from big injuries and be fully ready to go from the Lots of QTNA for the Irish.

Tenn is a more show me the tell me at this point. They have the best class coming in and returns good players but Holly is an less than average coach. I hope the Lady Vols can get back on track atleast for coach summit's sake. They have all the keys to do it so now they must go out and prove it.

Duke has Lexi Brown and Greenwell back as well as a good recruiting class. Question is can Joanne P McCallie can break through and put them back into the FF?

From the PAC 12 I expect UCLA, Oregon, and Stanford to be front runners. I'm not sure which order though. UCLA has some good players coming in as does Stanford and Oregons freshmen should be seasoned after a strong run.

Texas is a possible sleeper. Brooke McCarty and Ariel Atkins return as well as a seasoned Joyner Holmes. If she can get in shape to play a full game without getting gassed they will be a tough out. They also have McDAA's Rellah Booth and Chasity Patterson coming in. Watch out for the Longhorns as they could be out for Blood next year.

Maryland will take a step back IMO. They lose arguably two of their best players in program history, and add nothing from 2017. Expect Destiny Slocum to do it all as well as Kaila Charles, and Briana Fraser. They just won't be as good next year.

SC could be even better next year. We have AA Wilson and Gray and Davis heating up in the tourney, Ty Harris will be seasoned and is already a big time performer, a top 10 recruiting class and a solid transfer of Alexis Jennings coming in. A big blow could be if Kaela Davis opts to go in the draft but their are no signs to her leaving. She seems to be enjoying her time at USC but she's on a tear right now and her draft stock is skyrocketing each game she plays. Only time will tell.

Lastly UCONN will be flat out dominant. It's simple if the streak continues to next year they will continue to win. The only teams I think that could even give them a game are SC, ND, and possibly Tenn if they get it together. But in the end the huskies will be the team to beat.

 

[Lobo50Fan]

It depends on how well Lili fits into the ND system. I remember her holding onto to the ball quite a bit at Stanford and taking some unnecessary shots.

 

[Dillon77]

It depends on how well Lili fits into the ND system. I remember her holding onto to the ball quite a bit at Stanford and taking some unnecessary shots.

That's a good point. She runs the transition attack well, which ND thrives on. I've got to think she knows what is expected of her in the half-court offense, otherwise she wouldn't of signed on for the year. MM was a PG herself, so she knows what she wants. She'll loosen the leash, but if not to her liking she'll tighten it...or put Ali Patberg in.

 

[Go/huskies]

Some of the best ND teams had guards who would take a bunch of shots, Chantel Allen, McBride, and Diggins comes to mind.

 

[ctdad]

That's a good point. She runs the transition attack well, which ND thrives on. I've got to think she knows what is expected of her in the half-court offense, otherwise she wouldn't of signed on for the year. MM was a PG herself, so she knows what she wants. She'll loosen the leash, but if not to her liking she'll tighten it...or put Ali Patberg in.

A little more selfishness by the PG is not necessarily a bad thing. Allen at times this year seemed almost too focused on making the pass and many times didn't take makeable shots. Now, I don't see every game, so I could be off on this, but that was my perception.

 

[TheGOAT23]

1. Baylor loses quite a bit IMO-Alexis Jones, Alexis Prince, Nina Davis. They return a plethora of post players but only proven guard is Kristy Wallace.

2. ND--loses Allen but how long will it take Thompson to get acclimated to running the Irish offense

3. FSU-missed it's chance

4. Oregon has to deal with PAC12 next season which will be tough again.

5. South Carolina--loses Coates and likely Kaela Davis

6. Mississippi State-loses Dillingham, Chappel, Richardson, and Okorie but return the core.

Baylor also loses Khadijiah Cave.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Taking a bit broader perspective than just the Elite Eight, the teams that return the most firepower from this season amongst those highly ranked would appear to be:

South Carolina
Baylor
Duke
Ohio State
Oregon
Louisville
Texas
UCLA

But looking at the teams with the strongest incoming and potential big impact freshmen, I'd think

Texas- getting Rellah Booth and Chasity Patterson
UCLA- Onyenwere and Horvath
Duke- getting Jade Williams and Mikayla Boykin

I'm not even going to mention UT- great recruiting class/lousy coach

Of course, the top team returning the most firepower is UConn. Add to that the POY and three players who could/should be impact players PLUS two transfers coming of age.

But in terms of the teams, based on who's coming back, and who's coming in, I'd have to say that the Elite Eight teams would be:

South Carolina
Baylor
Oregon
Texas
Louisville
UCLA
Duke

And Our Team

And, yes, our second squad should probably be ranked in the Elite Eight as well:

Second Team:

Crystal Dangerfield
Megan Walker
Batalie Camara/Natalie Butler
Mikayla Coombs
Lexi Gordon/AE-H

 

[Vowelguy]

I'm not convinced Oregon is going to jump up so fast. They have great young talent, but they still were a mediocre team this year, and then benefitted from an injured Duke team and possibly overrated Terps. I would think a jump to near the top of the PAC instead of THE top is more likrly.
Plus the players can't coast on this years success. It will be even harder next year. I'm not ready to put them as top 15 yet.

 

[Vowelguy]

I know this is a lost cause but please I beg of you, stop with the "our 2nd team would be top 5" rubbish. It's annoying. It's arrogant. It's not true.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It depends on how well Lili fits into the ND system. I remember her holding onto to the ball quite a bit at Stanford and taking some unnecessary shots.

She ran hot and cold. She was as likely to shoot them out of a game as into a game. I honestly don't think Stanford missed her this year. They were clearly a better team this year than they were last season.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Stanford also loses Roberson, who became a fairly significant contributor this year after doing almost nothing for 3 years (kind of their version of Saniya Chong). But they return a core of 4 experienced players w/ plenty of talent, this year's touted freshmen who got their feet wet a bit, next year's even more touted freshman, and I heard several times that Tara is really high on guard Alexa Romano. She'll be a Jr. next season but didn't crack the rotation this season. McPhee didn't do much for 2 seasons before having a breakout this year, maybe Romano will do something similar. I don't think Stanford is going anywhere. They haven't won the Pac 12 regular season crown since '14, I bet they're motivated to try to get back to the top of the pile.

UCLA and Oregon could definitely be in the running. Oregon St. will be predicted to slide, but the they were picked to finish 5th this year and still won the league, so I wouldn't write them off just yet.

 

[CocoHusky]

I know this is a lost cause but please I beg of you, stop with the "our 2nd team would be top 5" rubbish. It's annoying. It's arrogant. It's not true.

It is definitely arrogant I'll give you that-no work around for that.
Annoying? Depends on if you believe it or not-simple work around for any post on the BY-ignore it.
True? -Depends on how much you want to speculate-which was kind of like the same intent of this entire thread which you started.
UCONN is going to be adding a ridiculous amount of talent next year to what will likely be a National Championship team returning 4 starters and 3 AA players. So in keeping with the theme of this thread UCONN will have at least 3-5 non-starters next year that would start for ALL of the other teams mentioned in this thread as having potential of returning to the Elite 8.

 

[Fightin Choke]

It is definitely arrogant I'll give you that-no work around for that.
Annoying? Depends on if you believe it or not-simple work around for any post on the BY-ignore it.
True? -Depends on how much you want to speculate-which was kind of like the same intent of this entire thread which you started.
UCONN is going to be adding a ridiculous amount of talent next year to what will likely be a National Championship team returning 4 starters and 3 AA players. So in keeping with the theme of this thread UCONN will have at least 3-5 non-starters next year that would start for ALL of the other teams mentioned in this thread as having potential of returning to the Elite 8.

Are you serious? Stated in other terms, Notre Dame will have at most 2 starters next season that wouldn't be replaced by UConn's bench players (assuming they immediately were available to ND)? And some other Elite 8 teams would not have a single starter beat out UConn's bench? Either your assessment of UConn's bench is very, very optimistic, your assessment of other teams' talent is VERY harsh, or you are trying to be outrageous. So which is it?

 

[Huskee11]

I know this is a lost cause but please I beg of you, stop with the "our 2nd team would be top 5" rubbish. It's annoying. It's arrogant. It's not true.

Lighten up, was meant to be funny.

Sorry I didn't add a smiley face.

 

[CocoHusky]

Are you serious? Stated in other terms, Notre Dame will have at most 2 starters next season that wouldn't be replaced by UConn's bench players (assuming they immediately were available to ND)? And some other Elite 8 teams would not have a single starter beat out UConn's bench? Either your assessment of UConn's bench is very, very optimistic, your assessment of other teams' talent is VERY harsh, or you are trying to be outrageous. So which is it?

Neither, I was being arrogant. Let me be more specific:
1) Megan Walker will likely not start for UCONN next year. Megan walker would start for any other Elite 8 team.
2) Crystal Dangerfield might not start for UCONN Next year. Crystal Dangerfield would start for any other Elite 8 team.
3) Bautouly Camara most likely will start for UCONN Next year. Bautouly Camara could probably could start for many/most other Elite 8 team.
4) Mikayla Coombs.....
5) Lexi Gordon........

Do you disagree?

 

[Fightin Choke]

Lighten up, was meant to be funny.

Sorry I didn't add a smiley face.

I interpreted your list as you intended (to be funny), but Fairfield Fan seemed to take it seriously and I think that's to whom vowelguy was responding. But that's just my impression.

 

[Willie E.Gold]

I agree, at least three second teamers and possibly four would start for any other team