Katie Lou

[Aluminny69]

UPDATE

Does the departure of Katie Lou Samuelson help or hurt the Indiana Fever? This is from IndyStar:
Katie Lou Samuelson has agreed to a six-figure buyout. Samuelson, who agreed to a contract divorce with the Fever on Monday, was set to make around $180,000 in 2025. Her buyout, which is her salary minus the veteran minimum plus $5,000 to adhere to a CBA rule, comes out to $106,419.
Samuelson could still be claimed on waivers, and she will be on the waiver wire for five days. A team is unlikely to claim her, however, because that would include taking on her full contract.
Once Samuelson clears waivers, she will become a free agent and can sign with a team for as low as the veteran minimum of $78,831. That means, with her buyout from the Fever being over six figures, Indiana will likely be paying her more in 2025 than her new team will.
The Fever will have around $117,000 in cap space and two roster spots open on the roster after Samuelson's buyout. This does not include Jaelyn Brown's contract, which is currently a training camp deal. Brown's contract of around $66,000 will only affect the cap space if she makes the opening day roster.
This amount, however, is not enough to sign two players by the start of the season — the minimum for players with 0-2 years of experience is around $66,000, putting the minimum the Fever would need at $132,000.
So, unless Indiana makes some other moves, it will likely start the season with 11 players.
The minimum salary for players will go down as the season goes on, as it is pro-rated for the number of games left, so the Fever could sign someone midseason once they can afford it.

 

[Dillon77]

She didn't return to Vandy this season.

I noticed that while checking out Blakes statistics this year. Any reason announced? (Perhaps playing in Unrivaled, combined with being a parent?)

 

[YoDore]

I noticed that while checking out Blakes statistics this year. Any reason announced? (Perhaps playing in Unrivaled, combined with being a parent?)

It hasn't been mentioned. I'm sure it's nothing negative, though. Shea and Katie Lou seem to have a great relationship. The way they approached it was that Katie Lou was taking the opportunity to dip her toe into coaching to see how she liked it. She and Kyla Irwin both took advantage of that NCAA initiative to allow some staff members to become part of coaching staff for that very reason. The fact that Lou had just had a baby and did not want to travel overseas to play again was also mentioned. Maybe Unrivaled was a factor this year. She was originally hired as director of player development and retained those duties even after adding coaching duties later. Not sure if there are plans for her to eventually return to that position.

All indications are that she is much loved around the program. Funny story: While waiting for the paperwork to go through to hire Lou for the player development role, she wasn't sitting on the bench with the team but sat in a seat behind the bench. When South Carolina came to play, Shea said during pre-game warmups Dawn came down and said her players wanted to meet Katie Lou and asked if it would be OK. Shea got a kick out of, and, of course, said they could. She later kidded that's when she realized Katie Lou might be a big deal.

 

[ochoopsfan]

It hasn't been mentioned. I'm sure it's nothing negative, though. Shea and Katie Lou seem to have a great relationship. The way they approached it was that Katie Lou was taking the opportunity to dip her toe into coaching to see how she liked it. She and Kyla Irwin both took advantage of that NCAA initiative to allow some staff members to become part of coaching staff for that very reason. The fact that Lou had just had a baby and did not want to travel overseas to play again was also mentioned. Maybe Unrivaled was a factor this year. She was originally hired as director of player development and retained those duties even after adding coaching duties later. Not sure if there are plans for her to eventually return to that position.

All indications are that she is much loved around the program. Funny story: While waiting for the paperwork to go through to hire Lou for the player development role, she wasn't sitting on the bench with the team but sat in a seat behind the bench. When South Carolina came to play, Shea said during pre-game warmups Dawn came down and said her players wanted to meet Katie Lou and asked if it would be OK. Shea got a kick out of, and, of course, said they could. She later kidded that's when she realized Katie Lou might be a big deal.

Shea came to watch KLS play in HS at Mater Dei
I was sitting with KLS's mom and Shea came down to sit next to us.
I was wearing a Stanford hat, supporting older sisters Bonnie and Karlie.
KLS's mom introuduced me to Shea and Shea said "Whats with the hat?"
I didnt have a UConn hat at that time,
KLS's mom got me a UConn cap and I had it in a week. Still have it.
I believe Kyla Irwin has gone back to college, I think Penn State(?), to get an advanced degree.