You are correct, the two years are not comparable. We had no returning PG's last year, but three incoming players competing for that job, two freshmen Paige and Nika, and one transfer in Evina who can play there although it might not be her best position. The path to significant playing time and starting for Paige was much easier than it will be for Azzi, regardless of who the better player is.
The Diana reference is a good one here as well. I sometimes think of all the impressive things Shea Ralph has done, perhaps the biggest was being the reason the GOAT came off the bench her freshmen year. Do I hope Azzi can beat out say Christyn or Evina for a starting role? Yea I do, because that probably means she is not just better, but clearly way better than a very good senior incumbent starter, forcing Geno to make the difficult decision. She might do it, but clearly she has a much more difficult road to get there.
Another factor as many have mentioned is with Dorka and Amari coming onboard, and Aaliyah earning a start, there is no longer a need to play a guard at the 4. Remember with Nika we really have 4 returning starting guards for now only 3 not 4 positions. One of those incumbent starters probably gets demoted even without Azzi. If Azzi starts, then two incumbent starters are benched.
With 6 quality players for 3 positions, to me there are only two things I am fairly certain of, Paige is the only guaranteed starter at least at this early stage, and that of the 6, Carolyn will at least start off training camp as #6 with the chance to move up if she earns it. Everything in between is clearly in play and to be determined. Assuming Paige starts and Carolyn does not, the Boneyard has plenty of supporters for every combination of which two of the remaining four contenders starts. Time will tell.
