Mikayla Coombs to Transfer

[MilfordHusky]

Best wishes to Mikayla! Thanks for the past 2 years!

 

[oldude]

Jas IS in basketball shape.

So is Shea, even after having a baby.

 

[oldude]

Not sure I buy that. When she first joined the program she could barely run the floor. I remember it was her passing abilities that he talked about.

Geno commented on recruiting Steph in HS that he went to watch her play and the thing that impressed him most was that she got knocked down several times, but always jumped right up and ran down the court. Don’t confuse Steph’s conditioning with her effort. Steph didn’t get into really good shape until her jr year at UConn, when she earned her 1st AA honor, but she always gave you everything she had. Marshall is a different case. She appears to be in reasonably good condition, but she takes plays off and seldom runs hard.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Not sure I buy that. When she first joined the program she could barely run the floor. I remember it was her passing abilities that he talked about.

I remember him saying something about he was impressed by how she would end up on the floor but would always get right up and run with determination to the other end.

 

[Plebe]

Raoul:
"UConn WBB signed 14 players out of HS in the 2014 through 2017 recruiting classes. Mikayla Coombs leaving would make 6 who have transferred, amounting to a 43% attrition rate. If you look at just those ranked in the top 100, it's 6 out of 12 transferring, or 50%."

Raoul (@Raoul_000) | Twitter

 

[ochoopsfan]

Stef always had great hands and footwork. But she was slow and out of shape.

Totally agree.
I went to Nike Nationals, AAU Championship, in the summer of 2009. Stefs team was Tennessee Flight(KML was on that team too). When she played against Lauren Engelns team, Cal Swish, she couldnt keep up with the pace of the game and the coach put her on the bench for a good part of the game. I thought she had great foot work, if she was allowed to post up, and she was a good passer. Running up and down the floor was not her game. She was too slow for the running game of Cal Swish.
Geno, and staff, did a great job with her, not only getting her in better shape, but having her develop an outside jump shot.

 

[EricLA]

Raoul:
"UConn WBB signed 14 players out of HS in the 2014 through 2017 recruiting classes. Mikayla Coombs leaving would make 6 who have transferred, amounting to a 43% attrition rate. If you look at just those ranked in the top 100, it's 6 out of 12 transferring, or 50%."

Raoul (@Raoul_000) | Twitter

I will be worried when we lose our first top 10 kid. Till then, the kids who are leaving weren't good enough to be starters and most all of them wanted more PT. Give it a rest, Raoul.

 

[Argonaut]

I will be worried when we lose our first top 10 kid. Till then, the kids who are leaving weren't good enough to be starters and most all of them wanted more PT. Give it a rest, Raoul.

Will someone reply and ask for those same stats for other top ten programs? I’m honestly curious and don’t want to do the work.

 

[UConnCat]

Raoul:
"UConn WBB signed 14 players out of HS in the 2014 through 2017 recruiting classes. Mikayla Coombs leaving would make 6 who have transferred, amounting to a 43% attrition rate. If you look at just those ranked in the top 100, it's 6 out of 12 transferring, or 50%."

Raoul (@Raoul_000) | Twitter

This guy really is a tool. It's never quite clear what his point is other than he picks out a few coaches and programs he dislikes and then offers up what seems like a criticism. A few years ago after Azura and Batouly announced they were transferring to UConn he went on a rant about teams like UConn hoarding players. I know, right? Truth be told, he was upset because he wanted Stevens and Batouly to transfer to Michigan but that was never happening. He's transparent and a bit of a baby.

 

[Plebe]

This guy really is a tool. It's never quite clear what his point is other than he picks out a few coaches and programs he dislikes and then offers up what seems like a criticism. A few years ago after Azura and Batouly announced they were transferring to UConn he went on a rant about teams like UConn hoarding players. I know, right? Truth be told, he was upset because he wanted Stevens and Batouly to transfer to Michigan but that was never happening. He's transparent and a bit of a baby.

I didn't know he was a Michigan guy.
He clearly has his triggers and biases, but he also gets good scoops. Take with ample salt.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I will be worried when we lose our first top 10 kid. Till then, the kids who are leaving weren't good enough to be starters and most all of them wanted more PT. Give it a rest, Raoul.

What about Delle Donne?

 

[willtalk]

If Westbrook is coming to UConn, the situation at Tenn certainly should qualify her for a waiver to play next season.

 

[CajunHusky]

Totally agree.
I went to Nike Nationals, AAU Championship, in the summer of 2009. Stefs team was Tennessee Flight(KML was on that team too). When she played against Lauren Engelns team, Cal Swish, she couldnt keep up with the pace of the game and the coach put her on the bench for a good part of the game. I thought she had great foot work, if she was allowed to post up, and she was a good passer. Running up and down the floor was not her game. She was too slow for the running game of Cal Swish.
Geno, and staff, did a great job with her, not only getting her in better shape, but having her develop an outside jump shot.

If I remember correctly Geno was drawn to Stef for her heart. She never gave up. She got knocked down she got up and ran... never took plays off and just gutted everything out. And it worked out pretty good for Stef and UConn.

 

[uconnfan68]

What about Delle Donne?

Never even practiced, let alone played a game.

 

[EricLA]

What about Delle Donne?

What about her? She never even made it to the first day of school. I don't really count her as a kid who transferred - heck, she didn't even play hoops at Deleware in the beginning - she played volleyball.

Some of you people (not saying this to you @hoopsfan22) want to pigeon-hole everything into a nice tidy box. It doesn't work that way. There's not a single player who transferred from UCONN who has gone on to play professionally. Not a single one. Unless you want to count Delle Donne, which I don't.

Some of the kids were drafted, but never really made teams (Michala Johnson, Samarie Walker maybe?). Anyway go back and look at the transfers out, where they went, and how "good" they were at their new teams. Most of these kids didn't even make all conference teams.

1990s - 1 National Championship

1. Tammy Arnold
2. Marci Glenney
3. Clark (forget her first name)
4. Kennitra Johnson (Purdue)

2000's - 5 National Championships

1. Gillian Goring (NC State)
2. Liz Sherwood (Vandy)
3. Kiana Robinson (Cumberland)
4. Kia Wright (SJU)

2010's - 5 National Championships, but a string of 12 straight final 4's dating back to 2007

1. Samarie Walker (Kentucky)
2. Michala Johnson (Illinois)
3. Lauren Engeln (BCU)
4. Brianna Banks (Penn State)
5. Courtney Ekmark (ASU)
6. Sadie Edwards (USC)
7. De'Janae Boykin (Penn State)
8. Andra Hunter (Mississippi State)
9. Lexi Gordon (Texas Tech)
10. Mikayla Coombs

Of the top 20'ish kids who transferred (Walker, Edwards, Boykin, Coombs, Banks), one left for very personal reasons, 2 were basically dismissed from the team (more or less), Coombs is the latest, and I suspect like Banks, just wanted more PT.

The reason i listed the final 4's and NC's is that UCONN's dominant run has lasted 12 years going back to 2007. The amount of top 10 and top 5 talent UCONN has amassed on its' roster is mind boggling. When you have as many as 6 or even 7 top 10 kids on a roster, the others just won't get the PT.

Anyway, as I said in another post, I'll start worrying when our legit top 10 kids start leaving. Until then, when you have so much talent on the roster, kids who feel they want/need/deserve more PT simply won't last.

 

[TheFarmFan]

So let's do a little math. There are around 350 D1 basketball programs. Let's say they have, on average, 12 scholarship players each, for a total of 4,200. Let's say that each school actually gives meaningful PT to 7 players each on average for a total of 2,450. That leaves somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,750 players who hate sitting on the bench, and in WBB it's even worse because the really good players stay for all 4 years. There's no one and dones.

I think this varies somewhat by program. If memory serves, Stanford had 10 players who averaged ten or more minutes per game last season, and once they were in conference, there weren't too many junk minute games. I suspect that's unusual, but Tara in particular likes to go deep into her bench, as most defense-oriented coaches like to do. CTT at ASU also assigns significant time to almost all of her players via her hockey-esque rotations. Then again, those two schools tend to have very very few transfers.

 

[oldude]

I think this varies somewhat by program. If memory serves, Stanford had 10 players who averaged ten or more minutes per game last season, and once they were in conference, there weren't too many junk minute games. I suspect that's unusual, but Tara in particular likes to go deep into her bench, as most defense-oriented coaches like to do. CTT at ASU also assigns significant time to almost all of her players via her hockey-esque rotations. Then again, those two schools tend to have very very few transfers.

Stanford is a true exception. But the prestige of a Stanford degree is something that attracts and maintains the quality of depth that most other programs only dream of.

 

[Plebe]

I think this varies somewhat by program. If memory serves, Stanford had 10 players who averaged ten or more minutes per game last season, and once they were in conference, there weren't too many junk minute games. I suspect that's unusual, but Tara in particular likes to go deep into her bench, as most defense-oriented coaches like to do. CTT at ASU also assigns significant time to almost all of her players via her hockey-esque rotations. Then again, those two schools tend to have very very few transfers.

Sabrina Haines and Lili Thompson are the only out-transfers within the past 5-ish years that come to mind.

 

[BigBird]

Sabrina Haines and Lili Thompson are the only out-transfers within the past 5-ish years that come to mind.

Wasn’t Thompson a graduate “transfer?” Big difference, me thinks.

 

[hoopsfan22]

What about her? She never even made it to the first day of school. I don't really count her as a kid who transferred - heck, she didn't even play hoops at Deleware in the beginning - she played volleyball.

Some of you people (not saying this to you @hoopsfan22) want to pigeon-hole everything into a nice tidy box. It doesn't work that way. There's not a single player who transferred from UCONN who has gone on to play professionally. Not a single one. Unless you want to count Delle Donne, which I don't.

Some of the kids were drafted, but never really made teams (Michala Johnson, Samarie Walker maybe?). Anyway go back and look at the transfers out, where they went, and how "good" they were at their new teams. Most of these kids didn't even make all conference teams.

1990s - 1 National Championship

1. Tammy Arnold
2. Marci Glenney
3. Clark (forget her first name)
4. Kennitra Johnson (Purdue)

2000's - 5 National Championships

1. Gillian Goring (NC State)
2. Liz Sherwood (Vandy)
3. Kiana Robinson (Cumberland)
4. Kia Wright (SJU)

2010's - 5 National Championships, but a string of 12 straight final 4's dating back to 2007

1. Samarie Walker (Kentucky)
2. Michala Johnson (Illinois)
3. Lauren Engeln (BCU)
4. Brianna Banks (Penn State)
5. Courtney Ekmark (ASU)
6. Sadie Edwards (USC)
7. De'Janae Boykin (Penn State)
8. Andra Hunter (Mississippi State)
9. Lexi Gordon (Texas Tech)
10. Mikayla Coombs

Of the top 20'ish kids who transferred (Walker, Edwards, Boykin, Coombs, Banks), one left for very personal reasons, 2 were basically dismissed from the team (more or less), Coombs is the latest, and I suspect like Banks, just wanted more PT.

The reason i listed the final 4's and NC's is that UCONN's dominant run has lasted 12 years going back to 2007. The amount of top 10 and top 5 talent UCONN has amassed on its' roster is mind boggling. When you have as many as 6 or even 7 top 10 kids on a roster, the others just won't get the PT.

Anyway, as I said in another post, I'll start worrying when our legit top 10 kids start leaving. Until then, when you have so much talent on the roster, kids who feel they want/need/deserve more PT simply won't last.

I never worry about transfers other than providing depth from the team perspective. I always say how many of them went on to become a star (or even make a difference) at their new school? I can't really think of one. Which means you're left with the question of did Geno and Co. blow it when they recruited them, or did the recruits have a different expectation or role in mind, and when it didn't work out the way they had envisioned they transferred?

 

[Argonaut]

I never worry about transfers other than providing depth from the team perspective. I always say how many of them went on to become a star (or even make a difference) at their new school? I can't really think of one. Which means you're left with the question of did Geno and Co. blow it when they recruited them, or did the recruits have a different expectation or role in mind, and when it didn't work out the way they had envisioned they transferred?

AEH put up decent points at MSST this year and will be a major contributor for them by the time she graduates. If Vic could get her to play some defense, she’d be dangerous.

 

[UConnNick]

Sad. Really thought she had a good defensive side. Lots of transfers lately. Hopefully we have 6 players left. What’s happening with women’s basketball now?

Millenials. They all want their participation trophies. You can't blame them. They were raised in that particular culture where everybody gets to play.

 

[uconnfan68]

AEH put up decent points at MSST this year and will be a major contributor for them by the time she graduates. If Vic could get her to play some defense, she’d be dangerous.

If all people that should have known what she was getting into...

 

[MilfordHusky]

Sabrina Haines and Lili Thompson are the only out-transfers within the past 5-ish years that come to mind.

Going back a little farther, Jamie Carey went from Stanford to Texas, but part of that was because the Stanford docs wouldn't clear her. Also, JJ Hones left early, but involuntarily. These situations are obviously different. Will Marta Sniezek be a grad transfer?

 

[Plebe]

Going back a little farther, Jamie Carey went from Stanford to Texas, but part of that was because the Stanford docs wouldn't clear her. Also, JJ Hones left early, but involuntarily. These situations are obviously different. Will Marta Sniezek be a grad transfer?

Oh yeah, forgot about Sniezek. Raoul Man of Mystery said she is "presumably" a grad transfer.