Any idea why Ali Campbell gets no minutes?
It's a good question and one that is perplexing many McGraw's Bench regulars.
With no inside knowledge, I think the first answer is that there are simply too many off-guards on the ND roster: Anaya Peoples, Katlyn Gilbert and Destinee Walker all averaged double figures last year and Abby Prohaska is back from her lung issues (knock on wood and thank the heavens).
Campbell played in the first four games that Gilbert missed. She didn't show much offensively, but I think she was deferring to her elders. However, she played decent defense and rebounded well. And she was getting meaningful playing time. ND fans were a bit surprised when she went from double-digit minutes to zip. Had to have been Gilbert's return. Ivey likes Gilbert's length (a Campbell feature, too), but Katlyn missed yesterday's game and Ali still stayed glued to her seat.
I think Niele wants (despearately) to maximize the play of her returners plus Westbeld (who is the real deal). Still, most Domer fans would like to see Ali get some minutes to see what she's got and keep Ms. Campell from thinking of open courts elsewhere.