Seniors

[Vowelguy]

I may be missing something but it doesn't seem like there are not a lot of seniors in this years tournament, and so next year could be very competitive.

Other than Baylor, does any team lose more than 1 key senior?

Nd - diggins
Ct - Faris
Stan - tinkle
Ky - Mathies
Duke - none?
Md - Hawkins
Tenn - Kamiko and Spani

Looks like cal and tamu lose several, though aggies also have a ton of frosh.

 

[EricLA]

They kept talking about how Maryland lost 4 "key players" to season ending injuries. well... i was looking it up - it looks like Essence Townsend and Brene Moseley didn't play a single game this year so i'm guessing they were out before the season started. Essence is a Sr. center and Brene is a So. guard. They also lost Cait Adams 13 games in, but she was averaging 0.3 PPG in 13 games so i'm not sure that was a big loss.

Moseley averaged 7 PPG as a freshman. She seems like she was pretty good. Townsend averaged 1.3 PPG in her first 3 years so to me that's like losing Buck for the season. I already mentioned Adams, and then there is Mincey as the 4th player they lost.

It seems like "only" Mince and Moseley would have been counted on to contribute. Still, getting them both back next year along with a decent incoming class (Lexi Brown is #15 in the class but the only one in the top 40 so it's not like they are getting a ton of instant help). Anyway I'd expect MD to be right at the top of the next tier of teams I see as being below UCONN.

My early thoughts...

1 - UCONN
decent sized gap
Duke, Notre Dame
slight gap
Maryland, Stanford

Then the aTm, Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee, in the next group. PSU loses a lot, Cal loses 2 senior starters, UCLA loses 3 starters, UNC loses 3 starters, Georgia loses their 2 best players and a bunch more, and we all know what Baylor loses. I'd put them outside the top 15, and maybe not even in the top 20.

That's just off the top of my head - I'm sure there are folks on here who know way more about who's coming for each team and who's leaving so maybe my top 6 might be off a tad...

 

[semper]

A lot of the teams you mentioned (plus some others) have raked in amazing classes for next year...I think we are going to have some really good times! It's going to be a whole new ballgame!

 

[katiecrum1992]

I may be missing something but it doesn't seem like there are not a lot of seniors in this years tournament, and so next year could be very competitive.

Other than Baylor, does any team lose more than 1 key senior?

Nd - diggins
Ct - Faris
Stan - tinkle
Ky - Mathies
Duke - none?
Md - Hawkins
Tenn - Kamiko and Spani

Looks like cal and tamu lose several, though aggies also have a ton of frosh.

Baylor's obviously big loss is Griner, but you have to put in the fact that all but one of their current starters are seniors, and out of their remaining players the only ones getting reasonable playing time are Alexis Prince and Destiny Williams(who's also a senior).
Obviously for Delaware EDD leaving is huge, but this year's team had 7 seniors and they made up most of the starting lineup. That's a lot of people leaving, and then next year a lot of new people to get adjusted.