Taja Cole Transferring from Louisville

[CocoHusky]

Is there a coach who has had more transfers than Walz. Or has there been another coach of a women's basketball team with such a high profile who has had more transfers than Walz?

Hatchell?

You would have to quantify "high profile" to get an accurate answer.
UCONN transfers in last 2 years (Edwards, Boykin, & Banks)
UNC transfers in the past 2 Years ( Mavunga, DeShields, Washington, & Gray)
Louisville transfers in the past 2 Years ( Cole, Deines)
Duke transfers in the past 2 Years (Calhoun, Jones, Holland)
Kentucky transfers in the past 2 Years (Goodin-Rogers, Harper, Rowe & Rich)
Baylor transfers in past 2 years (Small, Buckner, Wright)

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Where is this even coming from? We weren't in her list of schools when she committed... doubt we are now. That "pound it in" game got us to where we are now.. why shouldn't Dawn play to the strength of her roster?

Also, I think Dawn did a pretty good job with Tiffany Mitchell... She's only an All-American and 2-time SEC Player of the Year.

I knew I could get a rise out of you. Tiff arrived pretty well packaged. Who is your next candidate(surely not Cuevas)? Of course she'll play to her bigs and that is why guards should think twice.

 

[Checkmate]

Both Jones & Zambrotta are described as combo guard- that is not shoot first it is the ability to play PG or SG. Durr was number 1 PG in the class of 2015 per ESPN. The only ones that claim Durr is not a PG are TN fans because they wanted that #1 PG ranking reserved for Cooper. In USA basketball Durr was ALWAYS a PG and when she could not go this summer she was replaced by another PG Patburg of ND .

Durr did not play point guard at Louisville. She looked good on the wing in limited minutes.

 

[SCGamecock]

I knew I could get a rise out of you. Tiff arrived pretty well packaged. Who is your next candidate(surely not Cuevas)? Of course she'll play to her bigs and that is why guards should think twice.

Not a rise, it was an honest question. I questioned the intent because there's simply no prior relationship between the two.

Cuevas is a sophomore.. she has two more years to become the guard that she's capable of being. Give her a chance to be coached.

Tiffany Mitchell is night and day from her arrival. She arrived a good offensive guard lacking an aggressive edge with very little defensive skills.. now she's a great guard capable of taking over a game on both ends. That's coaching and getting in the gym.

Dawn plays with what she has. It wasn't long ago that we were a guard based team with no post presence besides 6'2" Ashley Bruner. Those were NCAA tournament teams. Staley can coach guards..

SC getting elite talent is a recent phenomenon. Dawn made tournament teams/professional players out of average talent like Ieshia Walker, Lakiesha Sutton, Ashley Bruner, Markiesha Grant etc... let's see what she can do with guards like Mitchell, Cuevas, Davis, Gray, Cliney etc. before we judge her coaching abilities.

 

[UConnCat]

Cole is from Richmond and friends with Megan Walker. I'm not aware of any expressed desire to play at the same school but Cole at Louisville was considered a plus in the Walker sweepstakes.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Not a rise, it was an honest question. I questioned the intent because there's simply no prior relationship between the two.

Cuevas is a sophomore.. she has two more years to become the guard that she's capable of being. Give her a chance to be coached.

Tiffany Mitchell is night and day from her arrival. She arrived a good offensive guard lacking an aggressive edge with very little defensive skills.. now she's a great guard capable of taking over a game on both ends. That's coaching and getting in the gym.

Dawn plays with what she has. It wasn't long ago that we were a guard based team with no post presence besides 6'2" Ashley Bruner. Those were NCAA tournament teams. Staley can coach guards..

SC getting elite talent is a recent phenomenon. Dawn made tournament teams/professional players out of average talent like Ieshia Walker, Lakiesha Sutton, Ashley Bruner, Markiesha Grant etc... let's see what she can do with guards like Mitchell, Cuevas, Davis, Gray, Cliney etc. before we judge her coaching abilities.

Hey, I'm just bored, screwing with you! But Cuevas... I really see no improvement in her Soph. year and I do suspect that is on her and she is Dawn's biggest frustration.

 

[SCGamecock]

Hey, I'm just bored, screwing with you! But Cuevas... I really see no improvement in her Soph. year and I do suspect that is on her and she is Dawn's biggest frustration.

For the majority of this past regular season, I agree with you.. it has been the same ol' back and forth erratic play...we have a saying about her because her play is so schizophrenic. Some days you have "good Cuevas" and other days you get "bad Cuevas". Lately though, she's been a MUCH better player. I think the light is finally beginning to turn on for her. Dawn has spoken on how she's been putting in a lot of work outside of practice, which is expected but it's noticeable now in her play. Her shot selection has improved, she's nailing threes, her defense is actually good and she's allowing the game to come to her. Cuevas turned out to be much more of a project than her ranking suggested but in the end I think it'll be worth it!

 

[4evercard]

Let me throw in what I can from the side of an avid Louisville fan.

Louisville started this season with 11 scholarship players and then added one walk on who was later put on scholarship. One scholarship player Brackenmyer had a second knee surgery and recent reliable information says her playing career is likely finished. Thus, with the five incoming freshmen, Walz can drop the walk on back to walk on status and have only 14 on scholarship for this coming season. However, he will likely keep the walk on on scholarship next season and they will find another scholarship for the injured player. In his nine years at Louisville, I believe this is only the second time he has had this many on scholarship. My guess is the fact he has this many is more of a result of underestimating how few rejections he would get the last two seasons, a nice problem to have. However, it generally leads to eventual transfers in the overloaded classes. If you have 15 available scholarships and suddenly eleven players in two years tell you they want to come to Louisville, you don't turn them down, especially of the quality he's getting. There will be more transfers and likely by next year he'll settle down to about 12 on scholarship, the area he has maintained most of his years at Louisville.

You hate losing a McD AA and I think Cole underestimated herself and where she might be with the program, but she's 18 years old. Who knows what might have been, but she'll be all right where ever she lands.

My guess is Durr will become the point guard next year simply to make room for the 6'0" athletic guard from Florida coming in. Jackson, the UCF transfer and Carter, will also be fighting for time at the guard positions. Zambrotti is any body's guess at this time.

The real scramble for time is going to come from the front line players. Louisville's alway been short of players of talent above 6'2". Next year they will have two 6'3" players, three 6'4" players and one 6'5". A 6'2" current sophomore all american Myisha Hines-Allen is manning one of the two spots the next two years for which those six players will be vying. There's likely to be more transfers.

 

[CocoHusky]

Let me throw in what I can from the side of an avid Louisville fan.

Louisville started this season with 11 scholarship players and then added one walk on who was later put on scholarship. One scholarship player Brackenmyer had a second knee surgery and recent reliable information says her playing career is likely finished. Thus, with the five incoming freshmen, Walz can drop the walk on back to walk on status and have only 14 on scholarship for this coming season. However, he will likely keep the walk on on scholarship next season and they will find another scholarship for the injured player. In his nine years at Louisville, I believe this is only the second time he has had this many on scholarship. My guess is the fact he has this many is more of a result of underestimating how few rejections he would get the last two seasons, a nice problem to have. However, it generally leads to eventual transfers in the overloaded classes. If you have 15 available scholarships and suddenly eleven players in two years tell you they want to come to Louisville, you don't turn them down, especially of the quality he's getting. There will be more transfers and likely by next year he'll settle down to about 12 on scholarship, the area he has maintained most of his years at Louisville.

You hate losing a McD AA and I think Cole underestimated herself and where she might be with the program, but she's 18 years old. Who knows what might have been, but she'll be all right where ever she lands.

My guess is Durr will become the point guard next year simply to make room for the 6'0" athletic guard from Florida coming in. Jackson, the UCF transfer and Carter, will also be fighting for time at the guard positions. Zambrotti is any body's guess at this time.

The real scramble for time is going to come from the front line players. Louisville's alway been short of players of talent above 6'2". Next year they will have two 6'3" players, three 6'4" players and one 6'5". A 6'2" current sophomore all american Myisha Hines-Allen is manning one of the two spots the next two years for which those six players will be vying. There's likely to be more transfers.

I don't see where you have Mariya Moore accounted for.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Cole is from Richmond and friends with Megan Walker. I'm not aware of any expressed desire to play at the same school but Cole at Louisville was considered a plus in the Walker sweepstakes.

Cole chose Louisville over finalists Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, NC State, Virginia Commonwealth and West Virginia.


Just an FYI, Maryland is on Walker's short list.

 

[Hoopz]

Does anyone track WBB transfers like they do for the men?

 

[Gus Mahler]

Let me throw in what I can from the side of an avid Louisville fan.

Louisville started this season with 11 scholarship players and then added one walk on who was later put on scholarship. One scholarship player Brackenmyer had a second knee surgery and recent reliable information says her playing career is likely finished. Thus, with the five incoming freshmen, Walz can drop the walk on back to walk on status and have only 14 on scholarship for this coming season. However, he will likely keep the walk on on scholarship next season and they will find another scholarship for the injured player. In his nine years at Louisville, I believe this is only the second time he has had this many on scholarship. My guess is the fact he has this many is more of a result of underestimating how few rejections he would get the last two seasons, a nice problem to have. However, it generally leads to eventual transfers in the overloaded classes. If you have 15 available scholarships and suddenly eleven players in two years tell you they want to come to Louisville, you don't turn them down, especially of the quality he's getting. There will be more transfers and likely by next year he'll settle down to about 12 on scholarship, the area he has maintained most of his years at Louisville.

You hate losing a McD AA and I think Cole underestimated herself and where she might be with the program, but she's 18 years old. Who knows what might have been, but she'll be all right where ever she lands.

My guess is Durr will become the point guard next year simply to make room for the 6'0" athletic guard from Florida coming in. Jackson, the UCF transfer and Carter, will also be fighting for time at the guard positions. Zambrotti is any body's guess at this time.

The real scramble for time is going to come from the front line players. Louisville's alway been short of players of talent above 6'2". Next year they will have two 6'3" players, three 6'4" players and one 6'5". A 6'2" current sophomore all american Myisha Hines-Allen is manning one of the two spots the next two years for which those six players will be vying. There's likely to be more transfers.

My understanding is that a scholarship maintained for a player obliged to retire because of injury does not count against the limit.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Let me throw in what I can from the side of an avid Louisville fan.

Louisville started this season with 11 scholarship players and then added one walk on who was later put on scholarship. One scholarship player Brackenmyer had a second knee surgery and recent reliable information says her playing career is likely finished. Thus, with the five incoming freshmen, Walz can drop the walk on back to walk on status and have only 14 on scholarship for this coming season. However, he will likely keep the walk on on scholarship next season and they will find another scholarship for the injured player. In his nine years at Louisville, I believe this is only the second time he has had this many on scholarship. My guess is the fact he has this many is more of a result of underestimating how few rejections he would get the last two seasons, a nice problem to have. However, it generally leads to eventual transfers in the overloaded classes. If you have 15 available scholarships and suddenly eleven players in two years tell you they want to come to Louisville, you don't turn them down, especially of the quality he's getting. There will be more transfers and likely by next year he'll settle down to about 12 on scholarship, the area he has maintained most of his years at Louisville.

You hate losing a McD AA and I think Cole underestimated herself and where she might be with the program, but she's 18 years old. Who knows what might have been, but she'll be all right where ever she lands.

My guess is Durr will become the point guard next year simply to make room for the 6'0" athletic guard from Florida coming in. Jackson, the UCF transfer and Carter, will also be fighting for time at the guard positions. Zambrotti is any body's guess at this time.

The real scramble for time is going to come from the front line players. Louisville's alway been short of players of talent above 6'2". Next year they will have two 6'3" players, three 6'4" players and one 6'5". A 6'2" current sophomore all american Myisha Hines-Allen is manning one of the two spots the next two years for which those six players will be vying. There's likely to be more transfers.

Thank you for the inside peak. But I've got to say that stockpiling all of those fine players, and then forcing 15 to struggle for playing time strikes me as unfair to the recruits. At Connecticut, Coach Geno never fills his allotment of scholarships. Though he tells his players they have to compete for playing time, no player is relegated to the bench with no playing time who has been actively recruited. He has been explicit that he couldn't possibly keep fifteen AA's happy, and he doesn't attempt to recruit that many. So it strikes me as a rather unfair tactic on the part of Coach Walz. Further, Coach Walz doesn't have to accept all of the kids who he has offered a scholarship to at some point in time. He can revoke an offer at some point, particularly if he sees that his team is well stocked. Indeed, it would seem the decent thing to do to tell a kid that she's no longer needed and Louisville, and that she should consider some other college.

Further, you haven't mentioned what would happen not just next year, but the following year when there will be just one player leaving to graduation. Will Walz simply stop recruiting for two years? Three? Does he really expect kids to just transfer in order to open up spots? Or does he encourage certain players to look for other schools to transfer to? If so, doesn't seem fair, or honest to the kids he's recruited.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Does anyone track WBB transfers like they do for the men?

There's a lot of information in this thread on RebKell: LINK

The first post is an active document that is constantly being revised to reflect recent transfers (revised 95 times at this point), but more recent information is listed chronologically near the end of the thread, as the poster who initiated the thread hasn't updated the first post to reflect the more recent transfers (last updated 2/26).

 

[Vowelguy]

Thus, with the five incoming freshmen, Walz can drop the walk on back to walk on status and have only 14 on scholarship for this coming season.
.

Thanks for the detail.
But 11 - injured player + 5 frosh = 15 scholarships + walk on?

 

[4evercard]

Regarding Moore, I did not include her name simply because like Hines-Allen her position is not available for two years. That's why I' saying there is a tremendous stockpile of talent of bigs pursuing limited number of minutes available.

Fairfield, if you're expected me to debate you with you using the Geno method to confirm your opinion, forget it. I will never suggest maybe Geno does not do it the right way. Truthfully, it's a rather difficult situation in which Walz has put himself. But the young women did say yes and transfers can be the only way out of it. Like I mentioned this is only the second time he has been caught up in it in his nine years. As noted herein transfers are part of the game with every program, even UConn. With three consecutive top six recruiting classes for Walz, the weeding out will occur and perhaps he will go back to a max of 12 to 13.

I hope you guys win it all and I'm sure you will. Brianna Steward deserves it and Geno deserves it.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Based on this article, college athletes actually transfer far less then the average studnet

College Students’ Transfer Rate Is About 1 in 3

"Lost in the shuffle of university admission and graduation rates is a reality that those statistics often mask: about 1 in 3 students who enroll in either a four-year or two-year college will probably transfer at some point. This, to me, is the takeaway statistic in a report issued Tuesday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling."

To make an apples-to-apples comparison with basketball players, the study would have to focus only on students who have 100% scholarships. Many of the normal students transfer (or drop out) due to financial reasons. May have to find a cheaper alternative or go live at home. That is not an issue for basketball players who are on scholarship. If done apples-to-apples, I imagine they would find the transfer rate is much higher for the athletes.

 

[Vowelguy]

At Connecticut, Coach Geno never fills his allotment of scholarships.
Though he tells his players they have to compete for playing time, no player is relegated to the bench with no playing time who has been actively recruited.

1) Not true. He had 15 scholarships plus a walk on for 2002 (but Kj transferred before the season).
2) are you suggesting that all scholarship players get playing time? If so, that is absolutely not true.

 

[Vowelguy]

1) Not true. He had 15 scholarships plus a walk on for 2002 (but Kj transferred before the season).
2) are you suggesting that all scholarship players get playing time? If so, that is absolutely not true.

2002 is the wrong year
But looking at the team photos there are multiple years with 15 or 16 players