The Senior Jump

[ndmb]

Over UConn's recent history, we've had players make dramatic jumps in performance between their Junior and Senior years.

Renee and Tina's play both got dramatically better in their senior years and I was impressed with Maya's improvement as well. Kalana also got much more solid and we saw leadership at the end of Lorin Dixon's senior year that we hadn't really seen before.

It's just a superstition, I know, but it's the reason that I hope that we can see Tiffany make that big jump. She has almost all the tools (e.g., she's a much better finisher than she was when she came to UConn), we just need to see that maturity to take over big games.

If she is able to do it, we have a big three (Hartley, Dolson, Hayes) and freshman scoring spark off the bench (I'm hoping for a role similar to Nykesha on the 95 team) and I think that we a solid pick for the final four. If not, we're relying almost exclusively on underclassmen for the scoring load, and it could be a rough season.

More than any other player I can think of, I think she holds the keys to this seasons success in her ability to improve.

 

[Icebear]

One of the great jumps from Jr. to Sr. year was Ashley Battle.

It completely set her up for her WNBA career.

 

[Sonny44]

Well all the new girls start with 0 so they're ineligible.
I'd hope for Michala or Faris if she can become a scoring threat.

 

[TimeWillTell]

One of the great jumps from Jr. to Sr. year was Ashley Battle.

It completely set her up for her WNBA career.

Ketia too!

 

[Icebear]

Very true for Ketia, too.

 

[EricLA]

Tina is the one who really stands out for me, but she started "getting it" midway thru her junior year...

 

[jdubct]

More often, it seems, it's a junior jump. Maria Conlin being one major example.

 

[ndmb]

Ketia too!

I don't know how I left out Ketia or Battle. They both had tremendous jumps in their final year.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I was going to add Ketia too.

I'd have to look back re Tina. I think it was the NCAAs, though it may have been earlier that season.

I'm still surprised that Maya scored 800 points last year while being the focus of the other team's defense.

I agree that Tiff has all the tools. She filled the stat sheet in Italy despite shooting 0-12 on threes. (Only Kaleena Most-Everything-Goes-In Lewis shot well from the arc.) I think that is a good sign. Too often, her overall game was dictated by her start--good or bad. She feels ownership and a sense of urgency. I look for Tiff to lead and have a very good year.

 

[Drumguy]

I think after CD went down, other teams keyed on Tiff as the second option, with other offensive options TIff should have a lot more opportunities.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Tina Charles was a First Team AA her junior year, so she had to have played well all season; Which she did. She was outstanding throughout her junior year, and became totally dominant after the North Carolina game; a game in which she was merely OK; a game that UConn won by 30 against the then #2 ranked and undefeated team in any case.

 

[UcMiami]

It was sometime in January of Tina's junior year when Geno had the famous conversation with Tina - saying that she had told him the previous year that this year she would be an AA, but her numbers through the first half of the year were the same or slightly less than her averages for last year ... so did the she think the voters were just going to give it to her?! She had played well up until that point, but with her standard inconsistency - after that conversation she was on fire and was a consistent force the rest of that year and through her senior year and she has continued that professionally.
So ... the change did happen before her senior year, but not at the start of her junior year.
I can't really remember, but would Jessica Moore qualify as a senior jump?

 

[UConnCat]

I can't really remember, but would Jessica Moore qualify as a senior jump?[/quote]

I don't think so. Remember Jess tore her acl in the last game of her junior season, the championship game in '04. Although she was able to play from the start of the '04-'05 season, she was less than 100% for much of the season.

 

[jdubct]

I can't really remember, but would Jessica Moore qualify as a senior jump?

I don't think so. Remember Jess tore her acl in the last game of her junior season, the championship game in '04. Although she was able to play from the start of the '04-'05 season, she was less than 100% for much of the season.[/quote]
I would call it a junior jump with a continuation of solid play into her senior year.