Rooster, great analysis again. Your optimism and excitement for the 'Canes is very apparent.
I will start off by stating that Miami picked up my favorite South Florida Bull - Vittoria Blasigh - from the portal. Blasigh is a beautiful player to watch: superb court vision, crisp, darting passes and a beautiful jump shot that carried the Bulls in over two dozen games in her first two years. Non-stop energy who glides down the court and runs defenders into screens better than almost every non-Huskie player I've seen. IMO, she will be on the Italian National Women's Team in the not-too-distant future. I am disheartened that she left the Bulls, but it was clear that the Bulls were not able to capitalize on or develop her skills. Hopefully, Miami can in both regards.
That said, I think Cullop will be tested on how well she can weave a team of players that don't know each other into a cohesive unit. As you pointed out, last year was eye-brow raising in her inability to get an experienced group to play together, and more importantly, fight for one another. With four 1,000 point scorers on their team, the Hurricanes were a group of individuals without a team identity.
I also think the Miami question marks began well before the VT game. After a cupcake schedule start, the thrashing by Vanderbilt at home in which the 'Canes shot almost 53% from the field with eight steals - but also committed 21 turnovers - was an ominous harbinger of things to come. Overall, last season's conference results were perplexing with a few blowout losses intertwined with a handful of games lost by single digits in the fourth quarter. In their last two games, it seemed like they simply gave up.
If Cullop can get these players to believe in each other then finishing in the top half of the conference is a distinct possibility. To rise up out of the ashes and make it to the Big Dance would be quite an achievement. Regardless, it will be fun watching what strides they can make.