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Message: [QUOTE="Rooster C., post: 5327096, member: 10168"] Virginia Tech is next.....now things start to get interesting. Of the first year coaches in the ACC (VT, Stan., Clem. and Mia.) Megan Duffy had the best record both overall (19 - 13) and in the conference (9 - 9). Although Cal and SMU were in the ACC for their first year they did not have first year coaches. This is also the last team (9th place) that did not have a losing conference record. It was also the first team that did not make it in to the NCAA tournament. They did however get an invite to the WBIT where they won one game before losing at home in round two to Texas Tech by 10. Like several of the teams below them the season was uneven and one of missed opportunities. So Duffy finished with a .500 conference win pct. and .594 pct. overall. Not a bad start. They were "on the bubble" for much of the later part of the season but came up a little short. So what's in store for next season is the question. What was lost: Three of the five starters R. Micheaux (6'2" F 12.2ppg - #3 scorer), M. Ekh (6'0" G 11.9ppg - #4 scorer) to graduation and L. White (Sr. 5'11" G 9.6ppg ) who left to finish her career back at Utah. Also lost to the portal were their two tallest post players R. White (So. 6'5" C 1.4ppg) to KSU and M. Hazelton (So. 6'4" F 0.8ppg) to Rice. Not a lot of point production from White/Hazelton but I think their size will be missed this coming year. What remains: The top two scorers return in C. Baker (Jr. 6'2" F 12.6ppg) and C. Wenzel (rs Jr. 6'0" G 14.0ppg). Also returning are 4 key reserve players: K. Petersen (So. 6'0" F 4.2ppg), M. Nelson (rs So. 5'8" G 6.0ppg), S. Suffren (Jr. 5'8" G 8.1ppg) and L. Wells (So. 5'9" G 2.0ppg). All the returning players other than Wells were ranked in the Top 100 coming out of hs. Incoming transfers: M. Daley from NW (Gr. 5'11" G 11.7ppg), S. Swanson from Purdue (Jr. 5'10" G 8.9ppg), and K. Freelon from Tx. Tech (Sr. 6'1" F 4.6ppg). Incoming freshmen: #74 A. Jenkins (6'3" F), #82 K. Sears(5'9" G) and nearly ranked A. Trent (6'3" F). Also came the important late signing of Slovenian S. Brecelj (6'2" G/F) who has playing experience in 6 - yes 6 - European championship tournaments. It's very clear that Duffy is ready to coach at this level. She convinced key players to remain and that led to much of her first year success. Amoore and Strack left for KY with coach Brooks but she was able to get most to stay. As a result she didn't need much from the portal and only brought in L. White. This coming year will be different of course and the 3 players she added from the portal plus Breceli show she knows what she's doing. The 3 freshmen coming in also shows she can recruit. So how do things look heading in to this year ? In the backcourt VT has starter Wenzel returning, with transfer Daley and either returner Suffren or transfer Swanson as probable starters. Nelson and Wells along with whoever doesn't start between Suffren/Swanson will see plenty of action in the non conference schedule until it's determined who the first player off the bench will be. As for the front court last year Duffy ran with two 6'2" starters in Baker and Micheaux. With the departure of Micheaux look for incoming "freshmen" Brecelz to take that starting position so Duffy would once again have two 6'2" players in the starting rotation. Petersen and transfer Freelon add depth off the bench. The starters last year had a lot of experience and were accustomed to playing together. This year looks solid with 2 returning starters and 3 incoming transfers with lots of experience as well as the Slovenian Brecelz. There is good depth returning from the bench as well. The biggest challenge I see is the departure of the two post players of any real size. She addressed that to a degree with the two incoming 6'3" freshmen but they are Freshmen. Can VT be better than last year ? It's possible but probably not by much. The top 5 teams of a year ago will probably remain at the top (with the exception of ND) but from there down those 5 through 10 spots are going to be very competitive as several teams will be much improved this year. Last year VT had some decent challenges in their non conference schedule including Iowa, Michigan, and Georgia. This year the schedule looks a bit light with the only challenges being Florida and either Vandy or Oregon State. Also last year VT was erratic : winning at GT (in dbl ot) - losing at home to VA then beating Louisville at home - losing at home to Syracuse - winning (by a lot) at VA - losing a close game at NC then losing (by 1) to Stanford at home - beating Cal at home and losing to BC on the road - just beating Clemson on the road.......and finishing the season with a trouncing by GT of 15 pts( in the 1st round of the ACC tourney) and losing to Tx Tech on their home court (2nd round of WBIT) by 10. So home court was not an advantage in their conference going 4 - 5 on the season. They did have one 3 game winning streak but their season was pretty much win 1, lose 1. So the bigger concern here is consistency and overall progression over the course of the season which was not in evidence. I would look for VT to be on the bubble again this year and a handful of games will determine where they end up. [/QUOTE]

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