Media Day was held today for the Big 10 conference. My main takeaways were:
Really happy for Ashley Owusu. Seems like a new start for her, and it's cool that she was chosen as one of the athletes to represent her new school. Made me a bit more excited about Penn State, who have a pretty decent schedule to start the season (St Johns, Kansas, USC all before Thanksgiving).
I liked to hear Diana Collins mentioned by Coach Mcguff as a potential impact player. She's 5'9, athletic. Of course she's only a freshman but she got some good experience this summer playing in the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship. Mcguff did mention that Madison Greene probably won't play to start the season but they hope to have her back by sometime in November. Last thing on OSU that stood out was McGuff mentioning that Celeste Taylor will have a bit of offensive freedom that may allow her to showcase her skills more on that end. It's just interesting because she came from two defense heavy programs and everyone has mentioned how much she's going to fit in on the defensive end. But it would be great if she comes back as a 5th year with improved offense.
I've always liked Teri Moren, but I really liked what she said about Yarden Garzon at 6'3 using her size a little more and becoming better at posting up and her back to the basket game. She was so lights out shooting the ball from the perimeter and has great passing skills. But Moren wants her to add the physicality, sort've like what Grace Berger had to her game. I thought that was interesting.
Nebraska, under the radar?! That's kind of what was said during their interview. I was kind of caught off guard by that one. I like Jaz Shelley but am concerned about their lack of depth. They do get Allison Weidner back which was probably a big reason why they did not make the tournament last year.
Only other subtle thing I caught was Kim Barnes Arico, said something to the effect of, this year will be a different year for us. They are still picked to finish top 5, and they still have Laila Phelia, but sounds like there is not quite the same type of expectations. I feel like at the beginning of last year they had big expectations, even to be better than they had been the previous years, and Michigan was a really fun watch last year, despite losing somewhat early in the tournament. I may be reaching, but I actually thought since they picked up some veterans in the portal, and had some good returners that the expectations will remain high. Are they now a fringe tournament team?
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