Worst Power 5 Programs in 21st Century

[bballnut90]

Most topics are centered around top teams, so I thought I might spark some discussion on programs that have just have not been able to find any success in women's basketball the last 15-20 years. I did some research and was able to compile this list of power 5 programs that have not been able to make a Sweet 16 since 2000, or have had a pattern of losing since then. I'm familiar with some programs, but am hoping others will chime in and give their take why a specific program hasn't been able to find success:


ACC Teams:
Clemson-14 consecutive losing seasons, last Sweet 16 was 1999
Virginia Tech-14 consecutive seasons with a losing record in conference play, last Sweet 16 was 1999
Virginia-storied program in the 90s, last Sweet 16 was 2000
Wake Forest-last NCAA appearance was 1988

Clemson/Virginia Tech/Wake Forest have not had strong programs on the men's side for quite some time, so I'm not surprised to see those teams struggle. Wake had a great player in Dearica Hamby but wasn't able to capitalize. Not making the tournament since 1988 is the longest drought of any Power 5 team.

Virginia is a surprise though. They have such a storied program with Dawn Staley in the 90s and continued to put together great teams until 1996 or 1997. They had a standout in Monica Wright for 4 years and couldn't make the Sweet 16. They've made several tournaments but haven't been able to get over the hump.


Onto the Big 12:
TCU-never made a Sweet 16, did make NCAA tournament every year from 2001-2010 besides 2008
West Virginia-made 2nd round in 8 of last 11 years, program last made Sweet 16 in 1992

Pretty steady success in the Big 12 in terms of putting together teams that can consistently make the Sweet 16. TCU is a new addition to the conference so they're a relatively new Power Conference team. Very surprised to see that West Virginia hasn't made a Sweet 16 despite being a steady program for the last 10+ years. Mike Carey is a well known coach, but they've lost 8 straight 2nd round games. Can they get over the hump next year with Rice back?

Big 10:
Illinois-last made NCAA tournament in 2003, last Sweet 16 was 1998
Wisconsin-last tournament was 2010, has never made Sweet 16 and only made 2nd round twice
Indiana-made tournament in 2016, first appearance in 14 years.
Michigan-has never made Sweet 16, has had good teams the last several years under Barnes-Arico
Northwestern-made tournament in 2015, first time since 1997.

Big 10 has been by far the worst PC over the last 18 years. 0 titles, and most of their recent success can be attributed to Maryland joining the conference.

No surprise about Northwestern not finding success, they're weak in most sports due to having a smaller budget. I am surprised that Wisconsin has been the 2nd worst team in the conference. They have not been able to find a winning coach and they've never made a Sweet 16. This is especially surprising how successful they've been on the men's side. The coaches they've had (Lisa Stone/Tsipis/Bobbi Kelsey) all had great pedigrees before coming to Wisconsin and couldn't turn the program around.

Michigan has made good progress under Kim Barnes-Arico and they could definitely be a Sweet 16 team in the next few years. Illinois has fallen off the map ever since Grentz left, and Indiana has had some recent success even if they haven't made the Sweet 16.

Pac 12:
Washington State-last made tournament in 1991
Arizona-last made tournament in 2005, made 2nd round. Only Sweet 16 was in 1998.
USC-hasn't made Sweet 16 since 1994 (with Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson). Has only played in 3 NCAA tournaments since 2000.

USC is the big surprise here. Didn't realize they've been pretty bad for such a long time. They're one of the more storied programs in women's basketball history. Didn't find success with Michael Cooper, Mark Trahk (on his 2nd stint now) and Cynthia Cooper. Washington State is usually a bottom feeder in the PAC, and Arizona had some good teams with Shawntinice Polk but has been pretty bad the last several years.

SEC:
Alabama-hasn't made the tournament since 1999. Was a consistent top 10-15 team in the mid-late 90s.
Arkansas-no Sweet 16s since 1998 when they made the Final Four as a 9 seed. Has made several tournament appearances since 2000.
Auburn-no Sweet 16s since 1996. Has made 6 tournaments since 2000.
Florida-no Sweet 16 since 1998. Has been a regular NCAA tournament team in the 2000s. Was a 3 seed in 2001 with a good roster but lost at home in the 2nd round.

Alabama is a surprise to me, especially since they were so good in the 90s. Auburn is also a surprise. They won the SEC in 2009 with Dewanna Bonner as a senior but had a rough draw as a 2 seed, playing at Rutgers (with Prince/Vaughn) and lost in the 2nd round. I also would've thought that Florida would've made a Sweet 16 over the last 18 years but they haven't. Not surprised by Arkansas.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I can contribute a bit, but a lot of the teams you are citing are - unfortunately - the old adage that if the program has little support from above (or the fans) and little success, it is very hard to recruit players to turn it around unless you have a great coach. Most of these programs haven't.

I will quibble slightly that, while Sweet 16s are a good marker, some of these programs would (or have been) deemed successful simply at making it past the 1st round.

Insights - such as I have -
ACC -
Clemson has been a disaster since Jim Davis was ditched, they went from moderate to disaster. He was replaced for off court issues. His successors have been a steady stream of not much.
Virginia Tech was, at one time, also mid-pack (ish). Expect them to trend upward with their excellent coach.
Virginia tread water for years, under Debbie Ryan and Joanne Boyle. I'm not convinced they were dreadful, just mid-pack.
Wake Forest - meh
BIG 12
TCU took a big hit when Jeff Mittie left for Kansas State. Rutgers beat them in the tourney once when he was still there, Vivian said (without explaining) that he had a unique twist to his offense that made him difficult to defend. In any case he left, taking his staff and I think a few players. His successor, Reagan Pebley - who was a star at Colorado in the day - is probably a good coach, but unproven at a P5 program. We'll just have to wait and see.
West Virginia is a solid mid-level P5 team. What they have always been. One of those 2nd rounders I was mentioning.
I am surprised you didn't mention the ever so dreadful of late Kansas and Kansas State. And I have no explanations.
B1G
I'm not going to say much here - but Illinois wasn't exactly a booming success under Grentzie either. As I have said in other discussions, I don't think the typical B1G style of play necessarily translates well against other P5 conferences.
PAC12
Washington State made a mistake hiring June Daugherty, who just left / was let go this year. She parlayed some success at Washington into looking a lot better than she was. Couldn't really build a program.
Arizona - There was just an article in the paper over the weekend - the death of Shawntinice Polk was traumatic to the program - Joan Bonvicini needed to get away, and didn't until too late. Then, being the stingy school Arizona is (not a negative, they are very proud of operating within what they can afford) they tried Niya Butts, and because she had one half decent season they kept here way too long (wouldn't want to pay even her very modest severance, would we, for a minor sport?). Barnes is a very good hire, she's not getting rich, but she's an alum, I am hoping and expecting good things in the future.
USC - word - true or not - has always been that on one really cares about the team. University or fans.
SEC
Alabama wasn't a top team in the late '90's that I remember. They were solid, that's all. Under Rick Moody.
Arkansas - success was under Gary Blair. He left, and no great coaching since.
Auburn - all I'll say is RU didn't just beat them, they smacked them around while doing it. It was the only game in all the years I followed RU that the team executed Vivian's vision of what a team should do - constantly forced turnovers and constantly scored on transition - mostly fast breaks. Exploited Bonner.
You left off Vanderbilt, by the way. Meh.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I will bite on this one and stay a little closer to home. I disagree that a couple of the programs mentioned have been bad. Vanderbilt was a regular NCAA team with Balcome until her final year and they've just hit bottom with Stephanie White. She may need a little more time. Auburn hasn't been bad at all but are just stuck in the middle of the conference. Florida and Arkansas on paper should be better than they are but the right mix has been absent more often than not for several years. All of those teams have won just enough to keep a coach around for a bit but all are mired in the lower half of a conference that is solid but not as competitive as it was in the 90s and early 2000s.

I will say Alabama and Ole Miss have been pretty bad for sometime now. Ole Miss rode All American Armentie Price to the E8 in 2007 after they stunned Maryland and Oklahoma in the tournament. That team was coached by Carol Ross who had success at Florida in the 90s and started 4 seniors. Ole Miss hasn't even sniffed the tournament since and will be on their 4th coach since when this season begins. Even before that, Ole Miss hadn't been successful since Chancellor left for the WNBA in 1997. Alabama too has struggled for years and doesn't seem to get any support from their community or department. Football is no doubt king and thhe basketball facilities were dreadful and I don't think that has changed. The men's program has been occasionally good but the sport is mostly a placeholder between football, spring football and recruiting.

Mississippi State, Kentucky and South Carolina were all bottom feeder SEC programs for many years so it's possible to turn things around with the right coaching, recruiting and department support. All of these programs have good fan bases that have been built with their success on the court. Truly I believe if you build it, they will come.

As far as other conferences, I'm a pretty good big of the sport and don't ever recall teams like Clemson, Wake Forest, Kansas, Washington State, Illinois, and Wisconsin ever having any success tournament wise or being in the mix for top recruits.

 

[bballnut90]

I can contribute a bit, but a lot of the teams you are citing are - unfortunately - the old adage that if the program has little support from above (or the fans) and little success, it is very hard to recruit players to turn it around unless you have a great coach. Most of these programs haven't.

I will quibble slightly that, while Sweet 16s are a good marker, some of these programs would (or have been) deemed successful simply at making it past the 1st round.

Insights - such as I have -
ACC -
Clemson has been a disaster since Jim Davis was ditched, they went from moderate to disaster. He was replaced for off court issues. His successors have been a steady stream of not much.
Virginia Tech was, at one time, also mid-pack (ish). Expect them to trend upward with their excellent coach.
Virginia tread water for years, under Debbie Ryan and Joanne Boyle. I'm not convinced they were dreadful, just mid-pack.
Wake Forest - meh
BIG 12
TCU took a big hit when Jeff Mittie left for Kansas State. Rutgers beat them in the tourney once when he was still there, Vivian said (without explaining) that he had a unique twist to his offense that made him difficult to defend. In any case he left, taking his staff and I think a few players. His successor, Reagan Pebley - who was a star at Colorado in the day - is probably a good coach, but unproven at a P5 program. We'll just have to wait and see.
West Virginia is a solid mid-level P5 team. What they have always been. One of those 2nd rounders I was mentioning.
I am surprised you didn't mention the ever so dreadful of late Kansas and Kansas State. And I have no explanations.
B1G
I'm not going to say much here - but Illinois wasn't exactly a booming success under Grentzie either. As I have said in other discussions, I don't think the typical B1G style of play necessarily translates well against other P5 conferences.
PAC12
Washington State made a mistake hiring June Daugherty, who just left / was let go this year. She parlayed some success at Washington into looking a lot better than she was. Couldn't really build a program.
Arizona - There was just an article in the paper over the weekend - the death of Shawntinice Polk was traumatic to the program - Joan Bonvicini needed to get away, and didn't until too late. Then, being the stingy school Arizona is (not a negative, they are very proud of operating within what they can afford) they tried Niya Butts, and because she had one half decent season they kept here way too long (wouldn't want to pay even her very modest severance, would we, for a minor sport?). Barnes is a very good hire, she's not getting rich, but she's an alum, I am hoping and expecting good things in the future.
USC - word - true or not - has always been that on one really cares about the team. University or fans.
SEC
Alabama wasn't a top team in the late '90's that I remember. They were solid, that's all. Under Rick Moody.
Arkansas - success was under Gary Blair. He left, and no great coaching since.
Auburn - all I'll say is RU didn't just beat them, they smacked them around while doing it. It was the only game in all the years I followed RU that the team executed Vivian's vision of what a team should do - constantly forced turnovers and constantly scored on transition - mostly fast breaks. Exploited Bonner.
You left off Vanderbilt, by the way. Meh.

Thanks for the input. I just used Sweet 16 as a measuring stick to highlight teams that haven't found NCAA success. There were many teams that had a few good years, but for the most part haven't been a consistently successful programs. Discovering that teams like West Virginia, Virginia, Auburn, and USC haven't made a Sweet 16 in the last 18 years really surprised me.

Kansas had back to back Sweet 16s in 2012 and 2013, so they were recently successful. Kansas State has made the 2nd round in two of the last 3 years...nothing dreadful about that. They also made a Sweet 16 in 2002 so that's why they weren't included. They should've been much better in 2003 and 2004 when they had Kendra Wecker, Laurie Koehn and Nicole Ohlde.

In regards to Big Ten, I think the biggest issue is they cannot keep top area recruits in conference. In Chicago alone they've lost Candace Parker, Cappie Pondexter, Dev Peters, Jewell Loyd, Tricia Liston, Morgan Tuck, Ariel Massengale to other schools. Notre Dame's emergence is a big part in this. In the last decade they landed Diggins/Reimer (Indiana), Loyd (Chicago), McBride (Pennsylvania), and Arike (Wisconsin). In the earlier part of the decade, you had Amber Harris and Ta'shia Phillips both decommit from Purdue and go to Xavier...if they played for Purdue, they would've had very good teams from 2010-2012. The list could go on and on, but Kelsey Mitchell, Jantel Lavender and Jessica Davenport are the only top recruits I can think of who stayed in Big Ten country.

The program that is most surprising to me is Wisconsin. Madison is a huge college town and they had strong fan support in the early 2000s (consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally for attendance) and still had good attendance in the late 2000s. They had some very good players in 2001 and 2002, even landing the #1 recruit from the 1999 class who played 2 years before transferring to JUCO. The men's program sells out every game, so does their women's volleyball team. It's surprising that they've never made the Sweet 16 and they've been a Big Ten bottom feeder.

In regards to Alabama, they made 5 consecutive Sweet 16s from 1994-1998. They made the Final Four in 1994 and gave Tennessee's 39-0 squad their closest game in 1998.

And Vanderbilt shouldn't be on this list at all....they were very good for many years. Almost made the Final Four in 2001 and 2002 under Foster, and made 4 Sweet 16s under Balcomb. They made the tournament every year from 2000-2014.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Kansas had back to back Sweet 16s in 2012 and 2013, so they were recently successful. Kansas State has made the 2nd round in two of the last 3 years...nothing dreadful about that. They also made a Sweet 16 in 2002 so that's why they weren't included. They should've been much better in 2003 and 2004 when they had Kendra Wecker, Laurie Koehn and Nicole Ohlde.

The one program that is most surprising to me though is Wisconsin. Madison is a huge college town and they had strong fan support in the early 2000s (consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally for attendance) and still had good attendance in the late 2000s. They had some very good players in the early 2000s, even landing the #1 recruit from the 1999 class who played 2 years before transferring to JUCO. The men's program sells out every game, so does their women's volleyball team. Just surprising that they've never made the Sweet 16 and they've turned into a Big Ten bottom feeder.

In regards to Alabama, they made 5 consecutive Sweet 16s from 1994-1998. They made the Final Four in 1994 and gave Tennessee's 39-0 squad their closest game in 1998.

And Vanderbilt shouldn't be on this list at all....they were very good for many years. Almost made the Final Four in 2001 and 2002 under Foster, and made 4 Sweet 16s under Balcomb. They made the tournament every year from 2000-2014.

My apologies about Kansas, they were there and I forgot. KState has had some good team but did underachieve with the players you mentioned the earlier part of the decade. We agree on Vandy for sure but Alabama's struggles have been going on for several years after Moody retired.

We agree about Wisconsin. Madison is an awesome town and it's a terrific school academically. I would think more players from that part of the world could have chosen them if they had the right support, coaching, etc. Not sure what the problem is there.

 

[todbo]

What an interesting post. Thanks for the research! Given the growing improvement in the AAC, my eternal hope is respringing.

 

[CajunHusky]

The term "Power Five " Conference only really has implications within the FBS. Although the term is used as a descriptor of conferences/universities there is no impact in any other sport within the NCAA.

A discussion appears below. But what is important to note is none of this has anything to do with women's Basketball.

Wikipedia:
"In college football, the Power Five conferences (or power conferences) are athletic conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate football in the United States. These conferences are designated in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) legislation as "autonomy conferences".[1] The classification of "autonomy" is not exclusive to these conferences, however, since all FBS institutions are given the opportunity to participate in additional athletic stipends.[2] It should also be noted that the term "Power Five" is not defined officially anywhere in the NCAA bylaws and the origin of this label is unknown.

Prior to the establishment of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the Power Five conferences, as well as the old Big East Conference, were called "Automatic Qualifying" (AQ) conferences, because the champion of each conference received an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games. The final college football season for which the BCS was in effect was the 2013 season.

With the split of the old Big East, there are now five power conferences: the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference (B1G), Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC). The power conferences make up five of the ten conferences in FBS; the other FBS conferences are informally known as the Group of Five.[3] The FBS consists of the Power Five, the Group of Five, and a small number of independent schools.

The term is also used in other college sports."

The most significant impact of "Power Five" lies with the College Football Playoffs. That is for all intent and purposes you can't get in to the playoffs if you aren't a Power Five school

"With the establishment of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the term "automatic qualifying conference" is no longer in use, as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) has been discontinued. However, five of the six former AQ conferences are now known as the "Power Five conferences": the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Pac-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The American Athletic Conference (AAC or its preferred short form of "The American"), the football successor to the Big East Conference, lost its status as a power conference. It is unknown where the term "Power Five Conference" originated from; it is not officially documented anywhere by the NCAA. However, it can be speculated that the driving force behind the term came from media sources, such as ESPN or CBS, that cover these teams and conferences.

The American and the other four conferences in the FBS are known as the "Group of Five" (sometimes called the G5 or Go5). Besides The American, the other four members of the Group of Five are Conference USA (C-USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MW), and the Sun Belt Conference.

The FBS also has six independent schools as of the upcoming 2018 season: Notre Dame, Army, BYU, Liberty, New Mexico State, and UMass. Notre Dame is currently considered equal to the Power Five schools, being a full but non-football member of the ACC with an annual five-game football scheduling agreement with that conference, its own national television contract, and its own arrangement for access to the CFP-affiliated bowl games should it meet stated competitive criteria. All Power Five leagues that require their members to schedule at least one Power Five team in nonconference play (currently the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC) consider Notre Dame to be a Power Five opponent for such purposes. The Big Ten and SEC also treat BYU and Army as Power Five opponents for purposes of meeting their members' out-of-conference scheduling requirements.[4][5] Additionally, the ACC considers BYU (but no other independent) a Power Five opponent for scheduling purposes.[6]

Teams from the Power Five and the Group of Five play each other during the season, and sometimes also play against FCS teams. However, many coaches of Power Five schools have argued that Power Five schools should only be allowed to schedule games against other Power Five schools.[3] In 2014, the NCAA gave the Power Five conferences greater autonomy in regards to issues such as stipends and recruiting rules.[7] Some Power Five conferences, including the Big Ten and SEC, require their teams to play at least one non-conference P5 opponent each season.[5][4]

The College Football Playoff rotates among six bowl games, with two bowl games used as each year as the national semi-finals, and four other bowls matching the remaining top teams in the country. These six bowl games are collectively known as the "New Year's Six"bowl games. Conference champions from the Power Five are not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, and conference champions from the Group of Five, while not ineligible by any rule, have never been seriously considered, with selectors regularly discriminating against such conferences by claiming they have weaker schedules. Each conference champion from the Power Five and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion is guaranteed a spot in either the playoff or one of the four other most prestigious bowl games.[8]Every year, a non-Power Five team is guaranteed one bid to the New Year's Six bowls, however, so far no additional bids beyond that one have ever been granted. Nonetheless, they have notched an overall record of 3-1 in this time, making the superiority of the Power Five schools, assumed in this system, questionable."

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Thanks for the input. I just used Sweet 16 as a measuring stick to highlight teams that haven't found NCAA success. There were many teams that had a few good years, but for the most part haven't been a consistently successful programs. Discovering that teams like West Virginia, Virginia, Auburn, and USC haven't made a Sweet 16 in the last 18 years really surprised me.

Kansas had back to back Sweet 16s in 2012 and 2013, so they were recently successful. Kansas State has made the 2nd round in two of the last 3 years...nothing dreadful about that. They also made a Sweet 16 in 2002 so that's why they weren't included. They should've been much better in 2003 and 2004 when they had Kendra Wecker, Laurie Koehn and Nicole Ohlde.

The program that is most surprising to me is Wisconsin. Madison is a huge college town and they had strong fan support in the early 2000s (consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally for attendance) and still had good attendance in the late 2000s. They had some very good players in 2001 and 2002, even landing the #1 recruit from the 1999 class who played 2 years before transferring to JUCO. The men's program sells out every game, so does their women's volleyball team. It's surprising that they've never made the Sweet 16 and they've been a Big Ten bottom feeder.

In regards to Alabama, they made 5 consecutive Sweet 16s from 1994-1998. They made the Final Four in 1994 and gave Tennessee's 39-0 squad their closest game in 1998.

And Vanderbilt shouldn't be on this list at all....they were very good for many years. Almost made the Final Four in 2001 and 2002 under Foster, and made 4 Sweet 16s under Balcomb. They made the tournament every year from 2000-2014.

I will concede Vanderbilt somewhat. They were, for quite a while, very solid middle of the pack, and maybe better than that at one time. I long held them up as a classic Sweet 16 team under Foster, at a time when some on the BY complained that that wasn't good enough to be considered good. Unfortunately, things went South (in conference, at least) late in Balcomb's career.

I will not concede Kansas - and I liked their coach (Bonnie Hendrickson? something like that), as well. But a check of all the seasons beginning in the 2011-2012 Sweet 16 year reveals under .500 in conference each and every year. I know they had 2 good NCAA seasons - but they fattened up their wins against the little sisters of the poor, went close to but under .500 in conference and got into the tourney in those seasons. If you are not competitive in your conference, I cannot call you successful. You don't have to win it, just win more than you lose.

K State improved when Jeff Mittie showed up. For the period I looked at, they were worse than Kansas. And I didn't like their coach, Deb Patterson, either.

I agree with what you say about the B1G, I'll add that when we (Rutgers) played at Wisconsin back in the early 2000's they had a seat program that you licensed your seat (same seat, automatically) for Basketball, Women's Basketball and Ice Hockey. And since the women's tix weren't pricey and the team wasn't bad (at the time) a lot of the folks bought the tickets and got to sit in their very good seats they licensed for other sports. Probably helped their attendence.

We didn't really start following WBB till '96, and while I knew Moody / Alabama as a good team, I didn't know about the Sweet 16's.

Your whole informative posts are excellent.

 

[Dillon77]

My apologies about Kansas, they were there and I forgot. KState has had some good team but did underachieve with the players you mentioned the earlier part of the decade. We agree on Vandy for sure but Alabama's struggles have been going on for several years after Moody retired.

We agree about Wisconsin. Madison is an awesome town and it's a terrific school academically. I would think more players from that part of the world could have chosen them if they had the right support, coaching, etc. Not sure what the problem is there.

Interesting Thread...I've been a bit crazed this week so didn't have time to sit down and go through many of the P5 conferences, but I do now have a free moment to offer an opinion on Wisconsin (this college for now, maybe more later).

Being an Irish fan, I've followed Jonathan Tsipis, who has come out of the Irish coaching tree. He did a fine job of getting George Washington up to speed while he was there with some good recruiting and the benefit of landing transfer Jonquel Jones (Tsip was very much aided and abetted there by current Miami of Ohio Head Coach Megan Duffy).

The main issue he ran into after arriving at Madison is that Wisconsin's name among in-state high schools was lower than flat. From everything I've read, he's killed himself working in-state to make himself known to HS and AAU coaches alike. He's made progress and it has been noticed by said coaches.

To further help with this, he recently hired Kayla Tetschlag, a former Wisconsin-Green Bay player, to be his co-recruiting asst. coach.

No one thought this was going to be easy, but the results have not been pretty so far. However, they've got 5 new players coming in this fall, including forward Imani Lewis from New Jersey and forward Carmen Backes from Minnesota.
2018 High School Girls' Basketball Recruits - Wisconsin - ESPN

For 2019, the Badgersr received a commitment from Julie Pospislova, a 6-foot-1 wing player from Prague, Czech Republic, who spent the 2016-17 school year at Downers Grove (Illinois) North High School. Pospislova is the third commitment for the 2019 class, joining 5-11 wing Tara Stauffacher of Beaver Dam (Wisc.) and 6-3 post Sara Stapleton of Blaine, Minnesota (Centennial High).

Stauffacher is the first Wisconsin recruit of Tsipis' tenure, so hopefully he and Tenschlag can walk through that now-0pened in-state door.

Along those lines, I just read about this transfer from Green Bay to Wisconsin, so maybe that Tenschlag hire is paying dividends.



Now we'll see how these 2018 and 19 'recruits and transfer(s) can run with it.

Looking at one other conference, I fully expect Kenny Brooks to move Va. Tech continually upwards, with a good initial influx of transfers and now some solid recruiting classes. We'll see how Ms. Thompson does at UVA.

 

[bballnut90]

Interesting Thread...Been a bit crazed this week so sit down and go through many conferences, but have free moment to offer one on Wisconsin...now.

Being an Irish fan, I've followed Jonathan Tsipis, who has come out of the Irish coaching tree. He did a fine job of getting George Washington up to speed while he was there with some good recruiting and the benefit of landing transfer Jonquel Jones (very much aided and abetted there by current Miami of Ohio Head Coach Megan Duffy).

The main issue he ran into is Wisconsin's name among in-state high schools was lower than flat. From everything I've read, he's killed himself working in-state to make himself known to HS and AAU coaches alike.
To help with this, he recently hired Kayla Tetschlag, a former Wisconsin-Green Bay player, to be his co-recruiting asst. coach.

No one thought this was going to be easy the results have not been pretty so far. However, they've got 5 players coming in this fall, including forward Imani Lewis from New Jersey and forward Carmen Backes from Minnesota.
2018 High School Girls' Basketball Recruits - Wisconsin - ESPN

For 2019, the Badgersr received a commitment from Julie Pospislova, a 6-foot-1 wing player from Prague, Czech Republic, who spent the 2016-17 school year at Downers Grove (Illinois) North High School. Pospislova is the third commitment for the 2019 class, joining 5-11 wing Tara Stauffacher of Beaver Dam (Wisc.) and 6-3 post Sara Stapleton of Blaine, Minnesota (Centennial High).

Stauffacher is the first Wisconsin recruit of Tsipis' tenure, so hopefully he and Tenschlag can walk through that now-0pened in-state door.

Along those lines, I just read about this transfer from Green Bay to Wisconsin, so maybe that Tenschlag hire is paying dividends.



Now we'll see how these 2018 and 19 'recruits and transfer(s) can run with it.

Looking at one other conference, I fully expect Kenny Brooks to move Va. Tech continually upwards, with a good initial influx of transfers and now some solid recruiting classes. We'll see how Ms. Thompson does at UVA.

It's definitely too early to write of Tsipis, but it hasn't been pretty the first two years. Wisconsin recruited very well in the 90s and early 2000s, but their coach, Jane Albright, just couldn't put together strong teams despite having the pieces to do so (sort of like Holly or McGuff...but less talent and worse results). When she left, the cupboard was pretty barren and Stone wasn't able to turn it around besides capitalizing on 4 years with Jolene Anderson, and Kelsey wasn't able to find any success.

 

[bballnut90]

I will concede Vanderbilt somewhat. They were, for quite a while, very solid middle of the pack, and maybe better than that at one time. I long held them up as a classic Sweet 16 team under Foster, at a time when some on the BY complained that that wasn't good enough to be considered good. Unfortunately, things went South (in conference, at least) late in Balcomb's career.

I will not concede Kansas - and I liked their coach (Bonnie Hendrickson? something like that), as well. But a check of all the seasons beginning in the 2011-2012 Sweet 16 year reveals under .500 in conference each and every year. I know they had 2 good NCAA seasons - but they fattened up their wins against the little sisters of the poor, went close to but under .500 in conference and got into the tourney in those seasons. If you are not competitive in your conference, I cannot call you successful. You don't have to win it, just win more than you lose.

K State improved when Jeff Mittie showed up. For the period I looked at, they were worse than Kansas. And I didn't like their coach, Deb Patterson, either.

I agree with what you say about the B1G, I'll add that when we (Rutgers) played at Wisconsin back in the early 2000's they had a seat program that you licensed your seat (same seat, automatically) for Basketball, Women's Basketball and Ice Hockey. And since the women's tix weren't pricey and the team wasn't bad (at the time) a lot of the folks bought the tickets and got to sit in their very good seats they licensed for other sports. Probably helped their attendence.

We didn't really start following WBB till '96, and while I knew Moody / Alabama as a good team, I didn't know about the Sweet 16's.

Your whole informative posts are excellent.

I'd consider back to back Sweet 16s successful even if they had a poor conference record. Overall they've been quite mediocre, but I was using Sweet 16s as a barometer so that kept them from being mentioned with the teams I pointed out as the real bottom feeders for the Power 5 (Wisconsin, Illinois, Alabama, Washington State, Clemson, Wake Forest, and Northwestern).

 

[BigBird]

I can contribute a bit, but a lot of the teams you are citing are - unfortunately - the old adage that if the program has little support from above (or the fans) and little success, it is very hard to recruit players to turn it around unless you have a great coach. Most of these programs haven't.

B1G
I'm not going to say much here - but Illinois wasn't exactly a booming success under Grentzie either. As I have said in other discussions, I don't think the typical B1G style of play necessarily translates well against other P5.

Grentz came in with a bang, but left here in a whimper. The last year or two, she became rather snotty with the media, and seemed to think that the team’s collapse was everyone’s responsibility except hers. Her “Philly” attitudes were fine when her team was reasonably good, but otherwise it quickly wore very thin. As so many in coaching seem to do, she eventually became pushy and rather disliked.

Ultimately, Grentz failed to get the better players from Chicago, which is (at 120 miles) supposedly the U of I’s back yard. This overlooks the fact that there are equally attractive programs and schools recruiting the same turf.

If Illinois ever gets to a dominant recruiting position in Chicago, look out. But don’t hold your breath until that happens.

 

[bballnut90]

Randomly remembered this thread and thought I'd post an update since a lot has changed in the last 5 years:


ACC Teams:
Clemson-broke their losing record streak in 2018-19, made the 2nd round of the NCAAs. Haven't been back since.
Virginia Tech-Brooks turned the program around in a major way, made the Final Four in 2023.
Virginia-program has been dreadful since 2018.
Wake Forest-still hasn't made an NCAA appearance since 1988

I'd say Wake Forest is the lone program as being truly dreadful in the new millenia.




Big 12:
TCU-still has never made Sweet 16, last NCAA bid was 2010. They have a very promising new coach in Mark Campbell though who has landed some great talent from the portal, so keep an eye on this program.
West Virginia-made another 2nd round in 2021 but no Sweet 16 breakthrough.

New Big 12 teams:
Houston-last NCAA bid was 2010-11.
BYU-has made many NCAA bids since 2000, including 2 Sweet 16s
UCF-lots of success under Katie Abrahamson-Henderson but no Sweet 16s
Cincinnati-no NCAA tournament bid since 2003

TCU is the standout bottom feeder of the Big 12, though they're a relatively new addition becoming a P5 program in 2012-13. New programs all came from smaller conferences so hard to give much criticism for lack of tournament success (and both UCF/BYU have overachieved looking at their results).

Big 10:
Illinois-made the tournament in 2023 for the first time in 20 years, last Sweet 16 was 1998
Wisconsin-still no improvement. Last tournament was 2010, has never made Sweet 16 and only made 2nd round twice.
Indiana-Moren has completed turned the program around, they made an Elite 8 in 2021 and earned a #1 seed last year.
Michigan-Barnes-Arico has done a fabulous job. They made the Sweet 16 in 2021 and Elite 8 in 2022.
Northwestern-made tournament again in 2021 and got to the 2nd round.

Big Ten is the most improved conference from 5 years ago. Wisconsin is the clear outlier for most underachieving program since the year 2000, and honestly they take the title for all P5 programs. They're showing no signs of improving or becoming a tournament team anytime soon. The state of Wisconsin is also producing a lot of talent but no one is choosing Wisconsin. Since 2000 they've only landed 3 state POYs, with the rest opting to go out of state. The last state POY to choose Wisconsin was Nicole Bauman in 2012.

In recent years they've missed out on landing:
-Lexi Donarski (Iowa State-->UNC)
-Leilani Kapinus, from Madison (Penn State)
-McKenna Warnock, from Madison (Iowa)
-KK Arnold (UCONN)
-Allie Ziebell (UCONN)
-Two other top 100 2024 recruits who both live in Madison area have committed to Iowa)

Wisconsin has been very competitive in almost all other sports and is located in one of the best college towns in the country. How they have done so poorly and continue to do so poorly is a headscratcher.

Pac 12:
Washington State-three straight NCAA tournaments after 30 year drought, no Sweet 16.
Arizona-Barnes has turned the program around, reached title game in 2021.
USC-Made NCAA tournament this past year under Gottleib, no Sweet 16s since 1994 still but have the #1 recruit and look well positioned to be a better program the next several years.

Washington State/Arizona have the monkey off their back. USC is also primed to be a much better program led by Wakins. RIP Pac 12 after this year.

SEC:
Alabama-Curry led them to a couple of NCAA bids including a 2nd round appearance in 2021. No Sweet 16s since 1998.
Arkansas-still no Sweet 16s, though the program has looked better under Neighbors. 2 first round losses but that's all to show since 2018.
Auburn-still no Sweet 16s since 1996. Made tournament in 2019.
Florida-made tournament in 2022, but still no Sweet 16 since 1998.

Each program has made the tournament since 2018 but still no Sweet 16s. Arkansas seems best positioned to get there but I'm not betting on any of them getting there soon.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

"Thanks for the memories, da-dah, da-dah, da-dah"

Glad you brought it back - times have changed quite a bit.

Of all the schools, Arkansas remains (for me) the puzzle. I can't quite figure out how good (by whatever standard) they are or are not under Neighbors.

Things change almost yearly, these days. Think Florida, Washington State, Indiana, Virginia Tech, etc. New coaches are a big factor.

I'm not sold on a bunch of these teams, it should be an interesting year.

 

[triaddukefan]

@bballnut90 Wake Forest made the covid tournament in 2021. They lost to the Lady Pokes in the first round. Ive long felt that Wake and Washington State were the two hardest jobs in powwr 5 wbb. Washington State has turned it around. Unfortunately Wake Forest will never be good in my lifetime.

 

[Forego]

Most topics are centered around top teams, so I thought I might spark some discussion on programs that have just have not been able to find any success in women's basketball the last 15-20 years. I did some research and was able to compile this list of power 5 programs that have not been able to make a Sweet 16 since 2000, or have had a pattern of losing since then. I'm familiar with some programs, but am hoping others will chime in and give their take why a specific program hasn't been able to find success:


ACC Teams:
Clemson-14 consecutive losing seasons, last Sweet 16 was 1999
Virginia Tech-14 consecutive seasons with a losing record in conference play, last Sweet 16 was 1999
Virginia-storied program in the 90s, last Sweet 16 was 2000
Wake Forest-last NCAA appearance was 1988

Clemson/Virginia Tech/Wake Forest have not had strong programs on the men's side for quite some time, so I'm not surprised to see those teams struggle. Wake had a great player in Dearica Hamby but wasn't able to capitalize. Not making the tournament since 1988 is the longest drought of any Power 5 team.

Virginia is a surprise though. They have such a storied program with Dawn Staley in the 90s and continued to put together great teams until 1996 or 1997. They had a standout in Monica Wright for 4 years and couldn't make the Sweet 16. They've made several tournaments but haven't been able to get over the hump.


Onto the Big 12:
TCU-never made a Sweet 16, did make NCAA tournament every year from 2001-2010 besides 2008
West Virginia-made 2nd round in 8 of last 11 years, program last made Sweet 16 in 1992

Pretty steady success in the Big 12 in terms of putting together teams that can consistently make the Sweet 16. TCU is a new addition to the conference so they're a relatively new Power Conference team. Very surprised to see that West Virginia hasn't made a Sweet 16 despite being a steady program for the last 10+ years. Mike Carey is a well known coach, but they've lost 8 straight 2nd round games. Can they get over the hump next year with Rice back?

Big 10:
Illinois-last made NCAA tournament in 2003, last Sweet 16 was 1998
Wisconsin-last tournament was 2010, has never made Sweet 16 and only made 2nd round twice
Indiana-made tournament in 2016, first appearance in 14 years.
Michigan-has never made Sweet 16, has had good teams the last several years under Barnes-Arico
Northwestern-made tournament in 2015, first time since 1997.

Big 10 has been by far the worst PC over the last 18 years. 0 titles, and most of their recent success can be attributed to Maryland joining the conference.

No surprise about Northwestern not finding success, they're weak in most sports due to having a smaller budget. I am surprised that Wisconsin has been the 2nd worst team in the conference. They have not been able to find a winning coach and they've never made a Sweet 16. This is especially surprising how successful they've been on the men's side. The coaches they've had (Lisa Stone/Tsipis/Bobbi Kelsey) all had great pedigrees before coming to Wisconsin and couldn't turn the program around.

Michigan has made good progress under Kim Barnes-Arico and they could definitely be a Sweet 16 team in the next few years. Illinois has fallen off the map ever since Grentz left, and Indiana has had some recent success even if they haven't made the Sweet 16.

Pac 12:
Washington State-last made tournament in 1991
Arizona-last made tournament in 2005, made 2nd round. Only Sweet 16 was in 1998.
USC-hasn't made Sweet 16 since 1994 (with Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson). Has only played in 3 NCAA tournaments since 2000.

USC is the big surprise here. Didn't realize they've been pretty bad for such a long time. They're one of the more storied programs in women's basketball history. Didn't find success with Michael Cooper, Mark Trahk (on his 2nd stint now) and Cynthia Cooper. Washington State is usually a bottom feeder in the PAC, and Arizona had some good teams with Shawntinice Polk but has been pretty bad the last several years.

SEC:
Alabama-hasn't made the tournament since 1999. Was a consistent top 10-15 team in the mid-late 90s.
Arkansas-no Sweet 16s since 1998 when they made the Final Four as a 9 seed. Has made several tournament appearances since 2000.
Auburn-no Sweet 16s since 1996. Has made 6 tournaments since 2000.
Florida-no Sweet 16 since 1998. Has been a regular NCAA tournament team in the 2000s. Was a 3 seed in 2001 with a good roster but lost at home in the 2nd round.

Alabama is a surprise to me, especially since they were so good in the 90s. Auburn is also a surprise. They won the SEC in 2009 with Dewanna Bonner as a senior but had a rough draw as a 2 seed, playing at Rutgers (with Prince/Vaughn) and lost in the 2nd round. I also would've thought that Florida would've made a Sweet 16 over the last 18 years but they haven't. Not surprised by Arkansas.

Most topics are centered around top teams, so I thought I might spark some discussion on programs that have just have not been able to find any success in women's basketball the last 15-20 years. I did some research and was able to compile this list of power 5 programs that have not been able to make a Sweet 16 since 2000, or have had a pattern of losing since then. I'm familiar with some programs, but am hoping others will chime in and give their take why a specific program hasn't been able to find success:


ACC Teams:
Clemson-14 consecutive losing seasons, last Sweet 16 was 1999
Virginia Tech-14 consecutive seasons with a losing record in conference play, last Sweet 16 was 1999
Virginia-storied program in the 90s, last Sweet 16 was 2000
Wake Forest-last NCAA appearance was 1988

Clemson/Virginia Tech/Wake Forest have not had strong programs on the men's side for quite some time, so I'm not surprised to see those teams struggle. Wake had a great player in Dearica Hamby but wasn't able to capitalize. Not making the tournament since 1988 is the longest drought of any Power 5 team.

Virginia is a surprise though. They have such a storied program with Dawn Staley in the 90s and continued to put together great teams until 1996 or 1997. They had a standout in Monica Wright for 4 years and couldn't make the Sweet 16. They've made several tournaments but haven't been able to get over the hump.


Onto the Big 12:
TCU-never made a Sweet 16, did make NCAA tournament every year from 2001-2010 besides 2008
West Virginia-made 2nd round in 8 of last 11 years, program last made Sweet 16 in 1992

Pretty steady success in the Big 12 in terms of putting together teams that can consistently make the Sweet 16. TCU is a new addition to the conference so they're a relatively new Power Conference team. Very surprised to see that West Virginia hasn't made a Sweet 16 despite being a steady program for the last 10+ years. Mike Carey is a well known coach, but they've lost 8 straight 2nd round games. Can they get over the hump next year with Rice back?

Big 10:
Illinois-last made NCAA tournament in 2003, last Sweet 16 was 1998
Wisconsin-last tournament was 2010, has never made Sweet 16 and only made 2nd round twice
Indiana-made tournament in 2016, first appearance in 14 years.
Michigan-has never made Sweet 16, has had good teams the last several years under Barnes-Arico
Northwestern-made tournament in 2015, first time since 1997.

Big 10 has been by far the worst PC over the last 18 years. 0 titles, and most of their recent success can be attributed to Maryland joining the conference.

No surprise about Northwestern not finding success, they're weak in most sports due to having a smaller budget. I am surprised that Wisconsin has been the 2nd worst team in the conference. They have not been able to find a winning coach and they've never made a Sweet 16. This is especially surprising how successful they've been on the men's side. The coaches they've had (Lisa Stone/Tsipis/Bobbi Kelsey) all had great pedigrees before coming to Wisconsin and couldn't turn the program around.

Michigan has made good progress under Kim Barnes-Arico and they could definitely be a Sweet 16 team in the next few years. Illinois has fallen off the map ever since Grentz left, and Indiana has had some recent success even if they haven't made the Sweet 16.

Pac 12:
Washington State-last made tournament in 1991
Arizona-last made tournament in 2005, made 2nd round. Only Sweet 16 was in 1998.
USC-hasn't made Sweet 16 since 1994 (with Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson). Has only played in 3 NCAA tournaments since 2000.

USC is the big surprise here. Didn't realize they've been pretty bad for such a long time. They're one of the more storied programs in women's basketball history. Didn't find success with Michael Cooper, Mark Trahk (on his 2nd stint now) and Cynthia Cooper. Washington State is usually a bottom feeder in the PAC, and Arizona had some good teams with Shawntinice Polk but has been pretty bad the lastBoston College has been sn

In what can only be described as large case of schadenfreude, on my part, I am very disappointed that Boston College has not been included. Ever since Kathy Inglese left in 2008 they have not played in the NCAA tourney and have struggled to have a winning season. Their in conference record since Kathy Inglese has been a disgraceful 70 - 169. Boston College should be given all the credit they deserve and be included in the posting.

 

[The deacon]

I'd say Wake Forest is the lone program as being truly dreadful in the new millenia.

I've long felt that Wake and Washington State were the two hardest jobs in power 5 wbb. Washington State has turned it around. Unfortunately Wake Forest will never be good in my lifetime.

Read on if you wish... I'm just sticking up for my Deacons.

Thanks, bballnut90, for the 'truly dreadful' tag. I won't dispute that the Deacs have been a threat to no one amongst the elite, yet they have averaged 16 wins per year for the last 16 seasons. True, many were against non-conference teams, but 'truly dreadful' might be a stretch.

I tend to agree with triaddukefan's assessment that Wake has not been a destination for top basketball coaches, but the Deacons' overall athletic program is top shelf in many sports and it recently spent tons of money (with little help from yours truly) on its basketball facilities.

Being a golfer, I'll note with pride that the Deacon women won this spring's NCAA title, adding to a fairly impressive Wake collection from this millennia also including men's soccer, men's tennis and field hockey. Its top-ranked baseball team nearly brought home another in June.

Even Wake football has been a Top 25 team in recent years and has won bowl games five of the past seven seasons (ND fans can thank Wake for passing along Sam Hartman, one of the country's best QBs the past few years).

And all that while having the smallest underclass enrollment of any Power 5 school, ranking with Rice and a few others of all DI schools, and ranking annually as one of the best academic schools in the nation.

Yup, I've drifted pretty far off course here, but I just needed to stick up for Wake.

Triaddukefan, I hope Wake proves you wrong, and that we're both around for a few more years to see it happen in women's basketball.

 

[visitingcock]

Glad to see Clem’s Son on the list. I can’t believe Imari Berry committed to them. If ruby whitehorn stays, They should have a decent backcourt in a couple of years.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Read on if you wish... I'm just sticking up for my Deacons.

Thanks, bballnut90, for the 'truly dreadful' tag. I won't dispute that the Deacs have been a threat to no one amongst the elite, yet they have averaged 16 wins per year for the last 16 seasons. True, many were against non-conference teams, but 'truly dreadful' might be a stretch.

I tend to agree with triaddukefan's assessment that Wake has not been a destination for top basketball coaches, but the Deacons' overall athletic program is top shelf in many sports and it recently spent tons of money (with little help from yours truly) on its basketball facilities.

Being a golfer, I'll note with pride that the Deacon women won this spring's NCAA title, adding to a fairly impressive Wake collection from this millennia also including men's soccer, men's tennis and field hockey. Its top-ranked baseball team nearly brought home another in June.

Even Wake football has been a Top 25 team in recent years and has won bowl games five of the past seven seasons (ND fans can thank Wake for passing along Sam Hartman, one of the country's best QBs the past few years).

And all that while having the smallest underclass enrollment of any Power 5 school, ranking with Rice and a few others of all DI schools, and ranking annually as one of the best academic schools in the nation.

Yup, I've drifted pretty far off course here, but I just needed to stick up for Wake.

Triaddukefan, I hope Wake proves you wrong, and that we're both around for a few more years to see it happen in women's basketball.

During my Greensboro NC days I made some trips to W-S and truly loved the campus and environment. It’s an impressive school.

 

[JellyBean]

Big 10:
Illinois-last made NCAA tournament in 2003, last Sweet 16 was 1998
Wisconsin-last tournament was 2010, has never made Sweet 16 and only made 2nd round twice
Indiana-made tournament in 2016, first appearance in 14 years.
Michigan-has never made Sweet 16, has had good teams the last several years under Barnes-Arico
Northwestern-made tournament in 2015, first time since 1997.

Big 10 has been by far the worst PC over the last 18 years. 0 titles, and most of their recent success can be attributed to Maryland joining the conference.

No surprise about Northwestern not finding success, they're weak in most sports due to having a smaller budget. I am surprised that Wisconsin has been the 2nd worst team in the conference. They have not been able to find a winning coach and they've never made a Sweet 16. This is especially surprising how successful they've been on the men's side. The coaches they've had (Lisa Stone/Tsipis/Bobbi Kelsey) all had great pedigrees before coming to Wisconsin and couldn't turn the program around.

Michigan has made good progress under Kim Barnes-Arico and they could definitely be a Sweet 16 team in the next few years. Illinois has fallen off the map ever since Grentz left, and Indiana has had some recent success even if they haven't made the Sweet 16.

I can only speak on the Big 10.

1). Illinois- Has been a mystery. I am shocked that they have not been in that 2nd tier of the Big Ten and getting tournament runs.
2). Wisconsin- Another interesting program considering how Green Bay, in that same timeframe, has put together a decent run and maintained a level of success where the bigger program, Wisconsin has struggled. Hopefully, Coach Moseley can continue to build on each season and help build Wisconsin into a powerhouse.
3). Indiana- They were hit or miss. They had an early 2000s run where they were in the middle of the Big Ten and then for a 5-8 year window, they were at or near the bottom of the Big Ten.
4). Michigan-Yeah no denying their rough early 2000s. I think at one point, they had a 1-15 season followed by a winless season. Coach Arico has improved the Michigan program.
5). Northwestern-We give Northwestern a pass. It is always impressive when Northwestern is competitive.

 

[triaddukefan]

Read on if you wish... I'm just sticking up for my Deacons.

Thanks, bballnut90, for the 'truly dreadful' tag. I won't dispute that the Deacs have been a threat to no one amongst the elite, yet they have averaged 16 wins per year for the last 16 seasons. True, many were against non-conference teams, but 'truly dreadful' might be a stretch.

I tend to agree with triaddukefan's assessment that Wake has not been a destination for top basketball coaches, but the Deacons' overall athletic program is top shelf in many sports and it recently spent tons of money (with little help from yours truly) on its basketball facilities.

Being a golfer, I'll note with pride that the Deacon women won this spring's NCAA title, adding to a fairly impressive Wake collection from this millennia also including men's soccer, men's tennis and field hockey. Its top-ranked baseball team nearly brought home another in June.

Even Wake football has been a Top 25 team in recent years and has won bowl games five of the past seven seasons (ND fans can thank Wake for passing along Sam Hartman, one of the country's best QBs the past few years).

And all that while having the smallest underclass enrollment of any Power 5 school, ranking with Rice and a few others of all DI schools, and ranking annually as one of the best academic schools in the nation.

Yup, I've drifted pretty far off course here, but I just needed to stick up for Wake.

Triaddukefan, I hope Wake proves you wrong, and that we're both around for a few more years to see it happen in women's basketball.

Yes I was thinking that Wake is above average/good/+ in every sport except for WBB. They do have top notch facilities, good location, great academics....so much to offer. I would LOVE for Wake to be a winner in WBB (though not at the expense of Duke of course)

I've said before in the past, I feel bad for the Wake players knowing how much hard work and effort they put only to come out onto the court in front of 500-800 fans in a 14,000 seat arena. Now with the transfer portal and NIL, I'm afraid that Wake might be vulnerable to one of those $EC vulture schools in case a Demon Deacon evolves into a upper tier player.

 

[The deacon]

Yes I was thinking that Wake is above average/good/+ in every sport except for WBB. They do have top notch facilities, good location, great academics....so much to offer. I would LOVE for Wake to be a winner in WBB (though not at the expense of Duke of course)

I've said before in the past, I feel bad for the Wake players knowing how much hard work and effort they put only to come out onto the court in front of 500-800 fans in a 14,000 seat arena. Now with the transfer portal and NIL, I'm afraid that Wake might be vulnerable to one of those $EC vulture schools in case a Demon Deacon evolves into a upper tier player.

Me, too, triaddukefan... Wake just lost Jewell Spear, who has not yet quite developed as expected. And her destination? Ouch, Tennessee.

Thanks otherwise for your kind words about Wake Forest.

 

[GamecockFam]

I started reading the OP like this was a new thread and was entirely confused...then I saw the date