Welcome Lexi! Next year should be fun.
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Welcome Lexi! Next year should be fun.
As a point of reference, since Alana appeared these are the only players who have averaged 15.7+:
Alana (4x)
Monique (2x)
Jasmine
Tricia
Azura
Becca
Lexie (2x)
Haley (2x)
Was surprised neither Chelsea Gray nor Elizabeth Williams ever eclipsed that mark.
So we've got some instant offense to go with Miela, and transfer Nyah Green was a McDAA who should also provide some kick. Yes, it should be fun! Plus I'm sure there is more to come.
Jaida Patrick lands at Columbia
https://twitter.com/Raoul_000/status...04372428132352
Great pickup but I wish Gordon would fix her tweet:
“Blessed to be apart of greatness”
NC State has been busy little bees this off-season...
Madison Hayes (Fr) guard from Mississippi State
SEC All-Freshman
High School McDonald's All American and top 30 in her class
https://gopack.com/news/2021/4/8/wom...to-roster.aspx
Diamond Johnson (Fr) guard from Rutgers
Big10 All-Freshman and 2nd Team All-Big Ten
#6 player in her class and two time PA basketball player of the year
https://gopack.com/news/2021/4/9/wom...ck-family.aspx
Additionally, seniors Raina Perez, Kai Crutchfield and Kayla Jones have opted to extend their stay for another year thanks to the special COVID rules.
We will return our top 8 scorers this season plus the addition of the two transfers. :cool:
We do have four players headed to the transfer portal...Jada Rice, Elle Sutphin, Dontavia Waggoner and Rebecca Demeke.
I think the team might want to three peat as ACC Champs and take another shot at a Final Four.
I see Oklahoma hired Jenni Baranezyk as their head coach.
Wasn't she in the mix for us before we hired Kara ?
Add another McDonalds All-American transfer, Celeste Taylor from the Texas Longhorns.
Will be a new team next year. And far be it from me to tell Kara anything, but we need some bigs now. :)
https://www.hookem.com/story/sports/...ke/7176245002/
P.S. Texas beat Big10 champ Maryland to make the Elite Eight. We have really added some talent at guard. Since Kara was hired late, too late to do much in the 2021 high school class, she has taken the smart road to re-stock immediately through the lax transfer rules. I would think this success will also help give her credibility with the 2022 high school class. Exciting times for DWBB.Quote:
Over her two seasons with the Longhorns, Taylor started 52 times. As a sophomore, she led the team in steals and averaged 12.3 points per game.
C'mon Kedsy, I know you know better than that. I support every player that puts on a Duke uniform. But Kara just picked up 2 McDAAs and another who was rated #29 and was a freshman at UConn (and scored 15.7 ppg last year). That's to join Miela and Vanessa. We're looking pretty good at guard.
Outside of Jade, we have no bigs who have anywhere near those credentials.
Well, I'm not sure I do know better than that. Jade is a 5th-year senior who was #14 out of high school (HoopGurlz). Onome was only HoopGurlz #77, but she was averaging 11.5 rebounds per game (in only 24mpg; so it's 19+ rebounds per 40) when our season was cut off (4 games, but still). And Uchenna is 6'6 and hard to move. If she gets in better shape, she could be a force. They may not have the highest credentials (except for Jade), but I think that's a serviceable set of bigs to go with the guards/wings you mention. If Kara can pick up another McDAA, great. If not, I think our bigs will do just fine.
I don't understand the snark, especially against Jim Sumner, especially when you are so clearly in the wrong.
Jade finally started to live up to her potential, but it was only 4 games. In her first 3 years, she averaged about 7 ppg. So we'll see.
Onome averaged 11.5 rebounds...in 4 games against 3 mid-major (?) teams that ended their seasons 14-11, 6-18, 8-14, and Louisville. Her first 2 years she averaged about 5 rebounds (and 4 points) over full seasons against real competition. Maybe she made a leap, maybe not.
Uchenna averaged well less than 1 point and 1 rebound her first 3 seasons. So you can hang your hat on that if you want to.
I wasn't going to respond and just chalk it up to boundless optimism, and then you had to get snarky.
And why your snark about Onome’s game. Did you watch her play at all?
You seem to be caught up in stats, well, here’s some more.
She started almost all the games since coming to Duke. You dismiss her rebounding, but she had the highest rate per minute on the team all three seasons, better than Haley or Leaonna. She appears sound on defense and gets good rebounding positioning. This season, in those four games, she was far better than the non-conference opponents, and her rebound rate did go up. It also helped that we were playing M2MDefense instead of zone. But steady improvement. Offensively, I didn’t see enough of her as a primary player to know if she had made a lot of progress. Her first two years, Haley and Leaonna were more of the focus, so she (and Jade) were not expected to score as much.
Uchenna, on the other hand, was always going to be a project. She was not in great shape and missed the opportunity to get better after her freshman year due to her knee injury.
Cedrick Goldman of the Austin-American Statesman gives out the Ceddy Awards at the end of each season, although they happen to be in categories that he makes up.
Turns out that Celeste Taylor has won two:
Best potential: Celeste Taylor, Texas. The sophomore guard played some of her best ball in the NCAAs — including a 24-point performance in the second round against UCLA — and showed she could be a star in 2022.
Most sobering potential: If Taylor reaches stardom, it won't be in Austin since she announced her plans to transfer to Duke. Vic Schaefer's loss is Kara Lawson's gain.
I think people in Austin are confused about why she would leave an Elite Eight program that is clearly on the upswing, but I'm glad she's with Duke. She apparently misses her family in NY, but she's still going to be 500 miles away. At any rate, welcome to Duke, Celeste Taylor. She was a McD AA and has played for USA basketball, so Kara Lawson is clearly doing something right since five stars are just coming out of the woodwork.
I wasn't being snarky. If Uchenna is leaving the program, we clearly need another big. I was essentially saying, "Never mind," but it's hard to convey an Emily Litella voice in an internet post.
But I also don't understand why you're so down on Jade and Onome. I think they're both quite capable of contributing to a top 25 team, so I don't feel like I'm clearly in the wrong.