DWBB 2024 Off-season

dudog84 said:
Adding Toby's nose for the ball in rebounding to Oluchi's...yum!
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Toby is an impressive player who is a very good rebounder and has some offense. I hear that at 6'2" she can dunk the ball, which is very unusual in the women's game. I noticed Arianna Robertson in the game. She is 6'4" and willowy. She was not as involved as Toby in the play but in this type of game some people get left out of the offense so I'll await her at Duke to see more. She was rated #19 in the recruiting class so must be very good.
 
brevity said:
Team USA came back from a double digit deficit to beat Team World 83-80. Found some highlights but no box score.
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USA Basketball finally has a box score.

Arianna Roberson played 8 minutes in a reserve role for Team USA, scoring 3 points on 1-for-6 shooting (no 3-point attempts) and 1 of 2 free throws. She added 5 rebounds and 1 steal.

Toby Fournier started for Team World and played 20 minutes. She scored 11 points, going 5 of 8 from the field (no 3-point attempts) and 1 of 6 at the line. She also had 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals.
 
brevity said:
USA Basketball finally has a box score.

Arianna Roberson played 8 minutes in a reserve role for Team USA, scoring 3 points on 1-for-6 shooting (no 3-point attempts) and 1 of 2 free throws. She added 5 rebounds and 1 steal.

Toby Fournier started for Team World and played 20 minutes. She scored 11 points, going 5 of 8 from the field (no 3-point attempts) and 1 of 6 at the line. She also had 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals.
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USA Basketball plays excellent defense against free throw shooters.
 
The WNBA Draft is tonight (7:30pm ET on ESPN, streaming link). I'll open a WNBA thread once rosters are fixed and the regular season is about to begin.

Here are some mock drafts of interest. Kennedy Brown has a draft prospect page on the WNBA site, but she is not currently predicted to be drafted. Meanwhile, it looks like former Blue Devil Celeste Taylor is a remote possibility for the first round, but probably a second rounder.

ESPN (all three rounds)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark, Iowa
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink, Stanford
3. Chicago Sky: Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Rickea Jackson, Tennessee
5. Dallas Wings: Aaliyah Edwards, Connecticut
6. Washington Mystics: Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
7. Chicago Sky: Angel Reese, LSU
8. Minnesota Lynx: Isobel Borlase, Australia
9. Dallas Wings: Leila Lacan, France
10. Connecticut Sun: Nyadiew Puoch, Australia
11. New York Liberty: Nika Mühl, Connecticut
12. Atlanta Dream: Celeste Taylor, Ohio State

Taylor played five seasons in college, spread out between Texas, Duke and Ohio State -- three programs known for strong defense. So she might also be on New York's radar for the No. 11 pick, or even go higher. Taylor averaged 10.8 points per game in her college career, making 169 3-pointers total.
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Yahoo! (all three rounds)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink
3. Chicago Sky: Kamilla Cardoso
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Aaliyah Edwards
5. Dallas Wings: Rickea Jackson
6. Washington Mystics: Jacy Sheldon
7. Chicago Sky: Angel Reese
8. Minnesota Lynx: Carla Leite, France
9. Dallas Wings: Nika Mühl
10. Connecticut Sun: Nyadiew Puoch
11. New York Liberty: Marquesha Davis, Mississippi
12. Atlanta Dream: Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech

15. Indiana Fever: Celeste Taylor

Taylor has proven she can defend perimeter players at a high level. One talent evaluator remarked that it’s impressive that she could retain that same skill in two power conferences in the ACC and the Big Ten. While her offensive numbers during her final year at Ohio State aren’t the most appealing on paper, she pushed herself on a college team that played a more pro-style, high-octane offense than what she was used to at Duke. She also proved that she has the potential to function as a secondary or tertiary playmaker. She averaged 3.4 assists per game this past season. For Taylor to stick in the WNBA, she’ll need to continue to work on her 3-point shooting.

Indiana, a team that will be looking for consistent perimeter defense on the wing, could emerge as one of Taylor’s suitors. Her motor and high-energy style of play should impress head coach Christie Sides and general manager Lin Dunn in training camp.
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247 (all three rounds; written prior to the trade of #7 and #8 picks)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink
3. Chicago Sky: Kamilla Cardoso
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Aaliyah Edwards
5. Dallas Wings: Angel Reese
6. Washington Mystics: Rickea Jackson
7. Minnesota Lynx: Jacy Sheldon
8. Chicago Sky: Carla Leite
9. Dallas Wings: Nika Mühl
10. Connecticut Sun: Nyadiew Puoch
11. New York Liberty: Marquesha Davis
12. Atlanta Dream: Charisma Osborne, UCLA

15. Indiana Fever: Celeste Taylor

Bleacher Report (first round only; written prior to the trade of #7 and #8 picks)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink
3. Chicago Sky: Rickea Jackson
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Kamilla Cardoso
5. Dallas Wings: Jacy Sheldon
6. Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards
7. Minnesota Lynx: Nyadiew Puoch
8. Chicago Sky: Leila Lacan
9. Dallas Wings: Isobel Borlase
10. Connecticut Sun: Angel Reese
11. New York Liberty: Alissa Pili, Utah
12. Atlanta Dream: Charisma Osborne

Surely there's somebody on Monday night who far exceeds their draft projection and winds up in the middle or latter stage of the first round...

Ohio State's Celeste Taylor is an experienced guard who should have a high floor in the WNBA. The ACC Defensive Player of the Year at Duke for 2022-23, she transferred to Ohio State for 2023-24 and was voted by the coaches as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
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USA Today (first round only)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink
3. Chicago Sky: Rickea Jackson
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Kamilla Cardoso
5. Dallas Wings: Jacy Sheldon
6. Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards
7. Chicago Sky: Angel Reese
8. Minnesota Lynx: Nyadiew Puoch
9. Dallas Wings: Alissa Pili
10. Connecticut Sun: Dyaisha Fair, Syracuse
11. New York Liberty: Charisma Osborne
12. Atlanta Dream: Nika Mühl

CBS (first round only)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink
3. Chicago Sky: Rickea Jackson
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Kamilla Cardoso
5. Dallas Wings: Jacy Sheldon
6. Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards
7. Chicago Sky: Angel Reese
8. Minnesota Lynx: Isobel Borlase
9. Dallas Wings: Carla Leite
10. Connecticut Sun: Alissa Pili
11. New York Liberty: Nika Mühl
12. Atlanta Dream: Nyadiew Puoch

Sporting News (first round only)

1. Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark
2. Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink
3. Chicago Sky: Rickea Jackson
4. Los Angeles Sparks: Kamilla Cardoso
5. Dallas Wings: Aaliyah Edwards
6. Washington Mystics: Jacy Sheldon
7. Chicago Sky: Angel Reese
8. Minnesota Lynx: Nyadiew Puoch
9. Dallas Wings: Isobel Borlase
10. Connecticut Sun: Alissa Pili
11. New York Liberty: Charisma Osborne
12. Atlanta Dream: Leila Lacan
 
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brevity said:
Meanwhile, it looks like former Blue Devil Celeste Taylor is a remote possibility for the first round, but probably a second rounder.
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Celeste did indeed go at where many of those mocks had her, 15th to Indiana. Compared to the men's draft, the WNBA calls are basically written in stone before tonight, very little surprise.
 
Liz Kitley was the last pick of the second round. Gotta think she would have gone higher had it not been for her season ending injury.
She was one of only three ACC players taken, the others being Dyaisha Fair (Syracuse) early in the 2nd and Kiki Jefferson in the third round (Louisville).
 
CameronBornAndBred said:
Liz Kitley was the last pick of the second round. Gotta think she would have gone higher had it not been for her season ending injury.
She was one of only three ACC players taken, the others being Dyaisha Fair (Syracuse) early in the 2nd and Kiki Jefferson in the third round (Louisville).
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Definitely, I saw a couple of mocks before her injury and she was always 1st round. I hope she recovers fully and has a good pro career. Whoever drafted her knows they won't get a minute out of her this season.
 
If Kara Lawson DOES go to the portal to fill a need (post player, please), maybe she can get ex-OSU Kennedy Brown to talk to freshly new ex-OSU Raegan Beers. Tabbed the top option by some in the portal, she's a 6-4 double double machine. As we had with Kennedy, Raegan has two years left.
She shot an incredible 66.4% from the field in 2023-24, finishing second in the country in that mark. She also was a walking double-double this season, dropping 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Getting a post player of Beers productivity level for two seasons is almost unheard of and is a major win for whoever lands her.
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https://247sports.com/longformartic...rs-tops-the-best-available-players-230451149/
https://osubeavers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/raegan-beers/9880
 
CameronBornAndBred said:
If Kara Lawson DOES go to the portal to fill a need (post player, please), maybe she can get ex-OSU Kennedy Brown to talk to freshly new ex-OSU Raegan Beers. Tabbed the top option by some in the portal, she's a 6-4 double double machine. As we had with Kennedy, Raegan has two years left.

https://247sports.com/longformartic...rs-tops-the-best-available-players-230451149/
https://osubeavers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/raegan-beers/9880
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Yes but if she shot 66.4%, that means she can hit a layup. That means she doesn't fit the Kennedy Brown mold properly.
 
FWIW, according to that article I linked, the ENTIRE roster of UCONN is now following Beers. (hehe)

So Geno is obviously heavily interested.
 
It seems like Talia Goodman is singlehandedly working to defeat society's perceptions of nepotism. Over at The Next, she's handling the transfer portal tracker for women's basketball, much like she did last year for Heat Check WBB.

It's been up for a while, but I wanted to point out some recent developments. Former Villanova guard Lucy Olsen, who averaged 23.3 points per game last season, third in the nation behind Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins, is transferring to Iowa for her final season. It seems like a stopgap measure for losing Clark. Olsen will join returning starters Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter.

A couple of former Duke players (who transferred out last year) have entered the portal again: Miami's Shayeann Day-Wilson and Marquette's Lee Volker. Keep in mind that both have lost their coaches; Katie Meier retired at Miami, while Megan Duffy left Marquette to replace Kenny Brooks at Virginia Tech.

Now back to dumping on Gregg Doyel, already in progress.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 said:
This man is a turd and has been for a very long time.
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The DBR front page has an article reminding us of the time Gregg Doyel wanted to write a book about Duke, and Coach K denied him access. (It looks like he wrote the book anyway? I don't remember the specifics, and there are 10 threads with "Doyel" in the title when you do an advanced search on DBR. It's funny; in this thread from 2008, I pointed out that Doyel ineffectively injects himself into his writing. Times have not changed.)

Anyway, Doyel wrote a second apology to Caitlin Clark, this time in the Indy Star. So at least he injected himself into the story and got a column out of it.
 
The Cavinder twins say "But wait, there's more!"

The Cavinder twins are back at Miami.

One day after Hanna Cavinder revealed she was returning to the Hurricanes, twin sister Haley Cavinder said she was decommitting from TCU and heading back to Miami as well.
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That would be interesting in of itself, but this is after BOTH of them didn't play at all last year.

“Given the news yesterday that my sister was returning to play ball at Miami and after careful consideration and thought, I've decided to return to the University of Miami and play with Hanna for our final and 5th year,” Haley Cavinder wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
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https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hanna-haley-cavinder-theyre-returning-174434345.html

They also said "We really enjoy our NIL money and with us together there's twice as much". Well I made that up, but it's true. :rolleyes:
 
CameronBornAndBred said:
The Cavinder twins say "But wait, there's more!"



That would be interesting in of itself, but this is after BOTH of them didn't play at all last year.


https://www.yahoo.com/sports/hanna-haley-cavinder-theyre-returning-174434345.html

They also said "We really enjoy our NIL money and with us together there's twice as much". Well I made that up, but it's true. :rolleyes:
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And in what is likely related news, Haley Van Lith is leaving the swamp, er LSU, and is going to TCU.

ETA - Duke is one of five P6 teams not to have anybody in the portal. Hope that continues.
 
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