The Bear is back, as Cal announcer Joe Starkey likes to shout. The addition of the Fab 5 last year brought Cal women's basketball back into the limelight as a winning team and with a trip to the Dance. But much has happened since their NCAA first round loss.
Strong Forward Renee Wright graduated, which was Cal's only planned loss. Then Guard Sarah Pool decided not to play her 5th season; followed by Jessica Lawson's transfer to Central Florida; then Jene Morris thought the grass was greener with Beth Burns and off she went to San Diego State. Poof, there went the depth.
Cal starts off the season with one of the smaller Pac 10 rosters, 11 players, but they also return three sophs, who are outstanding. The pressure will be on 2nd year coach Joanne Boyle to keep her Big Three (shades of the Terrific Trio at UCLA these past years) healthy. Hampton, Walker and Gray-Lawson all suffered injuries during the summer, although they should be healthy for the start of the season.
At Center, 6-3 Devanei Hampton is an outstanding player. She has great offensive skills, and the quickness and jumping ability to be a strong defensive presence. Behind her is 6-2 Emmelie Geraedts, who hasn't played much, and 6-5 frosh Rama N'diaye. Rama's background is not strong, and she's not a Center by personality. She seems better suited as a 4, and may play there also. The big question is, will she be ready for Pac 10 play? That's quite a jump for her, and judging by what I saw in the summer league, it might be rushing her.
Ashley Walker, a 6-1 Soph, is a strong player with quickness and a desire to mix it up under the basket. Walker and Hampton form an outstanding pair of Post players, who will do a lot of damage on offense near the basket, and be ferocious rebounders. Backing up Walker will be 6-0 Jr Krista Foster, who should be solid as the back up.
At the Small Forward will be 6-0 Soph Shantrell Snead. Shantrell was very highly recruited and a part of the Fab 5. However, injuries have left her trying to make a comeback of sorts. If 100% healthy, she will be a major contributor. An outstanding rebounder for a 3, she is also a strong offensive weapon, although not a 3 point shooter. Backing up Snead will be one of the five Guards. Therefore a lot of pressure on Snead and her comeback from injuries.
At the Point will be the outstanding 5-8 Alexis Gray-Lawson. Gray-Lawson is really an ideal 2 Guard. She has outstanding offensive skills from the three point line to under the basket. She's a score first PG, not ideal when your other two offensive weapons are post players. But she is exciting, and definitely a leader.
There are four Guards who could play and, the Bears hope, contribute. 5-7 Frosh Natasha Vital comes in as about the #55 HSer from last year and can play the Point. Another Point will be 5-5 Soph Kelly O'Connell.
At the 2 Guard will be 5-10 Sr Keanna Levy. Levy has played well the past two summers in the Pro Am, but didn't see much playing time last season for Cal. This could be the year she breaks out, and the Bears need her to step up. Backing up Levy will be 5-10 frosh Lauren "Bring the Opposition" Greif. An outstanding HSer from Oregon, she brings that Oregon mentality with her, always at the right place at the right time. Lauren could also play the 3.
Last year the top three scorers were Hampton at 15.4, Gray-Lawson 14.6, and Walker at 13.3. These three account for 43.3 of the 51.5 returning points or 84% of the offensive production. Hampton averaged 7.9 rebounds per game, Walker 7.7. Both are truly outstanding rebounders.
Recruiting: This year's class includes two # 50 -100 type recruits in Greif and Vital, and a project in Rama.
In the current recruiting cycle, Cal has landed the outstanding 6-2 Post Lenita Sanford, a 5 star player. Other than that, 6-1 Kelsey Adrian is now rated in the 90's and unknown 6-0 Rachelle Federico from Arizona has also verbaled to Cal. Despite six scholarships to give, it appears Cal is done for this signing period. They might be looking for late bloomers for the April signing period.
No comments:
Post a Comment