October 28, 2008

The Cougars are on the Rise

It’s been a long time since even the most ardent Washington State fan thought that their team might be on the rise, but they can think the impossible now. June Dougherty has a fine first recruiting class with seven frosh will make their debut in November. April Cook from Long Beach Poly is the only Top 100 recruit,
# 84, but the other six might have been in the Top 200 so they will immediately vie for playing time.

Most of the newcomers are wings or guards, but frosh post Jessica Oestreicher at 6-8 will be the Pac 10’s tallest player and immediately challenge 6-4 Sr Ebonee Coates for playing time. Coates averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds per game last year, despite missing the first 7 games with a foot injury and another 6 games during the season with a concussion. She is 5th on the all time WSU shot blocking list. She also recorded several double/doubles, including against Stanford. Oestreicher, the # 71 player per Blue Star, was a very high recruit, but dropped a bit due to injuries. All League in Softball and Volleyball, she will be a strong player for the Cougars.

At the 4 position, 6-3 Heather Molzen returns, having started every game for the Cougars last year, averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds per game.

There are several players who could play either the 4 or 3 positions, and not knowing June’s plan, I’ll just talk about the possible 4 players first. 6-0 Soph Katie Calderwood started 20 games as a frosh averaging 4 points and 4 ½ rebounds per game, playing more wing, she took 97 three point shot attempts. Frosh Rosie Tarnowski is a touted 6-1 frosh. She played on the Fencor Travel team, DelleDone’s team. Rosie was named Player of the Year in Philly, the first woman ever given that honor. And like a number of Cougars, a 4 point student in High School. Another frosh is 6-1 Lexie Petterson a local from Spokane.

A newcomer who transferred from Idaho is 6-0 Jr Katie Madison. She has to sit out this year, but may well be the best newcomer. She led the WAC Conference in scoring while a frosh at Idaho. As a Frosh she averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds and as a Soph 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Washington State has three possible Point Guards. Kezia Kelly started last season as a frosh, in fact played the entire season as a 17 year old. Kelly is originally from England and moved to New Zealand while in High School. She averaged 5 points and 2 ½ assists per game. 5-8 frosh April Cook was the # 84 player in the country and # 16 Point Guard. April also was a several time league 100m dash champion. The 3rd candidate is another frosh, Danielle LeNoir, from famed Narbonne High School in Los Angeles.

The Wing Positions will have lots of competition also. Katie Appleton is a 5-8 Sr who started almost every game last season. Appleton led the Cougars in scoring with 12 points per game and was 2nd in the conference with a 40% three point percentage. Salena Dickerson transferred from Gonzaga two years ago and last season averaged 4 points per game for WSU. Twice Dickerson, whose brother was a star at Arizona, scored 40 points in a High School game.

More on Wings with Jasmine Perkins, a 5-10 frosh from Berkeley, who scored 28 points in the NorCal Championship game for her Division last year. Alexa Price is a 5-8 Jr who appeared in all 30 Cougar games last year and averaged 5 points a game but also hit 34 Three pointers. 5-9 Soph Jasmine Williams started 23 games last year as a frosh and averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds per game. Both Williams’ brother and cousin play for the Washington Sate Football team. Frosh Katie Grad was an All State player in Washington.

There should be lots of excitement for Cougar fans, but the real excitement may be the making of new fans in the Palouse. Already for 2009, June has a top 5 in the conference class for next season.

Lots of young players, only 3 Srs and a single Jr. Goods times are happening.

October 24, 2008

Washington Needs Time to Develop

Any story about the University of Washington Women’s Basketball program has to begin, sadly, with who isn’t at Washington. Washington lost three fine players due to a somewhat normal process, graduation and an injury. Gone are Point Guard Emily Florence and Post Andrea Plouffe who both graduated. Guard Dominique Banks retired rather than return for a final season. However the real disappointment for Husky fans was the lost of four prize frosh who decided to transfer rather than continue in Seattle.

Leading scorer Katelan Redmon, whose sister is an outstanding 2010 prospect, transferred to home town Gonzaga. Center and Tall Fern Jess McCormack transferred to UConn. Center Kali Bennett transferred to Arizona State. Finally Candice Nicholas transferred out even before the 2007-08 season started. Only two are left from this outstanding Frosh class, and both of them battled injuries last season.

2008-09 hopes to be more than a new year for 2nd Year Coach Tia Jackson, as they strive for continuity and success. To that end Jackson, a former Stanford Assistant, has the # 18 recruit, the dynamic Liz Lay. Liz is recovering from knee problems suffered in February, but when she is ready she’ll present problems for all Pac 10 defenses. Other top frosh include Guard Kristi Kingma, an outstanding shooter, and # 44 last year and Mollie Williams, a 6-2 Forward, named # 64 in the country by Collegiate Girls BB Report.

Washington finished 6th in the Conference last year with a 13-18 overall record. I don’t see too much improvement for them, but as they build it will be interesting. The Huskies have seven returning players, five new frosh and three transfers. Regina Rogers transferred from UCLA and must sit out the year. The other two transfers are JC players who can play immediately.

The Huskies have 5 potential post players to play the 4/5 positions. Returnees are 6-2 Jr Laura McLellan (from San Jose), a true post player, and F/C’s 6-3 Sr Heidi McNeill, redshirt frosh, 6-3 Mackenzie Argens, 6-1 Frosh Liz Lay and 6-2 Frosh Mollie Williams.

McLellan averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes last year while starting 7 games. She did shoot 59% from the floor. McNeill averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds in 18 minutes. Losing Bennett and McCormick really hurts here. Argens was hurt and only played in 4 games.

The two Frosh, Lay and Williams could both start. Lay would be an undersized 5, so expect her, if healthy, to start at the 4, and McLellan at the 5. Lay is a battler. She is extremely aggressive and talented. You’ll love to watch her play. If Williams lives up to her Collegiate Girls BB ranking, she’ll see lots of minutes. Regina Rogers will help tremendously in 2009-10 after sitting out this season under the transfer rule.

It appears 5-6 Frosh Nicole Romero will be the Point Guard. Jackson has called the Australian “one of the purest point guards one will ever see”. She was named the top player on her country’s 21U team. The back up could be 5-8 Soph Sarah Morton or 5-8 Jr and JC transfer Christina Rozier. Morton averaged just 8 minutes a game last season.

At the Wings will be Sami Whitcomb, the top returning scorer for the Huskies. Sami, a 5-10 Jr, averaged 11 points per game and hit 62 three’s at an average of 34%. The other starter could be 6-0 Sr Michelle Augustavo who only averaged 6 points per game, but made 46 three’s at a rate of 31%. Michelle took 183 shots last year, 150 of them were from behind the arc.

5-10 Frosh Kristi Kingma will play right away, probably the 3rd wing. She is an outstanding offensive player with a nice three, but even better pull up jumper. She is very quick, called explosive by Coach Jackson.

Sara Moisman is a 5-10 Jr who averaged 4.5 points per game while starting 9 games last season. One of Sara’s Travel Coaches was Glenn Nelson of HoopGrulz.

Washington now has to rebuild after losing so many talented players. Lay, Kingma, Williams and Romero could be great starts for the Huskies.

October 3, 2008

The Ducks look to move up in the Standings

Oregon has been down for awhile and 2008-09 doesn’t look good for them. They lost 2 Srs including a solid player in Chapadelaine. Then Nurse left the team suddenly after last season along with one of their European imports. Adding to their losses, Soph Guard Nia Jackson tore her ACL and is lost for the season.

The Ducks have 12 players including 5 foreign, 3 frosh and a JC transfer. None of the newcomers are highly rated, nevertheless they do have promise.

In the Post position are two solid players and they are only in their 2nd year. 6-4 Ellyce Ironmonger, now there’s a name for a banger in the paint, and 6-5 Nicole Canepa return for the Ducks. Ironmonger averaged 6.5 points and 5 rebounds per game while starting about half the games. Canepa, from San Francisco, averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds per game as she started about half the games. She was also Honorable Mention all PAC 10 Frosh last season. There were a few games when both started, so something we might see again this season.

Ellie Manou is a 6-3 frosh who played a lot at the 4 position despite battling injuries last season. She averaged 7 points and 5.5 rebounds. Another 4 is frosh Amanda Johnson, 6-2, from Santa Rosa. Johnson averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds a game as a High School Sr. She scored over 2,000 points in her High School career.

Oregon lists 4 players on their roster as F/G so I’ll assume one of them will play the 3. JC transfer Lindsey Stafford is a 5-10 Jr who has had rebound success at the High School and JC level despite being 5-10. Stafford averaged 17 points and 9.5 rebounds per game last year, and as a High School Sr averaged 22 points and 15 rebounds. Being 5-10 will be hard for her in the PAC 10 at the 3, although a number of teams will be playing with 3 Guards.

The other 3’s are Rita Kollo a 6-0 5th year Sr. Kolla played two years of JC, a year at Oklahoma State and then sat out last year under the transfer rule. She scored 21 points per game in JC as a Soph and 10 points per game on Hungary’s U21 team in 2007. She brings some talent, but will be in her first and last season. Victoria Kenyon is a 6-2 Soph from Australia. Kenyon redshirted her first season at Oregon, and last year scored 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds a game. She started 12 of the Ducks’games last season. Tatianna Thomas is a 5-11 Soph who saw little time last season, but was rated as the 40th best Guard as a Sr in High School. Incoming 6-0 Frosh Jasmin Holiday rounds out this group, although Holliday is listed only as a Forward on the Ducks roster. Holiday averaged 14 points and a solid 11 rebounds a game last year as a High School Sr.

Oregon returns two good Guards, 5-8 Jr Micaela Cocks and 5-6 Jr Taylor Lilley. Also they have added 5-6 Frosh Darriel Gaynor. Lilley is Oregon’s best player, having averaged 13 points per game last season and was named 3rd team All PAC 10. She’s also an excellent Three Point shooter, hitting 74 last season, 35% and is already 6th on the all time Duck list in Three Pointers made. Cocks averaged almost 7 points per game. Frosh Gaynor is the only true Point Guard on the team, She averaged 11 points and 6 assists per game last year in High School.

Little or not so little known facts: Lilley is the choice of most as the best dancer. Gaynor was a Travel teammate of Stanford’s Lindy LaRocque and has a sister playing for the Houston Comets. Cocks, of course, was a Tall Fern with Jillian in the Olympics.

The big question for Oregon: Who plays the Point? Gaynor, a frosh, is the only one with experience and that’s High School level. Or Lilley or Cocks?

Oregon has a pretty good non conference schedule, so they’ll come into league play prepared. Women’s Basketball is still pretty exciting in Oregon, they average 2,600 at home. But do they have the players to make a run to the top 5 in the league?