Arizona State has been to the Elite Eight two of the past three seasons. Their record for the three seasons has been 79-25 and 45-9 in the Pac 10. Stanford Grad Charli Turner Thorne enters her thirteenth as the Sun Devil Head Coach and is on a roll with five straight 20 win seasons, joining Tara and “Sit Down” Chris Gobrecht as the only Pac 10 Coaches to do this in the past 24 years. Also ASU has had the same staff together for seven seasons.
Then there is the bad news. Two Sun Devils will miss the season. Standout Guard Dymond Simon suffered her second knee injury in three years last March at Stanford, and will sit out this season, returning for her final season next year. Simon was ASU’s leading scorer last season with a 13.8 average per game and shot 38 % from three. She will really be missed.
JC transfer Markisha Patterson will also sit out this season with a knee injury. Patterson was a top JC recruit and the 5-9 Guard will be counted on next season.
Also gone is Guard Jazlyn Davis, a 5-9 Guard who played in just 3 games last year then hurt her knee. She has left due to academics.
Now the graduation losses, all six of them. Sybil Dosty and Lauren Lacy both graduated from the Post positions. Dosty averaged 8 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes and Lacy averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes. The big loss is Briann January, All Pac 10 and certainly one of the top players in the league over the past several years. She averaged 14 points almost 5 assists in 27 minutes and made nearly twice as many three point shots than anyone else while shooting a great 45% from Three. Also graduating were Kristen Thompson, Nia Fanaika and Kate Englebrecht who was 3rd on the team in minutes per game.
Nine big losses must leave Charli scratching her head, OK she wouldn’t do that.
However the losses are huge and it’ll take all her wiles to get the Sun Devils near the top of the Pac 10 again.
At Center will be 6-5 Jr Becca Tobin who averaged almost 19 minutes, 5 points and 5 rebounds a game. The other post will be 6-2 Sr Kayli Murphy. Kayli’s brother is a freshman football player at Stanford. Except for missing the first 6 games last year with a hand injury, she has played in every game during her three year ASU career. Last season Kayli averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes.
Two newcomers will see lots of playing team at the post positions as Charli runs her players in and out of games with her ice hockey style substitutions. Kali Bennett transferred from Washington a year ago and is now ready to play. She is 6-5 with 3 years left. At Washington she averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds two years ago. Her best game? 11 points and 11 rebounds against Stanford. Kali was a High School All American and will immediately help the Sun Devils. Joy Burke is a 6-5 frosh, highly recruited after averaging 20 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 5.5 blocks per game as a High School Sr... Joy suffered a knee injury last year, but is expected to be ready to practice by mid October.
Kim Brandon is a 6-2 Soph, her sister is at Cal, who can play both the 3 and the 4. Last year she averaged 6 minutes per game. however she was the # 27 Forward out of High School.
The Point Guard will be 5-10 soph Alex Earl. Alex was the High School teammate of JJ Hones and during Alex’s 4 years at Southridge they won four straight State titles. She also played soccer with Kelsy Hones, JJ sister. Last year as a frosh Alex only played 99 minutes. So she lacks experience, but has talent. Other Point Guards are 5-5 frosh Sabrina McKinney, and 5-5 redshirt frosh Haley Parsons. McKinney was not a big scorer in High School, but Charli loves her passing and defense.
5-9 5th year Sr Danielle Orsillo returned last season from her knee injury suffered in the previous season and averaged 9 points per game, the top returning scorer. She scored 21 points in her only Jr game and 10 points per game as a true Soph. She shot 38% from Three last season, making only 37, but expect her to double that number or more. Frosh Deja Mann is a 5-7 frosh, who could play either Guard position. Deja averaged 16 points per game as a High School soph, then missed her Jr season with a knee injury. Hoop Gurlz ranked her as the # 37 shooting guard, and mentions that she appears to have recovered from her injury.
Tenaya Watson is a 5-9 JC transfer who is expected to contribute right away. Playing the Point for the number one team in the country, she averaged 16 points and 8 assists. Charli called Tenaya the top JC Guard in the country.
Janae Fulcher is a 6-3 Soph with 4 years left to play . She sat out last season. She’ll be in the mix at a post position. Another who will see action is 5-11 Sr Gaby Fage.
ASU has a fairly easy non conference schedule, the big games are at Xavier early in the season, then games 9 and 10 against Texas A&M and Baylor at a tournament in Las Vegas. The Sun Devils open the Pac 10 at home against the LA schools, then close against them in LA. It’ll be an interesting season for the young Sun Devils.
September 28, 2009
September 22, 2009
The Wildcats go in a different direction.
Head Coach Niya Butts finished her first year at the University of Arizona with a 12-19 record, 4-14 in the Pac 10. After the season she cleaned house and released four of her five frosh players. Gone are Courtney Clements who started 19 games and averaged 10 points per game, Amani Butler, Malia Nahinu and Jhakia McDonald who started all five games she played, averaging 7 points per game. That and graduation left the Wildcats with five players in the spring.
Butts replaced the seven who graduated or left with four JC transfers and an incoming frosh. They also have a transfer from Arkansas who will sit out this season.
Arizona does have four returnees who started at least 13 games last season, and one of the top players in the West, Ify Ibekwe, but the JC players will be asked to contribute many minutes and results immediately. History doesn’t indicate that this is likely to happen.
Arizona plays a decent non conference schedule this season with San Diego State, Mississippi, Georgia Tech and New Mexico. Last year they were 8-4 pre Pac 10, and that would be good start for the Wildcats this year.
Ify Ibekwe is a 6-1 Jr who is one of only four West Coast Players on the Wooden Watch List. Last season she really came on as a Pac 10 star, scoring almost 16 points per game and a great 11.6 rebounds per game. Ify will be at the 4 position, and will certainly be the player other teams have to shut down. She’s fun to watch and the backbone of the Wildcat team.
Jennifer Kioa is a 6-4 Center and a transfer from Foothill College where she averaged almost 12 points per game and 7 rebounds while being named all State JC. She was ranked the 7th and 9th Center and 26th and 32nd overall player by two JC publications. I saw her play several times in the San Francisco ProAm and I think she will contribute right away. That’s good for the Wildcats, as she has to be the starting Center immediately. Jennifer will be backed by another JC transfer, 6-3 Amanda Pierson. Amanda averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds as a JC sophomore last year. As a Sr in High School she averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds per game. Amanda comes from Kansas.
Soana Lucet is another JC player and the only other Wildcat player over 5-10. That’s right; only four Wildcats are taller than 5-10. Soana is a native of New Caldedonia and transferred from the College of Southern Idaho. She is the first female player from her country to play college basketball in the US. She was ranked the # 3 Power Forward and # 4 overall JC player. At JC last season she averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds. While the Wildcats may often use three guards, Soana will certainly see quite a bit of playing time.
5-6 Sr Ashley Frazier stated every game last year for the Wildcats at the Point Guard. Last season she averaged 7 points and 4 assists per game, and a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. Ashley was in her first season as she was also a JC transfer.
Reiko Thomas will be the other starting guard, as she started 19 games last season while averaging 10 points per game. She was the top 3 point shooter, of those taking more than one per game, but only hit 30%. Reiko is a 5-8 soph and the only player of the 5 person frosh class to stay at Arizona. She did hit 82% of her Free Throws, and was a High School teammate of Ify’s.
Davellyn Whyte is a 5-10 frosh who was the Gatorade POY in Arizona last year. She is the daughter of former Major Leaguer Devon Whyte. She will fight for a starting position if three guards, with returnee 5-10 redshirt soph Tasha Dickey. Tasha sat out last season with an injury, after averaging 7 points per game while starting 21 games in 2007-08. Tasha’s Father was a Football player at Arizona and her Mother was a Basketball player at Arizona.
Other players are 5-5 Jr Guard Faihza Hill, a walk on who scored 2.5 points per game while starting 13 games. Her Dad played Football at Purdue and her Mom played Basketball at Cal. Her major: Molecular and Cellular Biology. Brooke Jackson is another JC transfer and will be a soph. She had a storied High School career in Arizona, scoring 2,250 points and averaging 18 per game over her four year career. This included 271 Three’s and 41% from the deep line. She scored 16 points per game including hitting 45% from Three as a JC frosh last year.
The Wildcats will have 10 players, 9 on scholarship for the season, but also have Shanita Arnold who must sit out this season after transferring from Arkansas. Last season she started every game for the Razorbacks and scored almost 6 points per game. Her high was 22 points on 6 of 11 from Three. Mike White rated Arnold the # 24 High School player in the country 3 years ago. She will have two seasons to play starting next season.
The Wildcats will certainly struggle in the Pac 10 this year. It’ll be hard to finish above 8th place. However they certainly have an opportunity to prove themselves with some good non conferences wins.
Butts replaced the seven who graduated or left with four JC transfers and an incoming frosh. They also have a transfer from Arkansas who will sit out this season.
Arizona does have four returnees who started at least 13 games last season, and one of the top players in the West, Ify Ibekwe, but the JC players will be asked to contribute many minutes and results immediately. History doesn’t indicate that this is likely to happen.
Arizona plays a decent non conference schedule this season with San Diego State, Mississippi, Georgia Tech and New Mexico. Last year they were 8-4 pre Pac 10, and that would be good start for the Wildcats this year.
Ify Ibekwe is a 6-1 Jr who is one of only four West Coast Players on the Wooden Watch List. Last season she really came on as a Pac 10 star, scoring almost 16 points per game and a great 11.6 rebounds per game. Ify will be at the 4 position, and will certainly be the player other teams have to shut down. She’s fun to watch and the backbone of the Wildcat team.
Jennifer Kioa is a 6-4 Center and a transfer from Foothill College where she averaged almost 12 points per game and 7 rebounds while being named all State JC. She was ranked the 7th and 9th Center and 26th and 32nd overall player by two JC publications. I saw her play several times in the San Francisco ProAm and I think she will contribute right away. That’s good for the Wildcats, as she has to be the starting Center immediately. Jennifer will be backed by another JC transfer, 6-3 Amanda Pierson. Amanda averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds as a JC sophomore last year. As a Sr in High School she averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds per game. Amanda comes from Kansas.
Soana Lucet is another JC player and the only other Wildcat player over 5-10. That’s right; only four Wildcats are taller than 5-10. Soana is a native of New Caldedonia and transferred from the College of Southern Idaho. She is the first female player from her country to play college basketball in the US. She was ranked the # 3 Power Forward and # 4 overall JC player. At JC last season she averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds. While the Wildcats may often use three guards, Soana will certainly see quite a bit of playing time.
5-6 Sr Ashley Frazier stated every game last year for the Wildcats at the Point Guard. Last season she averaged 7 points and 4 assists per game, and a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. Ashley was in her first season as she was also a JC transfer.
Reiko Thomas will be the other starting guard, as she started 19 games last season while averaging 10 points per game. She was the top 3 point shooter, of those taking more than one per game, but only hit 30%. Reiko is a 5-8 soph and the only player of the 5 person frosh class to stay at Arizona. She did hit 82% of her Free Throws, and was a High School teammate of Ify’s.
Davellyn Whyte is a 5-10 frosh who was the Gatorade POY in Arizona last year. She is the daughter of former Major Leaguer Devon Whyte. She will fight for a starting position if three guards, with returnee 5-10 redshirt soph Tasha Dickey. Tasha sat out last season with an injury, after averaging 7 points per game while starting 21 games in 2007-08. Tasha’s Father was a Football player at Arizona and her Mother was a Basketball player at Arizona.
Other players are 5-5 Jr Guard Faihza Hill, a walk on who scored 2.5 points per game while starting 13 games. Her Dad played Football at Purdue and her Mom played Basketball at Cal. Her major: Molecular and Cellular Biology. Brooke Jackson is another JC transfer and will be a soph. She had a storied High School career in Arizona, scoring 2,250 points and averaging 18 per game over her four year career. This included 271 Three’s and 41% from the deep line. She scored 16 points per game including hitting 45% from Three as a JC frosh last year.
The Wildcats will have 10 players, 9 on scholarship for the season, but also have Shanita Arnold who must sit out this season after transferring from Arkansas. Last season she started every game for the Razorbacks and scored almost 6 points per game. Her high was 22 points on 6 of 11 from Three. Mike White rated Arnold the # 24 High School player in the country 3 years ago. She will have two seasons to play starting next season.
The Wildcats will certainly struggle in the Pac 10 this year. It’ll be hard to finish above 8th place. However they certainly have an opportunity to prove themselves with some good non conferences wins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)