Arizona State welcomes back Charli Turner-Thorne from her year off. Charli came back with a plan as Interim Coach Joe Anders is gone, and Assistant Coach Chris Mennig went back to his job the previous year with Blue Star.
Jackie Moore comes in as an assistant and the recruiting coordinator with 18 years of coaching experience. While she spent the past 3 years as a Wal-Mart Corporate Manager, she has coached, in most recent order, at Nevada, Miami (FL), Boston College U of Mass and prior to that Head Coach at Santa Fe JC in Gainesville, FL.
The 2nd assistant will be former ASU star Amanda Levens. Levens was the Head Coach at Southern Illinois for the past 4 years going from 5 wins in Year One to 18 wins this past season. Levens was All Pac 10 twice, in 2001 and 2002. This makes one wonder if Levens might be the next ASU Head Coach.
Last year while Charli was off ASU went 20-12 with a loss to UOP in the WNIT. In the Pac 12 ASU was 10-8. Not a typical year and changes were made.
THE SCHEDULE: The schedule has not been announced yet.
LOSSES: First of all the stats: ASU scored only 58 points per game and made just 120 threes at 29%. The Sun Devils lost thru graduation 5 players but 28 points per game, almost half. They lost 17 rebounds per game, almost half. The Sun Devils lost 77 of their threes, or 64%.
Kimberly Brandon was both the leader scorer and rebounder at 10 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Kali Bennett was second in scoring, 8 points per game and rebounding, 6.5. Alex Earl made 39 threes or 1/3 of ASU’s total and at 35%. All three were starters. Oliva Major was 2nd on the team with 28 threes also at 35%. Haley Parsons played 5 games.
RETURNEES: Deja Mann is a 5-7 Sr and was the starting Point Guard last season. She averaged 8 points per game and had a fine 1.0 : .6 assist to turnover ratio. Mann led the team in free throws and shot 81%.
Micaela Pickens is a 5-8 Sr Guard who started all but three games last season as ASU used a three guard line-up. Pickens averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds per game.
Promise Amukamara is 5-8 Soph Guard who played in all but one game averaging 15 minutes and 4 points per game.
Adrienne Thomas is 5-9 Jr Guard who played all games last season averaging 10 minutes and 1.5 points per game.
Joy Burke is the ASU Post, a 6-5 Jr. Burke only played 8 games last year so almost a newcomer. She suffered a concussion in Game 8 and had to sit out the remainder of the season. As a Soph Burke had Highs of 7 points and 10 rebounds. Joy made a shampoo commercial at age 4 in Taiwan where she lived for her first 12 years.
Janae Fulcher is a 6-3 Sr Forward who averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes per game. Janae graduated in three and a half years and is a 5th year Sr.
Jada Blackwell is a 6-1 Soph Forward who averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds 14 minutes per game last season.
NEWCOMERS: Eliza Normen is a 6-0 Guard/Forward who is a redshirt Frosh. Normen tore her ACL towards the end of her Sr Season in High School and played only 4 games last season with a non knee injury. I saw her play after her Jr year in High School and loved her play. She is an excellent shooter who is a complete team player as an excellent passer also. If healthy, Normen will really make an impact for the Sun Devils.
Elisha Davis is a 5-3 Frosh Guard from Berkeley High School. I saw her also playing Travel ball. An excellent passer and 3 point shooter who can drive. Named # 131 in the Country out of High School by Blue Star.
Isidora Purkovic is a 5-11 Frosh Guard from Canada. Isidora played on the Canadian National 17U and then 19U teams.
Arnecia Hawkins is a 5-10 Frosh Guard ranked # 124 overall by Blue Star and # 51 overall by All Star Girls Report.
Nisha Barrett is a 6-1 Jr and a JC transfer. She was All State JC in California averaging 19 points and 13 rebounds per game.
Haley Videckis is a 6-0 Frosh Forward from Illinois who averaged 18 points and 6 rebounds a game last year in High School. She also made 74 threes this past season.
Katie Hempen is a 5-9 Soph Guard who transferred from Southern Illinois at the end of the past school year. Hempen was the League Frosh of the Year but must sit out this season due to the transfer rule. As a Frosh last season Hempen averaged just shy of 10 points per game.
OUTLOOK: ASU lost 4 of their top 5 players from last year due to graduation. That’s a huge loss. Charli returns and hires two new Assistants and they sign 3 in the late signing period. A lot seems to depend on Burke and Normen being 100%, as the Sun Devils are a guard orientated team without them. It’s an opportunity for the new players and ASU has only 3 Srs so 11 would return next year. It’ll be interesting as always with Charli Turner-Thorne back in charge.
August 24, 2012
August 16, 2012
The Huskies are hit again by a big injury
Incoming Frosh Katie Collier, already a cancer survivor, recently tore her ACL and will miss this season. The 6-3 Collier is a McDonald’s All American and an outstanding prospect at Center and/or Power Forward. We all wish her the best and a full recovery.
Coach Kevin McGuff is in his 2nd year at Washington coming from Xavier. All three Assistants begin their 2nd year at Washington also.
Last season Washington was 20-14 overall and 8-10 in Conference play. However they did not play a top 35 or so team in non conference play. They did have league victories over UCLA and USC.
The Schedule: St Mary’s, San Diego State, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin are the tougher non conference foes. None should be top 35 teams although when polls come out in October we will review non conference schedules for all Pac 12 teams. Washington does not play at Stanford or Cal or at home against either Colorado or Utah. So definitely a scheduling break there.
Losses: Regina Rogers was the leading scorer and rebounder at 17 and 8.6 per game. She probably would have been replaced by Collier, now the post position has unknowns.
MacKenzie Argens was the 4th leading scorer, 7 points per game and 2nd in rebounds, 6.3 per game.
Mollie Williams was 5th in scoring, 5 points per game, and 3rd in rebounds, 5.5 per game.
Charmine Barlow scored 2 points per game and had 3.5 rebounds per game.
All five above graduated. Also gone are would be Soph Ashley Moore who transferred and did not play last year and Marjorie Heard who would have been a Jr. Heard played 12 games and started 1. Also Airashay Rogers was an incoming Frosh Guard and ranked # 116 but she is not eligible.
Returnees: There are 5 returnees who played at least 25 games, and one who played 8and four others who redshirted for a total of 10. The best of all returnees is 2010 All Pac 10 player Kristi Kingma. Kigma tore her ACL and missed the entire 2011-12 season. If you remember her great, I think 5 threes, against Stanford, you know how much Washington, or any team would miss her. Kristi scored 15.6 points per game 2 years ago, her most recent season. She is a 5-10 Guard and a 5th year Sr. She had 79 threes 2 years ago, at 41%, a school record and she has 139 threes in her career. Kingma will be an impact player.
Soph 5-7 Point Guard Jazmine Davis was the Pac 12 Frosh of the Year, scoring 15.7 points per game with 67 threes at 36%. Her assist to turnover ration was not good at all, but that will improve a lot with Kingma and her year of experience.
Mercedes Wetmore is a 5-8 Jr Guard who could play either Guard position. Wetmore was 3rd on the team in scoring at 7 points per game and had 27 threes although at
31%.
Kellie McCann-Smith is a 5-9 Jr Guard who spent her Frosh year at Nebraska. Kellie scored 4 points per game but did hit 33 threes at 35%.
Kassia Fortier is a 5-8 Jr Guard who has played just 18 games in 2 years.
Beatrice Carta is a 5-7 Redshirt Frosh Guard from Italy. She tore her ACL before arriving at Washington. In Europe Carta was the 4th best Guard in her age group. She was Captain of her National 18U team and scored 17 points in the European Championship Game.
Deborah Meeks is a 5-8 redshirt Frosh Guard who sat out last season after tearing her ACL as a Sr in High School.
Jeneva Anderson is a 6-0 Sr Forward who played in 25 games last season but only 7 minutes per game, which has been the same for all three of her seasons.
Talia Walton is a 6-2 Redshirt Frosh who missed last season with a non ACL knee injury. Walton was the # 32 Forward out of High School.
Aminah Williams is a 6-0 Soph Forward who averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds per game this past season.
Newcomers: First, as you read above, Washington will have 3 players playing for the first time as all missed their Frosh season with injuries. Then there are 3 true Frosh entering Washington from High School. Katie Collier would have been one of the top Frosh in the Pac 12 and maybe the nation. She’s a 6-3 Post who missed a third of her Sr season undergoing treatment for cancer. Then she returned and played very well in the McDonalds All Star game. Sadly she tore her ACL last month so a huge loss. She was ranked # 21 out of High School.
Heather Corral is a 6-1 Guard, as since Washington may play 3 or 4 Guards, Heather may play some at Forward. Corral twice tore her ACL in High School, but was healthy last season and scored 15 points per game. I saw her play several years ago and was very impressed. Heather is the sister of former USC star Ashley Corral.
Mathilde Gilling is a 6-3 Frosh Center from Denmark. She has played on their National team. She played this past summer with their 23U team, and in the past a starter for their 16U National team. Gilling has a brother who plays for ASU.
Outlook: Really with only 6 returning players, plus 4 who redshirted with injury, and 3 newcomers it’ll be an adjustment period and how long that lasts is anyone’s guess. If Gilling is good, then with the Huskies very good three point shooting and the return of Kingma the Huskies might challenge for the top 6. However without Collier that seems a stretch. It is great to have Kingma back and she will be tough for all Washington’s opponents.
Coach Kevin McGuff is in his 2nd year at Washington coming from Xavier. All three Assistants begin their 2nd year at Washington also.
Last season Washington was 20-14 overall and 8-10 in Conference play. However they did not play a top 35 or so team in non conference play. They did have league victories over UCLA and USC.
The Schedule: St Mary’s, San Diego State, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin are the tougher non conference foes. None should be top 35 teams although when polls come out in October we will review non conference schedules for all Pac 12 teams. Washington does not play at Stanford or Cal or at home against either Colorado or Utah. So definitely a scheduling break there.
Losses: Regina Rogers was the leading scorer and rebounder at 17 and 8.6 per game. She probably would have been replaced by Collier, now the post position has unknowns.
MacKenzie Argens was the 4th leading scorer, 7 points per game and 2nd in rebounds, 6.3 per game.
Mollie Williams was 5th in scoring, 5 points per game, and 3rd in rebounds, 5.5 per game.
Charmine Barlow scored 2 points per game and had 3.5 rebounds per game.
All five above graduated. Also gone are would be Soph Ashley Moore who transferred and did not play last year and Marjorie Heard who would have been a Jr. Heard played 12 games and started 1. Also Airashay Rogers was an incoming Frosh Guard and ranked # 116 but she is not eligible.
Returnees: There are 5 returnees who played at least 25 games, and one who played 8and four others who redshirted for a total of 10. The best of all returnees is 2010 All Pac 10 player Kristi Kingma. Kigma tore her ACL and missed the entire 2011-12 season. If you remember her great, I think 5 threes, against Stanford, you know how much Washington, or any team would miss her. Kristi scored 15.6 points per game 2 years ago, her most recent season. She is a 5-10 Guard and a 5th year Sr. She had 79 threes 2 years ago, at 41%, a school record and she has 139 threes in her career. Kingma will be an impact player.
Soph 5-7 Point Guard Jazmine Davis was the Pac 12 Frosh of the Year, scoring 15.7 points per game with 67 threes at 36%. Her assist to turnover ration was not good at all, but that will improve a lot with Kingma and her year of experience.
Mercedes Wetmore is a 5-8 Jr Guard who could play either Guard position. Wetmore was 3rd on the team in scoring at 7 points per game and had 27 threes although at
31%.
Kellie McCann-Smith is a 5-9 Jr Guard who spent her Frosh year at Nebraska. Kellie scored 4 points per game but did hit 33 threes at 35%.
Kassia Fortier is a 5-8 Jr Guard who has played just 18 games in 2 years.
Beatrice Carta is a 5-7 Redshirt Frosh Guard from Italy. She tore her ACL before arriving at Washington. In Europe Carta was the 4th best Guard in her age group. She was Captain of her National 18U team and scored 17 points in the European Championship Game.
Deborah Meeks is a 5-8 redshirt Frosh Guard who sat out last season after tearing her ACL as a Sr in High School.
Jeneva Anderson is a 6-0 Sr Forward who played in 25 games last season but only 7 minutes per game, which has been the same for all three of her seasons.
Talia Walton is a 6-2 Redshirt Frosh who missed last season with a non ACL knee injury. Walton was the # 32 Forward out of High School.
Aminah Williams is a 6-0 Soph Forward who averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds per game this past season.
Newcomers: First, as you read above, Washington will have 3 players playing for the first time as all missed their Frosh season with injuries. Then there are 3 true Frosh entering Washington from High School. Katie Collier would have been one of the top Frosh in the Pac 12 and maybe the nation. She’s a 6-3 Post who missed a third of her Sr season undergoing treatment for cancer. Then she returned and played very well in the McDonalds All Star game. Sadly she tore her ACL last month so a huge loss. She was ranked # 21 out of High School.
Heather Corral is a 6-1 Guard, as since Washington may play 3 or 4 Guards, Heather may play some at Forward. Corral twice tore her ACL in High School, but was healthy last season and scored 15 points per game. I saw her play several years ago and was very impressed. Heather is the sister of former USC star Ashley Corral.
Mathilde Gilling is a 6-3 Frosh Center from Denmark. She has played on their National team. She played this past summer with their 23U team, and in the past a starter for their 16U National team. Gilling has a brother who plays for ASU.
Outlook: Really with only 6 returning players, plus 4 who redshirted with injury, and 3 newcomers it’ll be an adjustment period and how long that lasts is anyone’s guess. If Gilling is good, then with the Huskies very good three point shooting and the return of Kingma the Huskies might challenge for the top 6. However without Collier that seems a stretch. It is great to have Kingma back and she will be tough for all Washington’s opponents.
August 9, 2012
The Wildcats have many new faces.
Well 11 teams to cover and just over 11 weeks to the first game so lets toss the ball on the court and look at the various Pac 12 teams for the 2012-13 season.
One again Arizona has turned over a number of players. They lost 2 to graduation and 3 more transferred out. However they have 7 newcomers so a net gain of two. Arizona was 15-17 last season but after going trough their pretty weak non conference schedule in 11-1 they went 3-15 in Pac 12 play. Then the Wildcats had a nice win over UCLA in the Pac 12 Tournament before losing to ASU to end their season.
Head Coach Niya Butts returns for her 5th season. Assistants Brandy Manning, now the Associate Head Coach and E.C. Hill also return. Calamity McEntire joins the staff from Boise State where she spent 4 years. Calamity is a Tennessee Grad who did not play basketball there but was a team manager.
THE SCHEDULE: The non conference schedule is highlighted by BYU, New Mexico and UNLV. Yes looking for that 11-1 record like this last season. The Wildcats play the Oregon schools, Stanford and Cal just once in league play with the 18 game Pac 12schedule.
LOSSES: Starting Point Guard Shanita Arnold graduated. She had and excellent 1.8:1 assist to turnover ratio and scored 10 points per game. Arnold led the team in minutes per game. Starting Guard, in a 3 guard offense, Reiko Thomas also graduated. Thomas scored 6 points per game while 6th in minutes per game.
The three who transferred are 6-5 Center Aley Rhode who would have been a Soph, Guard Erin Butler who also would have been a Soph and Lindsay Fearing who would have been a Sr. Rhode started every game and was 3nd on the team in rebounding, 6 per game, and scored almost 8 points per game. Butler started 7 games and averaged 3 points per game. Fearing averaged just 2 points per game but played in most and started 3 games.
RETURNEES: The 2 returning starters are All League Guard Davellyn Whyte and Candice Warthen. Whyte has been All Pac 10/12 each of her three seasons. She’s a
5-11 Sr Guard who averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds per game last season and hit 71 threes at a rate of 37%. Whyte has a chance to become Arizona’s all time leader scorer and three point shooter. She is certainly one of the league’s top players.
Candice Warthen is a 5-5 Jr who was averaging 16 points per game through the first 9 games before hurting her foot and missing 8 games. The foot hindered her for the remainder of the season. For the year she averaged 12 points per game and probably will be the Point Guard this season.
Erica Barnes is a 6-2 Jr who averaged 11 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She is the only experienced Big so will have to play much of the time in the Post. Barnes had a fine 2011-12 season.
The other three returnees are 6-1 Sr Cheylene Harper who played 7 minutes per game last season, 5-8 Soph Guard Layana White who played 9 minutes per game and 6-2 Sr Forward Cheshi Poston who did not play after transferring to Arizona from a JC. At JC Polston averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds in her Soph season.
NEWCOMERS: Keyahndra Canyon is a 5-9 Frosh Guard from San Diego. Canyon averaged over 20 points a game for 3 seasons at Mission Bay High School. She was ranked # 195 by Blue Star.
Nyre Harris is a 5-8 Frosh Guard from Stockton. Harris averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds, assists and steals per game as a Jr. She was ranked # 253 as a Sr, by Blue Star and the # 45 Guard by Hoop Gurlz.
Shereen Sutherland is a 6-1 Frosh from Corona, Ca.
Simone Westbrook is a 5-10 Frosh Guard from Chandler, AZ and was ranked # 40 in the US by Blue Star, but the # 59 Guard by Hoop Gurlz.
Alli Gloyd is one of three transfers signed by Arizona. She is local and is a 6-1 Jr. Gloyd was a JC All American averaging 15 points and 9 rebounds per game.
Kama Griffitts is a 6-0 Jr Wing and a transfer from an Idaho JC. Griffitts actually transferred to Arizona in January and redshirted this past season. As a JC Soph her team won the National JC Title. She averaged about 15 points per game during her two JC seasons and made 72 threes as a Frosh.
Lynette Holmes is a 6-1 Jr and a transfer from Xavier where she averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds per game in her one and one half seasons. Holmes was suspended from her Xavier team in Jan and transferred to Arizona after the past school year. She will be eligible to play in 2012-13 and will redshirt this coming season. You may remember Holmes scoring about 18 points against Stanford this past season.
OUTLOOK:
Great pair of guards and weak in the front court. It could be a long Pac 12 season for the Wildcats. No sugar coating it, they need big performances from their 6-1 and 6-2 players and they either haven’t played before or played little.
One again Arizona has turned over a number of players. They lost 2 to graduation and 3 more transferred out. However they have 7 newcomers so a net gain of two. Arizona was 15-17 last season but after going trough their pretty weak non conference schedule in 11-1 they went 3-15 in Pac 12 play. Then the Wildcats had a nice win over UCLA in the Pac 12 Tournament before losing to ASU to end their season.
Head Coach Niya Butts returns for her 5th season. Assistants Brandy Manning, now the Associate Head Coach and E.C. Hill also return. Calamity McEntire joins the staff from Boise State where she spent 4 years. Calamity is a Tennessee Grad who did not play basketball there but was a team manager.
THE SCHEDULE: The non conference schedule is highlighted by BYU, New Mexico and UNLV. Yes looking for that 11-1 record like this last season. The Wildcats play the Oregon schools, Stanford and Cal just once in league play with the 18 game Pac 12schedule.
LOSSES: Starting Point Guard Shanita Arnold graduated. She had and excellent 1.8:1 assist to turnover ratio and scored 10 points per game. Arnold led the team in minutes per game. Starting Guard, in a 3 guard offense, Reiko Thomas also graduated. Thomas scored 6 points per game while 6th in minutes per game.
The three who transferred are 6-5 Center Aley Rhode who would have been a Soph, Guard Erin Butler who also would have been a Soph and Lindsay Fearing who would have been a Sr. Rhode started every game and was 3nd on the team in rebounding, 6 per game, and scored almost 8 points per game. Butler started 7 games and averaged 3 points per game. Fearing averaged just 2 points per game but played in most and started 3 games.
RETURNEES: The 2 returning starters are All League Guard Davellyn Whyte and Candice Warthen. Whyte has been All Pac 10/12 each of her three seasons. She’s a
5-11 Sr Guard who averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds per game last season and hit 71 threes at a rate of 37%. Whyte has a chance to become Arizona’s all time leader scorer and three point shooter. She is certainly one of the league’s top players.
Candice Warthen is a 5-5 Jr who was averaging 16 points per game through the first 9 games before hurting her foot and missing 8 games. The foot hindered her for the remainder of the season. For the year she averaged 12 points per game and probably will be the Point Guard this season.
Erica Barnes is a 6-2 Jr who averaged 11 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She is the only experienced Big so will have to play much of the time in the Post. Barnes had a fine 2011-12 season.
The other three returnees are 6-1 Sr Cheylene Harper who played 7 minutes per game last season, 5-8 Soph Guard Layana White who played 9 minutes per game and 6-2 Sr Forward Cheshi Poston who did not play after transferring to Arizona from a JC. At JC Polston averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds in her Soph season.
NEWCOMERS: Keyahndra Canyon is a 5-9 Frosh Guard from San Diego. Canyon averaged over 20 points a game for 3 seasons at Mission Bay High School. She was ranked # 195 by Blue Star.
Nyre Harris is a 5-8 Frosh Guard from Stockton. Harris averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds, assists and steals per game as a Jr. She was ranked # 253 as a Sr, by Blue Star and the # 45 Guard by Hoop Gurlz.
Shereen Sutherland is a 6-1 Frosh from Corona, Ca.
Simone Westbrook is a 5-10 Frosh Guard from Chandler, AZ and was ranked # 40 in the US by Blue Star, but the # 59 Guard by Hoop Gurlz.
Alli Gloyd is one of three transfers signed by Arizona. She is local and is a 6-1 Jr. Gloyd was a JC All American averaging 15 points and 9 rebounds per game.
Kama Griffitts is a 6-0 Jr Wing and a transfer from an Idaho JC. Griffitts actually transferred to Arizona in January and redshirted this past season. As a JC Soph her team won the National JC Title. She averaged about 15 points per game during her two JC seasons and made 72 threes as a Frosh.
Lynette Holmes is a 6-1 Jr and a transfer from Xavier where she averaged 12 points and 5 rebounds per game in her one and one half seasons. Holmes was suspended from her Xavier team in Jan and transferred to Arizona after the past school year. She will be eligible to play in 2012-13 and will redshirt this coming season. You may remember Holmes scoring about 18 points against Stanford this past season.
OUTLOOK:
Great pair of guards and weak in the front court. It could be a long Pac 12 season for the Wildcats. No sugar coating it, they need big performances from their 6-1 and 6-2 players and they either haven’t played before or played little.
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