September 25, 2018

Pac 12 Preview: Washington State

Pac 12 Preview: Washington State

Last Year:
10-20 for the year and 3-14 in conference play. June and staff are relieved of duty and a new staff is hired.

Coaches:
Kamie Ethridge is the new Head Coach. Ethridge was the Head Coach at Northern Colorado the past 4 seasons averaging 21 wins and making the NCAAs this past season. She was an Assistant for 18 years at Kansas State. Kamie won a Gold Medal for USA Basketball at the 1988 Olympics then won an NCAA Championship as a Player at Texas.

Jackie Nared is a new assistant having been the Vidoe Director at Oregon for a year and before that 2 years as Director of Player Development at Washington. Jackie lead the league in scoring twice while at St Mary’s.

Laurie Koehn came from Northern Colorado after three years with Ethridge. She played professionally for 11 years.


Losses:
Seven losses all together. Louise Brown transferred to Tennessee after scoring 6 points and 6 rebounds per game.
Caila Hailey graduated after scoring 5 points per game.
Krystle McKenzie graduated after playing 8 minutes per game.
Kayla Washington transferred to UCSB. She averaged 5 points.
Cameron Fernadez graduated. She only played 9 games and averaged 5 points.
Nike McClure transferred to New Mexico after averaging 5 points and 5 rebounds.
Pinelopi Pavlopoulou graduated after scored 6 per game.



Additions:
Celena Molina a 5-9 redshirt Frosh Guard from Hawaii whose sister is the starting Point Guard for the Cougars, and younger sister joins the team.

Cherilyn Molina is a 5-6 Frosh Guard and two time Hawaii Player of the Year.

Michaela Jones is a 5-10 Frosh Guard from Nebraska.
Shir Levy is a 5-11 Frosh Guard from Isreal.
Ula Motuga is a 6-1 FroshForward from Australia.
None are ranked.


Schedule:
Utah State, St Mary’s, Boise State and Nebraska at home, Kansas at a tournament in Las Vegas. USC and UCLA are only on the road, with the Arizona schools only at home.

The Team:
Borislava Hristova is 6-0 Redshirt Jr Forward from Bulgaria, one of the 6 non Americans on the team. Borislava averaged 18 points and 4 rebounds. She started all but one game as a Frosh averaging 16 points per game, then missed most of her Soph year.

Alexys Swedlund is a 5-11 Sr Guard from North Dakota who averaged 10 points and made 50 threes at 36%.

Maria Kostourkova is a 6-4 Sr Center from Portugal who averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Chanelle Molina is a 5-9 Jr Guard who averaged 8 points and 3 assists.

Joanna Muzet is a 6-0 Jr Wing from France who played just 9 minutes per game.

Jovana Subasic is a 6-4 Redshirt Soph Post from Serbia who Jovana has been From Serbia. Jovana just played 49 total minutes last season.



Predictions:
Hristova is an outstanding scorer and the older Molina is very good, but what else?



Recruiting 2019:
Grace Sarver, 5-8 Guard from Washington, # 108




September 19, 2018

Pac 12 Preview: USC

Pac 12 Preview: Southern Cal
First an recruiting update. Arizona has landed 6-0 2019 Guard Tara Manumaleuga from Australia.

Now USC
Last Season: 20-11 overall and just 9-9 in Pac 12 play. Quite an improvement over the previous season in this staff’s first season.

The Coaches: Mark Trakh has returned to USC for his 2nd season after six seasons as the Head Coach at New Mexico State. Mark coach for 5 seasons at USC before New Mexico. New Mexico State lost just 2 league games in the past 3 seasons. Mark started as a Head Coach at Pepperdine in 1994.

Jason Glover is in his 2nd season as the Associate Head Coach. Glover joined Mark at New Mexico State two seasons after several years coaching in both the NBA and the WNBA.

Aarika Hughes returns for her 2nd season to USC where she played. Hughes coached for 5 years at New Mexico State. She was a HS teammate of JJ Hones and Colorado assistant Alex Earl.

Blanche Alverson is like the other assistants in their second year at USC after 2 seasons at New Mexico State.



Losses:
Kristen Simon is a major loss after averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Sadie Edwards like Simon graduated. Last season she averaged 13 points.

Jordan Adams I believe now has her Masters after 6 years at USC out two with major injuries. Adams averaged 5 points.
USC lost 52% of their points from last season.



Additions:
Shalexxus Aaron is a 6-1 Redshirt Frosh Guard from SoCal who played her first three years of HS in Washington. Aaron was ranked # 57. Her brother is on the USC Men’s Basketball team.

Mariya Moore is a transfer from Louisville. She is a 6-0 Wing and must sat out this past season. Her sister Minyon is a starter on this team. Mariya averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for Louisville last season and is their # 13 all time leading scorer. She is a huge addition.

Desiree Caldwell is a 5-8 Frosh Point Guard from Texas ranked # 14.

Cheyanne Wallace is a 6-0 Forward and a Grad transfer from Loyola Marymount. Last season Wallace averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds.

Kayla Overbeck is a 6-1 Jr Froward originally from SoCal who transferred after 2 seasons at Vanderbilt. Kayla averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds last season. She was just declared eligible for this coming season. A huge break for the Trojans.

Jill Archer is a 6-2 Frosh Forward from SoCal, ranked # 54.



The Schedule:
Playing Texas A&M on the road there is maybe by far USC’s toughest game. Routine type schedule.
They play the Arizona schools only on the road and Washington schools only at home.



The Team:
Minyon Moore is a 5-8 Jr guard who has started at Point Guard the past two seasons. Minyon led the team in assists with 5.5 per game and scored 13 points per game.

Aliyah Mazyck is a 5-9 Sr Guard who averaged 16 points per game. She also made 86 threes however at 32%.
Ja’Vavia Tapley is a 6-3 Jr Forward who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds.

Asiah Jones is a 6-3 Redshirt Soph Forwards who averaged 2 points and 3 rebounds two years ago, sitting out this past season. .
Marquerite Effa is a 6-3 Sr Post who has played very little at USC.

Dani Milisic is a 6-4 Redshirt Jr Post from Australia. Last season she played just a total of 90 minutes.



Predictions:
Only two returnees who saw much action, however both Minyon Moore and Mazyck should be All League along with transfer Mariya Moore, Minyon’s sister. Aaron, Caldwell, Overbeck and Wallace will be in the top 7 with two starting. Not a deep team and five of the seven haven’t played for USC before, but the talent is there for a solid team.



2019 Recruiting Commits:
Madison Campbell is a 5-11 Guard from Central California ranked # 9

September 11, 2018

Pac 12 Preview: Washington

Pac 12 Preview: Washington

Last Year: 7-23 overall and 1-17 in league play. The Huskies lost so many top players from their great 2017 and 2018 teams.

Coaches:
Jody Wynn is now in her 2nd year Head Coach after moving from Long Beach State where she was Head Coach for 8 seasons and last year took Long Beach State to their first NCAA tournament in 25 years. Jody was a starting Guard at USC and also for 5 years an assistant at USC.

Derek Wynn is the Associate Head Coach, and her husband. Like Jody he was at Long Beach State and USC.

Michelle Augustavo is in her 2nd year having returned to Washington where she was a player for two years transferring from San Diego where she set the single game scoring record of 42. Michelle coached with the Wynn’s this past season and before that 4 years at UC Irvine.

Paul Reed completed the move of the Long Beach State staff to Washington. He coached for three years at Long Beach State. Paul was a Small College All American Defensive back.


Losses:
Kierra Collier averaged 7 points but has transferred to Drake.

Mackenzie Wieburg graduated after scoring 3 points per game.



Additions:
Gigi Garcia is a 6-2 Forward ranked # 89 out of HS. Gigi has missed the past two seasons with injuries so is a redshirt Soph.

Montana Hagstrom is a 5-7 Guard and a redshirt Soph who transferred from a JC last year then sat out the season with an injury. She averaged 12 points at the JC as a Frosh.

Haley Van Dyke is a 6-1 Frosh Forward ranked # 82. Haley had an outstanding HS career in the Bay Area averaging 30 points and 17 rebounds as a Sr and 20 points for her 4 year HS career.

Tyiona Watkins is a 6-0 Frosh Guard from SoCal ranked # 125. Watkins averaged 17 points as a HS Sr. Grandmother was an outstanding Track athlete.

Darcy Rees is a 6-4 Frosh Post from Australia. She has played and started for their youth National teams the past 4 years.


Schedule: Washington plays Mississippi State and Ohio State and in two tournaments with yet to be announced teams. Washington plays at USC and UCLA only and only at home to Arizona and ASU.


The Team:
Natalie Romeo is a 5-7 Sr Guard who transferred from Nebraska then had to sit out this past season for medical reasons. She averaged 9 points making 94 threes at 39% in her first season with the Huskies now two years ago.

Mai-Loni Henson is a 6-1 Jr Forward who averaged 9 points and 4 rebound Henson was ranked # 69 in HS.

Amber Melgoza is a 5-10 Jr Shooting Guard who averaged 19 points and 4 rebounds in a huge breakout season . Amber was second in the league in scoring and first in conference only games.

Deja Strother is a 6-5 Redshirt Jr Post who averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds two seasons ago and sat out last season with a major injury.

Hannah Johnson is a 6-1 Grad student Forward who averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds.


Jenna Moser a 5-6 Grad Student Guard who averaged 9 points last season making 54 threes at 39%. Jenna is an all time favorite. She played just 31 minutes total in her first three years then had a great season last year. Congrats to her.


Khayla Rooks is a 6-1 Forward from SoCal. Rooks brother plays at Cal and Dad was a longtime NBA player and a standout at Arizona. Last season Rooks averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds.

Alexis Griggsby is a 5-9 Soph Guard from SoCal who averaged 5 points last season.

Missy Peterson is a 5-11 Soph Guard from Washington. Last season Missy averaged 3 points but in 18 games and averaging 16 minutes she made 51% from three.


Predictions:
Washington has to improve over one win in league play but they will have to depend on Romeo’s health and the frosh and injured Bigs really stepping up.


2019 Recruiting:

No Commits yet.


September 5, 2018

Pac 12 Preview: Utah

Pac 12 Preview: UTAH

Last Season:
18-14 overall and 8-10 in Pac 12 play finishing with a three game improvement over the previous season in conference play.

The Coaches:
Lynne Roberts is in her 4th year after moving from the University of Pacific, UOP. Roberts was Head Coach at UOP for 9 seasons, being named Conference Coach of the Year twice in the last three years. Before UOP Roberts was Head Coach at Chico State for 4 seasons. Utah improved quite a bit last season.

Gavin Peterson is in his 4th year after 2 seasons with Roberts at UOP. Peterson has been an assistant in the West since 2002 and an Associate Head Coach for 6 of those seasons.

Danyelle Snelgro is in her 4th year after a season at TCU and 2 seasons at Fresno State. She played at Utah State.
Joanna Reitz is in her 2nd season as a coach at Utah. Reitz has coached for 7 years mostly D2.


Losses:
Emily Potter graduated after averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Tanaeya Boclair graduated after averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds.
Tori Williams averaged 9 points and hit 64 threes at 34% as a Frosh but transferred to Colorado State.
Megan Jacobs also transferred to Colorado State. She averaged 4 points.

Actually there are three others who were on last year’s roster but didn’t play and are gone.



Additions:
Jordan Cruz is a 5-11 Redshirt Frosh Guard from Sacramento who had to sit out last season with injuries. She made 13 threes in one of her HS games and averaged 20 points as a Sr. Jordan was ranked # 111.

Dru Gylten is a 5-11 Redshirt Frosh Guard from South Dakota who sat out last season. Dru led her team to 4 straight State Championships and was All State her last 2 seasons.

Niyah Becker is a 6-2 Frosh Wing from Canada. She has played on Canadian Youth National teams. She is ranked # 10 International Recruit.

Lola Pendande is a 6-3 Frosh Post from Spain. Lola played at an LA HS school last season averaging 12 points and 9 rebounds. Ranked as the # 16 International recruit.

Andrea Torres is a 6-2 Frosh Forward from Canada. Torres has played on Canada’s youth national teams.

Sarah Porter is a 5-10 Grad student Guard who graduated from UCSB. Last season she 9 points a game and the year before 10 points per game.
Dre’Una Edwards is a 6-2 Frosh Wing from Las Vegas. Ranked # 56.

Julie Brosseau is a 5-9 Jr Guard who will sit out this season after transferring from Maine. Julie averaged 11 points last season with 7 threes and 29 points vs Ohio State. She is Canadian.

Ola Makurat is a 6-3 Jr Forward who transferred from Liberty and will sit out this season. At Liberty last season she averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds.

Seven new players, plus two will sit out.


The Schedule:
They play Alabama and BYU at home and Florida on the road. The Utes play Stanford and Cal once each at home and they also play the Oregon schools once each, however on the road.


The Team:
There are only five returning players.

Megan Huff is a 6-3 5th year Sr Forward who transferred from Hawaii two years ago. In her first year at Utah she averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds, leading the team in both.

Erika Bean is a 5-8 Sr Guard. Bean is from the Sacramento area and averaged 5 points and 5 assists

Daneesha Provo is a 6-0 5th year Sr Guard. Provo transferred from Clemson two years ago and is playing on the Canadian National Team. In her first year at Utah she averaged 12 points and made 44 threes at 40%.

Kiana Moore is a 5-7 Jr Guard from Vacaville who averaged 7 minutes per game.
Maurane Corbin is a 6-5 Soph Post from Quebec, who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in 9 minutes.


Predictions:
The Utes return only three players who played much and two solid transfers in have to sit out. It will be all up to the foreign players who are now at Utah and some good HS recruits who will be frosh. Hard to see much above 10th place for this year but like Arizona the future looks bright.


2019 Recruiting:
Kemery Martin, 5-11 Guard from Utah ranked # 33.
Brynna Maxwell 6-0 Guard from Washington ranked # 79