Pac-12 Preview: Oregon

 

Pac 12 Preview:  Oregon

Last Season:  

20-15 overall and 7-11 in Pac 12 play.  

The Coaches:

Kelly Graves starts season 10th with the Ducks.  Graves coached in the WCC first at St Mary’s

Kelly Graves

then Gonzaga winning 67% of his games over 17 seasons.

Jodie Berry is in her 9th season at Oregon as an assistant after coaching with Graves at Gonzaga for 11 years.

Jackie Nared Hairston is in her 3nd year as an Assistant.  The former St Mary’s player was coaching at Arizona.

Tre Simmons is in his first year after a long Pro Career overseas.  

Losses:

Assistant Coach Sadie Edwards joined the Ducks last season from the WNBA Liberty team where she was operations manager.  Edwards played at USC graduating in 2018.   

Sedona Prince didn’t play last season due to injuries.   Price transferred from Texas, and was a McD All American and ranked # 8 out of HS.   Prince transferred to TCU

Te-Hina Paopao averaged 13 points and 3 assists.  Paopao transferred to USC.

Endyia Rogers averaged 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.   She transferred from USC.  Rogers transferred to Texas A&M.

Ahlise Hurst averaged 5 points. Hurst transferred a year ago from New Mexico.  She’s from Australia.   Hurst graduated.

Taya Hanson averaged 6.    Hanson graduated.

Taylor Hosendove averaged 3 points and 6 rebounds.  She transferred from Georgia State and before that Clemson.    Hosendove graduated.

Jennah Isai averaged 7 ppg and transferred to BYU. 

That’s’ a loss of 50 points per game.

Additions: 

Sofia Bell, 6-1 Frosh Wing from Oregon ranked # 26

Sarah Rambus 6-4 Frosh Post/F from MI ranked # 66

Samantha Wagner, Redshirt Frosh 6-1 Wing from Texas, ranked # 42.

Bella Hamel 5-9 JC Transfer Guard where she averaged 16 ppg.

Priscilla Williams 6-2 Redshirt Soph Wing who transferred from South Florida where she averaged 2 ppg.

Payton Scott 5-8 5^th year Sr Guard who transferred from Miami of Ohio where she averaged 15 points and 5 rebounds and ended her 4 years with 1,871 points.

Kennedi Williams 5-7 5^th year Sr Guard who transferred from Liberty where she averaged 4 points and 3 assists over her 4 years.

Filippa Tiliander, 6-1 Frosh Wing from Sweden.  Tiliander lead the European Girls U20 league with 13 rebounds per game while scoring 8 ppg.  

Una Chamberlin 5-8 Sr PG who transferred from UC SD after starting at Weber State.   Una didn’t play last season and two years ago at UCSD she averaged 4 points.  

The Schedule:  

Oregon plays Arizona and Arizona State only at home and only play Washington and Washington State on the road.  Baylor and Oklahoma State should be the only tough opponents.  

The Returning Team:

Phillipina Kyei, 6-8 Jr Post from Calgary Alberta who averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds.  

VanSlooten

Chance Gray, 5-9 Soph  PG averaged 10 ppg.

Kennedy Basham, 6-7 Soph Post Averaged 2 ppg.

Grace VanSlooten, 6-3 Soph Forward averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds.

Predictions:  

Oregon returns three starters and have two top 42 commits.  Wagner enrolled mid year and practiced not played, with the team.  However Oregon will have to have some of their transfers really step up to be a top 6 team.    

    

2024 Recruiting:

Katie Fiso 5-11 PG from WA ranked # 31

PAC 12 Preview: Colorado

PAC 12 Preview:  Colorado

Last Season:  Colorado went 25-9 overall, and 13 - 5 in the conference.  

The Coaches:  

Head Coach JR Payne will be in her 8th year at Colorado after two seasons at Santa Clara.  

JR Payne

Payne led Santa Clara to its first winning season in 8 seasons and finished 23-9.   JR, no periods, and real name Ali-Marie, is a graduate of St Mary’s where she played for now Oregon coach Kelly Graves.   Her first coaching job was at age 23 for Graves when he started at Gonzaga.  

Toriano Towns is the Associate Head Coach and is also in his 8th and also coached with Payne at Santa Clara.  Towns coached at Gonzaga with Payne and later at Arizona where he was the Post coach for the great, late Polk.

Alex Earl is in her 8th year on the staff.    Alex was an assistant with Payne three seasons ago at Santa Clara and played for years at ASU graduating in 2013.   Alex was a HS teammate of JJ Hones on a team where all five starters player Division 1 basketball.  

Taelor Karr is in her first year at Colorado after two years as an assistant at Oklahoma State.  Before that Kerr was an assistant at Santa Clara.

Losses:

Assistant Coach Tim Hayes

Jada Wynn, 6-0 F to be Soph, daughter of the former Washington coaches, who averaged 3 points and transferred to Texas Tech

Lizzie Holder, 6-1 to be Soph who played in just 2 games and    Transferred to Navy

Ali Fitzgerald, 6-2 to be Soph who played in just 6 games.  She    Transferred to UC Davis

Tayanna Jones graduated after averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Additions: 

Ruthie Loomis-Golti, 6-3 Post from NE, ranked # 78

Kennedy Sanders, 5-8 PG from MN, ranked # 75

Saulele Tanuvasa, 5-11 Guard from NorCal, not ranked

Jadyn Atchison 6-1 Guard from TX, not ranked

Mikayla Johnson 6-1 Wing from Alaska who enrolled early but did not play. 

Maddie Nolan, 5-11 5^th year Guard transfer from Michigan where she averaged 9 points also 7^th all time in threes made at Michigan, 167.

Sara Rose Smith, 6-1 Sr Guard transfer from Missouri where she averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds.

Shelomi Sanders, 5-6 Redshirt Frosh Guard who transferred from Jackson State during the season.  Daughter of Football Coach and Hall of Famer Dion.  

The Schedule:   

Colorado will host Stanford and Cal and Travel to Arizona and ASU.   Colorado opens with LSU and plays Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Cincy and North Carolina State.  

The 9 Returning Players:   with the 8 new additions above, that's 17 players

Jaylyn Sherrod

Jaylyn Sherrod, 5-7 5^th year Point Guard who averaged 11 points and 5 assists. 

Tameiya Sadler is a 5-8  Sr Guard Washington.  Sadler averaged 5 ppg.

Quay Miller is a 6-3 5^th year Post.   Miller averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Frieda Formann, 5-11 Sr Guard from Denmark.   Formann averaged 12 points per game. And made 75 threes at 39%.

Charlotte Whittaker is a 6-4 5^{t h Year}  Post from Australia who averaged 1 point and 1 rebound. 

Kindyll Wetta is a 5-9 Jr Guard who averaged 5ppg.  Her Mom played Basketball at Colorado.  

Sophie Gerber, 6-0 Jr Guard who played just 18 minutes.  

Aaronette Vonleh, 6-3 Jr Post Center transfer from Arizona.  Vonleh averaged 12 points and 4 rebounds at Arizona. 

Brianna McLeod, 6-3 Soph Forward from Canada averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds.

+ 8 new additions

Predictions:  

Yes 17 players, Sanders may be a walk on given Dad the Football Coach, and one other.     4 are Grad students.   Colorado returns 4 players who averaged between 11 and 13 ppg.  That’s huge.  Add Wetta and Sadler both returning guards plus Smith and Nolan transfer guards and this is a very good team.    

2024 Recruiting:    

Lova Lagerlid, 6-1 Guard from Sweden  

Pac 12 Preview: Cal

  

Pac 12 Preview:  Cal

Team Website

Last Season:  13-17 overall and 4-14 in conference play.   

The Coaches:

 Charmin Smith with 2 degrees from Stanford returns for her 16th

Charmin Smith

season at Cal and is now the Head Coach for her 5th year.  

Eliza Pierre is in her 3th year after 4 years at UCSB.

Heidi Heintz is in her 2nd year.  Heintz was an assistant at St Mary’s the past three years. 

Cal has an opening after Glover left recently.  

Kai Felton is back for her 11th year at Cal.  Kai has been an Assistant at Oregon, 2 years, and at USC, 5 years.  Kai is no longer an official coach but she is a Special Assistant. 

 

Losses:  

Paul Reed, assistant coach 

Jayda Curry, 5-6 to be JR Guard averaged 15 points.  She transferred to Louisville.

Jaden Bush,  Graduated after averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds in 12 games before she was injured.

Evelien Lutje Schipholt, graduated  she averaged  9 points and 5 rebounds.    She grad transferred to South Florida

Sela Heide, graduated but with injuries she only played 39 minutes.  She Grad transferred to Oregon State 

Peanut Tuitele, graduated after averaging 5 points and 5 rebounds.

Karisa Ortiz, graduated after averaging 3 ppg

Amaya Bonner, scored just 17 points on the season.    Ranked # 51 and had offers from ASU, Arizona, UCLA, Utah and Washington.   Transferred to Florida State.  

 

Additions:

Lulu Laditan-Twidale 5-10 Frosh Guard from Australia 

Anastasia Drosouni, 5-11 Frosh G From Greece     

Ila Lane, 6-4 Post Grad student from UCSB who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds last season 

Makayla Williams 6-1 Sr Guard who transferred from Gonzaga where she averaged 8 ppg.

Ioanna Krilimi, 5-10 Guard Grad student who transferred from U of San Francisco.  Last season Ioanna averaged 19 points and made 97 threes at 45%.

Marta Suarez , 6-3 Redshirt Jr Forward from Spain and a transfer from Tennessee.  Last season Marta averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds.  

The Schedule:   

Cal plays USC and UCLA only at home and plays Colorado and Utah only on the road.  Non-conference games include Gonzaga and Texas A&M as their strongest opponents.   Just before Christmas they play a 4 team tournament in Florida and Cal will play Illinois.     

                                        

The Team:

Leilani McIntosh, 5-5, 5^th year Grad student Guard who averaged 9 points and almost 4 assists.  

Claudia Langarita, 6-4 Jr Post averaged 4 points and 1 rebound. 

Kemery Martin, 6-0 Sr Wing who averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds.

Mia Mastrov, 5-11 Jr Guard who graduated early from HS to join the Bears.  Mia averaged 2 points 

Ornela Muca, 5-7 Sr Guard from Greece.  She played just 31 minutes.  

Michelle Onyiah, 6-3 Sr Post ranked # 35 out of HS.   She averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds.  

Alma Elsnitz, 5-11 Sr Guard who sat out last season.

Bella Stevens 5-5 Soph Guard who played 9 minutes last season.

 

Predictions:  

Cal starts with depth at the Post with Onyiah, Langarita and Grad transfer Lane.   McIntosh returns as the starting Point Guard and Martin as a starting Wing.    The hope is that newcomers Williams, Krilimi and Suarez start or contribute heavily.   However they did lose three starters and their top scorer from a 4-14 conference team.   With so many new players it’s hard to guess, 10^th place or better?   

 

2024 Recruiting:  

Gabrielle Abigor, 6-3 Post from NorCal not ranked

Kamryn Mafua, 6-2 Forward, Nor Cal, ranked # 52.

 

 

 

Pac-12 Previews: Arizona State

 

Pac 12 Previews:  Arizona State University

 

Last Season:   The Sun Devils were 8-20 and 1-17 in Pac 12 Play.   

The Coaching Staff:   

Head Coach Adair

Natasha Adair is in her 2^nd year as the Head Coach after 5 years as Head Coach at Delaware going 95-58 and last season to the NCAA tournament.   Previously Adair was the Head Coach at Georgetown.

Darrell Mosley is in his 2^nd year after one season at Delaware and before that Head Coach at Lincoln University.

Mykala Walker is in her 21nd year after spending the previous 5 years as an assistant coach at Delaware.

Camille Collier is in her 2^nd year after coaching at Virginia Tech.

 

The Losses:

Meg Newman would be Soph averaged 4 points and 5 rebounds.  She ranked # 35 out of HS.  Newman transferred to Alabama

Sydney Erikstrup, would be Jr who averaged 3 ppg.  She transferred to Grand Canyon 

Kayla Mokwuah who graduated after averaging 6 points and 5 rebounds.  

Imogen Greenslade, 6-4 Sr Post who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds transferred to Montana.

Lauryn Satterwhite 5-7 Guard Grad transfer who seldom played.

  

Additions:  

Hanna Miller 6-1 JC transfer from Dodge City KS

Mallory Miller 6-4 Post from South Dakota, not ranked.

Marina Radocaj, 6-2 Wing/Forward from British Columbia

Sandra Magolico, 6-4 Post South Dakota, unranked

Kadidia Toure, 6-3 Soph Forward transfer from James Madison where her high game was 10 points.

Kiley Sours-Miller, 6-3 Fr Post.  Kiley averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds for a top Arizona HS team last season

Jalyn Brown, 6-1 Soph  Guard who transferred from Louisville where she played 7 games however ranked # 78 out of HS.

Adison Novosel, 5-11 Jr Guard who transferred from St Francis. 

 

The Schedule:  

The Sun Devils play Utah and Colorado only at home and play Oregon and Oregon State only on the road.  They play Thanksgiving week in the Virgin Islands against Texas, High Point and South Florida.   They play Fresno State in Phoenix.

 

The Team:  

Tyi Skinner

Tyi Skinner, 5-5 JR  Guard averaged 19 ppg .  Also made 68 Threes at 35%.  

Jaddan Simmons, 5-9 Sr PG, averaged 12 points and 4 assists.

Trayanna Crisp, 5-7 Soph Guard who averaged 5 ppg. 

Jaylah Robinson, 5-11 Redshirt Frosh Guard who played one game.

Journey Thompson, 6-2 Soph  Forward who averaged 3 points in 13 games. 

Treasure Hunt, 6-2 Sr Wing  who averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds.

Morasha Wiggins 6-0 Jr Wing who didn’t play.  However Wiggins was ranked # 18 out of HS.  

Isadora Sousa, 6-0 Guard Grad Student who averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds. 

Maggie Besselink, 6-3 Sr Wing who missed last season with an injury. 

 

Predictions:   

The Sun Devils have three good starters back in Skinner, Hunt and Simmons.   They also have five unproven players at 6-3/6-4.   Possible they will step up.  

However it does look like a long season for the Sun Devils.          

 

2024 Recruiting:  None yet          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2023-24 Preview: Arizona Wildcats

 

Preview:  Arizona

Last Season:  Arizona was 22-10 overall and 11-7 in Pac 12 play, under Head Coach Adia Barnes.     

 

The Coaches: 

Adia Barnes is the all time leading scorer at Arizona and is in her 8th year the Head Coach.  Barnes had been at Washington as an assistant  for four years as the Huskies came from the 2^nd division of the Pac 12 to the NCAA Final Four.  Barnes played professionally for 12 years including for 4 WNBA Teams.  

Salvo Coppa, or Mr Barnes is a 8th year assistant.  Coppa is from Italy and has extensive overseas coaching experience.

Bett Shelby is in her first year as an assistant, last season she was special assistant to Barnes.  Before Shelby coached at West Virginia.

Anthony Turner is in his first year after 4 years at Weber State 

 

Losses:  

Assistant Coaches Ashley Davis and Erin Grant are no longer at Arizona 

Lemyah Hylton, would have been a soph and averaged 1 point in 15 games.  She transferred to Miami of Florida.

Paris Clark, would have been a Soph and averaged 4 ppg.  She transferred to Virginia

Lauren Fields would have been a 5^th year and she averaged 4 ppg.  She transferred to West Virginia.

Jade Loville, graduated after averaging 10 ppg

Cate Reese graduated after averaging 13 ppg and 6 rebounds per game. 

Lauren Ware would have been a SR but missed last season with an injury.  The year before she averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds.  She transferred to Texas A&M

Shaina Pellington graduated after averaging 13 points.

Madison Conner would have been a Jr after averaging 6 ppg.    She transferred to TCU

 

Additions:  

Jada Williams, 5-6 PG from SoCal ranked # 21

Breya Cunningham, 6-4 Post SoCal ranked # 14

Montana Dew, 6-2 Wing NV ranked # 8.   *** Sadly Dew suffered a knee injury and is out for the year. ***

Fanta Gassama, 6-1 Wing, JC transfer

Skylar Jones, 5-10 Wing, IL, unranked but some good offers.

Courtney Blakely, 5-8 Jr Guard transferred from Middle Tennessee State where she averaged 7 ppg.

Salimatou Kourouma, 5-11 Sr Wing from Mali transferred from Little Rock University where she averaged 18 ppg in each of the last two seasons.   She was the Ohio Valley conference POY. 

Isis Beh, 6-3 Jr Post/Forward transfer from West Virginia where she averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds a game.  

 

The Schedule:  

Arizona plays Utah and Colorado only at home and only away to play Oregon and Oregon State.  Arizona will play in the Bahamas where the toughest teams will be Ole Miss and Michigan.   Also there are games against Texas and Gonzaga.  

 

The Team:  

Esmery Martinez

Helena Pueyo is a 6-0 5^th year Guard who averaged 5 points.

Maya Nnaji, 6-4 Soph Post who averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds.  She was ranked 9 out of HS.

Kailyn Gilbert, Soph and averaged 5 PPG last season. 

Esmery Martinez, 6-2 5^th year Forward Martinez averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds.

 

Predictions:          

The Wildcats return only 24 points and only one player averaged more than 5 ppg.   Martinez averaged 10 and Nnaji was highly ranked but played behind a very good post last season, Reese who graduated, so Nnaji should be a big part of the team.  Great recruits in Cunningham and Williams and maybe a good transfer in Kourouma.   It’s not even a rebuilding year as 3 of the projected top 7 players are Srs.   It will be hard for the Wildcats to be in the top 6 in the league.

 

2024 Recruiting:  None yet.