Preview USC

Pac 12 Preview:  Southern Cal

Last Season: 12-16 overall and 5-12 in Pac 12 play.  

 

The Coaches:  

Lindsay Gottlieb is in her 2^nd , after two years in the NBA and 8 years as the Head Coach at Cal where she won 67% of her games.

Beth Burns is in her first year at USC after coaching at Louisville.   Beth was once at Stanford.  Beth is the Associate Head Coach.

Wendale Farrow is in his 2nd year after 5 years at Cal, three with Gottlieb.

Nneka Enemkpali is in her 2nd year after one season at UNLV and 2 at UCSB.   She averaged 10 points per game over her 4 years at Texas.  

 

Losses:

Alissa Pili averaged 8 points and 4 rebounds in an injury plagued season.  Pili transferred to Utah

Angel Jackson averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds.  Jackson transferred to Jackson State

Jordyn Jenkins averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds.  Jenkins transferred to Texas-San Antonio.

Jordan Sanders averaged 12 points and 4 rebounds and graduated.

Desiree Caldwell averaged 4 points and 3 assists and graduated..

Amaya Oliver, only played 39 minutes and transferred to LMU.

Kyra White averaged one point and transferred to Texas San Antonio.

Tera Reed averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds and graduated.  

That’s a loss of 50 points per games.    

 

Additions:

Aaliyah Gayles, 5-9 Point Guard, NV who Ranked # 8   Badly injured so I’m sure will redshirt 

Taylor Rigby 6-1 Soph Guard transferred from Oregon after averaging 2 points however highly recruited out of HS.

Rokia Doumbia is a 5-9 Guard Grad Transfer from Purdue where she averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds.

Destiny Littleton 5-9 Sr Guard who transferred from South Carolina where she averaged 2.6 ppg.  A McD All American in HS.

Koi Love 6-0 Jr Forward who transferred from Arizona where she averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Okako Adika 6-0 Sr Wing who transferred from TCU where she averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Kadi Sissoko 6-2 Grad Transfer Wing from Minnesota where she averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds in the last two seasons.

Kayla Williams 5-7 Redshirt Soph Guard who transferred from UC Irvine where she averaged 15 points and 4 assists and made 68 threes.

 

The Returning Team:

Alyson Miura is a 5-9 Sr Guard who averaged 6 points and made 38 threes at 39%. 

Madison Campbell is a 5-11  Redshirt Jr Guard  who averaged 4 points.

India Otto is a 5-9 Sr Guard who played just 6 games this past season and 3 games the previous season.

Clarice Akunwafo, 6-6 Soph Post who averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds.

Rayah Marshall, 6-4 Soph Forward who averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds.   

Bella Perkins is a 5-9 Soph  Guard from Virginia who was the State Gatorade POY.  Bella averaged 3 points.

 

The Schedule: 

Texas, that’s it for Power 5, plus U of San Diego hey look how good they are in WVB. 

 

 

Predictions:   

Five transfer out and three Graduate so eight gone with their 50 points per game.    However here come eight transfers in, plus six returning.   Crazy.  Marshall will start but I can’t guess what the other starters will be or the top 8.

 

2023 Recruiting Commits:  

Malia Samuels, 5-11 Guard from Seattle Ranked # 49

UCLA

Pac 12 Preview:  UCLA 

 

Last Season:  

UCLA was 18-13 last season and 8-8 in conference play.   

 

The Coaches:  

Cori Close is in her 12^th season as the Head Coach.  Close is averaging 20 wins per year.    She went to HS in the San Jose area.

Shannon Perry-LaBeauf is in her 12^th year and she coached at Duke for 5 seasons.  

Tony Newnan like the others is in his 12th season.  

Tasha Brown is in her 5th season at UCLA.   

 

Losses:

Iimar’l Thomas, last season Thomas averaged 16 points and 6 rebounds.

Jaelynn Penn, last season Penn averaged 9 points and 4 rebounds.   

Natalie Chou  averaged 10 points, and made 36% of her threes.  

Chantel Horvat averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds per game.   

Guard Kayla Owens averaged 2 points.   

Pretty sure they all graduated, plus some were already in Grad school last season. 

 

Additions:

Kiki Rice 5-11 Frosh Point Guard ranked # 2

Gabriela Jaquez 5-11Frosh Forward ranked # 19

Londynn Jones, 5-4 Frosh PG from SoCal Ranked # 23

Christeen Iwuala, 6-2 Frosh Post ranked # 49        

Lina Sontag, 6-3 Frosh Post from Germany

 

The Returning Team:

Charisma Osborne, 5-9 Sr Guard who averaged 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.  

Isobel Anstey, 6-4 Redshirt Soph Post from Australia.  Last season Anstey averaged 3 points and 4 rebounds.   Anstey will miss the first month of the season.  

Gina Conti, 5-11 Grad Transfer from Wake Forest.  Conti was with the Bruins last season however missed playing with injuries.

Angelia Dugalic, 6-4 Redshirt Soph Post a transfer from Oregon.   Angelia averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds.  She was ranked # 22 out of HS.   Sadly Dugalic is out for the season with an injury.

Emily Bessoir, 6-4 Redshirt Soph Post from Germany, who averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds two years ago however was out for the past season with a knee injury.   

Darius Davis-Onu is a 5-9 Redshirt Soph averaged 5 points. 

Domin Camryn Brown, 5-11 Sr Guard who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds. 

Brynn Masikewich, 6-3  Sr Forward from Canada who played just 2 games after not playing the previous year. 

 

The Schedule:   

The only top 25 team scheduled is South Carolina.  However the Battle 4 Atlantis will feature UCLA, Tennessee, Texas, Gonzaga and Louisville and three other teams. 

 

Predictions:  

Wow big losses for sure but no transfers in or out.    Health will be a key and already one loss for the season.   Hopefully Bessoir is healthy and shows that her promise of two years ago is fulfilled.  With Conti and Rice at the point and maybe both on the floor at the same time Osborne is free to score even more.   Jaquez will be one of the top frosh in the league along with Rice.   I believe this team is underrated by the pre-season polls and will fight for a top 3 spot in the conference.  

 

2023 Recruiting:  

Amanda Muse, 6-4 Post from NorCal ranked # 38.

Oregon State

Pac 12 Preview:  Oregon State

 

Last Season:  17-14, 6-9.  

The Coaches:

Scott Rueck is in his 13^th year and has been an outstanding coach, turning the then lowly Beavers into a Final 4/Elite 8 team.

James Chatterton is in his 9th year.   He is the Associate Head Coach.  

Jenny Huth is in her 2nd year after 3 seasons as Head Coach at Northern Colorado.  Before that she was an assistant at UCLA for 7 years.

Deven Hunter is in her 2nd year after 2 years as a Grad assistant at U of San Diego.  Hunter played for Oregon State 2012-16.   

 

Losses:

Kennedy Brown Averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds and transferred to Duke.

Taylor Jones averaged 12 points 7 rebounds and shot 57% but injuries caused her to play just 9 games.  Jones transferred to Texas.

Tara Corosdale averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds and transferred to Duke 

Tea Adams averaged 3 points and Graduated.

Ellie Mack averaged 9 points and 4 rebounds and graduated.

Greta Kampschroeder averaged 5 points and transferred to Michigan. 

 

Additions:

Shalexxus Aaron 6-1, 6^th year Wing.  She missed two years at USC with injuries.  Last season Aaron was at Texas Southern and averaged 12 points and 4 rebounds. 

Bendu Yeaney 5-10 Guard 6^th year last season at Arizona she averaged 6 ppg

Adlee Blacklock, 6-0 Wing from Texas, #64 ASGR

Reagan Beers 6-2 Post from Colorado ranked # 10.   A McDonalds All American.

Timea Gardiner, 6-3 Forward from UT Ranked # 6.  A McDonalds All American.

Lily Hansford, 6-2 Wing from WI Unranked.

Martha Pietsch 5-5 From Germany.  Pietsch has played on several German National Youth Teams.

 

The Returning Team:

Talia von Oelhoffen, 5-11 Soph Guard ranked # 10 out of HS but graduated early so has played a year plus already.  Last season she averaged 14 points and 3 assists 

Jelena Mitrovic, 6-9 5^th Year Post who averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds. 

AJ Marotte, 6-1 Soph Wing who averaged 4 ppg   

Noelle Mannen, 5-6 Redshirt Jr Guard a former walk on who averaged 1.6ppg.

 

The Schedule:  Iowa, LSU and either Duke or UConn are the only Power 5 teams on their non-conference schedule.  

 

Predictions:  

Losing 4 starters 3 who transferred and 1 who graduated hurts.   This left 4 returning players, one who started and one who played a lot.  The Beavers do have 2 top 10 frosh and another good frosh from Germany and add to that 2 transfers who will help but how much other than the team is so thin remains to be seen.   It doesn’t like at top 6 team in the league which the Beavers have been for years now.

 

2023 Recruiting:  

Donovyn Hunter, 5-11 G from Oregon ranked # 98

Kennedie Shuler, 5-10 PG from Oregon not ranked. 

Oregon

Pac 12 Preview:  Oregon

 

Last Season:  

20-12 overall and 11-6 in Pac 12 play.  

The Coaches:

Kelley Graves starts season 9th with the Ducks.  Graves coached in the WCC first at St Mary’s then Gonzaga winning 67% of his games over 17 seasons.

Jodie Berry is in her 8th season at Oregon as an assistant after coaching with Graves at Gonzaga for 11 years.

Jackie Nared Hairston is in her 2nd year as an Assistant.  The former St Mary’s player was coaching at Arizona.

Sadie Edwards joins the Ducks from the WNBA Liberty team where she was operations manager.  Edwards played at USC graduating in 2018.          

 

Losses:

Nyara Sabally who averaged 15 ppg and 8 rebounds per game.  Sabally is in the WNBA. 

Sydney Parrish averaged 8 points and made 53 threes most on the team.  Parish transferred to Indiana.

Kylee Watson averaged 4 points and 3 rebound.  Watson transferred to Notre Dame.

Maddie Scherr averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds.  Scherr transferred to Kentucky.

Chanaya Pinto averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds. Pinto transferred to Penn State

Taylor Bigby, ranked # 15 out of HS only played 9 games.   Bigby transferred to USC

Shannon Dufficy averaged 2 points and 1 rebound.

Assistant Mike Moser left for the NBA.  

 

Additions:

Taya Hanson, 5-10 Sr Guard transfer from ASU.  Hanson averaged 8 points and 4 rebounds last season.   She averaged 12 points as a Soph at ASU.

Jennah Isai, 5-11 Wing from AZ ranked # 36

Chance Gray, 5-9 PG from Ohio ranked # 7

Kennedy Basham, 6-7 Post from AZ Ranked # 59. 

Grace Vanslotten, 6-3 Forward from IMG Florida ranked # 13.

 

The Team:

Sedona Prince is a 6-7 Redshirt Sr who averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds.   Price  transferred from Texas, and was a McD All American and ranked # 8 out of HS.   

Te-Hina Paopao, 5-9 Jr PG   Paopao averaged 13 points and 3 assists.

Endyia Rogers 5-7 Sr Guard averaged 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.   She transferred from   last season.  In her two years at USC she averaged 14 points.  

Taylor Hosendove, 6-2 5^th year Forward who averaged 1.6 points and 2 rebounds.  She transferred from Georgia State and before that Clemson.   

Phillipina Kyei, 6-8 Soph Post from Calgary Alberta who averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds.  

Ahlise Hurst, Sr, 5-9 Guard who averaged 6 points and made 47 threes at 38%.  Hurst transferred a year ago from New Mexico where she averaged 11 points over her three seasons, including 39 against Oklahoma.  She’s from Australia.  

 

The Schedule:  

Northwestern, North Carolina, Arkansas and probably Ohio State highlight the non-conference schedule. 

 

Predictions:  

Prince, Rogers and Paopao are returning starters and they all averaged 9 or more points per game.  Hurst is a top returning rotation player.  No question big losses on the three younger players who left, however Gray, VanSlotten and Isai are top recruits and there will be playing time for them immediately.     Not a deep team however some very talented players.  Heath will be a key to a potential top 4 finish.  

 

2023 Recruiting:

Sofia Bell, 6-1 Wing from Oregon ranked # 34

Sarah Rambus 6-4 Post/F from MI ranked # 61

Colorado

 

PAC 12 Preview:  Colorado

 

Last Season:  Colorado went 22-9 overall, and 9 - 7 in the conference.  

The Coaches:  

Head Coach JR Payne will be in her 7th year at Colorado after two seasons at Santa Clara.   Payne led Santa Clara to its first winning season in 8 seasons and finished 23-9.   JR, no periods, and real name. 

Toriano Towns is the Associate Head Coach and is also in his 7th 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.

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.  

Alex Earl is in her 7th 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.  

Tim Hayes is in his 1^st season at Colorado.  He was the Head Coach at Southeastern University where his record was 176-13.  

 

Losses (who is gone):

Shandrika Lee assistant coach who left after 6 seasons at Colorado to go into private business. 

Mya Hollingshed who averaged 14 points and rebounds and was drafted by the WNBA.

Sirena (Peanut) Tuitele who averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds.  Peanut transferred to Cal. 

Maura Singer who played only 7 games.  She may have retired. 

Lesila Finau who averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds.   She transferred to Cal Baptist.

Kylee Blacksten who averaged 2 points.  She transferred to West Virginia.

Kennedy Taylor who played just 8 games.   She transferred to Missouri State.

 

Additions:

Aaronette Vonleh, 6-3 Soph Post Center transfer from Arizona.  Vonleh averaged 6 points and 2 rebounds at Arizona.              

Jada Wynn, 6-0 Frosh Guard from SoCal daughter of the former Washington coaches, unranked

Lizzie Holder, 6-1 Frosh Forward from MN   Unranked

Ali Fitzgerald, 6-2 Forward from Missouri, unranked

Brianna McLeod, 6-3 Frosh Forward from Canada

The Returning Team:   

Jaylyn Sherrod, 5-7 Sr Point Guard who averaged 8 points and 4 assists. 

Tameiya Sadler is a 5-8  Jr Guard Washington.  Sadler averaged 15 ppg.

Quay Miller is a 6-3 Sr Post.   Miller averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Frieda Formann, 5-11 Jr Guard from Denmark.   Formann averaged 7 points per game.  

Charlotte Whittaker is a 6-4 Redshirt Sr Post from Australia who averaged 5 points and 2 rebounds two years ago but missed last season with an injury.     

Tayanna Jones is a 6-1 5^th year  Guard who averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds.

Kindyll Wetta is a 5-9 Soph Guard who averaged 4ppg.  Her Mom played Basketball at Colorado.  

Sophie Gerber, 6-0 Redshirt Soph Guard who played just 7 games.  

 

The Schedule:            

The Buffs will play in the preseason NIT vs Texas Tech and Louisiana 

 

Predictions:  

Hollingshed is a big loss but 4 solid players return.  Miller, Sadler, Sherrod are solid Pac 12 players who won last season.  Formann is a good three point shooter and both Wynn and Vonleh played very well on their trip to Spain recently.    Are they top six?  Close at least.  

 

2023 Recruiting:    

Ruthie Loomis-Golti, 6-3 Post from NE, ranked # 74

Kennedy Sanders, 5-8 PG from MN, ranked # 70

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

Looking at the CAL BEARS

PAC 12 Preview:  Cal

 

Our first PAC-12 game will be with the CAL Bears on Friday, December 23 -- the last game before the (brief) holiday break.  Here's what their team looks like so far.

Last Season:  11-13 overall and 2-12 in conference play.   

The Coaches:

Charmin Smith with 2 degrees from Stanford returns for her 15th season at Cal and is now the Head Coach for her 4th year.  

Kai Felton is back for her 10th 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. 

Paul Reed is in his 2^nd year after 4 years at Washington.

Eliza Pierre is in her 2nd year after 4 years at UCSB.

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

 

Losses:  

Kelly Cole coached for one year and moved on.

Dalayah Daniels 6-4 Jr  Forward ranked # 13 out of HS.   Daniels averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds and transferred to Washington.  

Fatou Samb, 6-4 Jr Post who averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds and transferred to Rice. 

Cailyn Crocker 5-9 Grad transfer Guard who averaged 6 points.  Crocker transferred to Colorado State     

 

Additions:

Amaya Bonner, 6-0 Guard from Oakland.   Ranked # 51 and had offers from ASU, Arizona, UCLA, Utah and Washington. 

Claudia Langarita, 6-4 Post Soph transfer from USF where she averaged 10 points and 3 rebounds. 

Kemery Martin, 6-0 Sr Guard transfer from Utah where she only played 6 games with injuries last season.  As a Soph Martin averaged 11 ppg.

Peanut Tuitele, 6-1 Forward Grad Transfer from Colorado where she averaged 7 ppg.  However the year before Peanut averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds.  

Karisa Ortiz, 6-0 Guard Grad Transfer from Texas/  Mitty HS to Penn State to Texas.  Last season she sat out at Cal with injuries.  Two years ago at Texas she averaged 4 points and had a 2:1 Assists to Turnover ratio.

                                           

 

The Schedule:                 

Cal’s toughest known opponent presently is UC San Diego.  However they will play in three tournaments and from the dates 5 games.  First is in St Louis, then at LMU, finally at Cal.  At LMU they will play the host, LMU and Montana with their Assistant Jos Tinkle.  

 

The Team:

Jayda Curry, 5-6 Soph Guard averaged 18 points and 4 rebounds.

Jaden Bush, 5-11 Forward a Grad Transfer from Harvard.  Bush averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds in 12 games before being injured.   

Leilani McIntosh, 5-5 Sr Guard who averaged 7 points and 4 assists. 

Jazlen Green 5-11 Sr Guard averaged 9 points and made 49 threes at 36%.

Evelien Lutje Schipholt, 6-2 Forward from the Netherlands.  Last year she averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds.

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

Alma Elsnitz 5-11 Jr G from Sweden who averaged 2 points in 14 games. 

Sela Heide, 6-7 Jr Post from Washington (hometown is the Twin Peaks TV show location).   Sela played only 2 games before being injured and has played little at Cal. 

Ornela Muca, 5-7 Jr Guard from Greece.  She played just 12 games.  

Michelle Onyiah, 6-3 Jr Post ranked # 35 out of HS.   She averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds.  

 

Predictions:  

Cal has four starters back however from a team that won just two league games.  They have several players back from injury who should contribute and did well adding transfers.  Curry is very good and the team is a year older, more experienced.  Do they have a chance to be top Six in the league, I’d say close and possible.   

 

2023 Recruiting:  None yet although they should have at least 3 openings and as many as 6. 

 

 

 

Pac 12 Previews:  Arizona State University

An entirely new coaching staff, nine new players, seven players lost to graduation or transfer. A new era for ASU.

Last Season:   The Sun Devils were 12-14 and 4-9 in Pac 12 Play

The Coaching Staff:   

Natasha Adair is the new 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 joins Adair after one season at Delaware and before that Head Coach at Lincoln University.

Mykala Walker spent the previous 5 years as an assistant coach at Delaware.

Camille Collier comes to ASU after coaching at Virginia Tech

 

The Losses:  

Charlie Turner Thorne retired after 24 years as the Head Coach.  The assistants from last season are all gone as the new staff takes over.

Jade Loville the leading scorer at 16 ppg.  Transfer to Arizona.

Mael Gilles the 2^nd leading scorer at 10 ppg and the leading rebounder at 8 per game.  She graduated.  

Taya Hanson who averaged 8 ppg.  Transfer to Oregon.

Ayzhiana Basallo who averaged 5 ppg.  Transfer to Santa Clara.

Katelyn Levings who averaged 5 ppg, Transfer to Tulsa.

Jayde Van Hyfte averaged 3 points

Gabriela Bosquez, 5-7 Grad Student Guard who averaged 3 ppg

That’s 50 of the 63 ppg for the team.   

The Returning Team:  

Jaddan Simmons, 5-9 Jr PG, averaged 10 points.

Maggie Besselink, 6-3 Jr Forward who averaged 4 points and 5 rebounds.

Isadora Sousa, 6-0 Jr Guard who played just 7 games.   

Sydney Erikstrup, 6-1 Jr  Wing averaged 1.6 ppg

Imogen Greenslade, 6-4 Jr Post averaged 2 ppg

  

The Additions:  

Meg Newman 6-3 Redshirt Frosh who didn’t play last season ranked # 35 out of HS.

Trayanna Crisp, 5-7 Incoming Frosh Guard from Arizona, ranked # 73.  

Jaylah Robinson, 5-11 Incoming Frosh Guard from PA

Journey Thompson, 6-2 Incoming Frosh Forward from PA

Treasure Hunt, 6-2 Jr Wing from Kentucky who averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds.

Lauryn Satterwhite  

Morasha Wiggins 6-0 Soph Wing from North Carolina who averaged 1.5 ppg.  However Wiggings was ranked # 18 out of HS.  

Kayla Mokwuah Grad Transfer, 6-4 Post from TCU, averaged 5 ppg and 2 rebounds last season at TCU.  

Tyi Skinner, 5-5 Soph PG from Delaware, averaged 13 ppg last season at Delaware.

Nine newcomers and as many as 4 could start.   So many gone plus the coaching staff

 

Predictions:                     

ASU is pretty much starting over.   They did get the Coach’s Point Guard so that’s a start however they will be picked last in the conference.  It’s going to be a very hard year.  

 

The Schedule:  Not yet announced beyond a tournament with American, Notre Dame, and probably LSU.

2023 Recruiting:  None yet.