I was thinking internal culture also. Remember LB’s suspension came from internal stuff also. I am just surprised by Maddy and Ari’s portal decisions.
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Watching the E8 games. It’s painfully obvious that Michigan needs an infusion of athleticism and shooting from the guards and wings.
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Haven’t they lacked that for some time as well?? Phelia is impactful but for all the achievements turning the ball over 20 times a game because you lack guards does get tiresome.
I think that’s what KBA was trying to address with the incoming class. I’m not sure about athleticism profile for all 3 guards except for Brown.
I think we need to realize that the inury of Dilk and Wiggins’ injury last year/general ineffectiveness means that our PG’s the past two years were Rauch, who, god bless her moxie, was a step above a walk-on, and Brown, who just doesn’t have the handle of a point guard (she was our starting small forward last year). Hopefully that gets mitigated going forward.
I don’t know anything about Ari personally, but given her pedigree and PT, it’s not an incredible shock she is transferring. Nolan surprises me, and frankly, I’d still be surprised if she left (resident Maddie-head @bmcarteruiuc may know more)
Obviosuly the focus of the team next year is Phelia. I think Cameron Williams showed ability, I was always confused why she didn’t play more (she IS a little small for the position). I think returning playings like Stuck and Hobbs and played themselves into deserving larger roles next year (especially Stuck). Evans looked very promising, and I think can be an anchor in the post going forward. I’m optimistic about Alyssa Crockett, and our third freshman (who if I recall was well regarded?) barely played, so we’ll see there. Personally, I’m pretty down on Kampschroeder as anything more than a bench piece (PT allocation would suggest KBA is as well).
I don’t really follow recruiting so I can’t say anything about the incoming players, but my feeling is that if KBA can keep us at the 11/12 conference win level next year, it should be considered a good showing.
I think the ball-handling will get addressed. My desire is to have more than 1 player who can shoot threes. Nolan took 5+ a game, and Phelia actually made good strides here. But before this year, we generally had 1 player take like 1/3 of our total threes (Nolan, Hailie Brown, Nicole Munger, Flaherty)
But I’m old enough to have been thinking that losing Deja Church to DePaul after her sophomore year was going to set us back years…and that clearly never happened (she did however start on 3 really good DePaul teams).
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Good thoughts, mgl.
I hadn’t yet seen the news on either, so that bums me out. I think Ari showed a lot of promise. She was never going to be a major scoring threat, but she showed a good handle and was a decent defender. She did also flash a knack for being able to get to the basket and score that way. I hope she succeeds wherever she goes.
My hope is that Maddie is just doing the same thing Emily did last year in terms of testing the waters. I have zero doubt that KBA would take her back for a fifth year, but ultimately I hope Maddie does what’s best for her. If that’s pursuing a graduate degree elsewhere while playing one last year, we’ll cheer her on wherever she lands (just outside the B1G, pls).
I agree with everything else you said.
I think Cam’s issue is foul trouble. Her fouls/40 is quite high. She has shown offensive ability for sure, but I think she’s weaker on defense than EK and Chyra (IMHO). You can see the tools are there, though.
I think Cam starts next year, but barring a major leap – which, to be fair, is entirely in the realm of possibility – probably still splits time with Evans at least 50/50. We might see both on the floor at times as well as I think Evans has a wider range to her game and they could work some high/low action together. I think the other starters are Phelia, Hobbs, and Stuck with Stuck and Crockett splitting minutes fairly evenly.
That still leaves one glaring weakness: the point guard spot. I expect Kampschroeder will start the year there. I’m still hopeful she can settle into that role. More than anything I think she suffered from a lack of comfort and confidence this year. I’m hoping another year – especially one where she enters the year likely without much immediate competition for a starting spot – makes a big difference. Again, I just keep thinking about Eli Brooks. Eli went from a guy everyone looked at after 2-3 years and said “nope” to the guy who was the team’s leader and steady hand. I think that’s all still on the table for Kampschroeder.
I don’t follow recruiting, either, but I do know that all three incoming players are guards so that at least hopefully adds more bullets to the chamber.
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One other thing that really stinks is that the coaching staff has been decimated this off-season. After Erin Batth was hired at Providence, she has taken assistant coach Valerie Nainima and graduate manager Reyna Frost with her. KBA now has to replace both her recruiting coordinator and an assistant coach.
There is going to be a whole lot of change this offseason (which I guess in today’s college sports climate is just the new normal).
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Kate Clarke was the 3rd freshman. She didn’t play much, but she was ranked just inside the Top 100 by ESPN.
I saw that last night. This is similar to two off-seasons ago when we lost 4 coaches. I guess the silver-lining is that we were still able to make that Elite 8 run the following year.
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Back after 4 years as head coach at Xavier where it did not go well (24-81 overall, 8-60 Big East).
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That’s good to see.
I always wanted ari to play more. Brown was a really good player but not a true PG. stapling Wiggins to the bench was a good way to make her think about leaving when she could have been a nice option at the 1. There were enough times leigha made ball handling mistakes that we could have just had ari in to learn from making.
She was too small and abaolutely a zero threat to score. You are playing 4 on 5 with her and the other 4 were not good enough to make that work. She isnt good enough for this level. KBA has to play the best players to win.
I disagree. She looked like a freshman PG, who could actually handle and disrupt some things on defense. I’d have like to see her get consistent 8 min a game. The best thing about freshmen is that they turn into sophomores.
That being said I’m partial to being able to handle the ball and not turn it over. I thought Wiggins could at least move with the ball in a way that much of the rest of the rotation couldn’t. Her turnovers were no worse than anyone else’s.
She was a sophomore this year. Shes been here two years. It wasnt going to happen at michigan for her. And they have three guards coming in next year and five star Olson in 2024.
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To be fair, she basically missed her freshman year.
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Didnt know that. Medical redshirt?
She played a very small amount then sat with a foot injury
I think she’d have a case for a medical RS pretty open and shut
Shoot you’re right. For some reason I thought it was her first year. Revise my opinion!
Enough Hunter talk. Caitlin Clark v Dawn Staley is on.
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