ChanmanV

You're overrating Bjorn particularly this first year. Losing Lee is a huge loss. She's got unlimited stamina, knows Vic's defensive scheme inside and out, and is a vet would have been a leader in the locker. She would have been a superstar for us her senior year once Booker left. I'm hoping Vann can fill some of that void but Bjorn needs at least a year to really get comfortable. She didn't look that great in McDonald's workouts/games and the other all-star games compared to the other top incoming freshman. There's been some comparisons to her and Shay Holle which isn't a bad one but I'd hope she ends up being better. But I do agree Itute will eventually be an upgrade from Carlton and Crittendon can be an immediate contributor. I still need to be convince that Preston can run the team consistently for the whole season. She's had solid games but still had moments of immaturity. Plus she needs to elevate her defense a notch as well. Defense will be the measuring stick for where the team is at. Watching Rori, Lee, and Booker defending in unison was beautiful to watch at times. It will take a least half the season to maybe even get to that point with so many new players.

It's amazing for the school and what a crazy donation. I wonder if it'll create a wave of billionaires donating crazy amounts to their alma maters now. The important question is if any of it is going towards football. 🤣

We still need some experience and size if we want to get back to the Final Four. This team is a level or 2 lower defensively with the loss of Rori, Lee, and Oldacre. If we do run with what we got, expect the first half of the the season to be rough if we have a similar tough schedule we had this past year. It's going to take time for the freshman and Vann to reach a Vic level of stamina and acuity on defense game to game. Hopefully by end of year, we'll be good enough to make a run for Madi's last year.

Smart decision by her. She's getting paid and she'd be exposed a lot more in the SEC or Big 10 or ACC. It's maxing her value right now so good for her.

Zya Vann has the same scoring ability as Lee and has good IQ on both sides of the ball. She's got the ability to be molded by Vic into a solid defender too. Her past year looks pretty similar to Lee's freshman year. It's a very good direct replacement. We're just need to fill the holes Rori and Kyla are leaving now.

She isn’t riding the bench but she’ll be in a similar situation where Edwards is the primary scorer and a lot of talent around her. She would have been better somewhere else.

Finally good news!! She’ll replace some of what we lost with Lee. A great 3pt shooter than has the athleticism to defend.

And notice that the national media has not covered this story at all. Not a sign of it anywhere on socials. Condolences to the Prenter family. There's still a lot of talent in the portal so we just got to be patient.

Don't know many coaches that would do that especially for one that didn't play much this season on his team. One thing you can't question is that Vic cares about these girls no matter how tough he is.

Washington Mystics just got the steal of the draft.

How does Rori Harmon not get picked in the first 2 rounds of the WNBA draft? This is a bunch of 💩

Scottie did all this driving the ball horribly too up until the final 7 holes. If he even would have driven the ball average, he would be wearing the green jacket right now.

Great pickup. He plays similar to a poor man's Cam Boozer. That physicality is going to go well with Matas. We should bully some teams now.

Crittendon looks like she has enough physicality to play early and she has the scoring ability to contribute right from the start. If she gets early playing time, by late season she'll have the confidence boost we usually see in young players that get them to contributing more consistently. The Bjorn/Holle comparison is an interesting one. I can see why you think so but Bjorn has a higher ceiling. She's more athletic particularly vertically (she can dunk on her best day) so can finish better near the goal. But if Bjorn could get to where Holle was defensively and 3pt shooting wise, I'd take that in a heart beat.

Not sure why Crump would want to go to Vandy and sit behind Blakes for another 2 years. Maybe she'll play SF? Lee wants a school that has a good medical program. I see her going to Duke more than SC and she'll be more of the #1 scoring option there too versus SC. We could use Jada Williams. Why aren't we hosting her right now?

Is she in the portal?

Unfortunately, the team isn't set up right now to capitalize on Maddie's last season. Very few teams on the women's side get to the Final Four with mostly new players on their roster much less win a championship in Vic's system. Unless we get a couple experienced stars in the portal that can pick up things fast, my expectations will be tempered a bit for next year.

Except Spaights is an open gate on defense. 🤣She'll have to develop ALOT on defense to even get serious playing time with Vic, but I'm sure she knows that.

She won't have a better opportunity at a contender than here where she'd be set to start unless we get a star PG from the portal. Bri is still a year away from being a consistent contributor and leader on the team.

Well you're assuming that the players would share facts that potentially make them look bad and undesirable to schools. Like I said, I think both the school/coaches and players have probably decided or agreed to not talk about it and just move on. In the end, what's done is done and I'm more interested in who we're replacing them with. Lots of good choices out there.

That looks like a farewell post.

I'm thinking it's a better of 2 evils thing. I think if they talk about it openly, it doesn't reflect on well on the school because of the possible actions they did or did not do pertaining to those players during the season. So they'd just rather people speculate and think they are leaving because of playing time or NIL etc.

Ice Brady is another big we should look at as well. Tall, strong and physical.

Not sure Merkle is going to fit defensively but she'd be nice to have offensively. I like Carnegie and Vann though. They're athletic enough to be molded in Vic's defense but can really score too. Haven't really seen Dauda play much in a while but Cody would fill in what we're losing with Oldacre.

This is the one that hurts and is very telling. She IS the perfect fit for Vic's system and culture. And they threw a big offer to convince her to stay so there's a lot of bad feelings there. This might also mean Sarah Graves didn't get her extra year of eligibility given how close Lee and Graves were. I'm sure some more details will come out with what was going on in the locker room but feels like it's headed towards Preston and Cunningham next with a complete rebuild.