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Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Illinois:

 

Women's basketball moves right along in offseason
 

Less contact from coaches during the summer leaves most of the workout organization to the players. This summer, that role has fallen to point guard Kyley Simmons.

 

“Kyley has done a great job with our team, getting them organized the days we’re not in the gym,” Bollant said. “It’s great to have a strong leader on the floor. I think our players know they can trust her and that she believes in them.

“They can see her work ethic — how often she’s in the gym and how hard she works on her game. This is her team, and she’s going to lead us from the point.”

Bollant also said he was impressed with how the Illini newcomers have played this summer. That includes McDonald’s All-American Chatrice White, fellow freshmen Brooke Kissinger and Amarah Coleman and redshirt freshman Kennedy Cattenhead, who missed the 2013-14 season after suffering a knee injury last July.

 

 

 

 

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Norm Peterson
Norm Peterson

Oh, c'mon, people!  That was worth at least 1 up arrow!   Man, tough crowd.  Don't get no respect.

nevermind
nevermind

Former Husker Jina Johansen has been named the new Women's Basketball Coach at Hastings College.    http://www.hastingsbroncos.com/article/1264.php#.VSQJNVTG5uI

Norm Peterson
Norm Peterson

That's so Raven.

Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Minnesota:

 

Gophers adjusting to new style

 

Head coach Marlene Stollings said at the beginning of the summer that she’d use the first few weeks of Minnesota’s summer workouts to feel out the skill sets of her new players.

Nearly a month in, the players are getting a feel for their new coaching staff, too.

“They’re very intense, but in a good way. They’re teaching us fast, so you’ve got to pay attention,” senior Shae Kelley said. “They’re going to explain something and expect you to be able to do it.”

Stollings and company’s fast-paced teaching methods mirror their up-tempo style of play on the court — something the Gophers didn’t experience under former head coach Pam Borton.

 

 

  • 2 weeks later...
Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Penn State:

 

When Brianna Banks decided to transfer from the University of Connecticut in May, the Newnan, Georgia, native said in a statement that she needed “a fresh start somewhere closer to home.”

Closer to home is University Park, Pennsylvania.

 

 

Banks, a 5-foot-9 guard, played in 90 games during her three years at UConn and averaged 4.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game.

 

 

http://snyuconn.com/uconn/banks-transfers-to-penn-state/

Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Nebraska/Omaha:

 

This isn't B1G related but should be interesting for Husker women's basketball fans.

 

The UNO women's basketball program and head coach Brittany Lange have announced the addition of Cory Barrett as the program's new director of basketball operations.

Barrett - formerly Cory Montgomery - was a first-team All-Big 12 performer at Nebraska in 2010, capping an illustrious four-year career with the Huskers.

 

 

Might get to see her at a few Husker games this season!

 

http://www.omavs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209604363&DB_OEM_ID=31400

  • 1 month later...
Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Maryland:

 

After 37 years in the ACC, the Terrapins will now compete in another strong conference - the Big Ten. While there are many unknowns as the Terps head into a new era, Frese knows they will face them together. “The other question that will come up is ‘What will it be like playing in the Big Ten?’ The answer to that one is ‘we’ll all find out together’. I think the conference race will be pretty competitive. I’ll be surprised if any one team dominates the league. I think there will be a lot of teams that on a given night can get a win. What’s going to be a lot of fun for our players is that we’ll be going into road arenas that have better fan support that what we’re used to seeing.”

 

 

Frese mostly talks about her team. http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=209656221

Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Alabama:

 

K-State all over again? News from our 8th non-conference opponent. Alabama was pinning their hopes for a successful season this year on Daisha Simmons. Last year when Alabama played here she scored 14 points had 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 asssists.

---------------------------

Alabama called "spiteful" in block of Simmons transfer

 

Although they may threaten and delay and even impose conditions, college sports teams rarely block someone from transferring to play elsewhere.

 

Rarer still -- virtually unheard of -- is a college blocking a transfer who already has a degree.

The case of Daisha Simmons, then, is like Halley's comet.

 

The former all-state guard at Gill St. Bernard's, who spent her first collegiate season at Rutgers before transferring to Alabama, has been stymied by the Crimson Tide in her attempt to finish out her career as a postgrad at Seton Hall.

 

"It's a travesty," her mother Christine Simmons said. "She gave 100 percent on the court and she graduated. It's very spiteful."

 

Simmons is enrolled at Seton Hall taking courses toward an MBA. She is on scholarship and can practice with the Pirates, but cannot play in games. Under normal circumstances, Alabama's refusal to approve the transfer would spell the end of her career. But upon reviewing Simmons' case the NCAA issued an extraordinary compromise, allowing Simmons to fulfill her final season of eligibility next year---in 2015-16.

 

"The NCAA has made its decision in this case, and The University of Alabama considers this matter closed," Alabama spokesman Doug Walker said in a statement to Gannett New Jersey.

But Simmons and those around her do not consider it closed. They view it as Exhibit A of a broken-down system in need of reform.

 

"It's unfair that coaches can leave without an issue, but when a player decides to leave they have to go through this kind of situation," said Simmons, who endured a coaching change after her first season at Alabama. "Coaches have too much power over their players. It's not right."

 

Better to come home

After scoring a Somerset County-record 2,488 points at Gill St. Bernard's, Simmons spent a nondescript season at Rutgers (2.4 points, 2.4 rebounds per game), then headed south to Alabama. She sat out 2011-12 per NCAA transfer rules and blossomed the following winter, averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 assists and 2.1 steals.

 

Last season Simmons got even better, posting 13.8 points and 4.3 assists per game. She recorded Alabama's first triple-double since 1998. The Crimson Tide finished 14-16 under first-year head coach Kristy Curry. Simmons graduated with a degree in business.

 

But issues lingered beneath the surface. Simmons' 32-year-old brother Chaz has end-stage renal disease and requires kidney dialysis several times per week. Simmons also wanted to pursue an MBA during her postgrad season, but was not accepted into Alabama's program.

 

"With the family issues on top of the MBA situation, I decided it was better for me to come home," she said.

 

This was late May. Though April is the most popular month for transfers, it's not unusual for players to leave right up until the start of July's academic summer session. But Curry balked, and Alabama's brass backed her up.

 

"Given the timing that she wanted to transfer left little or no time for the women's basketball team to make alternate plans to replace her," Alabama director of athletics Bill Battle wrote in a letter explaining Alabama's refusal to sign off on the transfer.

 

Seton Hall's written appeal to the NCAA said such a stance was particularly hypocritical when "Alabama is benefiting from this same waiver process with a men's football transfer (graduate Jake Coker) vying for the starting quarterback position who was granted the ability to play immediately because Florida State supported his transfer."

 

The same week Simmons decided to transfer, Kansas State conceded to withering national criticism and allowed standout guard Leticia Romero to leave. The school originally declined to approve her transfer even though the coaching staff had just been fired.

 

That's how the occasional uproar over transfer blockades typically end---with the school letting go. Not this time.

 

"I've been a head coach for 23 years and I've never seen an instance like this in my career," Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella said. "I've never even heard of an instance like this, where someone wants to leave a program for educational and family-related reasons and does not get released. I don't understand it."

 

A double standard

Simmons' coach at Gill St. Bernard's, Mergin Sina, said Alabama exploited a rotten system.

 

"These kids are at such a disadvantage when they sign that letter of intent -- they don't tell you the whole thing," Sina said. "There's so much stuff that kids don't know, and they get trapped and they don't realize they can't get out of it."

 

Sina has sent several players to Division I programs over the past decade; his son Jaren is a sophomore guard for Seton Hall's men. Too many college coaches, he said, demand loyalty without reciprocating.

 

"Considering that coaches push kids out (by not renewing scholarships), and they're doing it a lot more these days, that's shameful," Mergin Sina said. "I won't name schools, but I get phone calls from coaches saying, 'Give me two weeks and I'll clear out a roster spot.' So it's a double standard. The kids have minimal say in their future."

 

Simmons is uncertain what her future holds. Seton Hall has offered her a scholarship for two years, long enough to complete her MBA coursework in 2016. But she is 23 years old and was banking on playing this season so she could hold a job next year while finishing up school.

 

"My mother is currently working two jobs with diminishing health issues and my brother's heath is also declining each day as he awaits a kidney transplant," Simmons wrote in a letter to the NCAA. "So not being able to work full time for another year will put my family in great despair."

 

Simmons has retained an attorney. Three weeks ago she sent one final appeal to Battle.

 

"I don't understand why the quarterback on the football team was allowed to be a graduate transfer and play right away but I am not being allowed to do the same," she wrote. "I love the people and time I spent at Alabama and I don't want this to end the wrong way, but my mother and I are prepared to do whatever we need to for me to play this year, and we won't stop fighting until it happens."

 

http://www.app.com/story/sports/2014/09/30/daisha-simmons-rutgers-seton-hall-alabama-womens-basketball-gill-st-bernards/16493385/

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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Had Alabama allowed this young lady into their MBA program, I suspect this wouldn't be an issue.

 

Setting aside the fact that she could get into Seton Hall's MBA program and not Alabama's, which is a mystery in and of itself, it still seems massively hypocritical of Alabama to block this young lady's further progress in life like this.

 

On the other hand, somewhat difficult to feel too sorry for her when she's getting her entire education paid for, including an MBA.

HB

HB

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Bilas and others should weigh in on this, as they did with K-State, and even Sami Spenner at UNO.  Make it national.  Whoever is tone deaf at Bama needs to get a new set of ears.

Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Purdue:

 

Sharon Versyp has her youngest team during her tenure as head coach of the Purdue women's basketball team.

 

Despite the youth, which includes freshmen Bree Horrocks, Andreona Keys, Haley Bodnar, Justine Hall and Erica Moore, the ninth-year coach has observed a group developing consistency in its practice habits and overall approach. She also sees a determined team, which features six players 6 feet or taller.

 

 

Q&A: Purdue women's basketball coach Sharon Versyp
Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Penn State:

 

Coquese Washington knows what her roster says, but she’s not buying it. Yeah, she has a senior, two juniors and six sophomores, but as far as she’s concerned nearly all of her players are from one class.

 

“We’ve got a team full of freshmen,” said Washington, who met with media Monday in the South Gym at the Bryce Jordan Center as her squad officially kicked off practice for the coming season. “We’ve got 11 kids and 10 of them really haven’t played a ton of minutes on this court for us. ... Practice will be an adventure every single day.”

 

 

“Tori Waldner has provided tremendous leadership so far,” Washington said. “She’s our only senior and she’s been around the longest. She knows what I want and what we want to accomplish.”

 

Once play begins, Washington is looking for others to take control. Lindsey Spann, who missed all of her freshman season with a knee injury, and Keke Sevillian, used sparingly last year, are the team’s point guards. Sophomore Sierra Moore, who missed a season by NCAA rules after transferring from Duke, also is a dynamic personality.

 

 

Young Lady Lions get started

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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"Second-year Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff has dismissed second-leading scorer Raven Ferguson from the team, citing a violation of team rules."

 

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/11627874/ohio-state-buckeyes-dismiss-all-big-ten-guard-raven-ferguson-violation-team-rules

That's so Raven.

 

Oh, c'mon, people!  That was worth at least 1 up arrow!

 

Man, tough crowd.  Don't get no respect.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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Very true Norm, very Raven. I'm not quite sure what "That's so Raven" means though. 

"That's So Raven" was a comedy series on Disney Channel about 10 years ago (I'm sure you can find re-runs if you really want to) starring Raven Symone as ... Raven.  I know, it's an obscure cultural reference.  I'm good for obscure references from time to time.

 

http://disneychannel.disney.com/thats-so-raven

Row6Seat10

Row6Seat10

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Ohio State:

 

Buckeyes limited on experience up front
 

Life on the low block requires a certain amount of toughness, especially on a team that has seven new faces on an 11-player roster.

 

The post, like Hart, is slim on numbers, with third-year sophomores Lisa Blair and Kalpana Beach comprising the other inside options that second-year coach Kevin McGuff will have at the outset of the season.

 

The expected fourth, freshman Makayla Waterman, suffered a left knee injury in practice this week and is out indefinitely, possibly for the season. Sophomore transfer Shayla Cooper will join the group in late December.

 

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