HUD

Buckle up for the ride.

I don't think Illinois will finish ahead of us.

If you look at the interview that Jessica Coody did with new assistant WBB coach Julian Assibey last Thursday evening on Sports nightly you will learn a lot more about him. Well spoken, knowledgeable and extremely glad to be here. It is very well done and is about 18 minutes long. It's on the last segment.

We have the best three point shooter since Taylor Kissinger coming this summer. I am talking about freshman Logan Nissley. She shot in the mid 40's.

Probably figured she couldn't beat out Alexis and didn't want to fight for playing time coming off the bench.

Me too. But it's hard to wait so long to hear things. WVB and WBB are the only sports I follow closely. Probably doesn't help to complain.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by our new Australian. As for news, Amy never did have any kind of wrap up discussion on our exit from the WNIT, progress on Allison W., status on our two no shows and what she sees going forward with this team.

Now if we could just hear more from our WBB coach. Over due on either a press conference or segment on sports nightly. Some thing where questions can be asked. In my mind it would be nice at least for the fan base. She has been very appreciative of us. Just throw us some red meat.

Last year on one of the posts on this sight somebody had a picture of Jackson going for a block and her armpits were above the top of the net. She is very quick and can just hang in the air surveying where she wants to place the ball with her long arms. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. Cook was asked if she can reach 11 feet vertically and he said no but not far off. Her and Maggie will have a real battle for the starting Middle blocker to go along with Allick.

During the NU exhibition VB game yesterday against Wichita St. John Cook wore a mike during the second set and talked to the announcers about a variety of things. One of the questions one announcer asked him was how was Maggie readjusting to VB after playing WBB. He said she is doing great and that playing basketball has really helped her in volleyball. He says many of his great players in the past like Jordan Larson played both sports in High School. He said the transition from BB to VB is easier then vice versa. He said she came in great condition from all the running in BB so he is having his volleyball players do more running. By the way the VB game was fun to watch. He is building a great team. All five new freshmen play at a high level. They will be taking a 2 week trip to Brazil and play some top teams there. This all happens before the fall practice season starts. WVB portal reopens tomorrow for two weeks.

I thought the cutoff was May 11th.

Really. That would cut the attendance in half.

I think volleyball has been her ultimate goal. But as she said at the conclusion of women's BB she really liked the physical play. As long as the two sports continue to compliment each other I see her sticking it out in both sports.

That's good as we only want players that fit our and the teams culture. No kneelers allowed.

I don't think it will happen. Just a gut feel.

When you are the top rated player in the portal you are going to have a lot to choose from. Looks like she likes warm weather as well.

She didn't play much at Iowa in 3 years with one being a redshirt year due to an ACL tear. May have to go to a mid major.

I put a lot of stock in the fact that our new assistant, coached her during her freshman year and probably had a lot to do in getting her.

The last couple of years about our only guards that could consistently take the ball to the hoop and score or get fouled were Sam and Allison. With their injuries we had to depend too much on the threes. Although it wasn't the big ten Darian White shot a lot of free throws, about 6 per game ave. during her career. She hit 76% of them. She also had a lot of steals as well. She was a four year starter and played an average of 31 minutes per game. She is very durable with a great motor. I see her ultimately as our starting point guard. This would really help Jaz's shooting and give Allison time to work her way back into the line up. Darian also had a great assist to turnover ratio and averaged less than 2 fouls per game.

She has been doing that for years. That is how she found Leigha Brown when she was lightly recruited and then after she had a successful 2 years many teams wanted her.

Are we talking about Morrow?

Maybe in moves to the hoop but not in looks.

I don't really want to get in the middle of a pissing contest but what difference does it make if Alberts had anything to do with it or not. For whatever reason a player or coach leaves you need to replace them with a better one. Take a step up the ladder with the replacement. Amy now has that chance. Anxious to see how it comes out.

Just remember. In January the NCAA approved hiring 2 more assistants to both MBB & WBB coaching staffs. Those positions cannot recruit. Plenty of opportunity going forward to revise your staff. I'm sure by this time Amy knows what is needed and is putting a plan together with the idea to be more competitive.

Several posters in the past have noted that we need a portal 4/5 player. I don't necessarily agree. We have six players there including Coley and the 2 freshmen. Unless one of the five after Markowski can't develop into a starting replacement for Issie we should be OK. But we could use a high caliber taller player at guard.