Tom Jones

Now I am NOT being critical of BP taking her time to decide what is best for her future. But at the same time, there is another dimension to this long delayed decision that is easily overlooked. Most of the schools who have offered her are saving a scholarship just in case she chooses them and probably most have her penciled in as their # 1 choice for PG. And each of those schools has a second most desired prospect whom they would move up to #1 if BP doesn't choose them. And all of those #2 back up choices have offers from several schools and probably a favorite school. So if, for example, Iowa really really wants BP but if they can't get her, they want Suzy Second Choice and Suzy really wants Iowa but Iowa hasn't offered yet, but her second choice, Iowa State, has offered but they also have their eye on Trudy Third Choice and if Trudy accepts at ISU and BP chooses Iowa, then Suzy has missed out on her top two choices .... and on and on. ... Point is that the plans of a lot of schools and a lot of players are on hold and a lot opportunities will go poof if this decision isn't made soon.

I thought that last year was her Covid year. She will be competing against opponents as young as 18 .... maybe even 17. Four prior years of competition already, a red shirt year, must be two waiver on injury years - these would add up to the seven years behind her. She received her graduate degree from UNL in May of '22 so will be two years into her PhD studies when next season is over.

four of the 13 leaving after next year pretty much guarantees continuing under usage of the 15 scholarship limit. I mean I can't imagine a recruiting class of six. Unless there is greater use of future portals, NU will be short staffed for a long time.

Two transfers? TWO? I have been out of the country for the past two weeks. I tried to keep up remotely, but I guess I missed something. White I know about but who is the second transfer?

I get conflicting info from two wed sources. The first says: Showing results for when does the women's basketball portal close Search instead for when does the womens basketball portal close Search Results Featured snippet from the web Under new NCAA rules instituted last summer, the spring transfer portalwindow for college women's basketball opened Monday, March 13, the day after Selection Sunday. The window runs for 45 days through April 26. Another says: There’s a “window” for the time for players to officially enter the NCAA Basketball transfer portal for the different sports seasons, with winter athletes (basketball), having 60 days to enter after the conclusion of the regular-season/conference tournaments. So for the men and women, the deadline would be May 11th. So which to believe?

I believe that today is the last day that a NCAA women's basketball athlete can enter the portal. If we haven't heard anything by midnight, then the entire last year team (Brady & Dillard ???) has decided to stay put. As Neb Nets points out, that is quite a tribute to the culture and morale within the program.

I understand underwhelming. Hard to see her as the propulsion that will rocket us to the top. But look at it this way .... last season the Huskers began with three ball handlers - Haiby, Shelley, and Wiedner. it was going well, but hit a bump when Widener was lost and then another when Haiby went down. Against Kansas it was a weakness exposed. For next season we start with Shelley and a somewhat uncertain Wiedner. Could Hake for Haiby be an even or better than even trade? Probably not, at least not in 23-24. And, as the season goes on, if we lose any guards, the addition of White is going to look really good. And what is the down side? So far as I can see, absolutely none. She fills an otherwise empty chair and, having only one year to play, does not limit the ability to add recruits next year. Overall, I give this transfer two thumbs up.

in a win against South Dakota State (who beat #8 USC in NCAA first round), White scored 16 pts with 7 assists and 8 rebounds.

https://fremonttribune.com/sports/college/nebraska-women-add-montana-state-transfer-darian-white/article_fa3bb6c8-83b0-53d5-bc2d-e3fd2295c58f.html in a win against South Dakota State (who beat #8 USC in NCAA first round), White scored 16 pts with 7 assists and 8 rebounds.

Is it reasonable to infer that this is a definitive indication that Dillard and Brady have no continued presence on this team?

ummm, Griffin couldn't be turned into Hooper because Griffin came BEFORE Hooper.

Hopes were answered with Shelley staying. Now we would need 3 to get to 15. But getting to 15 might involve a serious problem down the road. If everyone eligible to stay after next year actually stays, and if our imports have more than one year of eligibility left, then Shelley would be the only loss next year. And that would leave only one scholarship available for an incoming freshman in 24-25 and set us up for a massive exodus of this past season's sophomore class. Oh the complications of roster management in the portal era! With Shelley staying, perhaps the best portal option would a be a rebounder and the best player at any position we can find and leave another scholarship available for next years recruiting class.

Here is an AMAZING statistic from the Iowa victory over SoCar. Total rebounds: Iowa - 25 and SoCar 49. Offensive rebounds: Iowa - 5 and SoCar 26! TWENTY SIX offensive rebounds! I doubt i have ever seen a team get out rebounded two to one and still win.

Three guard system of Jaz, Weidner, and Moriarity? What about Krull?

Wonderful Twitter post by Jazz. Shows that she is as fine a person as she is an athlete.

I think the portal window closes on May 11 so there is plenty of time for players to continue to mull their options. There are lots of factors for any player to consider - especially needs that are created at other schools when their players transfer out. For example, a budding point guard might think, for myriad reasons, that the U of ArkanSota would be a great place for her, but notices that there are two experienced PGs already there so is discouraged. Then one of those transfers out thereby rekindling her interest. I don't think we are "safe" until May 12. This is a crazy player recruitment and retention world.

dang! I take back much of what i said about her having been better behaved in that game

Sorry, Neb Nets, but it's even worse than that. Clark has a Covid year in her gym bag. Should she choose to use it, TWO more years of torment lie in our path forward. She has a solid shot at outlasting Grassley and then asking Iowa to appoint her to his seat in the senate.

Yeah, we consistently beat the snot of them in VB! And there is another dimension of that sort of beating them. While IA did get the last year's NE girls bb player of the year (McCabe), that comes nowhere near the quality and number of IA HS VB players that have come Husker way! Gonna hurt a little bit to get this next comment out, but it's from the "give credit where it's due" department. I have watched Clark for the better part of three years. In her last several games, there has been a noticeable change (for the better!) in her on court behavior. Taunting the opposition ( players on the court, players on the bench, and even fans in their seats), repeatedly harping on the refs (reduced but not totally gone), and flopping upon being touched - I didn't notice much of that last night. I don't even recall seeing much of the left arm bar - as tho she has been told that that will be called. Makes it easier to admire her skills.

Dear Neb Nets: I went to bed last night thinking the same thing. But somehow this morning allegiance to the conference has overtaken my distaste for Iowa. I once saw a campaign poster for a political candidate who, admitting his own flaws but saying they were less than those of his opponent, said "hold your nose and vote for me". That's what I will be doing. I kinda hate myself.

I am a bit confused by Redhac's table because although Brady and Dillard are in the same "status unknown" category, there is a "1" preceding Brady's name but not a "1" for Dillard. If we treat them both as "players back", that makes 10 and if we treat them both as probably gone, that makes 8. Brady was not on the bench for at least the last half of the season and Dillard was absent for even longer than that. Both have chronic injuries. Unless they were in the crowd somewhere, it seems as tho they weren't sufficiently interested to even attend the games. Both were freshmen in 2019. Assuming that they were 18 years old when they began college in 2019, they will be 23 when next season begins. Additionally, Dillard was listed as a graduate student in this year's pre-season pub. Perhaps they think it is time to get on to their after college life. I have to believe that they are gone. I am not a Twitter user so I don't know if they have accounts there that contain mention to their status. Perhaps other members here could "go detective" and check out Twitter. I count eight players back who have not used a covid year and two might do so. Add in three recruits, and I get 13 thus leaving two vacant scholarships. If the Aussies break our hearts and leave, there would be four. But even more uncertainty looms because, though unlikely, some of the eight players with remaining eligibility might transfer out (shudder and perish the thought !). Bottom line: we have two for sure, two maybes depending on Bourne and Shelley, and one more for any existing player who leaves. One more thought: Sorry that i don't remember the teams but i distinctly recall watching NCAA early round games in which the commentators said that one team was playing with six transfers and another with an astonishing NINE!

Changes in coaching style, O/D philosophy, recruiting approach, assisting coaching staff ..... IMO, not gonna happen. Tweaking at the edges perhaps, but far short of anything major. AW is too far into her coaching career for that, and it's "on she goes with what she knows". Which isn't all that bad. And departing into styles with which she isn't experienced or comfortable might come to more grief than satisfaction. So let's look elsewhere for optimism. Underlying the factors that aren't going to change is the most basic factor of all .... personnel ... and the quality and quantity of which. While quality of skill is important, quantity is important too. Looking at comparability of personnel between past, present, and future: From the past to the present: Disregarding Brady and Dillard, from last year to this we lost Cayton, Porter, Brown, Scoggin, Cravens, and (let's say one half of) Weidner. We gained Hake, Krull, and Mendelson. Of the old, Scoggin was a constant three point threat, Craven was a rebounder and energizer, Cayton provided an offensive threat late in the season, and Weidner, well a whole lot positives disappeared. Of the new, Krull was a key contributor, Hake showed a lot of promise, Mendelson had very little impact. Not in the extreme, but on balance, this was a bad trade having lost more than we gained in both quality and quantity. From the present to the future: Shelley and Bourne are the wild cards in this comparison. How much we lose cannot be measured until their future becomes known. Portal changes is another huge unknown. So of the others ... we lose only Haiby - a lot of quality packed into one player. BUT ... and here comes the optimism ... the three recruits appear to be high quality players who will fit well into the AW style of play. If we can retain either Bourne or Shelley, and if Weidner is as effective post injury as she has been, and if we can get more out of the portal than we lose, and if the three recruits come in healthy .... if all this comes true, IMO personnel next year can be substantially better both in quality and quantity. I am hopeful.

NebNets, after the Kansas game, wrote as follows. "Final record: 18-15 So why does it feel so much like a losing season to me? Back in November, if you had told me this season would end with NU getting beaten in the 3rd round of the WNIT, I would not have considered that to be a successful season worth celebrating. Yes, Allison’s injury was a gut punch and it affected the team’s play the rest of the year. But still… If Coach Amy makes absolutely no changes in this offseason, no changes in her coaching style, her offensive/defensive philosophy, her recruiting approach or changes to her assistant coaching staff, then we can expect next year to go no better than .500 — .600 winning percentage. (And perhaps a sub .500 conference record again) After 7 seasons, what reason do we have to believe that Amy will deliver anything different next year if she makes zero changes or adjustments this offseason? " His thoughts seem like a logical place to pull the curtain down on 22-23 and shift focus to next year.

Markowski scored 2 points on 1 for 10 shooting (0 for 4 on 3's); Shelly was 5 for 15 from the field, 1 for 7 on 3s, and 1 for 5 on FTs. All that along with 6 for 26 3 pt shooting tells the story.

From today's LJS: : "Nebraska will probably have to take on the challenge without senior guard Sam Haiby. ..... Willams would not answer when asked if she received the good news she was hoping for regarding Haiby. .... "We're just kind of keeping it to be determined" Williams said". Hmmmm.