[81alum]

I'm really pleased to have been wrong about Sara James. Her improvement over her first two seasons was remarkable. I look forward to watching her next year.

Absolutely.  She was not even on my list of questions, she was completely off the rador.  And to wind up starting.  She basically took over the Lindy LaRoque role.  Her future may depend upon whether Toni's health improves, how Jasmine develops, and whether Karlie Samuelson, Briana Roberson, and Khaliya Thompson show any signs of being able to play their first year.  In particular, how good a defender at the college level with Karlie turn out to be?  She reputedly is a better three point shooter than her sister, so I'm sure Tara will use her if she is not a defensive liability.  Add in Alex Greene and we are going to have a whole bunch of unproven guards competing with Sara for playing time next year.

With Joslyn graduating and Ruef just constantly being bothered with foot problems, I expect that incoming frosh McCall and Johnson are going to get major opportunities their freshman year.  McCall in particular, given her extensive international experience.  McCall really could be as good as a freshman Chiney, and I think we are all hoping that she may become the next post super-star at Stanford, given that we have Chiney only for one more year.  Johnson I know less about, but I've her her described as a little more wing-like, maybe a versatile post like Kayla.  Just how much time these players get may depend on how Aly Beebe does after being injured for more than two years.  That is a long time to make up.  But she has enormous potential, too, but no one has seen her play since her junior year in high school.

In short, next year's team is going to have a lot of talent at forward and at guard that we have not seen play before.  Even our "sixpack" year doesn't rival this, given the injured players coming back.  Rotation choices look to me like this:

Chiney
Ruef/Erica McCall/Beebe/Picknell
Greenfield/Bonnie/Kailee Johnson
Kokenis/James/Karlie Samuelson/Jasmine/
Amber/Khaliya Thompson

At the beginning of the year I would expect that Taylor and Bonnie and Ruef will be Chiney's supporing cast of forwards in the out-of-conference season as we discover what Beebe and McCall and Johnson are capable of.  At the end of the season, if the frosh develop well, I think one or two of them could work their way into the starting lineup.  A lineup with Chiney/McCall/Beebe/Kokenis/Orrange with a very deep bench seems like a plausible guess, by year's end.  I guess that reflects my hunch that--as much as I like them--Ruef and Bonnie and Taylor have probably given us all they have to give, but that Beebe and McCall and Johnson have a very high upside potential that will become apparent as they start to play.

If Toni does not come back then Sara, Jasmine, Alex, and Karlie will compete to start there.  It will be especially interesting to see how Alex develops after hardly seeing her for two years.  Khaliya I imagine will become an Amber understudy and prepare to be point guard and relieve her in limited minutes.  But it is very hard to be a freshman point guard in this complex system.

Keep in mind Tara's general rule of player development--most improvement comes after the frosh year and before the sophomore year.  (Sara James, however, shows that it is possible to show that degree of improvment later in your career.)  That would mean Tess and Beebe.  Beebe may not have played this year but she has been with the team and has been learning systems, hearing scouting reports, and will be working out and getting her body into college level shape.  Tess's agility has already shown marked improvement.  How much more improvement is she capable of?

Watching the team develop is going to be fascinating--there is so much potential and so much that will be unsettled deep into the Fall.

[81alum]

I'm really pleased to have been wrong about Sara James. Her improvement over her first two seasons was remarkable. I look forward to watching her next year.

Absolutely.  She was not even on my list of questions, she was completely off the rador.  And to wind up starting.  She basically took over the Lindy LaRoque role.  Her future may depend upon whether Toni's health improves, how Jasmine develops, and whether Karlie Samuelson, Briana Roberson, and Khaliya Thompson show any signs of being able to play their first year.  In particular, how good a defender at the college level with Karlie turn out to be?  She reputedly is a better three point shooter than her sister, so I'm sure Tara will use her if she is not a defensive liability.  Add in Alex Greene and we are going to have a whole bunch of unproven guards competing with Sara for playing time next year.

With Joslyn graduating and Ruef just constantly being bothered with foot problems, I expect that incoming frosh McCall and Johnson are going to get major opportunities their freshman year.  McCall in particular, given her extensive international experience.  McCall really could be as good as a freshman Chiney, and I think we are all hoping that she may become the next post super-star at Stanford, given that we have Chiney only for one more year.  Johnson I know less about, but I've her her described as a little more wing-like, maybe a versatile post like Kayla.  Just how much time these players get may depend on how Aly Beebe does after being injured for more than two years.  That is a long time to make up.  But she has enormous potential, too, but no one has seen her play since her junior year in high school.

In short, next year's team is going to have a lot of talent at forward and at guard that we have not seen play before.  Even our "sixpack" year doesn't rival this, given the injured players coming back.  Rotation choices look to me like this:

Chiney
Ruef/Erica McCall/Beebe/Picknell
Greenfield/Bonnie/Kailee Johnson
Kokenis/James/Karlie Samuelson/Jasmine/
Amber/Khaliya Thompson

At the beginning of the year I would expect that Taylor and Bonnie and Ruef will be Chiney's supporing cast of forwards in the out-of-conference season as we discover what Beebe and McCall and Johnson are capable of.  At the end of the season, if the frosh develop well, I think one or two of them could work their way into the starting lineup.  A lineup with Chiney/McCall/Beebe/Kokenis/Orrange with a very deep bench seems like a plausible guess, by year's end.  I guess that reflects my hunch that--as much as I like them--Ruef and Bonnie and Taylor have probably given us all they have to give, but that Beebe and McCall and Johnson have a very high upside potential that will become apparent as they start to play.

If Toni does not come back then Sara, Jasmine, Alex, and Karlie will compete to start there.  It will be especially interesting to see how Alex develops after hardly seeing her for two years.  Khaliya I imagine will become an Amber understudy and prepare to be point guard and relieve her in limited minutes.  But it is very hard to be a freshman point guard in this complex system.

Keep in mind Tara's general rule of player development--most improvement comes after the frosh year and before the sophomore year.  (Sara James, however, shows that it is possible to show that degree of improvment later in your career.)  That would mean Tess and Beebe.  Beebe may not have played this year but she has been with the team and has been learning systems, hearing scouting reports, and will be working out and getting her body into college level shape.  Tess's agility has already shown marked improvement.  How much more improvement is she capable of?

Watching the team develop is going to be fascinating--there is so much potential and so much that will be unsettled deep into the Fall.