[petersalas]

Thank you for getting the conversation going. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m excited for Stanford WBB basketball!!! 

In advance of tomorrow's exhibition and with absolutely zero inside knowledge, I thought I'd throw this out to spark some discussion:

With only 5 returnees and 3 rotation players back from last year's team, taking a stab at this year's starters and rotation takes a lot more guesswork than usual. This year's roster has only 12 players, 11 of whom are (presumed to be) healthy, with frosh PG Jordyn Wheeler out for the year with an ACL injury.

You can lock down the three returning starters:
C/PF - Alexandra Eschmeyer 6-5 So (8 starts last year)
G - Hailee Swain 5-11 So (35 starts)
PG - Shay Ijiwoye 5-6 Jr (4 starts)

Realistically, that leaves two starting slots and four viable candidates. I'm guessing the starting lineup plays out as follows:
PF/SF - Ines Sotelo Miguez 6-3 Jr transfer from Michigan State and originally from Spain. Ines played top-notch Big Ten competition in her first two years in college and has a lot of international experience playing for Spanish national teams. This summer she was an All-Star Five selection at the U20 European championship, where she was Spain's leading scorer (12.4) and rebounder (6.4), with 1.4 assists per game. We are going to need both scoring and rebounding this year. While her stats from last year at MSU were modest (6.8 and 4.0), she had more assists per game (1.5) and steals per game (1.2) last year than anyone on Stanford's roster. So, I expect a solid, versatile contributor who can fill up the stat sheet and be a productive inside-first player.
SF/PF - Ilse de Vries 6-3 Jr transfer from Miami of Ohio and originally from the Netherlands. Ilse put up some excellent numbers last year at Miami (OH) in the Mid-American Conference, aka the MAC. Her 59 three pointers were 3x what Hailee contributed last year and her .386 shooting percentage from deep makes her a reliable outside threat and 6% better than anyone else on our roster. Ilse was the #3 scorer at Miami last year with 12.7 PPG and also added 4.9 RPG and 1.9 BPG. Her blocks are noteworthy and only a touch lower than Eschmeyer on a per-minute basis. I saw a little of her film and it looks like he offensive sweet spot is a pick and pop.

I considered two other players as potential starters, but you might be able to make a case for three:
F - Charlotte Tuhy 6-1 transfer from American Univ. Tuhy was the leading scorer (12.0) and rebounder (11.3!) on a bad American team in the Patriot league last year. She did everything, inside and outside (36 threes, almost twice what Hailee contributed last year) for American, leading the team in shot blocking too. Her top skill appears to be defensive rebounding. She also consistently guarded larger opposing post players. It's a brobdingnagian jump from the Patriot League to the ACC, but Tuhy has a diverse set of skills and will likely be a solid contributor off the bench, but she is hard to project and a brobdingnagian wild card. If she can improve upon last year's .327 three-point percentage (already higher than anyone else but de Vries), she could become indispensable.
C - Kennedy Umeh 6-5. Kennedy missed all of last year with a shoulder injury that required surgery. She showed flashes of brilliance as a frosh with strong play underneath, though she was not able to go all out for extended periods, which is common for frosh post players. Assuming she is fully healthy, she is capable of being a big and strong inside presence with defense and rebounding skills that perhaps only Eschmeyer might be able to match. Umeh showed some offensive ability around the basket and I vividly remember her flashing an impressive spin move in a pre-season video clip from last year.

Next most likely to break into a starting role would probably be...
F - Nora Ezike, the 6-2 Soph who had limited playing time last year, but showed off strong defense and athleticism. She distinguished herself in the 2025 U19 World Cup where she led Nigeria in scoring (12.1) and rebounding (7.0), including a stellar 25 points in 21 minutes against China. Her keys to playing time this year are rebounding and defense and if she can do that better than our other frontcourt options (not out of the question), she could earn a good deal of PT. I'm assuming that her offense is still a work in progress, but that frosh to soph jump can always yield surprises.

Two frosh guards will vie for guard minutes when Swain and Ijiwoye need a break. If we have foul trouble or injuries, out backcourt depth could immediately be a brobdingnagian liability. That said, the contenders are:
SG - Gracyn Gilliard 5-11. Gilliard was Indiana Miss Basketball last year. Because both Shae and Hailee can play point guard, Gilliard will likely be called upon for outside shooting depth and defense, though what little film I was able to locate showed her as more of a driver than a shooter.
PG - Elyse Ngenda 5-9. Ngenda can distribute, drive and has a soft touch from the outside. I normally would qualify her experience with some sort of snide comment about the level of competition in New Hampshire, but after seeing Okorie, I'm hoping lightning can strike twice.

Also:
C - Kiara Green 6-5. Green will have a tough time breaking into the front court rotation as a frosh, but sharpening her inside game against Umeh and Eschmeyer should help. Based on the film I saw, she needs more experience in the low post, better competition and more aggressiveness.

[petersalas]

Thank you for getting the conversation going. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m excited for Stanford WBB basketball!!! 

In advance of tomorrow's exhibition and with absolutely zero inside knowledge, I thought I'd throw this out to spark some discussion:

With only 5 returnees and 3 rotation players back from last year's team, taking a stab at this year's starters and rotation takes a lot more guesswork than usual. This year's roster has only 12 players, 11 of whom are (presumed to be) healthy, with frosh PG Jordyn Wheeler out for the year with an ACL injury.

You can lock down the three returning starters:
C/PF - Alexandra Eschmeyer 6-5 So (8 starts last year)
G - Hailee Swain 5-11 So (35 starts)
PG - Shay Ijiwoye 5-6 Jr (4 starts)

Realistically, that leaves two starting slots and four viable candidates. I'm guessing the starting lineup plays out as follows:
PF/SF - Ines Sotelo Miguez 6-3 Jr transfer from Michigan State and originally from Spain. Ines played top-notch Big Ten competition in her first two years in college and has a lot of international experience playing for Spanish national teams. This summer she was an All-Star Five selection at the U20 European championship, where she was Spain's leading scorer (12.4) and rebounder (6.4), with 1.4 assists per game. We are going to need both scoring and rebounding this year. While her stats from last year at MSU were modest (6.8 and 4.0), she had more assists per game (1.5) and steals per game (1.2) last year than anyone on Stanford's roster. So, I expect a solid, versatile contributor who can fill up the stat sheet and be a productive inside-first player.
SF/PF - Ilse de Vries 6-3 Jr transfer from Miami of Ohio and originally from the Netherlands. Ilse put up some excellent numbers last year at Miami (OH) in the Mid-American Conference, aka the MAC. Her 59 three pointers were 3x what Hailee contributed last year and her .386 shooting percentage from deep makes her a reliable outside threat and 6% better than anyone else on our roster. Ilse was the #3 scorer at Miami last year with 12.7 PPG and also added 4.9 RPG and 1.9 BPG. Her blocks are noteworthy and only a touch lower than Eschmeyer on a per-minute basis. I saw a little of her film and it looks like he offensive sweet spot is a pick and pop.

I considered two other players as potential starters, but you might be able to make a case for three:
F - Charlotte Tuhy 6-1 transfer from American Univ. Tuhy was the leading scorer (12.0) and rebounder (11.3!) on a bad American team in the Patriot league last year. She did everything, inside and outside (36 threes, almost twice what Hailee contributed last year) for American, leading the team in shot blocking too. Her top skill appears to be defensive rebounding. She also consistently guarded larger opposing post players. It's a brobdingnagian jump from the Patriot League to the ACC, but Tuhy has a diverse set of skills and will likely be a solid contributor off the bench, but she is hard to project and a brobdingnagian wild card. If she can improve upon last year's .327 three-point percentage (already higher than anyone else but de Vries), she could become indispensable.
C - Kennedy Umeh 6-5. Kennedy missed all of last year with a shoulder injury that required surgery. She showed flashes of brilliance as a frosh with strong play underneath, though she was not able to go all out for extended periods, which is common for frosh post players. Assuming she is fully healthy, she is capable of being a big and strong inside presence with defense and rebounding skills that perhaps only Eschmeyer might be able to match. Umeh showed some offensive ability around the basket and I vividly remember her flashing an impressive spin move in a pre-season video clip from last year.

Next most likely to break into a starting role would probably be...
F - Nora Ezike, the 6-2 Soph who had limited playing time last year, but showed off strong defense and athleticism. She distinguished herself in the 2025 U19 World Cup where she led Nigeria in scoring (12.1) and rebounding (7.0), including a stellar 25 points in 21 minutes against China. Her keys to playing time this year are rebounding and defense and if she can do that better than our other frontcourt options (not out of the question), she could earn a good deal of PT. I'm assuming that her offense is still a work in progress, but that frosh to soph jump can always yield surprises.

Two frosh guards will vie for guard minutes when Swain and Ijiwoye need a break. If we have foul trouble or injuries, out backcourt depth could immediately be a brobdingnagian liability. That said, the contenders are:
SG - Gracyn Gilliard 5-11. Gilliard was Indiana Miss Basketball last year. Because both Shae and Hailee can play point guard, Gilliard will likely be called upon for outside shooting depth and defense, though what little film I was able to locate showed her as more of a driver than a shooter.
PG - Elyse Ngenda 5-9. Ngenda can distribute, drive and has a soft touch from the outside. I normally would qualify her experience with some sort of snide comment about the level of competition in New Hampshire, but after seeing Okorie, I'm hoping lightning can strike twice.

Also:
C - Kiara Green 6-5. Green will have a tough time breaking into the front court rotation as a frosh, but sharpening her inside game against Umeh and Eschmeyer should help. Based on the film I saw, she needs more experience in the low post, better competition and more aggressiveness.