WBB News. Good and Bad -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

First...the Good

SHAWNTA' DYER INVITED TO NCAA CAREER IN SPORTS FORUM

Cards power forward Shawnta' Dyer has been invited to the NCAA Career in Sports Forum in Indianapolis from June 4-7.

The event is designed for student-athletes and post-graduate students who have an interest in working in sports. The participants are selected from the leaders on a particular campus and have received nominations by athletic administrators at their individual schools. 

Dyer, who has already received her bachelor's degree back in June 2014 in physical education, is now going for a master's degree in elementary education. She has a 3.8 GPA

Shawnta' played in 93 games during her career at Louisville...including all 34 in the 2014-15 season.

The forum is one of more than 20 annual programs and resources that are organized and directed by the NCAA leadership development department. The Career In Sports Forum is specifically designed to give a broader scope of the career tracks and choices available within the sports business. The primary focus is on the college athlete. 

Participants get interactive experiences with successful individuals in the sports business and a glimpse into their daay-to-day duties and responsibilities. 

Congratulations to Shawnta' on this outstanding opportunity and we're sure she'll be a success in sports business, teaching or whatever the Marion, OH native charts her course toward. 

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Now...the bad news.

MINNESOTA LYNX WAIVE ASIA TAYLOR

With the deadline looming to reduce their roster to 12 players, the Minnesota Lynx released a couple of young forwards on Tuesday.

The team announced it had waived Shae Kelley and Asia Taylor in advance of Thursday's official league cut-down date.

Taylor, drafted at No. 36 by Minnesota in 2014, appeared in 22 games for the Lynx last year as a rookie. The 6-1 Louisville product averaged 2.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 7.9 minutes per game, shooting 52.5 percent from the field.

This is distressing news. Asia is one of the most popular and loved players to ever wear the red and black at Louisville, She was coming off a great Euro-basketball season in Italy and Israel and was looking forward to rejoining her Lynx teammates as they tried to capture the WNBA title this season.

The Lynx were heavy on forwards. Nine of them listed on the roster before A-Tayy and Kelley were waived. 


No....Taylor didn't play much as a rookie. But, players usually improve dramatically between their rookie and second seasons in the league and Taylor is a strong rebounder and scorer underneath the basket. 

We know she'll continue to impress in Europe. Who knows? Maybe another WNBA franchise might give her a look.

It's always hard to see one of the ones you really like get the release. Two things will come out of this, though:

1) A-Tayy will bounce back and go on to better things. she a fighter, she's a successful, confident person and is no stranger to adversity. 

2) I've eliminated one of the two teams I planned on following this year in the WNBA. Dream on, Atlanta.

The Lynx stinks. 

paulie
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