SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR FOR 'NITE-NITE' ON AP SQUAD
She's the first player in the Cards program history to get the back-to-n=back accolades.
The other First Team selections:
-- Napheesa Collier (UConn) 6'1 senior . 27/28 first team votes, 138 points. --
-- Megan Gustafson (Iowa) 6'3" senior. 26/28 first team votes, 136 points. --
-- Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon) 5'11" junior 26/28 first team votes, 136 points --
-- Teaira McCowan, (Mississippi St.) 6'7" senior 20/28 first team votes, 124 points --
The sportswriters who get these votes (and I ain't one of them, sadly) name second and third teams, as well, and an honorable mention list.One has to wonder why Sam Fuehring didn't make any of these teams or even the honorable mention list. One has to wonder who (if anyone) from our fair city gets the ballot(s) and if they know much about WBB? You can't convince me that Sam Fuehring is not one of the best 33 players in DI WBB this year. Three Mississippi State players were selected in the top 33. How's your season going, Vic Schaefer?
Give me a break.
The other two teams are:
2nd team: Ogunbowale (ND), Brown (Baylor), Anigwe (Cal), Smith (Stanford), Carleton (Iowa State).
3rd team: Samuelson (UConn), Shepard (ND), Cox (Baylor), Cunningham (Missouri), Young (Notre Dame).
In case you stopped following the NCAA WBB tournament after the Cards got knocked out...the Final Four consists of Baylor vs. Oregon and Notre Dame vs. UConn. The semifinals are Friday night with the Championship game on Sunday, April 7th.
Miami was my worst selection, along with NC State. Sonya had the Cards facing Mississippi State in the final game.
(I've already had an individual e-mail me their starting lineup for the Cards in the 2019-2020 season. No, it wasn't Coach Walz. I think this person must be related to Nostradamus or Charlie Creme).
SOFTBALL FACES LIPSCOMB TODAY
Louisville Softball (22-12) is having a pretty good season and you get the chance to see the "Funky" Cards in action today if you head down to Ulmer Stadium for the 5 p.m. first pitch against Lipscomb.The Lady Bisons are 23-12-1 on the season and participate in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They took two out of three over the weekend against visiting North Florida. At the plate, Cardinal pitchers will need to be wary of Jordan Fortel, who is batting .411 and has five fence-clearers and Hannah Devault, who has sent six softballs out of the ballpark.
 |
| Terrific Taylor |
Surprisingly, Lipscomb leads the overall series with the Cards 3-1 and downed Louisville 3-1 last year at Draper Diamond in Nashville.
I was having a bit of fun formulating my "all-Taylor" team for UofL women's athletics last night. My top five are:
Taylor Bucklin (soccer), Taylor Stone (Field Hockey), Taylor Johnson (WBB), Missy Taylor (WBB) and Taylor Roby.
Got one or two to challenge these? Add 'em in the comments section.
TARHEEL TROUBLE?
Interesting news out of Chapel Hill, NC yesterday. It seems the entire coaching staff of the University of North Carolina women's basketball program, including Hall-of-Fame head coach Sylvia Hatchell, have been placed on paid administrative leave by the University while a review of the program's culture takes place.
Unspecified issues (for now) from student-athletes and others are the reason for the review. The law firm of
Surprise and shock seem to be the most common reaction to this self-mandated review. Several players currently on the squad say they have no idea why this is being done and who is prompting it.
But, this is not about Janelle directly. It is about the coaches of the program. This could turn out to be pretty interesting, we'll keep an eye on it and report further on it as it progresses. As for culture? That's a slippery slope to ever try and define and assess. This might take awhile. Things always seem to, when it comes to UNC athletics.
UNC has had their share of controversies in women's basketball over the years. The highly recruited 2013 UNC class, led by Diamond DeShields and featuring Stephanie Mavunga, Allisha Gray and Jessica Washington was gone by 2015. DeShields ended up at Rocky Top, with Mercedes Russell...another one that was highly linked with that class but waved off the invite to join them.
So....what say you, Sylvia?
“I’ve had the privilege of coaching more than 200 young women during my 44 years in basketball,” her statement read. “My goal has always been to help them become the very best people they can be, on the basketball court and in life.
“I love each and every one of the players I’ve coached and would do anything to encourage and support them. They are like family to me. I love them all.
“Of course, I will cooperate fully in this review. I look forward to a prompt conclusion of this matter and the continuation of our very successful women’s basketball program.”
Whoever prepared the statement for her (and she has lawyered up) is/are the master(s) of non-sequiturs. Remember the Sylvia comment from back in 2015?“There has been a lot of speculation surrounding our program in recent weeks and that’s all that it is – speculation,” coach Sylvia Hatchell said in a statement. “Our players are working every day to get better and I appreciate their efforts. A number of former players have reached out to me with their support. We have a strong and loyal Tar Heel family.”
Have a tremendous Tuesday!
paulie
xxxxx
Wow...first Georgia Tech and then UNC, plus the allegations about the coach at NKU.
ReplyDeletePaulie, how can I root for both Notre Dame and UConn to lose on Friday night?
Go Ducks!
ya know...I will be happy if it's anyone but Notre Dame.
DeleteMaybe, UNC will not escape with a slap on the wrist this time. The Cards had a UNC transfer player for a couple of years. Cierra Warren played here 2011-12. She sat out a year then lasted a year at Louisville before ending up at San Diego St. to finish her collegiate career.
I remember asking her...Why did you leave? I figured it was because of the abundance of height on the Carolina squads back then. Her answer was something to the effect of..."you don't ever want to know."
Interesting.
Paulie
A-Tay!
ReplyDeleteUNC, a big WOW! Culture??? Certainly gonna keep up with that story. They do have some 4 year players, so there's that.
Rooting for Oregon, but think this will be Baylor's year. Dislike Mulkey just as much as stuffy Muffy, but those two bigs are too much for everybody else. Of course, what do I know, lol, and that's why they play the games.
Sam is sooooo underrated, deserved at the very least honorable mention, but congrats to Asia, be seeing her jersey in the rafters for sure.
Last, next year's starting five - Kylee, Bionca, Jaz, Dana, Mykasa. Who else could it be?
Congrats to Asia! She will probably go down as my favorite Cardinal WBBer of all time. In my way-too-early look at uofL WBB for 19-20, I think you pull a starting crew out of the likes of Jaz, B, Kylee, Dana, Diop, Kasa, Nyah, Seygan and Lindsey. That's a pretty solid nine right there and we know very little yet about Molly, Konno or Parker. Walz just might bring in a talented grad transfer as well, you just never know. Who will transfer OUT of the program. Seems there are always one or two that leave. I repeat, way too early for this speculation.
ReplyDeleteUNC? Get punished? Don't make me laugh. they have the Monopoly get out of jail card. Never happen.
Curtis "Hates the Irish Green" Franklin