Who's That Knocking At The Door? -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JUNE BRINGS VISITORS

The month of June always seems to bring visitors to the UofL women's basketball program. We covered Shalia Beeler coming into town a couple of days ago in an article. We also hear that Dominique McBryde has left Purdue and spent some time on the UofL campus as well. 2018 guard prospect Morgan Jones was also in town checking out the situation. That's a lot of action for the new offices on Floyd. St. I wonder if they've put up a turnstile yet to count traffic flow. 

McBryde was the leading rebounder last year on a Boilermaker team that also has 6'6" Nora Kiesler. Believe it or not, I still get e-mails and comments from fans and such that Walz should have offered Nora a scholarship. (Maybe he should have offered to Kevin Durant and LeBron James as well...just so he had all his bases covered). I like McBryde's work ethic on the defensive side of things and on the boards but she's never really turned into the scorer many saw in her future. She'd have to sit a year, of course, and then would have two years to be a Cardinal if she chose to. 

McBryde can glide

Morgan Jones...(maybe one of the Jonesians...along with Briana and Jazmine)? has considerable game. She's a 6'2" guard that'll be a senior in the fall at Our Lady of Mercy High School in Jonesboro, GA. She's pretty good at dominating smaller guards, loves the transition game and is currently ranked 27th. in the 2018 class and #7 at her position...according to ESPNW. Her shot has gotten a lot better than it was in her sophomore season and she's a hot commodity these days...with a ton of D1 schools on her list....including the Cards, UCLA, NC State, Ohio St., Florida State and Auburn...just to name a few. 

Lots of things happening down there on Floyd Street. Yes, indeed. We expect there's much more to come.


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TRANSFERS...ARE WE TALKING ABOUT TRANSFERS? 

I happened to be talking with a women's basketball fan the other day and transfers came up. Weird, right? She mentioned that she'd like to see some kind of rule in place for head coaches transferring. Maybe make them sit a year before taking over the program. It is an interesting idea...to an extent...but a lot of coaches bring in new assistants and would they have to sit as well? In short, who runs the program if Bob...currently at City U. decides to accept the job at State U. after Kelly decides to retire. Or gets forced out? 

After all, players put a lot of investment time in a coach. You go through the recruiting dance and finally pick a partner. You learn the coaching style as a freshmen, continue to grow in the system as a sophomore, start seeing some more results as a junior and then...BOOM!...your coach leaves as you're becoming a senior and it's back to square one. Of course, that's not always the way it goes. Some players can barely suppress their glee when the skipper takes the job three states over. Sometimes, coaches and players both leave around the same time. 

For some players, I suppose it's the issue of "buying in". Accountability. You give your 'all' to this head coach for 2-3 (or less) years and then suddenly...they're a time zone away at another school. The old "believe in what I tell you if you want to be successful and ...by the way...I'm leaving and it's been nice to know you" scenario. Of course, if all cars and programs were the same...it'd be a very boring driving and athletic world.

Yes, players leaving programs create gaps and holes in line-ups and rotations. (Read what Sheri Coale thinks about that here). And fans get upset about transfers out...yet they get it excited about transfers in. Cards fans loved getting Briahanna Jackson but couldn't understand why Taja Cole left. 

It's all a circle. And I've probably spent way too much time on transfers over the last couple of days. I think fans do too...and also on following recruiting. Where did all the hub-hub that surrounded a 6'5" girl from Texas coming to Louisville go when she turned around and went back to the Lone Star State? Was it wasted chatter? A wasted recruiting effort? Lesson learned or mistake that could have been avoided by one of the two parties? Few remember that Elena Della Donne was actually very briefly at UConn before going home to Delaware. How would those Geno teams looked with her in the Huskies lineup? 

Maybe most importantly...let's not forget coaches are in a profession and student-athletes are just that. Students participating in athletics. Not raising a family, paying a mortgage or financing a car yet. Capitalism isn't dead in the coaching profession yet. Enough money can get anyone to change shirts and school colors...A few thousand more a week or month can make a difference in how the books balance. 

In the kaleidoscope of players, coaches, scenarios and stability...one thing remains constant:  

Be careful for what you wish for...you just might get it. 




paulie
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Baseball strikes early, holds on late for 5-3 win vs UK...What is happening at Maryland? -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

CARDS CORRAL CATS 5-3

Our custom here, as the regular reader knows, is to cover the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports. There were plenty of UofL women's athletes on hand at Jim Patterson Stadium last night, watching and celebrating Louisville baseball's 5-3 win over UK. A crowd of 6210 in attendance to see the annual battle of the Bluegrass on a beautiful Tuesday evening.

Louisville wasted no time in getting the party started.  Five runs in the first three innings gave the Cards a comfortable margin over the visitors and a revolving door at pitcher getting the work done...Louisville used seven hurlers in the nine innings. 

UK made it interesting in the end. Scoring three runs in the ninth and loading the bases before catcher Colby Finch threw out Zack Reks on a steal attempt for the final out.  

A top ten battle between #2 Louisville and #8 Kentucky that set an attendance record at Patterson. Plenty of blue sprinkled in with the red on the berm and in the stands. 

Cardinal head coach Dan McDonnell breaks it down:

"Our bullpen has been good all year. Fortunately, we got the lead early in that three-inning start. You gotta tip your hat to them. Hopefully, we learned a valuable lesson...that good teams don't quit. They [UK] showed they're a top ten team because they didn't quit..." 

The Cards (25-3) bring in Wake Forest for a three-game weekend set next. 


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THREE TRANSFER FROM MARYLAND

Even though the NCAA WBB season has drawn to a close, there is still news out there in the world of women's college basketball. Three players from the University of Maryland have announced they are leaving the program. Destiny Slocum, Kiah Gillespie and Jenna Stalti have been granted permission to transfer. 

Slocum is big news. The freshman was second-team Big 10 and Freshman of the Year in the in the WBCA Coaches poll and in the Big 10. Cardinal fans might remember that she scored the Terps final seven points in Maryland's win over Louisville back on Dec. 7th...and hit six of nine from the free throw line.  

Gillespie is a 6'2" sophomore forward who displayed a nice touch from outside in addition to her inside scoring skills. Stalti, 6'6" freshman center that saw limited time in the post. 

The Terps also graduate their top two scorers in Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones. 

So, why the mass departure from a squad that went 32-3 and reached the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Oregon in the Bridgeport regional? 

Let's speculate...Slocum was from Idaho and a long way from an ailing mother with breast cancer. A chance to play closer to home might have been the reasoning there. With Gillespie and Stalti, it's probably a question of playing time. Gillespie had a great start in her freshman year but just never seemed to develop after that and didn't figure into the rotation that much as a sophomore. Stalti never really made much of an impact on the roster...a deep backup to Jones. Players want to play on occasion and other opportunities can come to be more desirable after the realization sets in that your expectations aren't matching your court time. 

Let's not forget that Lexie Brown also left the Turtles a couple of seasons ago...her stated reason was to play against the ACC. 

Transferred in, did well. 

Transfers. Yes. we get questions about them. Do we think this girl might end up here or that girl could leave and go over there? We have readers who monitor Twitter accounts looking for clues on who might leave. And, there's always the "I have a friend who knows someone that talked with someone who overhead that (so and so) might be looking around." 

We have no crystal ball nor direct pipeline to the future. Who goes, who stays? We wait and see, like you do. Do I think anyone will transfer out of or into the Louisville WBB program? I try not to think about it, honestly. We'll cover it if it happens. 

Players come. Players go. It's inevitable. As a coach, you deal with a lot of pressure. From the parents, from the players and from the fan base. The bottom line is this. You play those who give you the best chance of winning. Winning is job stability. Coaches like to be employed. Players have the opportunity to earn their playing time. If it doesn't work out, you decide to work that much harder, accept the situation or move on. 

Let's put it in horse racing terms...since we're drawing close to the Kentucky Derby. A trainer gets a promising two-year old to the race track. The horse runs poorly the first time on the track. You give the horse another chance. Another poor effort. You drop the horse down to a level you think it may compete well in. Nothing. So, you decide that maybe the horse might be better off in another barn and you run it in a claimer-type race. The horse isn't to blame. The horse simply isn't good enough to compete at a certain level. Maybe the horse does better at a lower level or for another trainer at another track. Maybe it doesn't. Or maybe the trainer decides to keep working with the horse. The difference is...the horse can't express their contentment, disagreement or sit down for a long talk with the trainer. 

Transferred out...hopes to do well. 

Players can. They sometimes do. The key is this...what is best for the player? Most coaches want what is best for the player. If it means playing for" fake directional state" instead of "Prime Time U"...then that's how it is. 

Fans speculate. Why did this girl want to go to that school when she could have done "this or that" if she had stayed. What's going on at "this school" to make players want to leave? 

Transfers happen. Get used to them. One man gathers what another man spills.



paulie
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The Fallout continues in Chapel Hill -- Monday Cardinal Couple

MAVUNGA LATEST TO SEEK AND RECEIVE RELEASE FROM UNC

The latest joke going around about the UNC women's basketball program is an oldie but goodie. 

Will the last transfer from the program please turn out the lights in Carmichael Arena? 

Sylvia Hatchell...how life has changed in your locker room since 2013. It began with Diamond DeShields deciding to defect to Volunteerland last year. In May of 2015, Jessica Washington asked for her tab. A few days ago, Allishia Gray informed the desk clerk not to hold her room. Now it's Stephanie Mavunga's turn to apply for an address change. 

The heralded UNC Class of 2013? Vanished like Tommy Tutone after their 1981 pop/rock classic "Jenny, Jenny".

Mavunga is an interesting development in the continued fallout over UNC questionable academics. The returning starting center and first team All-ACC selection. 14.4 ppg and 9.8 grabs. 

The wording is interesting:

"It's with a heavy heart that I have asked for and been granted permission to talk to other teams and explore transfer opportunities...I have decided to look at transfer opportunities for personal reasons. As we all know, once a Tar Heel, always a Tar Heel."

She's got a future in politics with concession statements like that. 

The question arises if Louisville will be in the mad-scramble melee to have the Brownsburg, IN. native tour the campus?

After all, she was on Walz's list in the recruiting wars of 2012. 

She's played in and seemed to be impressed with the KFC YUM! Center. It's less than a 90 minute drive from her hometown. She would still be in the ACC and -- after sitting a year -- would have two years of playing time at a school that could be looking for a strong paint player to compliment the wealth of guards, wings and forwards that Jeff Walz is adding to his arsenal. 

The Louisville roster currently stands at 11 if you add in the five freshmen. 

After hearing Stephanie speak to the media after a tough UNC loss to Louisville in the KFC YUM! Center last season, I was impressed with her dedication towards the game, her intelligent, matter-of-fact straight forward approach in answering questions and how happy she was to have "around 40 or so" friends and family getting a chance to see her play in Louisville.

Hey, Steph...how about 35-40 more chances for them to do that beginning in 2016? 

Sure...it's speculation. We went down that road a few fortnights back when Cardinal killer Lexie Brown left the Turtles and checked out the Belknap Campus. We know of no plans or nothing concerning any possible Mavunga motives to matriculate with Mariya or Myisha.

Just wondering aloud here on the potential and possibilities. 

We'll keep an eye open and ear to the keyhole. Personally, we think she'd look great in Cardinal Red and Black. 

And, in Chapel Hill, Sylvia Hatchell...who overcame a awe-inspiring battle against leukemia a couple of years ago now faces a new challenge. 

Filling three jerseys and 37 points from the #9 team in the nation last year. 

The life of a college basketball coach. Easiest job on the planet, right? 

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Our weekly radio show was not on WCHQ 100.9 FM Saturday because the station had been knocked off the air due to the recent storms in the area. It was broadcast on the Internet, though, at CrescentHillRadio.com and is available for listening on the SoundCloud. 

Worldwide Jeff and Sam the Dry Weather Intern joined me in the studio to discuss women's sports and the boys fared well on the weekly quiz. Can you beat them? 

LINK BELOW:

WOMEN'S SPORTS ON THE AIR!  


paulie
xxxxx

Bears hunting Deines? -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

DEINES FUTURE UNCERTAIN AS WE ROLL INTO JUNE

The transfer process. It can be a tricky thing. When Megan Deines' name popped up as a transfer possibility/probability/seen on (fill in your choice campus) with (fill in your name choice)...the general consensus was this:

If she wants a year of significant playing time somewhere, then a transfer would be a logical choice. A mid-major seemed logical as well. 

We've heard Kansas State and Nebraska mentioned as possibilities. A buddy who knows very little about her or the program speculated that she might stay close to the Louisville area and go to Bellarmine or NKU. Maybe even WKU. We're not buying that hypothesis...even with your money. 

Deines has had an interesting career at UofL in three years. She started 15 games in 2012-13. Averaged 4.9 points on a team that went to the NCAA final game and a team that beat Baylor. She also hit 20 of 65 threes that year. She 2013-14 campaign dropped off..just 1 start in 33 games. 3.2 ppg average and was 5 for 23 from beyond the arc. Last season? She played in 24 games, no starts. She missed nine straight with an ankle injury. 

She is a Missouri girl, however (Glendale)...and the speculation arose that she might be interested (or vice versa) in a Missouri school. Here's an interesting piece from a Missouri State blogger that speculates on the possibilities of Deines and Missouri State:   

I've been asked numerous times if I thought that Kellie Harper and Missouri State would look to go the transfer route, specifically with high-profile area products such as Megan Deines (Glendale-Louisville), Michaela and Moriah Dapprich (Branson-Wichita State), and Kyndal Clark (Webb City-Drake) all announcing their decision to leave their current institutions within the last two weeks.

In short, the answer is no.

If we entertain the idea, assuming there is mutual interest from both sides and roster spots available, there wouldn't be a possibility of the Dapprichs or Clark coming to Springfield, as it is virtually impossible to transfer within the conference.

While the idea of an Ozarks return is nice and while we can certainly agree that the previous regime dropped the ball by not offering any of the three players, the chances of seeing them in maroon and white are about as likely as it is for me to stop binge eating Insomnia Cookies and Andy's.

Deines is  a different conversation.

Assuming that Missouri State and Louisville don't continue the current trend of playing every other year as they have in 2011-12 and 2013-14, Deines would likely be a viable option.

After sitting out a year, Deines would slide nicely in the spot vacated by Kenzie Williams, forming what could be the Valley's most dynamic backcourt in two years with Liza Fruendt and Riley Rose.

But, is it really necessary?

So....for the time being...she stays on the UofL roster until she heads elsewhere or decides maybe being a reserve on a top ten WBB team may not be such a bad gig after all.

paulie
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