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Thread: Women's basketball adds another transfer

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    Women's basketball adds another transfer

    Ahlana Smith, 5-9 guard being reported as transferring in to Miss. State from Louisville. She's the former #31 overall hs recruit according to ESPN, signed with UCLA out of high school, later transferring to juco where she was eventually selected 2019-20 NJCAA 1st Team All American, and 2019-20 NJCAA D1 Player Of The Year. Afterwards transferred to Louisville. Averaged 4.3 points per game this past season as a key player off the bench backing up WNBA Draft pick Kianna Smith and another standout guard Hailey Van Lith. Also, she had a big game this past season against Uconn
    Last edited by jdelta02; 05-09-2022 at 07:55 PM.

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    Senior Member bulldawg28's Avatar
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    The more talent the better.

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    I’m liking the new coach. Hoping he succeeds.

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    The WBK roster should be about full now?. The MBK still has a ways to go.

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    This new coach doesn't dick around.
    As much as i hated the Pinson hire i am starting to feel really good about this hire. We may have hit a home run he already had the name as a great recruiter now can he coach them up.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 99jc View Post
    This new coach doesn't dick around.
    As much as i hated the Pinson hire i am starting to feel really good about this hire. We may have hit a home run he already had the name as a great recruiter now can he coach them up.
    I don't dislike him, but there isn't anything amazing in his portal recruiting. He took two bench players from Louisville with little production, a guard from FSU that lost her minutes, a guard/forward from Miami that played some as a freshman and had a high rating but her film causes me a lot of concern, taking a chance on a HS that had injury problems and landed a pretty decent scorer from St. Bonnie. However the St. Bonnie girl cannot shoot from 3 and her defense on film leaves a lot to be desired.

    Now he did keep Annie (huge), Jess (huge but might have had some academic aid), D. Carter (really huge) and kept Powe committed who I really like. So he's not doing poorly at the recruiting end but I don't love everything he did in the portal. For example our 3 pt shooting is a huge concern as is our rebounding. We're going to need Parker or Powe to really step up there if Denae's not close to 100% by the start of the season.

    All that aside the big question is going to be if he can play the bad cop when he needs to. His entire career has been built around being the rah rah guy and keeping players spirits up. Can he hold the line and enforce the rules and make the team respect him or does he fall prone to being more concerned if they like him. To me, that's his battle because he's never had to make that shift before.

    At worst he'll be a "good" recruiter because he is really personable. But can he run a program? I like that we're taking the chance because we're the type that has to swing for the fence. We hoped we were getting Dawn 2.0 in Nikki and that just wasn't the case. I'm still amazed at how bad she was and maybe down the road more will come out about why it fell apart on her since she had a great apprenticeship with Dawn and was having success at Old Dominion.

    As long as Jess shows up ready to play we should be a tourney team again b/c we've got a ton more size, more experience and we have 3 people that have proved they can score in the SEC with Annie, Jordan and Jess. I think the others can provide valuable roles and someone may step up and be more than they've been in the past. Denae is an awesome defender as is Jordan and while Jess isn't Big T, she's an imposing figure in the middle that alters shots.

    I'm pretty intrigued how both the womens and mens teams rosters will turn out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Irondawg View Post
    I don't dislike him, but there isn't anything amazing in his portal recruiting. He took two bench players from Louisville with little production, a guard from FSU that lost her minutes, a guard/forward from Miami that played some as a freshman and had a high rating but her film causes me a lot of concern, taking a chance on a HS that had injury problems and landed a pretty decent scorer from St. Bonnie. However the St. Bonnie girl cannot shoot from 3 and her defense on film leaves a lot to be desired.

    Now he did keep Annie (huge), Jess (huge but might have had some academic aid), D. Carter (really huge) and kept Powe committed who I really like. So he's not doing poorly at the recruiting end but I don't love everything he did in the portal. For example our 3 pt shooting is a huge concern as is our rebounding. We're going to need Parker or Powe to really step up there if Denae's not close to 100% by the start of the season.

    All that aside the big question is going to be if he can play the bad cop when he needs to. His entire career has been built around being the rah rah guy and keeping players spirits up. Can he hold the line and enforce the rules and make the team respect him or does he fall prone to being more concerned if they like him. To me, that's his battle because he's never had to make that shift before.

    At worst he'll be a "good" recruiter because he is really personable. But can he run a program? I like that we're taking the chance because we're the type that has to swing for the fence. We hoped we were getting Dawn 2.0 in Nikki and that just wasn't the case. I'm still amazed at how bad she was and maybe down the road more will come out about why it fell apart on her since she had a great apprenticeship with Dawn and was having success at Old Dominion.

    As long as Jess shows up ready to play we should be a tourney team again b/c we've got a ton more size, more experience and we have 3 people that have proved they can score in the SEC with Annie, Jordan and Jess. I think the others can provide valuable roles and someone may step up and be more than they've been in the past. Denae is an awesome defender as is Jordan and while Jess isn't Big T, she's an imposing figure in the middle that alters shots.

    I'm pretty intrigued how both the womens and mens teams rosters will turn out.
    Very good post. The only thing I'll add is the two girls who transferred over from Louisville both sat behind WNBA drafts picks on a team that made it to the final 4 this season in Louisville. He was at every practice watching them go against those girls so for now, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust why he brought them over.

    Also I agree with you about the worries of the St. Bonaventure transfers 3 point shooting because her percentage is bad, but she rarely takes three's at all. In her 4 seasons she has literally only shot 34 three's total... she just doesn't shoot them. But her free throw shooting is a respectful 78% so she is capable. She averaged 18 ppg and 5 rebs on 47% shooting from the floor, that's not bad for a gaurd.

    We have a solid core already in place with Anastasia, Jerkaila, Danae Carter, Jessica Carter (also charlotte kohl and Hayes sister 2), we won a bulk of our games last year with this group minus Jessika Carter so thats a good place to start just right there.... plus the unknown play of former 4 star recruit Mia Moore, the 3rd Hayes sister, our new Florida State transfer, and the 2 Freshman girls. I think he did a good job of keeping important pieces and filling in some holes. We definitely have size and are a deeper team now, we couldn't say that last year. We will have four girls over 6'4" and two or three around 6'0" to 6'1" range...I think we have enough talent to make some noise, but the big question for me is can he coach them?

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    I do like Parker's film and to me she's the one transfer that could blossom and surprise people.

    Smith being a late take to me potentially signals a few things. First he didn't think she was an instant impact type of transfer or he'd have been on her heavily early. Two it means that in his time working with the current team he's come to the conclusion that she's likely better than what we'd have off the bench with what we have. Or maybe he just didn't find anyone better and she's a solid depth piece. Hard to say.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Irondawg View Post
    I do like Parker's film and to me she's the one transfer that could blossom and surprise people.

    Smith being a late take to me potentially signals a few things. First he didn't think she was an instant impact type of transfer or he'd have been on her heavily early. Two it means that in his time working with the current team he's come to the conclusion that she's likely better than what we'd have off the bench with what we have. Or maybe he just didn't find anyone better and she's a solid depth piece. Hard to say.
    If I remember correctly she didn?t enter the portal until April 30 and he decided to go after her versus his previous position of holding the scholarship for a late or mid season transfer.
    I guess the thought process is she knows the system, would push for a role and only use the scholarship for one year. With her we suddenly become a very experienced and older team.
    Louisville traditionally has taken players if the staff thinks the player can help win even if they recruit over another player. They just let the better player win out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bulldawg28 View Post
    The more talent the better.
    Well at a minimum we know thirteen available bodies is better than seven.

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    I don?t know what this group will do next year, but if we had 10 of these including J Carter, we probably would have been in the tourney last year, and possibly even made some noise.

    Everybody else might be better this year so

    <who knows what tomorrow brings.>

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    Quote Originally Posted by EdwardDrayton View Post
    Well at a minimum we know thirteen available bodies is better than seven.
    Indeed

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    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainObvious View Post
    I don?t know what this group will do next year, but if we had 10 of these including J Carter, we probably would have been in the tourney last year, and possibly even made some noise.

    Everybody else might be better this year so

    <who knows what tomorrow brings.>
    We had a shot at making the tournament last season with 7 girls playing.... Anastasia Hayes and Jerkaila Jordan were our leading scorers with that group and they are back. We get Denae Carter and add Jessika Carter back also, both of them score and rebound at a high level...having those 4 alone will win us alot of games... add in the newcomers, depth and size and we have a good team. And who knows about the other players we haven't seen play yet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by NCMSTFAN View Post
    We had a shot at making the tournament last season with 7 girls playing.... Anastasia Hayes and Jerkaila Jordan were our leading scorers with that group and they are back. We get Denae Carter and add Jessika Carter back also, both of them score and rebound at a high level...having those 4 alone will win us alot of games... add in the newcomers, depth and size and we have a good team. And who knows about the other players we haven't seen play yet.
    It really is amazing how well the team did with just 7 players. The lack of depth eventually got us toward the end as those girls were just wore out. Kudos to them for playing hard all year.

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    So are we bringing back almost all seven of last years players? That was amazing and showed their grit for how they handled adversity last year….. stuff like that is what movies are made of. Never quit.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SilentSteel16 View Post
    So are we bringing back almost all seven of last years players? That was amazing and showed their grit for how they handled adversity last year….. stuff like that is what movies are made of. Never quit.
    Yes except for Myah Taylor and Caterrion Thompson. But we get Jessika Carter and Denae Carter back along with a bunch of new players and players that were there, but injured

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    Quote Originally Posted by SilentSteel16 View Post
    So are we bringing back almost all seven of last years players? That was amazing and showed their grit for how they handled adversity last year….. stuff like that is what movies are made of. Never quit.
    I love winning, no better feeling than to win, but sometimes you win just by finishing and competing to the very end(yeah it sounds really sappy), but it's true. The girls that finished this last season really layed it on the line and gave everything they had, playing hard and never quitting when it would've been easy to pack it in. They were fun to watch because, you knew even in defeat they were playing with 110% effort and they left it all on the court.
    Last edited by Commercecomet24; 05-13-2022 at 01:07 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Commercecomet24 View Post
    I love winning, no better feeling that to win, but sometimes you win just by finishing and competing to the very end(yeah it sounds really sappy), but it's true. The girls that finished this last season really layed it on the line and gave everything they had, playing hard and never quitting when it would've been easy to pack it in. They were fun to watch because, you knew even in defeat they were playing with 110% effort and they left it all on the court.
    Agreed

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