Roster Discussion

[bluesooner17]

How many of you out there actually believe we have enough on this roster to win the Big 12? My belief is we will be lucky to be above a 60% winning percentage team. We have talked recruiting on this board before, but the question that keeps coming into my mind I haven't heard or saw. I hear Sherri recruits to win the Big 12. Should we not be recruiting to win a National Championship? Currently I do not believe we have done either. Looking at the current roster this is just my opinion based on recruiting to win a National Championship:

Vionise Pierre-Louis - Good bench player, needs to improve on her shooting and speed. Would possibly have offered.

T'ona Edwards - Great speed, but to small and needs to be able to shoot the 3. Not sure why we gave her a scholarship.

Peyton Little - Great transfer, but still needs to push harder to be better. Needs to play the 2 or 3. Would have offered or accepted the transfer.

Derica Wyatt - Slow and not athletic. Heard she was deadly shooting the 3, but have yet to see it. Would not have offered.

Gileysa Penzo - Jury is still out. She hasn't played enough to show anything. She was quite good at the FIBA Americas U16. Would have offered.

Gabbi Ortiz - Last year was pretty good and was looking for improvement, but so far this year the bench seems to suit her. was her going to the 2015 USA Basketball U19 games a mistake? Would have offered.

Shaya Kellogg - This one is very puzzling. She has size, but that is about it. Would not have offered.

Maddie Manning - Great get, but being played out of position. Needs to be a 1 or 2 possibly a 3, but not a 4. Would have offered.

Ijeoma Odimgbe - Great size and athletic, but seems to be raw so maybe a bench player. Would possibly have offered.

Gioya Carter - We miss her this year. She seems to improve every year so can't wait for her to return. Would have offered.

McKenna Treece - Reminds me a lot of Joanna McFarland just hope she comes out of her shell before her Senior year. Not sure why it Joanna so long. Coaching maybe? Would have offered.

32 LaNesia Williams - Needs to develop an outside shot. Her game is easy to defend just cut off the drive. Would possibly have offered.

Kaylon Williams - Here is the only senior, but still looks and acts like a sophomore. Would possibly have offered.

I know the recruiting news is not in the Social media as men's basketball or football, but would be nice to know who we are trying to go after (Thanks Norm and anyone else that provides what we get). It almost seems like we are a little scared to go head to head with the big boys on recruits. There is always a diamond in the ruff out there, but trying to get 5 or 6 is asking for a miracle. The staff has to get better talent or we will always have some long seasons coming up. Nancy is coming, but when you compare her with the twins there was more media flash with the twins. Hoping Nancy proves out, but if she isn't provided with good support we will have wasted this effort as I feel we did with the twins. Chelsea is coming with Nancy, but she seemed to play better at Preston then at Sapulpa. Not sure how she has looked on the AAU show, but we need some help. Not sure how athletic she is, but has the size for a 2 or 3. Ana Llanusa is coming (hope she stays committed) in 2017 and from what I have seen and heard we have a good one coming. We just now need to finish out that class with much needed help. Well ran out of thoughts for now. Hoping a different team shows up against BYU or Sherri might be looking at a smaller crowd with each loss.

 

[sybarite]

I don't know if you remember that we recruited Tinkle who went to Stanford. We also were down to the wire with Tennessee on Vicki Baugh who probably would have been better off at OU. We have gone head to head a lot against Stanford and Duke. They have a lot to offer. We have also lost players to Tennessee. We lost Colson to A&M. We lost Gant, but that was only due to a grade issue.

We don't usually know who Sherri is recruiting until after they commit. I think she missed on some that we wanted. We also got some that we wanted.

Our biggest problem has probably been that we never have had the depth to withstand injuries. When we had Courtney, it really hurt that we lost some guards to knee injuries. Some tried to come back. But, they were handicapped. We were probably better when she was a freshman than we were when we went to the Final Four three and four years later. Luck can play a role. We needed a bit more success to have that become the foundation builder. It built a foundation, but not one that could draw top talent in droves like at ND, UConn, or Tennessee. Duke has that type of program.

Baylor got lucky. They took some role players and one superstar that nobody knew about and took a title during what was a bit of an off year. OU 2002 and 2006 was better than Baylor 2005. But, we did not have the somewhat clear path that they ended up with. We ran into what many regarded as the best team ever.

Did you know that every year that OU has been to the Final Four, Connecticut has been undefeated?

Sherri has built a very good program, and one player could make it a national title contender, especially after Stewart graduates. Could that one player be Manning or Mulkey? It doesn't have to be someone that scores like Courtney. It has to be someone who can make the pieces fit. We could also use some good health. If you remember, Maddie started as a freshman and was doing well in the Hawaii tournament. Then, bang wiped out two years.

I don't know that Mulkey will turn out well. But, if she does, she could be something that women's basketball has difficulty with. If she is half what I suspect she might be, she might have a good time with Gabbi, Maddie, Dungee, Llanusa, Vivi, Penzo, and EJ still around.

I think OU will get at least two pretty good recruits this year, maybe signing four or five. We are looking hard at guards and wings. We have visits with some and have had with a few already.

Remember. Until Sherri came, this school had been to one NCAA tournament. We have now been to sixteen in a row. You know how many Final Fours the women have been to since the last Final Four for the men? Sherri has been to three. How many have the men been to?

Texas had been a national champion and a power. We have been to three final fours since they had their last one.

Baylor===I only count 2005.

 

[bluesooner17]

I don't dispute what you are saying, but since 2002 we seemed to build on the momentum then let it go away without finding the key players to jump start it again. I look at the roster today and I see a slightly above average group. You can't win a Big 12 Championship or National Championship with that. Let's take the 2015 recruit rankings. According to the people in the know the top 5 PG's were:
1. Asia Durr - went to Louisville
2. Angela Salvadores - went to Duke
3. Lashann Higgs - went to Texas
4. Kyra Lambert - went to Duke
5. Anike Ogunbowale - went to ND

According to the people in the know the top 5 P's were:
1. Kristine Anigwe - went to Cal
2. Kalani Brown - went to Baylor
3. Beatrice Mompremier - went to Baylor
4. Kelly Koshuta - went to Virginia Tech
5. Teaira McCowan - went to Miss St.

According to the people in the know the top 5 F's were:
1. Katie Lou Samuelson - went to UConn
2. Jessica Shepard - went to Nebraska
3. Cecilia Zandalasini - not offered
4. Napheesa Collier - went to UConn
5. Brianna Fraser - went to Maryland

According to their Bio's we never offered any of them. Looking at the ESPN top 100 not sure we offered any of them. We were in need of a center type player and signed Ijeoma Odimgbe. Not saying she is a bad sign, but is this the type player that will get us to the next level? I do believe Nancy had given her commitment to us by this time so a center may not have been a great need at that time, but if knowing Nancy is coming I need to find a great/good support player for her. Is this what I signed? My feeling is when and if we go after some of the big names as you have mentioned and we don't make the cut we low our standards and go for a low tier player as in 2012 we signed Felisha Gibbs. If you are wanting to win a Big 12/National Championship why would you extend a scholarship to her. If the roster was already full of top players i might understand, but we were not so it things like this that are puzzling. It is almost like I need to use the scholarship or loss it. I look at recruiting as a draft. I would have the top 10 of each position on the board and go from there.

 

[sybarite]

"People in the know" often have no idea what they are talking about.

You show fifteen players. I have seen several. Only one is a super prospect as far as I can tell.

There isn't one coach in the nation that wouldn't love to have Nancy. The thought that someone would not have a scholarship for a 6-9 girl who has ""good footwork" according to HoopGurlz and has a good shot is too absurd to consider. She may be the only game-changer in potential in this class. The other player that I would have loved to have had was Salvadores.

With what we have to go with Llanusa, Mulkey, and Dungee, we may be as good as anyone.

 

[SoonerSpock]

"People in the know" often have no idea what they are talking about.

You show fifteen players. I have seen several. Only one is a super prospect as far as I can tell.

There isn't one coach in the nation that wouldn't love to have Nancy. The thought that someone would not have a scholarship for a 6-9 girl who has ""good footwork" according to HoopGurlz and has a good shot is too absurd to consider. She may be the only game-changer in potential in this class. The other player that I would have loved to have had was Salvadores.

With what we have to go with Llanusa, Mulkey, and Dungee, we may be as good as anyone.

Just perhaps your ability to evaluate top talent from watching on the boob tube is severely limited. Coaches and yes gurus go watch players in person for a reason, despite having massive amounts of video on players and feedback from multiple coaches.

For certain they get much more exposure watching prospects than you can obtain from watching each player play 2-4 games. To surmise that you can better evaluate talent with limited TV exposure is tomfoolery.

 

[sybarite]

Just perhaps your ability to evaluate top talent from watching on the boob tube is severely limited. Coaches and yes gurus go watch players in person for a reason, despite having massive amounts of video on players and feedback from multiple coaches.

For certain they get much more exposure watching prospects than you can obtain from watching each player play 2-4 games. To surmise that you can better evaluate talent with limited TV exposure is tomfoolery.

I should compliment you for your restraint. You have not begun a post with "typical liberal gibberish" in some time now.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I don't dispute what you are saying, but since 2002 we seemed to build on the momentum then let it go away without finding the key players to jump start it again. I look at the roster today and I see a slightly above average group. You can't win a Big 12 Championship or National Championship with that. Let's take the 2015 recruit rankings. According to the people in the know the top 5 PG's were:
1. Asia Durr - went to Louisville
2. Angela Salvadores - went to Duke
3. Lashann Higgs - went to Texas
4. Kyra Lambert - went to Duke
5. Anike Ogunbowale - went to ND

According to the people in the know the top 5 P's were:
1. Kristine Anigwe - went to Cal
2. Kalani Brown - went to Baylor
3. Beatrice Mompremier - went to Baylor
4. Kelly Koshuta - went to Virginia Tech
5. Teaira McCowan - went to Miss St.

According to the people in the know the top 5 F's were:
1. Katie Lou Samuelson - went to UConn
2. Jessica Shepard - went to Nebraska
3. Cecilia Zandalasini - not offered
4. Napheesa Collier - went to UConn
5. Brianna Fraser - went to Maryland

According to their Bio's we never offered any of them. Looking at the ESPN top 100 not sure we offered any of them. We were in need of a center type player and signed Ijeoma Odimgbe. Not saying she is a bad sign, but is this the type player that will get us to the next level? I do believe Nancy had given her commitment to us by this time so a center may not have been a great need at that time, but if knowing Nancy is coming I need to find a great/good support player for her. Is this what I signed? My feeling is when and if we go after some of the big names as you have mentioned and we don't make the cut we low our standards and go for a low tier player as in 2012 we signed Felisha Gibbs. If you are wanting to win a Big 12/National Championship why would you extend a scholarship to her. If the roster was already full of top players i might understand, but we were not so it things like this that are puzzling. It is almost like I need to use the scholarship or loss it. I look at recruiting as a draft. I would have the top 10 of each position on the board and go from there.

If we aren't offering the best players in the country, we should not expect to get better, much less win conference and national championships. Some seem to be good with that. I'm not.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I should compliment you for your restraint. You have not begun a post with "typical liberal gibberish" in some time now.

Have you ever responded to a poster that has a different perspective than your without diverting to throwing a barb instead of discussing the subject matter? I'll answer that for you. Seldom, as you find it difficult to defend your basketball positions. Besides your political persuasion has little impact on your basketball perspective.

 

[sybarite]

Have you ever responded to a poster that has a different perspective than your without diverting to throwing a barb instead of discussing the subject matter? I'll answer that for you. Seldom, as you find it difficult to defend your basketball positions. Besides your political persuasion has little impact on your basketball perspective.

I Kind of thought the same thing. But, you kept bringing it up.

 

[j2d2]

We perpetually short of that one player to put us over the top. CP I thought would do it but it actually takes two (and even then it's hard enough to do). Between injuries and losing key recruits we are always at least one really good player short.

 

[womenssports]

I disagree about Derica not being athletic. I would say she is more athletic than Kornet or Little, though not saying she is a better basketball player. I do think she has more potential than she has shown. Of course, a lot has to do with playing time and the other thing is not to just be a three point shooter. I don't think that works for anyone and can limit your game in so many ways.

 

[zacj33]

The mentality that we have to offer the highest rated players is not the right approach. That sounds like the Texas football program a few years ago. Also compared to men's basketball and football, women's basketball is far behind in the recruiting services that do these rankings. The dominant players are obvious, but there are a ton players like Gioya (not highly recruited at all) in the women's game.

Saying that, I have had my questions about the local recruits that we have signed over the years. Some have proven me wrong (Sharane), but others have not. I can only give my opinion of the local players because I saw them play many times in HS.