WBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[kate]

Hello emu fan!  i was reading your post from earlier, & i too wondered how that worked with incoming recruits at schools, especially for the winter sports.  Is it proper for that person to stop by the athletic offices & say hi, or is there a more formal procedure?  I knew exactly what you meant when you posted & was thinking about what was happening at the school we folllow - Del Val up in Doylestown, PA

[scottharris]

Is it proper for that person to stop by the athletic offices & say hi, or is there a more formal procedure?

If anything, most kids just go say hi to their coach and whatnot unless the coach has specific procedures in place.

[SabineBBall]

No Scott,

The point was, in d3, you can't sign a recruit to a letter of intent. Coaches often don't know for sure who is going to show up until the first day of class. 

Well...classes have started and it is usually this time of year, when posters give updates on recruits who have actually made it to campus.

If I understand you correctly most coaches know when school starts which recruits they have on campus now.  I know where my daughter is they still have to do all the NCAA classes and paperwork right off the bat.  Now if you are trying to walk-on you better contact the coach right away because open gyms and strenghth and conditioning start right away also.  I know a lot of places also have open tryouts for anyone on campus early in the school year.  Most d3 probably start with 18 to 20 girls and whittle down from there.  Without scholarships you have to have a lot of girls to start with because without the letter of intent you sometimes never know who will show up.  I hope this helped lol

[kate]

Thanks, Sabine BBall - as far as i'm concerned that was a great question, & the answer probably does vary slightly from school to school within general guidelines, of course.  Stuff ya always wanted to ask the coach, but didn't want to bother them about 

[SabineBBall]

Another thing that confuses a lot of girls/parents/HS coaches is even if they recruit you...you still have to make the team.  People get confused thinking they are already on the team at the d3 level but without scholarships on the table it is open season.  I have heard from high school coaches that sent/recommended a kid go to certain schools and they get there and get greatly disappointed by not making the team.  When you are paying money to go there it probably hurts a lot more.

[eaglejacket1421]

Most of the time, if the coach really wants a kid to come out and play - they keep pretty good contact with her and they know if she actually made it to campus or not - either through phone calls or returning players. As far as recruit news, I haven't heard anything as of yet. Who are the top girls schools were looking at?

[emufan]

From my experience at EMU, if the coach recruited you, the coach will be around on move in day to say hello and welcome you to campus. If a player is going to 'walk-on', then they usually introduce themselves to the coach and ask when open gyms and preseason conditioning is happening. 

[scottharris]

From my experience at EMU, if the coach recruited you, the coach will be around on move in day to say hello and welcome you to campus. If a player is going to 'walk-on', then they usually introduce themselves to the coach and ask when open gyms and preseason conditioning is happening. 

same here at LC

[emufan]

Hey...look what happened...there is activity on this board.

[eaglejacket1421]

Hopefully you didn't jinx it emufan 

[whitecaylxx]

Does anyone know who some of the new recruits in the ODAC are?

[odacfan99]

Does anyone know who some of the new recruits in the ODAC are?

I've heard Wesleyan and Lynchburg have solid incoming class.  Don't know about anyone else.  But I will give you my top 5 preseason prediction for the ODAC regular season:

1. Lynchburg (the young'uns are seasoned veterans now)
2. Bridgewater (last year's run is a spring board to better things)
3. Va Weselyan (always tough)
5. RMC (good starters, questionable depth and can't overcome loss of 3 top seniors)
4. EMU (great coaching but still a bit inexperienced)

[odacfan99]

Hey, where are all the bloggers?  Guess my preseason predictions have left you all in a catatonic state

[eaglejacket1421]

odacfan99- nice preseason predictions, although I can't agree with the Lynchburg pick. I could be wrong (that's the beautiful thing about college basketball) but I don't think Lynchburg can pull off the top notch in the ODAC. Although they do boast a bit more seasoned young class, they still have some developing to do.

Positives: They lose NOBODY. Britaney Dahn and Christinia Darby will be consistent leaders throughout the rest of their careers for the hornets. The recruits that came in last year did an excellent job learning the program and running a fierce hornet high pressure defense. BUT, that is just one year under their belt, and a year full of tough competition. Lynchburg gave some big teams fits and were always viewed as a team that shouldn't be looked over in the least.

Negatives: Regardless of their obvious talent they showed some growing pains, posting a mediocre 16-10/13-7 conference season. They lost to Roanoke three times (even when Hanson was out), a weak CNU, Bridgewater, Randolph-Macon twice, Virginia Wesleyan twice, and twice squeaked by an Emory and Henry team that beat R-MC when they were in a moment of weakness. Also, with the loss of no players means less room for recruits, a program needs to consistently bring in new blood to build a dynasty and I'm not sure how many recruits they brought in this year, but there wasn't much room to begin with considering the youth of the team. All in all, they still have much to learn and develop but I see them being serious contenders in Dahn and Darby's senior season. I see them being in the Top 5 for sure, just not at the top, not this year.

My Top 5:

1. Va Wesleyan - The ODAC was theirs for the taking last year and BC did what BC is famous for doing- pulling off the Cinderella story. Losing Chelsea Bartlett and Heather Phillips hurts, but this is a solid, deep team that has been waiting to take the crown and I think this year is the one.

2. R-MC - I hesitated to put them this high because of the same reasons you mentioned when you put them at 5. They are going to miss the impact of Marta Merkel, Nicole Childress, and Jess Shifflett at the point. Depth is an issue. Bottom line - Molly Arial and Lindsay Reisbeck are unstoppable when they want to be. Some of their performances last year looked a little lackadaisical, almost as if the W was going to be handed to R-MC. I think they have probably learned from that. I put them at #2 because projected starting PG Jen O'Briant is extremely athletic and did a great job backing up Shifflett last year, and if she stays healthy can lead the team the way a PG needs to; Arial and Reisbeck are phenomenal All-State (should be All-American if R-MC can get some NCAA time) post players; and Amanda Hiltunen is a senior leader who will not take losing as an option.

3. Lynchburg - I think I broke them down enough above, but they are definitely a solid team and should make strides in the ODAC- just not their year for the crown just yet.

4. Bridgewater- Regardless of winning the ODAC last year, I can't see them doing the same with the loss of Jessica Timberlake. Think about the games at BC - there was rarely a minute when their floor general wasn't out making the calls, leading the Eagles throughout the games' entirety. She averaged 34 minutes a game at the point. That is a HUGE loss because I'm not sure who the back up even was because she obviously didn't get much time to develop. The PG position is arguably the most important position on the court. That's the girl that gets everyone on the same page, without a good PG it's hard to get a team to stay in check out on the hardwood. Perhaps they'll slide Jordan Burkholder over, but she's such a good scorer, you'd hate to see PPG taken away due to the added responsibility of running the floor. It will be interesting to see how this team bounces back.

5. EMU- EMU coach Griffin is an AMAZING coach. Seeing what he did with his teams the past few years, it's no wonder that he was voted Coach of the Year a couple years ago. He has established EMU validity within the ODAC. Although they lose four seniors, Joline Kratz in particular, they get to keep Carolyn Riley for one more year. It is coaching and Riley alone that place them in my Top 5.

[odacfan99]

Eaglefan, GREAT insight.  Thanks for expanding on my cliff notes and breathing some life into this board.  It had gotten too quiet lately.  I appreciate your insights and you've convinced me RMC will be tougher than I thought.  You're right about Hiltunan - losing is NOT acceptable to her - she's the heart and soul of the team.  If Ariail and Riesbeck bring passion to their games this year and O'Briant stays healthy, they could be tough.  Not sure about their incoming class but I know they have a sophomore who was injured last year and is supposed to be a good defender.

Keep the posts coming y'all - we're less than a month away from preseason!