WBB: Landmark Conference

[ronk]

 I would put her in the large group(everyone except Kyra) whose game seems a little smaller.

[saratoga]

Ok, thanks.
It will be interesting to follow these kids through their senior year in HS to observe the growth of basketball IQ, maturity, & skill development.

[scottiedawg]

Scranton Roster posted: https://athletics.scranton.edu/sports/womens-basketball/roster/2024-25?sort=class

5th years: Ryan, Hartnett, Lynch, Quigley.

[NEPAFAN]

Beat me to it Scottie. Nothing too suprising.

[saratoga]

Just noticed something roster wise I've never seen before.
Chatham Univ. has 16 transfer students on its roster & 9 of them are grad transfers.
Now I'm sure Chatham is a nice little school that has some quality fields of instruction.
However, we're not talking about a major research institution like UofR, Tufts, or Emory that might warrant this type of interest.
I don't know...16 transfers & 9 of them for grad school in 1 year all landing at this little school just seems very skewed and a statistical anomaly.
Maybe everyone that applied received a vacation to Aruba but that's a lot of transfers.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Just noticed something roster wise I've never seen before.
Chatham Univ. has 16 transfer students on its roster & 9 of them are grad transfers.
Now I'm sure Chatham is a nice little school that has some quality fields of instruction.
However, we're not talking about a major research institution like UofR, Tufts, or Emory that might warrant this type of interest.
I don't know...16 transfers & 9 of them for grad school in 1 year all landing at this little school just seems very skewed and a statistical anomaly.
Maybe everyone that applied received a vacation to Aruba but that's a lot of transfers.

They'll be in a future edition of Around the Nation, where I specifically talk about a growing strategy of smaller and mid-tier schools specifically targeting transfer students.  Chatham has a number of really innovative programs.  Fully online grad degrees also make it easier to play basketball.  They didn't get all 16 transfers this year.  I think it was nine.  That was more a case of literally everyone they pursued saying yes, which any d3 coach will tell you, never really happens.

Coach told me the WBB team basically makes up half the MBA cohort this year.

[saratoga]

Thanks for the heads up.
Not how I would develop my long term success plan but I guess this just buys them some time until the freshmen start rolling in on a more consistent basis.

[scottiedawg]

The data I've gathered on Chatham's roster:
Grad - 9
Sr - 4
Jr - 7
So - 2
Fr - 1

D3 -> Chatham transfers == 11
NonD3 -> Chatham transfers == 3

16/23 players on the roster were not on the roster in 2023-24.

[saratoga]

Scranton website posts headline..."Women's Basketball Selected First In Landmark".
They then give a brief (very brief) overview of pre-season expectations.
However, what the writer fails to do in his write-up is mention just exactly how the teams were ranked...kind of a slightly important omission.
Anyway, went to the Landmark site & this is how the coaches voted:

1.Scranton
2.Catholic
3.E-town
4.Susquehanna
5.Moravian
6.Drew
7.Wilkes
8.Lycoming
9.Goucher-Tie
9.Juniata-Tie

UofS 8 first place votes...CUA 2.

[saratoga]

Another fantastic writeup on the Lady Royals coming out of that once proud Sports Information Department.
I mean they only played in the Elite 8 last year, have almost the entire team back & are picked # 3 in the Pre-Season Top 25 & all they get thus far is essentially...we open at home Monday vs. SUNY Cortland, this is what it costs for admission.
WOW...pretty cutting edge stuff that has the feel of something Pulitzer.
I mean come on...how about adding Coach O'Brien's thoughts on the upcoming season, an overview of the players, thoughts on the competition this year both non-conference & within the Landmark.
Use a little imagination & run with it.
For Pete's sake, bring in a couple SID interns that enjoy writing & get them going.
Not sure what's going on there but it's not good.

[saratoga]

From the Kind of Hard To Believe Dept.:

Back on Nov. 15, 2019 Kyra Quigley played in her first game as a member of the Lady Royals.
It was the opening game of the new season and the freshman came off the bench & scored 16 big points against Ursinus.
However, since that initial game, Kyra has yet to score that amount ever again.
Here's hoping for an injury free & outstanding final year for her.
Great young woman.

[ronk]

From the Kind of Hard To Believe Dept.:

Back on Nov. 15, 2019 Kyra Quigley played in her first game as a member of the Lady Royals.
It was the opening game of the new season and the freshman came off the bench & scored 16 big points against Ursinus.
However, since that initial game, Kyra has yet to score that amount ever again.
Here's hoping for an injury free & outstanding final year for her.
Great young woman.

  Agreed! I offer 3 reasons: Trevor Woodruff leaving before her 1st game and the subsequent change in  ball movement(her best offensive contribution is low in the paint area), missing a season with injury, and foul trouble(screens and offensive rebounding effort), resulting in reduced playing time. Kyra moved well in the Hopkins scrimmage a week ago, so I have hopes for the coming season.
  Admittedly, I am biased with regard to Kyra since she was only my 2nd prospect to become a Lady Royal.

[ronk]

 Moravian HC Mary Beth Spirk is taking an immediate medical leave of absence.

[saratoga]

Wishing Coach Spirk all the best in her battle.
Sadly ironic that her teams have had a Play 4 Kay game for at least a decade & now cancer strikes at the heart of the Moravian program.

As for the Lady Royals...a very tough opener vs. an always competitive SUNY Cortland team.
It will be interesting to see how Ben plays this with Maddie out for a while.
I think his lineup will consist of:
*K. Romanowski-pg
*M. Hartnett-sg.
*K.Kranson-F
However, at that point there are various options.
Does Ben go with Kyra as a traditional post & add another guard in M. Lamanna or does he add a wing in either K. Gorski or E. Bennett?
Or...someone else that's had a great pre-season?
Hopefully, someone is ready to claim Maddy's 5 offensive rebounds & put backs.
Almost showtime...here's to a great & healthy season.

[saratoga]

OMG...FloSports absolutely sucks!!
All you get is spinning and watching a game on it is literally like watching someone flip cards one at a time to try & tell a story.
It is brutal.
Thank heavens we get to pay for this junk.
Go Landmark.