University Athletic Association

[martin]

Looks like Aaron Roussell and Molly Parrott have  been doing a good job of recruiting for Chicago.  Six recruits - and some size.  The press release is at:
http://athletics.uchicago.edu/news0506/wbk-newcomers-060806.htm


Kaitlin Devaney (San Diego, Calif./ Scripps Ranch) was a four-time most valuable player at Scripps Ranch High School. A four-time first-team all-league selection, the 5'8" Devaney led Scripps Ranch to a 20-9 record this past season. A four-year member of the honor roll and a four-year starter, she averaged 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists her senior year.

Jill DiNucci (Glenshaw, Pa./ Shaler Area) finished her career as the third-leading all-time scorer at Shaler Area High School with 1,387 points. The 5'11" DiNucci was a four-year starter and the 2002 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic League Freshman of the Year. She averaged 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 2005-06 as Shaler Area notched a 16-7 record.

Molly Hackney (East Lansing, Mich./ Lansing Catholic) garnered all-state, all-district, and all-conference recognition in helping lead Lansing Catholic High School to the state final four twice during her four-year career. A three-year starter and an academic all-league pick, the 6'0" Hackney averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as a senior.

Jamie Stinson (Topeka, Kan./ Shawnee Heights) was a second-team all-state selection for Shawnee Heights High School, where she averaged 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists per game. The 5'9" Stinson, who graduated first in her class, was a three-year starter and helped lead Shawnee Heights to three top-four state finishes.

Christine Walczak (Orland Park, Ill./ Sandburg) earned all-state honorable mention accolades for Sandburg High School. The 6'1" Walczak averaged 14.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for Sandburg, which in 2005-06 posted a 23-12 mark and claimed regional and sectional titles. An all-area and all-conference pick, Walczak collected 22 double-doubles during her senior campaign.

Anna Woods (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./ Lower Merion) was a four-year starter at Lower Merion High School, which she helped lead to a pair of league championships. The 6'1' Woods averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game as a senior en route to earning first-team all-league recognition. Woods served as a team captain in 2006 and was named a Scholar-Athlete in 2005.

[Wydown Blvd.]

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/womensbball/womensbballroster.html

Wash U Recruits:

Lauren Downing, Fr., F/C, 6-0, Parkville, Mo. (Park Hill South)
Janice Evans, Fr., F, 5-8, Bolingbrook, Ill. (Neuqua Valley)
Laura Lane-Steele, Fr., G, 5-9, Columbia, S.C. (AC Flora)
Stacy Niese, Fr., G/F, 5-6, Miller City, Ohio (Miller City)
Kelly Rhodes, Fr., G, 5-8, Austin, Texas (McCallum)
Zoë Unruh, Fr., G, 5-5, San Francisco, Calif. (St. Ignatius Prep)

A little small aren't they?

[Wydown Blvd.]

first a correction -- there is a typo on the Wash U website, Zoe Unruh is not 5'5" she is definately around 5'11"

second a congradulations to Washington University for Ranking Sixth in 2006 NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings -- 1st in the UAA and fourth in DIII

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/releases/NCSA.html

[martin]

The NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings are incredibly flawed.  He uses the US News ranking within your category for academic excellence.  So being first in Midwest Regional Liberal Arts Colleges is the same as first in National Liberal Arts Colleges.  And how can you compare a National Research University to anything but another National Research University?  By this methodology, John Carroll, #6 in Midwestern Master's Universities, is academically superior to its DIII rival, MIT, #7 in National Universities.

Also, US News rankings themselves are flawed.  How can Wash U (#11) possibly be ranked ahead of UofC (#15)?

[Wydown Blvd.]

The NCSA arguments were in General Division III issues under Future of Division III where almost everyone (including myself) agrees with those "weird" rankings.

However, I do believe Wash U is a better school than U of C, but thats my completely bias opinion based on no concrete evidence. Wash U joins U of Chi as the Ivies of the midwest. But I agree those US News rankings are flawed in several ways.

[Wydown Blvd.]

Added to the Wash U roster is a tranfer from Arkansas State, Halsey Ward, a 5-8 Guard Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy). Halsey was a walk-on at Arkansas State, and barely played (7 total minutes in 3 games). I am sure that Wash. U is happy to have her. Most transfers that they have received (such as Nicky Huels) are hard workers. IMO, Ward, coming from her walk-on position, is probably a hard worker after being a practice player for a year.

[newtonnancy]

Allen,

Just saw a Sunday Morning article out here about the women's recruiting class at U Chicago, looks like they have high hopes for this season and really quite a class of freshmen. Any thoughts on the upcoming season.

How's brandeis looking? Ncaa repeat? will Wash U and NYU be their usual togh selves?

Come its right around the corner

[martin]

The Chicago women (and men) are in Italy for a tour.  They won their first game -
The University of Chicago women's basketball team tipped off its Italian basketball tour with a convincing 67-48 victory over Palestrina Basketball Club.

You can follow tour happenings at:
http://athletics.uchicago.edu/womensbasketball/wbk-italytrip06.htm

[newtonnancy]

Italy seems to be the in spot this summer, although does anybody other then me think priorities are screwy when you look at the Messiah and Brandeis photo's on the home page. I mean, Messiah heads to a third world country, does charity work and community service and plays 5 games while we see Brandeis played two whole games and sent a picture from the yacht the rented. Interesting

[newtonnancy]

I know Allen will think I am a traitor but, I just saw the Maroons non-conference schedule for this upcoming season and I have officially switched to become a University of Chicago fan (also the fact I thought I would only be here for 12 months which now turned into a long term position helped).

I am impressed with the Marrons schedule and the fact that they are not shying away from anyone in the non-conference part of the schedule...playing the likes of Buena Vista, Wittenburg, Kalamazoo, WI-Whitewater, Johns Hopkins and Wheaton will prepare this team for a big run and NCAA bid, whereas my old fav Brandeis continues to pick up teams that it can beat by 50, I see it lost MIT but picked up a team that is actually less competitive in Simmons.

All I can say is it looks like my Maroons will be prepared for the UAA, they have been competitve the past 2 years and this year may get over those 4 point losses to Brandeis and suprise NYU and others....

Can't wait for the GAMES TO BEGIN!

[deiscanton]

Brandeis recruiting class:

1.)  Janelle Biamonte 5-8 G Secaucus, NJ (Marist HS)

(Note-- if I am wrong, correct me-- Biamonte originally was going to West Point (Army) to play basketball, but changed her mind and decided to go to Brandeis in late April, according to news accounts.)

2.)  Carmela Breslin  5-7 G  McKees Rocks, PA (Oakland Catholic HS-- Pittsburgh)

(Oakland Catholic was among the top 15 high school basketball teams in the country last season, according to Sports Illustrated.)

3.)  Jessica Chapin 5-7  G Mendon, NY (Honeyone Falls-Lima HS)

4.)  Chelsey Dionne 6-1 F   Farmingdale, ME (Hall-Dale HS)

5.)  Kasey Gieschen 6-1 F  Boonton Township, NJ (Mountain Lakes HS)

6.)  Lauren Rashford 5-6 G  Whitesboro, NY (Whitesboro HS)

It is not really a tradition of Brandeis Sports Information to compile a press release detailing the high school accomplishments of their recruits, but from reading news reports via the Internet of these recruits, Coach Carol Simon has once again succeeded in building a strong recruiting class to come to Brandeis.

As for the schedule, the only real difference that I can see in the regular non-conference schedule from past seasons is that Brandeis will play 8 of their 10 non-conference games in the first semester.  Tufts is the first opponent back for the Judges in the second semster before UAA play.  Simmons gets placed into the schedule instead of MIT on the basis that Simmons tends to get a better overall regional record, but there does not seem to be that much difference in the caliber of opposition between Simmons and MIT.  I would have preferred a tougher team in that slot like Salem State, Emmanuel, or Williams, and played any of those 3 teams in the first semester instead. The timing of the games, however, looks better than last season.  Due to the physical nature of the conference once Association play starts, Brandeis will need the time in between conference games to rest and prepare for the next weekend.

Brandeis's success in the conference will depend on whether or not a combination of Kiersten Holgash (who will probably get the initial start at point guard this season), Jessica Chapin (who will probably also play minutes at point guard when Holgash needs rest), and others will prove physically and mentally tough enough to lead the team on the floor in UAA play and get the assists to Caitlin Malcolm, Jaime Capra, Lauren Orlando, and the other big forwards, but also be game-savvy enough to make the best game decisions based on how the defense shapes up on any play.

Bob DeMartino would say that the best UAA teams also tend to have the point guards who are "stocky."  i.e. point guards who are both mentally and physically tough enough to lead the team on the floor.   The point guards, in my view, will be the big question at Brandeis this season.

On defense, Brandeis will have to be both physically tough and mentally smart.

From a crowd perspective-- the Brandeis student body is going to be really pulling hard and focusing more on the men's basketball team and hoping for the Brandeis men to finish at or near the top of the UAA this season and go to the NCAAs, as this looks to be the year where Brandeis has a men's team very capable of accomplishing these goals.   How will the Brandeis women's team react if they are not the main focus on campus this season?

I would not be surprised if Brandeis went undefeated in non-conference play and finished out of the top 4 in the UAA this season just because of the obvious difference in quality of competition between the UAA and the local portion of the schedule. (Plus, the obvious question of performance abilities of the point guards when UAA play comes around.)  Chicago will look to bounce back from a season in which the Maroons did well on the road, but not so great at home in league play.  Any game between Brandeis and Chicago tends to be close, and depending on how the games play out, it is not beyond the realm of possibility for either team to pull off a sweep over the other team this season. 

Emory also looks to be a women's basketball team on the rise in the UAA, as the Eagles posted some big victories in Atlanta last season.  Look for Emory to be tough at home this season, and it would not be surprising for Emory to pick up some significant road victories over strong teams this season.

From what I have heard from Bob DeMartino in my calls with him, he doesn't seem too impressed with the NYU women and how they will fare this season.

Despite the losses of Kelly Manning and Danielle Beehler, Wash U still has enough proven strength at the point guard position that they will once again be the team to beat in the UAA (like they are every season.)

And these are my two cents.....

PS-- After I saw Hope College's victories over Scranton and Southern Maine in Springfield last season, if anyone in Chicago decides to root for Chicago, I have no hard feelings.  At my age,  I understand that business is business....

[deiscanton]

Well, here is my early prediction on the basketball record for the Brandeis women's team (just based on my gut instinct).

Brandeis will go 8-6 in the UAA (My early prediciton).

(0-2 v. Wash U, will split with NYU, Chicago, Rochester, and Emory, and go 2-0 v. Case and Carnegie Mellon).

Brandeis may take an upset loss in local play due to the number of games that the Judges will be playing in the first semester-- so 9-1 in non-conf. play will be my prediciton.

Overall, I predict a 17-7 mark if everyone on the Brandeis women's team stays healthy (Brandeis does not usually have as much quality depth as other UAA teams such as Wash U, so the starters really have to stay healthy and well for this mark to be met.)

NCAA re-appearance not a slam dunk-- could be more "bubble" than last season.

[martin]

Coaches' Poll for 2006-07

1. Washington (6)  48  1-1-1-1-1-1-2 
2. Rochester (2)  40 1-1-2-2-3-3-4 
    Brandeis 40 2-2-2-2-2-3-3 
4. NYU 31  3-3-3-4-4-4-4 
5. Chicago 24  3-4-4-5-5-5-6 
6. Emory 20  4-5-5-5-5-6-6 
7. Case 14  5-6-6-6-6-6-7 
8. Carnegie Mellon  7  7-7-7-7-7-7-7 

[martin]

Six UAA teams got votes in the preseason D3Hoops poll - which closely tracks the views of the UAA coaches:

12.  Washington  (279)
14.  Rochester  (268)
15.  Brandeis  (245)
35.  Chicago  (22)
38.  NYU  (18)
50.  Emory  (2)

[mark_reichert]

On a completely different note, I just want people to clear up one thing for me before the start of the new season:

What possible argument can be made that any other team in the 25 years of the DIII Woman's tournament can be said to equal the 1999-2000 Bears team?

(Mind you I'm just talking those 25 years.  The Carol Blazejowski led Montclair State College, which also didn't offer scholarships, would probably have run the Bears off the court, but I'm talking specifically the tournament era and the teams that participated in it)


I was wrong to object that Gary Fifield was saying the Hope team was superior to the 2000 Bears, because this is the quote:

"We got beat by as good a team in Division II as I've seen," said Southern Maine head coach Gary Fifield. "They're athletic, they have great size and great depth. I think they would beat a lot of Division I teams. That's as good a team as I've seen and I've been around for a few years."

I just don't see how a team that only beat your 2006 team by 13 points is as good as a team that beat your 2000 team by 46, with two members of the Division III 25th Anniversary team riding the bench for much even most of the game.  Rodgers only played 14 minutes (and scored 14 points).  Was the 2000 team that much crappier than the 2006 Southern Maine team?  Ditto the fact that Hope barely beat the 2006 Bears by three points at DePauw in front of my eyes, and I would never say the 2006 Bears are as good as the 2000 team and I've saw both.

I would just like to know the reasoning, because I didn't get much when I objected last spring, mostly a lot of objecting to my objecting.  I just don't like historical revisionism in any form.  Perhaps arguing what was the best team of the past 25-26 years deserves its own topic area, especially with the just celebrated anniversary, but I thought I might be treading on thin enough ice bringing it up at all much less starting a new topic.