And so am I – just had some parental visits bookending a couple of full weeks – plus a drop in from a mid-west guest. Wheeee! Of course, the weather has finally turned for the better, so birding may cut into my time until the W season really gets going…and then there’s July SCUBA. Ah, life…
Did manage to catch some of the foolishness around the Plum-inator. I guess there’s something to be said for “there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” but I gotta believe that your agent throwing shade at your future coach is not a good work plan. That being said, folks will make their own judgments on players – some based on observations, some based on interactions. They’re entitled to them. I’m just amazed how much energy folks can spend on disdain/dissing. Seems exhausting. But that’s just me.
Moving on the the court or, in a couple of cases, NOT on the court.
We knew this, but it’s a reminder from Summitt Hoops: 2017 WNBA Preview: How big can Atlanta Dream without Angel McCoughtry?
Oh, dear: New York Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer: Shoni Schimmel is taking time off
Also: Dallas Wings guard Aerial Powers does not expect to be ready for season opener
.com: Kelsey Plum Leads San Antonio to Victory With 19 Points in Preseason Debut. And yes, No. 1 pick Kelsey Plum could help out some NFL teams with her rocket arm. Liked the media buzz around this, but do folks not understand that women basketball players are, you know, athletes, and that other players could do the same thing?
Dallas: .com: Five Reasons To Watch The Wings Work This Season
Dallas News: Thoughts from Dallas Wings’ preseason opener: Mixed bag for rookies, defense struggles in loss
More Dallas News: Wings’ large rookie class trying to make impact on Dallas as it adjusts to WNBA
And MORE Dallas News: Dallas Wings rookie Kaela Davis talks ‘juggling act’ of transition to WNBA, finishing South Carolina Degree
Yes! MORE Dallas News: Wings rookie Evelyn Akhator on how she spent draft night, transition to WNBA, keeping in …
In case you want more on the Wings: PODCAST: Dallas Wings GM/president Greg Bibb talks WNBA Draft, Skylar Diggins and more
From The Bend Bulletin: Hamblin’s journey from Corvallis to Dallas to Australia … to Tokyo?
Excelle: Don’t call her a “female athlete”: How Skylar Diggins really sees herself on and off the court
Indiana
Indy Star: Fever notebook: Coaching job (at Arizona State) doesn’t mean Briann January done as player. Also: Veteran guard Briann January ready to step up as Fever’s leader
Seattle: .com: Five Reasons To Watch The Storm Work This Season (which is why I’m hoping for a west coast trip this summer…)
Interesting: How Seattle Storm’s Ramu Tokashiki turned women’s basketball into one of Japan’s most popular sports
FanRag: 2017 WNBA players to watch | Jewell Loyd
Connecticut: .com: Five Reasons To Watch The Sun Work This Season
The Day: Hamson standing out in a crowd for the Sun
The Day: Sun outlook is brighter … even without their best player
WNPR: WNBA’s Connecticut Sun Hoping For 2017 Playoff Return
Norwich Bulletin: With ‘Core Four’ in place, Miller says to ‘trust the process’
Washington: .com: Five Reasons To Watch The Mystics Work This Season
Washington Post: After 10 seasons in the WNBA, Ivory Latta remains Washington Mystics’ bundle of energy
Summitt Hoops: 2017 WNBA Preview: Elena Delle Donne brings Washington Mystics one step closer to contention
Minnesota
Twin Cities-Pioneer Press: For veteran Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen, less is more
CBS Minnesota: Shao Ting, China’s Top Player, Is Training With The Lynx
Also: Cheryl Reeve: WNBA’s Popularity Is About ‘Society Changing Views About Women’
Chicago
ESPN: Texas two-step: How WNBA’s Imani Boyette and her NFL draft-prospect husband power through
Atlanta
More FanRag: 2017 WNBA players to watch | Tiffany Hayes
Phoenix: .com: Five Reasons To Watch The Mercury Work This Season
Balancing act: Mercury Coach Brondello Named Australia WNT Head Coach
Other Stuff
It’s a numbers game: WNBA Record Watch: All-Time Records That Will Be Challenged This Season
Summitt Hoops: The Money Line: Odds, Prediction for WNBA Rookie of the Year
Hard pass? Liz Cambage open to WNBA return, plans to visit Erin Phillips and Dallas Wings
College:
The State: As a senior, A’ja Wilson wants to go back-to-back with young teammates
Also: Letters: Dawn Staley should be paid like Frank Martin
Devils in the Details: ASU Basketball: A Look at Next Season’s Women’s Frontcourt
Lincoln Journal Star: Eichorst has high expectations for Nebraska women’s basketball program
Hookem.com: Texas hires sports performance coach for women’s basketball team
ESPN: With a motor and a mentor, elite basketball recruit Cate Reese moves forward with diabetes
Reese has been a starter since her freshman year, when she helped lead Cypress Woods to its only state title. She averaged 22.3 points and 13.2 rebounds this past season, making first-team all-state.
Not even the life-altering news she got a year ago has been able to stop her.
On April 4, 2016, Reese was told she had Type 1 diabetes, a diagnosis that stunned her even though her older sister, Ali, has dealt with the same disease for the past eight years. Cate had hoped to avoid that fate.
Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette: Sunday Conversation: New Head Coach Nancy Fahey
The Setonian: Bozzella ‘excited’ for women’s basketball class
Bozeman Daily Chronicle:As MSU’s Binford hopeful upward trend can continue, the Bobcats women extend recruiting net
To bolster her program, Tricia Binford has looked east.
The Big East and Minnesota, to be specific. The Montana State women’s head coach announced last week the addition of two Seton Hall transfer forwards, signaling an apparent victory for a mid-major looking to attract greater talent.
Junior Claire Lundberg and sophomore Martha Kuderer did not just stumble upon the Bobcats, though. Both are products of the AAU club Minnesota Fury, which bills itself as a marquee program in the Midwest.
On the move: Ohio State women’s basketball | Ohio State one of five possible transfer destinations for Wise
On the road again: UConn’s Natalie Butler to transfer to George Mason
Bye: IUWBB: Laken Wairau leaves women’s basketball program, intends to stay at IU as a student
In case you missed it: Two more Louisville women’s basketball players to transfer
Leaving: Sole, Hernandez Pepe Complete Their Transfers From UMaine Women’s Basketball Team
Landing: William & Mary women’s Basketball Adds Georgetown Transfer Harper Birdsong
Don’t be an idiot: K-State women’s basketball player Eternati Willock arrested in Manhattan
Congrats: Baranczyk Tabbed as 2017 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team Trials Court Coach. Also: Adair Named Court Coach for USA Basketball Women’s U19 World. They’ll work with the 35 Athletes who Accepted Invitations To USA U16 National Team Trials.
I also know one very happy USA Basketball person: USA Basketball Announces Plan To Keep Headquarters In Colorado Springs
Welcome: Kevin Baker to become Miners’ next women’s basketball coach and ESPN El Paso thinks: Kevin Baker is an Exceptional Hire for UTEP Women’s Basketball
Welcome, too: Belmont hires DePaul assistant Bart Brooks as women’s basketball coach
Thank you! University of Delaware women’s basketball Tina Martin coach retires
Thank you! Nancy Funk, women’s basketball coach at Johns Hopkins for 31 years, to retire
As the Eagles welcome new head coach Lynette Woodard, The Herald asks What happened to Winthrop women’s basketball and former coach Kevin Cook? I still wonder at his exit from Gallaudet.
Speaking of stories, oh, to be a fly on the wall: Mark Trakh back as USC women’s basketball coach and Back on Trakh: Mark Trakh returns as USC women’s basketball head coach
Yes, it sure seems like Transfers Rampant in Women’s Basketball, but I refer you (again) to coach Yo’s periscope. Also, though it’s about the men’s side, you might want to check out this piece:
High School
Cool! Glory days: Krissi Davis, 1987 Noblesville High School girls basketball team earn ultimate honor
Missouri: Mercer girls basketball coach Owens no stranger to success (Note to news sites – put your full physical address on your website, please!)
Mercer girls basketball coach Dan Owens is no stranger to success.
But with a 243-20 record over his eight-year coaching career and a district championship every season he’s coached, there was only one painfully absent stamp on his resumé that he needed: a Class 1 State Championship.
With a 30-1 record and a 43-34 victory over Walnut Grove, the 2016-2017 Cardinals squad finally brought him one.
Thank you! Successful Kenton Ridge girls coach calls it a career
In the 33 years that Ed Foulk has coached girls basketball at Kenton Ridge, the program has been one of the most consistently successful in the state. The Cougars set dozens of state and national records and advanced to the district finals 20 times.
But if the success will continue, it will be under new leadership. Foulk told the team Monday night that he is retiring, and assistant coaches Stephanie Bennett and Laaci Farris Miller are also stepping down.
Foulk began his coaching career in 1973 and has been at the helm of the Cougars’ girls basketball team since 1984, six years after the school opened. He amassed a career record of 619-176 at Kenton Ridge and is in the top 10 in all-time wins in Ohio.