Shocker WBB 2019-2020 Offseason/Preseason

[1972Shocker]

Keitha Adams, Wichita State Agree to 2-Year Extension

Wichita State athletic director Darron Boatright announced Wednesday morning that women's basketball head coach Keitha Adamshas agreed to a two-year contract extension through 2024.

Adams is 26-35 in her first two seasons at Wichita State, including a 14-18 mark in American Athletic Conference play. This past season Adams had to replace eight seniors from the 2017-18 season to field the fifth youngest team in the country.

"We are committed to Coach Adams and her continued leadership of our women's basketball program," Boatright said. "Her passion and excitement for Wichita State is contagious. We look forward to helping make her vision for this program a reality."

"I'm extremely honored to be the head women's basketball coach at Wichita State," Adams said. "I appreciate the support and commitment from the administration as we continue to work hard to build this program."

---

Probably a good move by WSU. I agree that HCKA and her staff have shown great passion for the program and seem to have a great work ethic. But this is a turn around that will require some time. HCKA seems like an extremely likable person but I think she can be tough with her team when she needs to be.

Achieving success is step one. Maintaining a consistently successful program is the next and perhaps more difficult step. Jody Adams had things going a bit for a 5-year stretch but that imploded pretty quickly at the end of her tenure. I wish HCKA the best of luck.

Hopefully, HCKA can get her classes balanced out better over time or achieving consistent success will be difficult. It will be very interesting to see what kind of improvement the Shockers will make next year with still a very young and relatively inexperienced team as no player on next year's roster has more than 1 year of D-1 experience.

[1972Shocker]

2019-20 Conference Pairings Announced

Wichita State Conference Pairings
Home Only: Cincinnati, Memphis, USF
Away Only: UCF, UConn, Houston
Home & Away: ECU, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa

The complete 2019-20 women's basketball composite schedule with dates and times will be announced in late August.

[1972Shocker]

nm

[1972Shocker]

I wasn't aware that the Shocks had some turnover on their WBB coaching staff. Jeff Osterman after only 1 year as an assistant has apparently moved on as has DOBO Jayson Miller after 2 years at Wichita State. Not that either guy had much visibility at all with the program.

Adams Completes Staff with Two Additions

Chester Nichols fills the assistant coach opening after spending the previous five seasons at West Virginia University as the associate head coach filling Osterman's position. Interestignly, Osterman was also an associate head coach when he left USF for WSU. Usually you figure the next step for an associate head coach is a head coaching position somewhere. Not sure what, if anything, that means.



Prior to Wichita State, Nichols has held assistant positions at West Virginia (2014-19 & 2003-09), Michigan (2012-14), Kansas (2010-12) and UCF (2009-10).

Coach Nichols is reportedly considered one of the nation's top recruiters, and he played an instrumental role in bringing five top-20 recruiting classes to WVU. He has certainly been around. Let's hope he lives up to his recruiting reputation and is around long enough for that to payoff.

Obviously the DOBO position is not nearly as important. That position us being filled by Erica Yancy, a former player for Adams at UTEP from 2005-07. Yancey was also an NJCAA All-American at Penn Valley Community College (Mo.) in 2004. Most recently, Yancey has spent the last five years at State Farm as a business lines underwriter, CIR survey analyst and support center representative. She has split time in both the Dallas and Atlanta areas over that span.

[wusphlash]

Nichols is evidently the restless type. Must be a fan of Whitesnake.

[shoxlax]

Chester’s wife is from Kansas. WV had a coaching change which led him to looking elsewhere. Great upgrade and has many connections. Was an Asst Coach in Ocala Florida under Gene Smithson. Said Gene never met a four letter word he didn’t like and anyone within earshot was fair game.

I think you will like Chester.

[ShockTalk]

What coaching change? It looks like 3 long time WV staff left or was let go. Head coach Mike Carey is still there and Nichols had his bio place with the BDS Agency (looking for a job). Assistant Lester Rowe had been there 8 years (had also been a player and assistant for the men's team) and 8 years for Pat Biondo (assistant / DOBO).

[WstateU]

I sure like his Chophouse & Wine Bar...

[shoxlax]

I guess I should’ve said an assistant coaching change or two or three. My guess is there is another coach being groomed to take over and it wasn’t going to be him. In any event, happy to have Chester on board.

[ShockTalk]

I agree that this looks like a great get for WSU. Sorry if I took your meaning wrong before as I just assumed they hired a new head coach and that person was going to have their own staff.
As a note, this will be Nichols' replacement's first stint as an associate head coach, but she is on a fast track. Her 1st year at WV will be her 9th stop in 15 years. If she is being groomed for the head job, I'd have to wonder if she'll be there more than a couple of years.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks will be playing Montana State and Virginia Tech in Puerto Rico on Dedember 20th and 21st.

https://goshockers.com/news/2019/8/1/womens-basketball-shockers-to-compete-in-2019-puerto-rico-coqui-classic.aspx

With the return of Bobcat standouts guard Oliana Squires and forward Martha Kuderer, Montana State has the personnel to best last season's 16-15 record. Both Squires and Kuderer averaged double-figures in scoring in 2018-19. Squires also led the team in assists last season.

Coming off a 22-12 record in 2018-19, the Virginia Tech Hokies have a good foundation heading into 2019-20. Head coach Kenny Brooks continues to elevate the program which returns sharpshooting sophomore Dara Mabrey. During her freshman year, Mabrey led the team in three-point shooting and averaged 11.2 points per game.

Looks like two solid nuetral court games for the Lady Shocks although probably not quite as tough as last year's Duel in the Dessert in Las Vegas at the same time of the year where they lost 43-65 to Northwestern and 59-85 to Washington State.

[1972Shocker]

Wichita State Announces 2019-20 Non-Conference Slate

7 home games, 4 road games and 2 neutral sight games.

The home schedule (with last year's opponents RPI) includes the season opener against Northern Iowa (96) and games with Oklahoma (154) and Eastern Michigan (201). Games against Southern (147), Houston Baptist (332), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (349) and Grambling State (206) round out the home slate.

Road games are at Oral Roberts (158), Louisiana Tech (173), Missouri State (40) and Creighton (95). Neutral sight games in Puerto Rico include Montana State (150) and Virginia Tech (64)

Hard to know how the Lady Shocks (ACC worst RPI rank of 256 last year) will fare this year. A lot of young players gained valuable experience last year. How much they can build on that and how much the newcomers can contribute will tell the tale. Most likely the Shocks are still at least a year away from becoming a Top 150 team.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker sophomore Carla Bremaud is plaing for France in the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship.

So far France is kicking butt with wins over Germany (77-50), Italy (52-34) and the Netherlands (86-35). France plays Sweden tomorrow.

Individually, Carla is playing about 15 minutes a game while averaging 8 points and 3 rebounds per game. However, she is not shooting the ball great as she is only 5/19 (26.3%) on 3 points attempts. She only scored 3 points on 3 free throws in the 1st game against Germany and was 0-4 from behind the arc in 8 minutes. In game 2 against Itally her minutes increased to 13 and she scored 10 points (including 2-5 treys) and grabbed 4 rebounds. In the total destruction of the Netherlands she played 23 minutes (most likely so the starters could rest their legs) and contributed 11 points (including 3-10 treys ) and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Hopefully, this will be good experience for Carla but the Shocks definitely need her to be more efficient with her 3-point shooting. She shot 30.5% last year from outside the arc. I think the Shocks need her to be at least 35% this year. Not showing that ability so far in this FIBA European Championship.

[flyingMoose]

With a big 4th quarter, Italy rolled past France 56-43, to face Russia, a 51-50 winner over Belgium, for the Championship. Carla played only 30 seconds with nothing but zeroes in her stat line.

[flyingMoose]

Carla had 3+ minutes in a rout of Belgium as France took third. She missed her only shot, a three-pointer.

[1972Shocker]

Carly did not play in the Semi-Final loss to Itally and only 3 minutes in the 3rd place game vs Belgiium. She finishes 5-27 (18.5%) from beyond the arc. That has got to get much better or HCKA might have to give her at least a yellow light if not a red light.

[1972Shocker]

This is about 11 more reps that I could do:

Coach Wilkerson's Bio

[WuDrWu]

Wow. That's impressive!

[1972Shocker]

RH: Shockers Sophomore Played in FIBA Tournament

Sully takes a look at Carla Bremaud's stint with the Under-20 French National Team. Didn't delve too deeply into the basketball nuts and bolts. Mentioned that Carla averaged 3.4 points and 9.8 minutes in seven games in a shooting guard role especially when the opposing team played a zone defense. He did not mention that Carly did not shoot well as she was 5-27 from beyond the arc. The Shocks will need more than that from Carla this year. She needs to be making at least a third of her trey attempts.

That's not to say it was a waste of time for Carla. Sounds like were some positive aspects of that experience that hopefully will provide some benefits for Carla going forward.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Shockers Start Practice on Sunday

Hopefully, Dr. Dish will prove to be beneficial for the Lady Shocks. No question that they need to improve their shooting over last year's 43% on 2-point shots, 27.4% on 3-point shots (38.8% overall) and shooting including 631% from the line.

Have to pull for a young lady like 5-5 Sr. Ashley Reid putting in the work in the off-season to improve. 5-11 So. Carla Bremaud struggled with her 3-point shooting while playing with the Under-20 French team in the FIBA Championship this summer hitting only 5-27 (18.5%) of her treys. Carla showed flashes as a freshman that she can be a solid 3-point maker. 5-8 So. Seraphine Bastin is also one who should be able to signficiantly improve her perimter game. Hopefully, Juco transfers 5-7 Jr. Mariah McCully and 5-8 Jr. Vendela Danielson can carryover their 41.1% and 39.6% 3-point shooting, respectively, from their sophomore years in Juco ball. Note that Mariah apparently sat out last year so she might be a bit rusty. The other guard on the roster is 5-8 true freshman DJ McCarty who sounds like more of an athletic/slasher type who can get to the basket who could be a good defender but is not yet a strong perimeter shooter. Perhaps DJ will be a redshirt candidate but we will see.

At the wing/small forward position will be 6-1 Sr/ Raven Prince who proved to be a really good rebounder but she gets her points close in. Raven only shot 48.4% from the free throw line last year and that hurt since she got to the line more any any other Shocker last year. Hopefully, Raven can improve on that significantly this year. 5-11 So. Shyia Smith is a bit of a tweener. Very athletic. Probably between as a slasher than an outside shooter. 5-10 So. Jaida Hampton shot free throws well last year but strugged from the field. I think both Shyia and Jaida were sped as freshmen last year and where hurt by poor decisions and poor shot selection at times. Stuff that worked in high school just didn't fly at this level. Hopefully, we'll see a better mental approach this year. 5-11 Sr. Maya Brewer showed occasional flashes of really being able to socre but seemed to be afflicted with jucoitis in her game. She could be a really good contributor if she can buy into a team concept and let the game come to her. 5-10 R-Fr. Natalia Ryng redshired last year. Not sure what she might be able to bring to the table but I'm not anticipating too much from her.

Finally, where's the beef. Well the Shockers have a good supply. 6-5 Jr. Diamond Forrest, a juco transfer from Walters State, 6-3 R-So. Asia Henderson, 6-2 So. Trajata Colbert and 6-3 Fr. Ashlei Kirven will take up a lot of space in the paint and, hopefully, will suprise storng rebounding. Not sure that any of these ladies will be big scorers but we will see. I am pretty sure the great majority of their scoring will be in the paint around the basket. I thought Asia showed quite a bit of improvenent last year over her prior year redshirt. I thought HCKA should have redshirted Trajata last year but she decided not to do that. Whether Ashlei might redshirt his year is hard to say. All of these post players are pretty big bodies and should be able ot hodl their own physically against most of the teams on the Shocker schedule. I think the big question will be the skill level they are able to bring. If we can get strong rebounding, some reasonable level of defense and decent free throw shooting form this group that will work. Diamond actually played behind a 6-4 Memphis recruit last year who was the 10th ranked Juco players nationally and only averaged 12.2 MPG. Nevertheless, she was pretty productive in those minutes averaging 6.8 PPG and 3.0 RPG while shooting 59.1% from the field including 4-6 on 3-pointers and a very nice 40-51 for 78.4% from the line. I would expect her to get at least 20 minutes per game as a Shocker, maybe 25 if she can stay out of foul trouble. Asia and Trajata both played somewhat limited minutes last year with both logging only 150 minutes total. Asia shot 36.2% from the field and 63.2% from the line while Trajata was 41.8% from the field and only 42.1% from the line. Will have to wait and see what Ashlei will be able to contribute. I wouldn't rush her and certainly would consider a redshirt if she ends up 4th on the depth chart among this group.

My guess is you can write in 5-8 So. Seraphine Bastin as the starting point guard, 5-11 So. Carla Bremaud at shooting guard, 6-1 Sr Raven Prince at small forward and 6-5 Jr Diamond Forrest at center. I think the the other wing is up for grabs with a lot of options. Ashely Reid will be the back up at the point.

[1972Shocker]

Last year the Lady Shocks finished the season at 12-18 including a 1st round loss to Tulsa in the AAC Tournament. The Shocks were 5-11 in AAC regular season play finishing in a 4-way tie with SMU, Memphis and Tulane at the bottom of the AAC standings. However, the Shockers had the worst RPI in the AAC with a final ranking of 256.

Based on last year's rankings the Shockers only have 2 teams on their 2019-20 schedule with worse RPI's than the Shockers. Houston Baptist at 332 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 349.

Not sure where to set my expectations this year. The non-con schedule is not overly challenging. I think finishing at 15-14 on the season would be a good goal for this team althought I don't necessarily think that is the ceiling for this team and this schedule.

I think the Shockers may still be a year away from being a good basketball team but would love to see them beat that time frame.

[1972Shocker]

After watching the Lady Shockers at the Black and Yellow Scrimmage Saturday I saw nothing to get me particularly excited about this team at this point. I will say that it is still early and that it is hard to look good in a intra-squad scrimmage when the defenses know exactly what the offenses are running.

I really did not care for the offense we were running, especially in the 1st half. To much one-on-one and not enough team oriented basketball.

I did not see any signs that we will be an improved shooting team this year which is a must if the team is going to be better. The two squads combined to shoot 17-47 from the field (36.2%) including 3-13 on three point shots (23.1%) and 4-11 from the free throw line (36.4%).

The Shocks did have 4 players who did not play. 6-3 Fr. post Ashlei Kirven, Juco transfer guards Mariah McCulley and Vendela Dannielson were in attendance but not suited up I'm assuming injuries. Mariah in particular was limping noticeably. Also, I did not see 6-3 R-So. Asia Henderson in attendance. McCulley and Dannielson might help out with the shooting but who knows for sure.

The Shocker have added some size in 6-5 Juco transfer Diamond Forrest who is a large young lady. However, she is not terrible athletic, mobile or quick. She will probably get some things done down low especially against teams that can't match up physically. However, she might have trouble with quicker post players. Freshman guard DJ McCarty looks like she could be a good point guard in the right offense and a pretty good defender. Whether she will play much this year is hard to say. Might be better to redshirt her. Would have liked to have seen McCulley, Dannieslon and Kirven but that wasn't in the cards.

The Lady Shocks aren't used to playing in front of that kind of a crowd at home. Unfortunately, I don't think they won over any new fans on Saturday.

Will have to see how they look a month from now in their exhibition game with Missouri Southern.

[1972Shocker]

Moved by OP.