Shocker WBB 2022-2023 Offseason/Preseason

[1972Shocker]

I suppose the biggest offseason news so far was the hiring of former OSU head coach Jim Littell as an assistant to HCKA.

https://shockernet.net/forum/wichita-state-athletics/wichita-state-women-s-sports/1347776-wbb-new-assistant-coach#post1353038

Whether this amounts to anything other than just a stop-gap favor by HCKA's semi-retired former coach and mentor remains to be seen. Not sure if former assistant Chester NIchols' departure for Southern Illinois was caused by or was the catalyst for Coach Littell's hiring. No question that Coach Littell is a quality addition to the staff.

The spring NLI signing period came to a close this past Wednesday, May 18th, with no additional signings announced. So any roster additions between now and the start of the fall semester will not be official until the start of the fall semester. At this point HCKA has no incoming freshman signed for next year or at least none that have been announced. That may be in indication she will fill out her roster with international recruits or perhaps is just waiting until she is done and will announce any additional signings collectively at that time.

At this point the 2022-23 roster as currently shown on goShocker.com consists of 8 returning players. In addition, HCKA did sign 1 junior college player, 5-10 SG Ambah Kowcun, in the early signing period last year.

2nd Year Sophomores: 5-7 Nhug Bosch Duran, 5-7 Tanya Platonova, 6-4 Ella Anciaux
3rd Year Sophomores: 5-11 Shamaryah Duncan, 6-0 Carla Budane, 5-10 Ambah Kowcun
4th Year Junior: 5-8 DJ McCarty
4th Year Senior: 6-1 Jane Asinde
5th Year Senior: 6-2 Trajata Colbert

I would think that Jane Asinde would have a Covid year available to her but she is listed as a senior on the roster.

So HCKA has 6 scholarships available if she wants to use her full allotment which she usually does. We'll see what happens. But with 4 starters moving on this team will certainly have a new look this next year.
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[1972Shocker]

[WuDrWu]

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/6/2/womens-basketball-shockers-add-five-signees.aspx

Honest question....are we even trying, I mean really trying?

A bench player from Seton Hall, the 3rd leading scorer from Farleigh Dickinson, a couple of jucos and the 93,653rd ranked player in the world from Spain.

https://play.fiba3x3.com/players/9a8730be-81e9-45f4-a218-f89234ac7406

It sounds snarky, I know, but is there really a plan or just go sign 5 that someone somewhere said might be able to play.

[WstateU]

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/6/2...e-signees.aspx


Honest question....are we even trying, I mean really trying?

A bench player from Seton Hall, the 3rd leading scorer from Farleigh Dickinson, a couple of jucos and the 93,653rd ranked player in the world from Spain.

https://play.fiba3x3.com/players/9a8...8-f89234ac7406

It sounds snarky, I know, but is there really a plan or just go sign 5 that someone somewhere said might be able to play.

I don't mean to laugh, but first thought you were jerking our chains. Note 'Comic Sans MS' font...


"World Ranking 93,652nd"



P.S. We need a new AD STAT!

[SubGod22]

If this is is how we're moving forward Keitha is on the hot seat as soon as a new AD is hired.

[1972Shocker]

It sounds snarky, I know, but is there really a plan or just go sign 5 that someone somewhere said might be able to play.

Keep in mind that WBB has a 15 scholarship limit. The Shockers have 8 returning players, signed 1 player to an NLI last fall and are now adding 5 more players. So at this point HCKA is looking at a roster of 14 which is more than enough if they all show up and hang around.

Of these 14 players at least 3 of them will be primarily practice players who won't play very much. Although it's possible half this roster may prove to be practice player quality.

Also keep in mind HCKA is pretty much a lame duck coach at this point with only 2 more seasons left on her current contract (as far as I know). I would note that of her 6 incoming recruits none are coming in from U.S. high schools. 1 freshman from Spain, 2 D-1 transfers and 3 juco transfers..

If the Shocks were going to win or at least show some improvement you would have thought we would have seen that last year with Bastin, Bremaud, Strong, McCully, Asinde, McCarty and Colbert as the core of the team. Only 3 of those 7 are returning this year.

I thinkD 2 of the juco recruits (the fall signee Kowcun and the recently signed LaLa) have a chanced to be contributors. Perhaps the young lady transferring from Farleigh Dickinson can contribute if for no other reason than her 42% 3 point shooting (35-84) was far better than anyone the Shocks had last year.

At this point only McCarty, Colbert and Asinde have established themselves as capable of playing key roles at this level.

Whether or not adding former Okie State head coach Jim Littell to the mix will making any difference is also an unknown. You still have to have players.

I expect the Shockers will be picked to finish last in the coaches' preseason voting come next fall.

Obviously, making a decision on the direction of the WBB program will be something the new AD will have to address. I doubt any decisions will be forthcoming until after this next season at the earliest and, even then, finances might dictate that, even if the AD wants to go a different direction, HCKA will be allowed to finish out the final 2 seasons on her contract.

First things first though. We need to get Men's Basketball on firm footing or else not much else really matters. That challenge, in and of itself, will be quite challenging in the current environment.

[1972Shocker]

Stumbled across this site that has quite a bit of WBB recruiting and transfer information:

https://wbbblog.com/womens-basketball-transfers-d-i-2021-22/25/

I was aware that Asia Strong had transferred to Syracuse but I had not heard that Seraphine Bastin had transferred to Jacksonville. Both are grad transfers with 1 year of eligibility remaining.

Here is the Jacksonville announcement regarding Seraphine:

https://wbbblog.com/womens-basketball-transfers-d-i-2021-22/25/

[1972Shocker]

UCF - The defending AAC Champs lost their head coach, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson to Georgia. The 2021-22 AAC POY and DPOY, Diamond Battles, is following KAH to Georgia as is AAC 6th POY, Brittany Smith, for their final year of eligibility. UCF replaced KAH with Sytia Messer who was an assistant for KIm Mulkey for the past nine years at Baylor and LSU.

[1972Shocker]

At this point with a lot of guess and by golly and some process of elimination this is how I see the Shocker depth chart for next season.

1. 5-8 Jr. DJ McCarty................5-7 So. Nhug Bosch Duran........5-7 So. Tanya Platanova
2. 5-9 Jr. Aliya Bell....................5-10 Sr. Curtessia Dean
3. 5-10 So. Ambah Kowcun......5-11 So. Shamaryah Duncan.....5-10 So. Raissa Nsabua
4. 6-1 Sr. Jane Asinde...............6-1 So. Lala Niankan.................6-0 So. Carla Budane
5. 6-2 Sr. Trajata Colbert...........6-4 So. Ella Anciaux..................6-0 Fr. Daniela Abies

I suppose the 2's and the 3's are somewhat interchangeable.

Shamaryah Duncan could move into the starting rotation but she really needs to improve her shooting from last years 26.9% FG/27.5% 3FG/66.7%FT. She does have 2 years with HCKA under her belt as well. I think Shamaryah has the athletic ability. Can she bring the basketball skills into play.

I like DJ McCarty as a point guard if she can stay healthy but she is not nearly as physical as Seraphine Bastin was and very few, if any, could rebound from the PG position like Seraphine could. Plus Seraphine led the AAC in free throw shooting % last year and got to the line the most of any Shock last year. Nhug Bosch Duran showed improvement toward the end of last season. I don't know that she is really 5-7. She looks smaller. But she has good quickness and is feisty. Possible HCKA would go her her at the point and play DJ some at the 2. I suppose what some of the newcomers bring (or not) will have a lot to do with that.

It will be a challenge to replace the offensive production of Mariah McCully plus she was a pretty good defensive player as well. We will have a little more size at the 2 guard next season but we may not be as quick and Mariah was very good at taking it the basket with both hands and was decent perimeter shooter.

I thought Asia Strong was a bit up and down last year but she at 6-2 she was capable of stretching the floor and she could really run the floor. I doubt we will have that ability with this year's group of 4's. Jane Asinde was our leading rebounder last year and really pursues the ball. I'm hoping LaLa Niankan will prove to be a similar player to Jane.

Trajata had her share of strong games last year. Just needs to develop a little more consistency. Hopefully, she can finish off her Shocker career with a bang. Ella Anciaux has the height and bulk but lacks athleticism and quickness. She seems to have a decent stroke and touch. We'll just have to see how much she can improve. She didn't play a lot last year but enough to know what she is up against and she seems to be a pretty intelligent player.

Probably going to need more than a few positive surprises next year and even then it could be a struggle. That said the only AAC team they really could not play with last year was UCF. They gave 2nd place USF 2 very competitive games. I actually thought last year's team was going to do better than they did. Didn't happen.

[SubGod22]

Eagle - 'We're not satisfied': Wichita State women's basketball moves forward with new core

Restoring the program to its previous status as an annual postseason team — WSU is still chasing their first postseason bid since 2015 — is taking time and the Shockers must move forward without their previous foundation of four players who combined for 300 career starts and more than 3,300 career points.

Seraphine Bastin, Carla Bremaud, Mariah McCully and Asia Strong were the core Adams hoped would make WSU a contender again, but the Shockers did not post a winning record in American Athletic Conference play for four straight seasons.

Now Adams will attempt to build a winner with a new cast of mostly returners stepping into larger roles, but also a handful of recruits she believes will give the Shockers a new look for the 2022-23 season.

“We definitely have not been satisfied and we’re hungry and we want to do more,” said Adams, who has a record of 62-78 at WSU. “I came here to accomplish something and it’s been a process that we’ve not yet achieved, but we’re extremely motivated and working hard.

She's going to have to show something this year. You know a new AD is going to want to make changes quickly to struggling programs to put their stamp on things.

[1972Shocker]

HCKA is nothing if not a positive thinker. And you have to have that. I think TE put about as positive of a spin on that article as anyone could. We'll find out soon enough.

I guess one question I have is why wasn't the Bastin, Bremaud, McCully, and Strong led teams more successful than they were? 19-40 (32.2% winning percentage) in the top heavy AAC over the past 4 years.

[1972Shocker]

HCKA adds a final 2022 signee to finish off her allotment of 15 scholarships.

Shockers Sign JUCO All-American Jeniah Thompson

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/6/2...-thompson.aspx

Not exactly sure what we have here. Thompson, a 5-9 guard, signed with SIU out of high school and played a total of 5 minutes in 2 games turning the ball over twice and missing both of her 3-point shot attempts. The Shocker article talks about her junior year in high school but nothing mentioned about her senior year and then she pretty much was invisible in 2020-21 at Southern Illinois. Those 2 years are kind of a mysterious gap in her profile.

She transferred to John A. Logan College, an NJCAA member in her home town of Carterville, IL, for last season and put up some good numbers and earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors as outline in the Shocker article.

At Logan College she averaged 18.7 shots per game, so she certainly wasn't shy, averaging 23.2 PPG on 47.2% shooting. 110 of her 468 shots were 3-pointers where she connected on 30%. She was decent form the free throw one hitting 74.1% of her 143 attempts. She also grabbed 11.9 RPG and handed out 3.4 APG. However, she turned it over 3.8 times a game.

Her resume reminds me a little bit of Mariah McCully's resume. She played one year of Juco ball at Odessa College in Texas and one year at Wabash College, also in Southern Illinois before signing with the Shockers. But then Mariah set out the entire 2018-19 season before joining the Shockers. Mariah was a 1st Team NJCAA All-American.

So Jeniah has gaps and Mariah had gaps. Both also had good Juco stats. Hopefully, Jeniah will work out as well as Mariah did. We only had Mariah for 2 years. Jeniah has 3 years of eligibility remaining.

An interesting signing that adds to the logjam in the sophomore class. The Shocks roster has 3 seniors, 2 juniors, 9 sophomores and 1 freshman (based on eligibility remaining). Concentration in a single class has been somewhat of a hallmark for HCKA. Of course, right now recruiting freshman may be tough with HCKA only having 2 years left on her contract. It will be interesting to see how new ADKS deals with this, although I doubt women's basketball is near the top of his list for right now as far as what needs his focus and attention.

[ShockerFever]

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/6/2...e-signees.aspx


Honest question....are we even trying, I mean really trying?

A bench player from Seton Hall, the 3rd leading scorer from Farleigh Dickinson, a couple of jucos and the 93,653rd ranked player in the world from Spain.

https://play.fiba3x3.com/players/9a8730be-81e9-45f4-a218-f89234ac7406

It sounds snarky, I know, but is there really a plan or just go sign 5 that someone somewhere said might be able to play.

lol you cracked me up Doc. The current Adams is a nice guy loser, the former Adams is a meanie winner. Kietha was just a band aid that somehow has lasted 6 years into her role thanks to the worthless previous athletic director. I still can’t believe she makes more money than Lamb. That’s asinine.

I think Saal will be moving some pieces after next season. Keitha is just not the answer.

[1972Shocker]

[mjbaker84]

Shocker WBB lose Melissa Secchiaroli just now to morehead state?