WBB: 2023 offseason news/updates

[ShockTalk]

Jayla is a 6-1 Forward. The averages Taylor listed in his tweet were from Jayla's freshman year in 2021-22. This past year she only played in 8 games and will qualify for a medical redshirt and will have 3 years of elegability remaining with the Shocks.

Not sure what her injury/medical issue was. Most commonly it is knee injury.

Here are some highlights for Jayla (No. 0): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2zBpD8tCzI

I suppose it is a bit of an unknown with a player coming back from an early season injury but she looked decent on her highlight video.

Here are her stats from her freshman year: https://fswbucs.com/sports/wbkb/2021...ray_jayla_gkti

Here are her stats from the 8 games she payed last year: https://fswbucs.com/sports/wbkb/2022...ray_jayla_jmj1

Is it me or do I need to watch more women's BB: She does not seem to have much "hops".

Other than that, looks pretty good and someone coach could "fine tune" and make dangerous for opponents.

[shoxlax]

This may be a good late sign.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers release on Jayla

"Jayla Murray is a gifted player who adds size, versatility and explosiveness to our wings and forwards," Nooner said. "She is a proven winner at every level she has ever played, including being selected as a JUCO All-American. Jayla is a tireless worker and fierce competitor that has an immense desire to prove all her doubters wrong. She will bring an intensity and tenacity to our program on both ends of the floor. She comes from a wonderful basketball family who is super excited about Jayla being a part of Shocker Nation. I couldn't be more thrilled to add yet another vital piece to our program with Jayla."

[1972Shocker]

This may be a good late sign.

[1972Shocker]

Updated roster by position:

Guards: D.J. McCarty, Tre'zure Jobe, Salese Blow, Ambuh Kowcun, Jeniah Thompson, Aniya Bell, Raissa Nsabua
Small Forwards: Ornella Niankan, Sierra Morrow, Femi Funeous, Jayla Murray, Carla Budane
Center/Power Forwards: Daniella Abies, Ella Anciaux

Bolded Names = Seniors Using Final Year of Eligibility (As best as I can tell).

With 14 players the roster is essentially full, although Coach Nooner does has 1 scholarships left in his pocket if he chooses to use it. However, with 7 seniors (assuming I have analyzed that correctly) and at this late stage in the recruiting season Coach Nooner needs to be very picky with using that final scholarship and perhaps keep then in his pocket to use next year unless he can find a real diamond in the rough.

It is generally very speculative to evaluate a recruiting class. In this case not only did Coach Nooner have to recruit new players to the program, he had to recruit players eligible to return from last year's roster. He was able to keep 9 players last year's roster with D.J. McCarty being the biggest fish of that group. Ambuh Kowcun, Jeniah Thompson, Ornella Niankan and Daniella Abies all saw action in reserve roles last year with Ambuh's miniutes increasing and Jenah's minutes decreasing as the season progressed. How this latter group progresses this coming fall will tell us a lot about Coach Nooner's ability to develop and coach up players and install a system around the talent he has. Aniya Bell and Raissa Nsabua played very little last year but in his RH Podcast Coach Nooner said that he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw from Aniya and Raissa as well as LaLa (I am assuming that is Orenella).

As far as the newcomers are concerned keeping Salese Blow committed was a big get. Getting Tre'zure Jobe out of the portal also seems like a good get although it remains to be seen how her game translates form D-II to D-1. However, she had some good programs after her. Reportedly the Shocks beat out North Carolina State for Jayla Murray. Sierra Morrow and Femi Funeous also seem like pretty good gap fillers out of the portal.

The only players of significant lost to the portal were Jane Asinde and Shamaryah Duncan. Jane's athleticism and rebounding prowess will be tough to replace. Sham was an upsized, athletic guard who was starting to come into her own and was the Shockers best defender.

So far, so good, as far as I can tell.

[SubGod22]

[WstateU]

[1972Shocker]

This is an interesting offer in a few of respects.

When was the last time you saw Shocker WBB offer a player at the end of their freshman year in high school? Now perhaps that is largely due to the fact the WBB recruiting information is not as ubiquitous as it is for MBB. But perhaps gettiing in on players early will be a strategy for this new Shocker coaching staff.

When Coach Nooner was hired both ADKS and Coach Nooner indicated they wanted to focus more of their recuriting on local, Kansas and midwest players. Londyn attends Staey High School in North Kansas City, MO where she was a first team All-Conference player. Being in Coach Nooner's.backyard (he is from Raytown, MO) no doubt was a factor in recruiting this particular player.

Londyn is a 5-9 lefthanded shooting guard who averated 13 points and 6 rebounds as a freshman (maybe still growing?). So while Londyn is obviously not signed, sealed and delivered by any means (and will not doubt received other offers) she would be a bit of an anomaly if she was to sign with the Shocks. The Shocks have not had very many Kansas City area players on their roster-- only 6 in the last 20 years and only 1, Antoinnette Wells, play more than 2 yearss for the Shockers. Furthermore, I can't recall any lefthanded dominant players who played WBB at Wichita State. Thinking about it, lefty WBB players do seem to be few and far between.

What's not to like, especially considering she is freshman: https://www.maxpreps.com/mo/kansas-c...=0u5c01mgibuk4

It will be very interesting to see if Coach Nooner and his staff can pull this off but we have a bit of a wait to find out. I think the odds are probably not in the Shocks' favor but we will see.

In any case, I like the approach and the effort.

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

Okay, kind of pickin' on our girl Ella just because she likes country music.

As far as I'm concerned let Ella have the aux:

Actually, I am looking forward to seeing if Coach Nooner and staff are able to get more out of Ella than she showed under Keitha Adams. It just may not be there for Ella, but if she can become even a modest contributor that would be a good sign for this coaching staff. Regardless of how much or how well she plays she seems to be a valuable teammate.

[1972Shocker]

I have to commend the effort. Hopefully, some good results will follow.

[WstateU]

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

Coach Nooner adds some needed size to his roster. The question is what kind of quality are we getting out of the Class of 2023 at this late date.

"Sophia gives us a much-needed post presence inside at 6-4; she has great hands and mobility for her size," Nooner said. "Sophia is a true post player who loves physicality in the paint. Her upside is tremendous, and it will be exciting to watch her grow and develop as a Shocker. She comes from an excellent girls basketball program and coach at Oakland Tech, and we are excited to welcome Sophia to the Midwest and Shocker Nation!"

Askew-Goncalves led Oakland Tech to back-to-back California State Championships and topped the Oakland League in rebounds during her senior campaign with 70 boards in 14 games.

The Bulldogs were undefeated in the Oakland League and finished the season 30-5.

---

The Shocks list her at 6-4. Max Preps has her at 6-2 and I saw an Instagram post that had her at 6-3. We will have to see how she stacks up agianst Ella Anciaux who I think is a legit 6-4.

Both Ella and Sophia are wide bodies. So far Ella hasn't gained much traction and hard to tell if she will. Ella's skill set isn't bad but she is not very athletic, or at least hasn't showed that to this point. With the guards we have I would think what is need from Ella and Sophis is to set some good screens, reboound, and clog up the middle on defense. But we'll have to wait and see.

Here are her career stats per Max Preps

She apparently did not play as a sophomore (Covid?) and only played in 14 games as a senior (Injury?/Grades?). The latter might explain why she is still available. Not a big scorer.

Here is the one highlight video I found:

This one looks like a project to me, at best. Perhaps singing size for the sake of size.

[shoxlax]

She related to John Askew? He was a really nice dude.