Lady Shockers-2013-14 Edition: What will we look like and where will we be picked?

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

At the WSU-Nebraske VB match on the 20th Jazimen Gordon (I'm pretty sure it was Jaz) came onto the floor on crutches. Couldn't tell for sure but looked like she may have had a knee issue.

Has anybody heard anything about that? I was wondering if maybe Jaz had an arthroscopic procedure or something and that perhaps that was bothering her at the end of the season and partially accounted for her reduced playing time.

She was injured toward the end of the year. Very painful. She had surgery to repair it.

[1972Shocker]

Looks like the Valley could be competitive. Hard to say what the Shox will look like.

It is hard, if not impossible to say, what the Shocks will look like.

What we know is we are losing a lot of experience with 6 seniors moving on.

Jesscia Diamond will probably be the toughest to replace. Chynna Turner, Jaz Gordon and Darice Fountaine all had their moments but were somewhat inconsistent. But they were very experienced players especially Chynna and Jaz. Bug Jones was a pest on defense but pretty limited offensively and Nicole Wells was pretty much a bench warmer.

We know the Shocks have Alex Harden and Michaela Dapprich back and they were arguably our two best players at the end of last year. Alex, in particular will be leaned on heavily next year.

I thought Michelle Price also came on strong at the end of last year and was playing her best ball as a Shocker at the end of the year. It's time for and we really need for Kelsey Jacobs to step it up consistently next year.

We have Alie Decker returning as a RS Fr. after only playing in 5 games in an injury filled season. Hopefully, she will be able to stay healthy and perhaps provide some outside firepower to replace or build on what Darice gave us this past year.

Beyond that we have the 6 incoming freshman and the 2 juco transfers to fill up the roster. A ton of inexperience and, on paper anyway, I'm not seeing any program changers. We will just have to see how this group pans out.

In looking at the Valley overall I think it will be competitive as you say, but I don't think it will be better overall.
Creighton would have been the clear favorite to win the league had they not moved on to the Big Priest as they lost very little from last year's co-champion.

In looking at what the teams are losing and what they have coming back it looks to me like the rest of this years top 4 (WSU, ILS, and UNI) will all be weaker as all are losing significant players.

ILS has a change at Head Coach. Barb Smith is replacing Stephane Glance who took the HC job at Columbia in the Ivy League. Smith has 18 years of experience as an assistant at Colorado, Cal, Minnesota and St. Louis. She was the head coach at San Diego State for 5 years and had a record of 49-86 with the Aztecs. I don't think Coach Glance was all that well liked by Redbird fans. Looks like they made a decent hire and I don't see this hurting them much but you will have a transition to a new system.

I would add 7th place Evansville to the group that is weaker as well based on their departure of key players.

Indiana State (T-4th) and Bradley (6th) each lose one good guard but nothing else and I could see them moving into the upper division and competing for a league title.

Missouri State has replaced Nyla Milleson as HC after falling to 8th place last year. They appear to have made a good hire with Kellie Harper who played on 3 national championship teams for Pat Summitt at Tennessee (must like what they see Jody doing at WSU). Harper is only 35 years old but has 9 years of head coaching experience. She was the head coach at Western Carolina for 5 years going 97-65 including 70-31 with two SoCon championships her final 3 years. At NC State she had the challenge of replacing Kay Yow and after going 20-14 in her first year she went 50-50 (16-32 in the ACC) with no NCAA appearances over her last 3 years and was canned. I think this is a good hire for MSU. Also MSU has added Jackie Stiles to there staff and that can't hurt recruiting any. MSU lost two decent players, Christiana Shorter and Whitney Edy, but they have some good talent returning. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lady Bears make a quick turn around under Coaches Harper and Stiles and with the league down this year they could be right back in the mix at the top of the league.

9th place Drake only loses one senior from this years team so they should be better and I anticipate they will move up next year. Not sure though how far their current talent can take them though.

10th place SIU has been a horrible basketball team for a while now. They have had extreme player turnover and they have been very poorly coached and due primarily to the player turnover are pretty young.

They have replaced Missy Tiber as HC with Cindy Stein. Cindy was the head coach for three season and Emporia State. Her teams went 12-14. 20-10 and 30-1 losing only in the D-II national championship game. Missouri then hired her as head coach where she remained for 12 seasons. She coached last year at Illinois Central, a D-II Juco, and did a good job turning that team around immediately. I think she will be a huge improvment for SIU. SIU has the entire roster returning and I think they have some talent if coach Stein can mold them. I think SIU will be the most improved team in the league if their kids will buy into to Coach Stein's system.

I don't know much about the Loyola Ramblers other than the have hired Cheryl Swoopes as their head coach. Cheryl has no coaching experience but she has a ton of basketball experience. The great players don't always make the best coaches, but sometimes they do. They certainly should attract the attention of recruits with Coach Swoopes. Loyola was 17-15 overall last year and 10-6 in the Horizon League fiinishing 3rd behind Green Bay and Youngstown State. They lost to Green Bay (a very good team) in the Horizon Tournament finals. They defeated SIU by 9 at home (no big deal). There best game was probably a 62-65 loss at home to Green Bay. Green Bay beat the Shocks by 21 in Koch Arena last year. Loyola also lost by 26 and 19 to Green Bay in Green Bay. They have several of their top scorers returning. I don't see any reason why Loyola won't be competitive in the Valley next year.

The bottom line is that there does not appear to be a dominant team in the Valley next year with the top teams coming back to the pack and the bottom teams improving. It won't be a great league next year but I do think it should be very competitive. Maybe we will have a 10-way tie for 1st with everyone going 9-9.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

It is hard, if not impossible to say, what the Shocks will look like.

What we know is we are losing a lot of experience with 6 seniors moving on.

Jesscia Diamond will probably be the toughest to replace. Chynna Turner, Jaz Gordon and Darice Fountaine all had their moments but were somewhat inconsistent. But the were experienced players especially Chynna and Jaz. Bug Jones was a pest on defense but pretty limited offesnively and Nicole Wells was pretty much a bench warmer.

We know the Shocks have Alex Harden and Michaela Dapprich back and they were arguably our two best players at the end of last year. Alex, in particular will be leaned on heavily next year.

I thouhg Michelle Price also came on strong at the end of last year and was playing her best ball as a Shocker at the end of the year. It's time for and we really need for Kelsey Jacobs to step it up consistently next year.

We have Alie Decker returning as a RS Fr. after only playing in 5 games in an injury filled season. Hopefully, she will be able to stay healthy and perhaps provide some outside firepower to replace or build on what Darice gave us this past year.

Beyond that we have the 6 incoming freshman and the 2 juco transfers to fill up the roster. A ton of inexperience.

In looking at the Valley overall I think it will be competitive as you say, but I don't think it will be better overall.
Creighton would have been the clear favorite to win the league as they lost very little from last year's co-champion had they not moved to the Big Priest.

In looking at what the teams are losing and what they have coming back it looks to me like the rest of this years top 4 (WSU, ILS, and UNI) will all be weaker as all are losing significant players.

ILS has a change at Head Coach. Barb Smith is replacing Stephane Glance who took the HC job at Columbia in the Ivy League. Smith has 18 years of experience as an assistant at Colorado, Cal, Minnesota and St. Louis. She was the head coach at San Diego State for 5 years and had a record of 49-86 with the Aztecs. I don't think Coach Glance was all that well liked by Redbird fans. Looks like they made a decent hire and I don't see this hurting them much but you will have a transition to a new system.

I would add 7th place Evansville to the group that weaker as well based on their departure of key players.

Indiana State (T-4th) and Bradley (6th) each lose one good guard but nothing else and I could see them moving into the upper division and competing for a league title.

Missouri State has replaced Nyla Milleson as HC after falling to 8th place last year. They appear to have made a good hire Kellie Harper who played on 3 national championship teams for Pat Summitt at Tennessee (must like what they see Jody doing at WSU). Harper is only 35 years old but has 9 years of head coaching experience. She was the head coach at Western Carolina for 5 years going 97-65 including 70-31 with two SoCon championships her final 3 years. At NC State she had the challenge of replacing Kay Yow and after going 20-14 in her first year she went 50-50 (16-32 in the ACC) with no NCAA appearances over her last 3 years and was canned. I think this is a good hire for MSU. Also MSU has added Jackie Stiles to there staff and that can't hurt recruiting any. MSU lost to decent players, Christiana Shorter and Whitney Edy, but they have some good talent returning. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Lady Bears make a quick turn around under Coaches Harper and Stiles and with the league down this year they could be right back in the mix at the top of the league.

9th place Drake only loses one senior from this years team so they should be better and I anticipate they will move up next year. Not sure though how far their current talent can take them.

10th place SIU has been a horrible basketball team for a while know. They have had extreme player turnover and they have been very poorly coached and due primarily to the player turnover are pretty young.

They have replaced Missy Tiber as HC with Cindy Stein. Cindy was the head coach for three season and Emporia State. Her teams went 12-14. 20-10 and 30-1 losing only in the D-II national championship game. Missouri then hired as head coach where she remained forom 12 seasons. She coached last year at Illinois Central, a D-II Juco, and did a good job turning that team around immediately. I think she will be a huge improvment for SIU. SIU has the entire roster returning and I think they have some talent if coach Stein can mold them. I think SIU will be the most improved team in the league if their kids will buy into to Coach Stein's system.

I don't know much about the Loyola Ramblers other than the have hired Cheryl Swoopes as their head coach. Cheryl has no coaching experience but she has a ton of basketball experience. The great players don't always make the best coaches, but sometimes they do. They certainly should attract the attention of recruits with Coach Swoopes. Loyolay was 17-15 overall last year and 10-6 in the Horizon League fiinishing 3rd behind Green Bay and Youngstown State. They lost to Green Bay (a very good team) in the Horizon Tournament finals. They defeated SIU by 9 at home (no big deal). There best game was probably a 62-65 loss at home to Green Bay. Green Bay beat the Shocks by 21 in Koch Arena last year. Loyola also lost by 26 and 19 to Green Bay in Green Bay. They have several of there top scorers returning. I don't see any reason why Loyola won't be competitive in the Valley next year.

The bottom line is that there does not appear to be a dominant team in the Valley next year with the top teams coming back to the pack and the bottom teams improving. It won't be a great league next year I don't think but it should be very competitive. Maybe we will have a 10-way tie for 1st with everyone going 9-9.

As always, great research and review. I agree with your comments. Kelsey has shown signs of what she can do and if she elevates her game and Dap and Alex keep getting better, that will be a tough three to guard. Hopefully Ali stays healthy and Michelle builds on her strong finish from last season. The new kids are a mystery. As you have mentioned, I too just haven't seen many JUCO kids come in and become an immediate impact player like we see in the men's game. I do know the Lady Shox are working hard as usual with strength and conditioning and of course their individual basketball skills. The new kids come in June and the fun begins. I look forward to taking a look in the summer and see firsthand what we look like.

[mumdaddy316]

Anyone seen the ladies working out lately? Anxious to hear and see how they are looking and doing.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Anyone seen the ladies working out lately? Anxious to hear and see how they are looking and doing.

Players were given a break where they work out on their own. The new players have now arrived at WSU. The women are now allowed by NCAA rules to have practice time with their coaches like the men did last year. I don't know when they begin, but it is typically open to the public and you can see them training on the track, in the bleachers and moving truck tires on the field. I suspect the new players will be overwhelmed by the level of training; especially the new large post player and Ali after her injury as she appears to have put on weight. Anyone can stop by to watch. My travels will not allow me to do much of that, so I look forward to reports from others.

[mumdaddy316]

Apparently Coach is hosting some recruits on campus today,one I think is a juco all American. Hope she seals the deal with these young ladies and stacks up the talent.

[The Mad Hatter]

Looks like we will be competing in the Preseason WNIT, including hosting a first round game:

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=208467379

[1972Shocker]

Looks like we will be competing in the Preseason WNIT, including hosting a first round game:

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticl...CLID=208467379

So if the Lady Shocks get by Ooey-Fooey in the 1st round they will most likely earn a trip to Norman to face the OU Sooners. That would be more than a tough early season test for a young Shocker team and would probably end our stay in the tournament.

IPFW finished at 8-8 in the Summit League last year (13-17 overall) with a very young team (no seniors on last year's roster). So they are somewhat in the opposite situation of the Shocks who are replacing a 6 seniors and returning only 4 players with significant D-1 experience plus Alie Decker who will be a Redshirt Freshman after two knee injuries sidelined her for all but 5 games.

There is no guarantee a very inexperienced Lady Shocker team will get by IPFW in Round 1.

[1972Shocker]

Jody has signed 6 incoming frewshmen and 2 Juco transfers for 2013-14 so our roster will consist of:

7 Freshmen (including Alie Decker)
1 Sophomore
4 Juniors
1 Senior

Personally, I would like to see Jody make some progress in balancing out her classes, if possible. This is a little more difficult in the women's game because the Juco route is not nearly as fertile for recruiting and filling in needs as it is in the men's game.

It will be interesting to see if Jody redshirts a couple of the incoming freshman.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Jody has signed 6 incoming frewshmen and 2 Juco transfers for 2013-14 so our roster will consist of:

7 Freshmen (including Alie Decker)
1 Sophomore
4 Juniors
1 Senior

Personally, I would like to see Jody make some progress in balancing out her classes, if possible. This is a little more difficult in the women's game because the Juco route is not nearly as fertile for recruiting and filling in needs as it is in the men's game.

It will be interesting to see if Jody redshirts a couple of the incoming freshman.

I've had one look of a pick-up game. Kelsey and Alex look solid and in shape. I don't know names of the new players, but we have a couple of solid looking guards. The new post player is wide, but not that tall and very out of shape. I would predict some redshirts as well.

[1972Shocker]

The new post player is wide, but not that tall and very out of shape.

6-2 Morgan Landers out of Burleson, TX

The above photo of Morgan Landers does make her look a little soft. She will find out fast going up against a bull like Michelle Price that she is going to have to hit the weight room with some zeal if she is going to make it at the D-1 level.

Morgan may be a little bit of a project. Her senior year averages were a very pedestrian 7.0 PPG and 3.2 RPG and were actually a little worse than her 8.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG as a junior. She is not very highly ranked at all.

A wide-bodied post can be successful in the Valley (i.e. Angela Buckner and Lizzie Boeck) but it kind of sounds like Morgan may be light-years away from that kind of a player as she enters college. Hopefully she can be developed into a solid post player for the Shocks. That can happen with the right work ethic and desire. However, at this point she does appear to be a redshirt candidate as a freshman. OTOH, Jody may not have enough front court depth and may need Morgan to play a supporting role this year simply out of necessity.

Morgan does have a younger sister Madison, a 6-0 sophomore in 2012-13. Maybe Jody is looking for another Dapprich double with the Landers Ladies.

[1972Shocker]

Just to get a feel for what our depth chart MIGHT look like this year I listed our roster more or less by size:

5's: 6-2 Jr. Kelsey Jacobs - 6-1 Sr. Michelle Price - 6-2 Fr. Morgan Landers
4's: 6-0 Fr. Moriah Dapprich - 6-0 RFr. Alie Decker - 6-0 Fr. Briana Jones
3's: 5-10 So. Michaela Dapprich - 5-10 Jr Valerierose Agnello - 5-10 Fr. Jaleesa Chapel
2's: 5-8 Jr. Jamillah Bonner - 5-9 Fr. Kayla White
1's: 5-11 Jr. Alex Harden - 5-8 Fr. Marissa Preston

I'm mostly guessing where the 8 newcomers will fit in.

I am assuming Alex will start at the point this year due to her experience, her ability to run the offense and her ability to distribute the basketball. She may or may not guard the opposing point guard. She may be assigned to guard just about any player 1 thru 4 on the opposing team depending on who we need to try to shut down. Alex is kind of a wild card for Jody as she is capable of playing anywhere from 1 thru 4 on either side of the ball.

It will be interesting to see if Jody decides to play Kelsey and Michelle together or to interchange them at the post. I suppose that will depend on how our three 6-0 Freshmen come along as defenders and rebounders. If Moriah is as tough as Michaela proved to be I could see Moriah getting a bunch of minutes at the 4. Hopefully, Alie's knees have recovered and she will be able to fully participate in conditioning.

Outside of that Jody looks like she has a roster full of guards where she can do a lot of mixing and matching depending on who comes along and what she wants to accomplish. My guess is that the pressure defense Jody likes is going to be stressed every bit as much, if not more, this coming year than it was last year.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

6-2 Morgan Landers out of Burleson, TX

The above photo of Morgan Landers does make her look a little soft. She will find out fast going up against a bull like Michelle Price that she is going to have to hit the weight room with some zeal if she is going to make it at the D-1 level.

Morgan may be a little bit of a project. Her senior year averages were a very pedestrian 7.0 PPG and 3.2 RPG and were actually a little worse than her 8.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG as a junior. She is not very highly ranked at all.

A wide-bodied post can be successful in the Valley (i.e. Angela Buckner and Lizzie Boeck) but it kind of sounds like Morgan may be light-years away from that kind of a player as she enters college. Hopefully she can be developed into a solid post player for the Shocks. That can happen with the right work ethic and desire. However, at this point she does appear to be a redshirt candidate as a freshman. OTOH, Jody may not have enough front court depth and may need Morgan to play a supporting role this year simply out of necessity.

Morgan does have a younger sister Madison, a 6-0 sophomore in 2012-13. Maybe Jody is looking for another Dapprich double with the Landers Ladies.

Thanks, 1972. That is who I saw play. Too early for me to judge, but I was an average high school kid.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Thanks, 1972. That is who I saw play. Too early for me to judge, but I was an average high school kid.

I heard Assistant Coach Kirk Crawford has moved on to Texas Tech. I thought he was a nice addition. I haven't seen any official announcements, but I didn't see those when Guffey moved on either.

[The Mad Hatter]

I heard Assistant Coach Kirk Crawford has moved on to Texas Tech. I thought he was a nice addition. I haven't seen any official announcements, but I didn't see those when Guffey moved on either.

If so that is a big loss. He is a very good coach and won't be easy to replace.