Arkansas transfer Maryam Dauda is on a visit at South Carolina this weekend, per her TikTok post. https://t.co/OJ9MooDPwJ

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) May 25, 2024

ScottyB_The_Baylor_King said:

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Arkansas transfer Maryam Dauda is on a visit at South Carolina this weekend, per her TikTok post. https://t.co/OJ9MooDPwJ

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) May 25, 2024

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Just what Dawn needed, another top flight player to work into her star studded rotation. I'm going to remain hopeful that we are still in the running. This reminds me of last year when she scooped up Pau Pau from TCU at the last minute.

Kinda done with the portal drama. Fun meter is pegged

I thought South Carolina was loaded again for next season. I can't see Dauda starting there.

Bear3 said:

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I thought South Carolina was loaded again for next season. I can't see Dauda starting there.

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They may see her as a complement to Ashlyn Watkins, who should start and I believe will be an All-American. They have a highly rated 6'5" player who is a sophomore, I think. They may see Dauda as insurance. And the rich get richer?

Reminds my of UT football in the 50's and 60's....sign em and let em sit the bench so they can't be used against you.

Staley doesn't need her; we do.

Maryam confirmed she has visited Baylor and south carolina. Shes not visiting anymore schools and plans on making her commitment by next week.
She said it's gonna be the smallest thing that will determine her decision.

Dauda has to "want" to play at Baylor, and offer her what she is looking for (whatever that is). She will decide what is best for her and her family. It would be great if she picked the good guys, but she may want to win a natl championship at SC.

i heard on her live she already knows where she is going and the people in her close circle know it too.

She can win that here if we can keep our team healthy. Lot's of superteams with portal but we can be very tough.

yeah i agree we could really be in the conversation when we sure up our post depth. We have so much momentum coming off of last season and then we get to add our missing pieces, we will be dangerous.

Yes she can win here. I think we are an Elite 8 team and maybe more. She has a good chance to start here and at the minimum get a lot of minutes. Not sure how many much playing time she gets at SC. But all comes down what is important to her.

For conversation purposes, it would be great to hear everyone's opinions. Looking at these top 8 pre-season/early ranked teams ahead of Baylor, is our team talented enough to beat them in the Tournament and win the NC?

#1 SC-e
#2 USC-w
#3 Uconn
#4 ND
#5 UCLA
#6 TX
#7 LSU
#8 NC State

it's hard to say because even look at LSU last season had a great team on paper, it looked like they had a lot to add to the NC but it didn't work out.

Texas could be really dangerous, SC will be smaller but not losing much quality post play so they will remain great, Uconn has to stay healthy m, ND it's a lot of newcomers so we will see how the gel.

I don't think this team will win national championship but without major injuries could certainly go to the Elite 8 and possibly Final 4. We came very close to beating USC and going to Elite 8 last year.

could you give a reason? i really hate as a fan just to hear people say we can't but not many reasons why.

Our team will be talented next year but I just don't think we have the talent yet to match SC and UCONN.

all of our players grow a year, look at the jumps like Jana has made and Bella for example. First time we have a lot of roster turnover so we do not have to reteach a lot we really get to just grow. We added a post player that is GOOD. Like i don't know if y'all know but she is definitely one of the best Centers in the nation. I think our scheme is good on both ends of the ball. Players like Buggs and Bella will get a lot more space with Vonleh. It will not be easy to just Zone us. If we added Dauda too who can play the five stretch the floor, could give us a Huge Lineup at the 5. I think with her we can match up with anyone in the country for sure. Without her we would just have to really see growth from Kyla and I think it really could be there.

So you think we can beat SC-e, USC-w, Uconn, ND and win the NC? We really don't have the talent right now to match up with their loaded superstar teams to get to the Final 4, nor the NC. That's just my opinion.

well my opinion is we definitely do have e the talent, we have the players on our roster who battle, Jada for example DAWG. I'm rolling with Baylor all the time especially in Wbb. I don't see why we couldn't beat these teams honestly. Tennessee almost beat SC but they didn't guard the 3 point line, we have better coaching than that. Are they good teams yes but so are we. We were like one call away to get that Sweet 16 game to be an Upset in our favor.

The championships odds are usually a good barometer for this. We are 100/1 on Fanduel

Pretty much this. BU will have another 2nd weekend team. We're still a tier below the UConn's, South Carolinas, LSUs, NDs of the world for now at least. There's still a talent gap in you take off the green & gold shades and look at the rosters from an unbiased standpoint. And yes that gap is starting to slowly shrink.

IowaBear said:

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Pretty much this. BU will have another 2nd weekend team. We're still a tier below the UConn's, South Carolinas, LSUs, NDs of the world for now at least. There's still a talent gap in you take off the green & gold shades and look at the rosters from an unbiased standpoint. And yes that gap is starting to slowly shrink.

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Gap is definitely shrinking. I feel we have the talent for a tournament upset, but not likely three in a row. We rely heavily on the outside shot and I still don't feel we have the size at the guard position with a consistent 3 ball to maximize and force the defense to spread and be honest

LSU was supposed to win it at this point last year so i don't buy into it as much. Difference in Opinions but we will have a team that can compete with anyone.

Lol, we cannot compete with South Carolina. I don't care how much of a "dawg" Jada is, SC has 10 of em and they're coached better.

We are about 3 tiers below South Carolina.

We desperately need Dauda.

Yeah thats a pipe dream. The green & gold shades need taken off by a few.

dang well i am glad you all are not the coach cause the best way to lose a game against a great team is to walk in with the mindset of losing it already. That's the beauty of sports you get to compete it doesn't matter about stars, all americans, if you come out with the plan which we have a great coach. Coach DS is great as well. But if you come in and say they have 10 Dawgs we can never compete with them you lost the fight before it even begun. I guess i'm just a different competitor when it comes to my mind set than the rest of you. It is what it is.

You can be a competitor while still acknowledging one team is better than another. BU is going to have a very good 24/25 campaign that I'm sure of. Acknowledging a team especially one of SCs caliber is better than BU doesn't make one any less of a competitor. Means they're looking at things through an unbiased lens

but who doesn't know that SC is a great team? They one a championship and lost what 1 major contributor of course they are the standard going into next season

No one can reasonably predict the scope of next season's outcome this far out.

1) rosters are not set. The Portal remains open [to move not to enter].

2) new player additions will fail badly. Van Lith at LSU last season.

3) new player editions will exceed expectations. Watkins at USC was so good that afterthought Grad transfers had career seasons despite low expectations.

4) great players in 2023/2024 will face adversity this season. Iowa had unexpected losses early last year as opponents threw new wrinkles at Clark. It took time for Iowa to adjust.

5) it is an unfortunate reality that at least 2-3 key players on top teams will suffer season ending injuries by mid-December. Knee injuries & women's basketball is a Forever marriage.

6) post-championship doldrums. Repeating is hard.

7) early exit fire. Competitive hunger is real.

8) 50/50 chance that some "off the court" incident will derail one top team. Teens will make poor choices.

9) NIL earning variances will likely cause heartburn. Some players living large while other players are scraping by is a recipe for hard feelings.

10) the random nature of the universe is undefeated.

SC starting 5 are Super Dawgs and the 7 on the bench are 5-star Dawgs. They could be a WNBA team. Same thing with Uconn. Even with our coach, we don't have the talent today to compete with SC or Uconn, that is reality, and my green and gold glasses are off.

BearTiger said:

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SC starting 5 are Super Dawgs and the 7 on the bench are 5-star Dawgs. They could be a WNBA team. Same thing with Uconn. Even with our coach, we don't have the talent today to compete with SC or Uconn, that is reality, and my green and gold glasses are off.

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Pump the brakes on UConn.

They lost 2 of their best players to graduation and have 4 players returning from major knee injuries.
And if history repeats the last few years [4 of 5 most recent seasons],they will lose at least 1 key starter to a new knee injury.

Can they be great? Yes.
Is it guaranteed? No.

When I see them reach NYE without an injury decimated roster I might buy their stock.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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Lol, we cannot compete with South Carolina. I don't care how much of a "dawg" Jada is, SC has 10 of em and they're coached better.

We are about 3 tiers below South Carolina.

We desperately need Dauda.

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Do we really "desperately" need Dauda? I don't feel that way. I'm open to hearing why I'm wrong.

i don't say desperately but it would be really nice and would really sure up our post play. It's been a while since we have had bodies down low like that.