I think Sa'Myah and Sera both prefer forward and Kate and Breya center.

She could well end up at ASU if Molly is open to starting her. I do not see her starting next season at Baylor. My guess is that Nicki is looking at her as a player to develop and for some depth, similar to Jennings.

Dcheetah said:

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I think Sa'Myah and Sera both prefer forward and Kate and Breya center.

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I imagine SaMyah Smith sees herself more as a 4 in the NaLyssa Smith mold. SaMyah is listed at 6'2" but I wonder if she is more like 6'4". CKM listed NaLyssa at 6'2" but she is closer to 6'4".

What about for another post player Caitlin Weimar out of NC state. She was mentioned in the 1st post of this thread. I think she was hurt last year and did not play at all. Just curious if anyone has any insight into her potential and current recruiting interest

Caitlin seems like a really good option if she would want to come, but I always worry about someone who is coming off a major injury and hopefully we can get at least one bigwithout a major injury history. If it is true about TCU adding in four players 6'4 or taller, we're going to need more than one. I sure hope that Breya does not commit on her USC visit and makes a visit here. We have a lot to sell.

Sorry, must've bumped the emoji button

I think that's exactly how Sa'Myah sees herself, but I've been told by several people recently that she is 6'2 and very athletic.

Mckinna Brackens from UNLV would be a great get at wel. She is a 6'1 Wing Player from Fairfield TX. If you are close to this area they have done some great things for Central Texas girls basketball. She also had a great game against us as well when UNLV came in to town.

Smith is 6'2", not 6'4" and a Post player. She is athletic and good at blocking shots. Wherever she goes, she will want to be Day 1 starter, not coming off the bench like she did at LSU. Her biggest challenge will be mental, she had torn Acl and Mcl in both knees. It took her an entire year until the Ncaa tournament to gain confidence go full 100% even though she was given the go-ahead by the trainer and medical staff the beginning of the season. There were times when she struggled going against the tall, big, fast SEC players and tends to foul against them. If she can go to a team/conference where she is not facing SEC teams every game every week, she will shine and be a good starter. She is very quiet, very shy, not known to be a vocal leader on the court or in the locker room. Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow took her under their wings the past 3 years so she learned a lot from them. She is native of the Dallas area and loves country music.

By the way she would be way better then jennings was offensively as far as attacking the basket and scoring off the dribble

Georgia Tech WBB:
—their 3 players who earned All-ACC honors for 2024-25 are all in the portal: Dani Carnegie, Kara Dunn, and Tonie Morgan
—Carnegie committed to GA Tech over Alabama, Baylor, FSU, Kentucky, and Louisville
—Rusne Augustinaite → Clemsonhttps://t.co/agpZ7prbpu pic.twitter.com/83epcintlC

—  Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 3, 2025

One of them was recruited by Baylor before committing to Georgia tech.

Breaking: Deng Yuting has offers from 50 NCAA D1 schools and will decide in two weeks. pic.twitter.com/QQq5kv6lD7

— Chinese Women's Hoop Show (@CWHoopShow) April 3, 2025

If she has a good relationship with Johnnie Harris, we should have a better than average chance for her

I guess 50 schools see something that some of the posters on here do not. Hmmm

At this moment, our depth chart for next year would look something like this?:

PG - Jana Van Gytenbeek (Gr), Ines Goryanova (RS Fr)
SG - Taliah Scott (RS So), Marcayla Johnson (Fr)
SF - Bella Fontleroy (Sr)
PF - Darianna Littlepage Buggs (Sr), Kayla Nelms (So)
P - Kyla Abraham (RS Jr)

That's 8 players. An ideal roster size might be 12? Seems like the most critical needs are another P and another SF, and then it would be ideal to add a 3rd big and a 5th guard?

Most WBB teams have 11-13 on the roster with 8-9 in the rotation. That's a good talented list of 8. We do need a strong tall Post player who can score and rebound, preferably a double-double player. Post from the transfer portal who can be starter Day 1.

Brusinbear2001 said:

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Mckinna Brackens from UNLV would be a great get at wel. She is a 6'1 Wing Player from Fairfield TX. If you are close to this area they have done some great things for Central Texas girls basketball. She also had a great game against us as well when UNLV came in to town.

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VERY impressed with her when we played UNLV. I kept asking myself how we missed on her - I mean Fairfield is basically in Waco's back yard. Her Father is Tony Brackens a long time NFL player. She tore UCF a new one in the only other game I watched her play in. Really good person and a great family.

UCLA Betts has reconfirmed that she is NOT declairing for WNBA draft despite a high draft projection.
She wants to play with her sister an incoming freshman. Could be double trouble in little china for opponents.

blueeyedbear said:

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Brusinbear2001 said:

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Mckinna Brackens from UNLV would be a great get at wel. She is a 6'1 Wing Player from Fairfield TX. If you are close to this area they have done some great things for Central Texas girls basketball. She also had a great game against us as well when UNLV came in to town.

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VERY impressed with her when we played UNLV. I kept asking myself how we missed on her - I mean Fairfield is basically in Waco's back yard. Her Father is Tony Brackens a long time NFL player. She tore UCF a new one in the only other game I watched her play in. Really good person and a great family.

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CNC is following her on IG

The historical mindset on rotation size was a regular season rotation [shortened for post season] of 9 [four players in post rotation [4 and 5 positions] and five players in perimeter rotation [1 2 & 3 positions]. Even given Baylor's 1 In 4 Out scheme 9 would still be the number [historically]. In addition a 1 "spare tire" player both in post and on perimeter would be standard. That = a roster of 11.

But times have changed. The explosion of season ending knee injuries [both men's and women's game] along with in-season transfers and other issues likely = a bump in ideal roster size to about 13.

Baylor WBB clearly has NIL $ limitations already. Bulking up the roster size will be tough.

But one has only to look at 2024/2025 Baylor MBB to see the disaster of a thin roster.
Injuries decimated the season. And the product was butt ugly.
Little transition O. Walking the ball up and using the hideous dribble weave to take O possessions deep into the shot clock to reduce total possessions to (hopefully) 70 and target (74).
Limited pressure D to avoid foul trouble. Player's legs gone as season progressed.

A similar example is Baylor WBB in Collen Season 1. That postseason blowup was directly related to dead legs.

Everyone always talks about 18-22 year old players "don't get dead legged". That talk is nonsense. Besides all of the scientific data controverting that talking point, one has simply to look at players "hitting the wall" their first season in the NBA. Getting better means practicing and practicing hard. That requires numbers unless the plan is to grind your own team into the ground by February. Practice requires numbers and resting key players during blowouts is huge.

And don't forget in season game player development. One has only to look at the UConn game disaster after Richards was injured and Andrews had little in game experience. Or the 2019 Championship game lead evaporating [thankfully bailed out at end] when Cox was injured.

Depth matters. Experienced depth matters.
And the huge plague of ACL/MCL injuries means deep needs to be deeper.

Totally agree on numbers on roster. Look at last year - 12 on roster going into summer - Inez out, Jana out game 1, Aliyah added as a mid season transfer, Madison limited then out early conference- roster now 10. Kayla a true freshman so not a lot of minutes/experience. Then Buggs goes down - you only have 9 to play/practice. 13 seems like a number you need - you have Jana & inez coming off significant injuries. Kayla ability to play well/extended minutes TBD. Hopefully NIL budget allows BU to build a very competetive first 7 and then develop your new freshman and hope Jana & Inez are close to 100%. That would mean signing 5 more in addition. To Taliah - may be too tall an order with NIL budget or you need to find someone on the "cheap" who can develop .

Polarbear said:

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At this moment, our depth chart for next year would look something like this?:

PG - Jana Van Gytenbeek (Gr), Ines Goryanova (RS Fr)
SG - Taliah Scott (RS So), Marcayla Johnson (Fr)
SF - Bella Fontleroy (Sr)
PF - Darianna Littlepage Buggs (Sr), Kayla Nelms (So)
P - Kyla Abraham (RS Jr)

That's 8 players. An ideal roster size might be 12? Seems like the most critical needs are another P and another SF, and then it would be ideal to add a 3rd big and a 5th guard?

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At least a backup for every position. Also a player or two willing to RS first year to extend roster another year. I think some rosters get so large, the ones who play little will bail since the portal makes it so easy.

McKinna Brackens would be a perfect fit for all the reasons stated! Hope it happens!

As a lifelong Jags fan I'd approve of pursuing the Brackens girl. Her old man was a baller for the Jags back in the day

PEMBERTON IS A BEAR!!

Brusinbear2001 said:

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PEMBERTON IS A BEAR!!

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Lets GOOOOOOO

She does have a YouTube channel so let's follow her there.

Excellent news !

Guess she really likes green afterall

BOOM! Pemberton! Let's go Lady Bears.

im shocked to see all of these players from USC leaving Heckle is also expected to enjoyer the portal

Johnnie Harris find us a post player, please!

Polarbear said:

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By the way, did you notice that Notre Dame is losing 5 players to graduation, and another 4 players to the transfer portal? That roster is decimated.

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That is much like what happened the year after we beat them in 2019. They then didn't make the tournament again until 2022.

Brusinbear2001 said:

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PEMBERTON IS A BEAR!!

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She deserves her own thread! Welcome to the Green and Gold, Kiera! I'd do it but can't post pics from the cheap seats.

BUVA said:

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Brusinbear2001 said:

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PEMBERTON IS A BEAR!!

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She deserves her own thread! Welcome to the Green and Gold, Kiera! I'd do it but can't post pics from the cheap seats.

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She has her own thread :-)

https://sicem365.com/s/19321/baylor-wbb-adds-north-dakota-forward-kiera-pemberton-from-transfer-portal

Welcome Kiera!

Pemberton best case scenario: her length and speed and athleticism translate into her being an elite defender, and with Pemberton, Fontleroy, and Buggs playing together we can switch everything, causing huge problems with their versatility and length. She makes us a better rebounding team. Offensively, she adapts quickly to the size and speed, and she adds a dimension to our offense with her ability to drive; she can finish through or around a defender, or kick to an open 3 point shooter. Her dazzling smile, hustling effort, and engaging personality make her a fan favorite.

Pemberton worst case scenario: the drives which led to buckets in the Summit League lead to blocked shots and charging fouls in the Big 12. Her long and slow release on 3 point shots mean that she rarely gets a clean and open look. She struggles to find minutes with Fontleroy, Scott, and Johnson in heavy rotation at the 2 and 3.

I'm hoping for and expecting the best case scenario!