I think it's pretty clear that, of the returning players, the leaders in minutes will probably be Smith, Egbo, Richards, and Ursin.
I think the real questions on the table are (a) who will be the 5th starter/5th most minutes, and (b) how do we fill the PG position? Regarding PG, it appears we have 4 options:
1) Grad Transfer - this has been our stopgap solution for the last two years with Chloe and Tea. We were forced into this cycle since Morris was dismissed from the program, or she would likely have been a 3 year starter. We've been extremely fortunate because both Chloe and Tea have been marvelous additions. Will we bring in a PG as a grad transfer for the 3rd consecutive season? Who might be out there?
2) Sarah Andrews - assuming she develops into the college player which her talent suggests, she will be the future of the PG position over the next four years. However, how much can we realistically expect from her during her Freshman year? At many other programs, highly recruited Freshmen will start from Day One; just this year we're seeing Espenmiller-McGraw at ISU and Celeste Taylor at UT with major roles. Historically at Baylor under Mulkey, it's harder for Freshmen to get major minutes. This is probably a combination of (a) hard to find minutes on a roster full of talented upperclassmen, (b) Mulkey has high standard for defensive play and for mental decisions, and it takes time for most HS players to learn and grow so they can meet that standard, and (c) we are usually competing at a Top 10 level nationally, and it's hard to a Freshman to consistently play at that higher level of competition. We've seen some Freshmen make major contributions, most recently from Lauren Cox, Alexis Morris , and NaLyssa Smith. However, the more normal path is what we're seeing from Jordyn Oliver this year, in that they'll get some minutes in less competitive games and develop over time in practice.
3) Jordyn Oliver - yes, she's often playing PG this season. However, that's more a function of need since we don't have a true backup PG. She's been up and down this year at PG, capable of excellent passes and strong drives to the hoop, followed by poor passes and unforced turnovers. It's pretty clear that SG is Jordyn's more natural position. Her future at Baylor is very bright, but I'm not convinced her future is at PG.
4) Didi Richards (offense)/Moon Ursin (defense) - this is the more unconventional solution, but intriguing. Didi is frequently handling the ball and initiating the offense this year, and she's doing it very well. In fact, I often think that our best half court offense is when we use Didi to initiate the offense, with Tea and Juicy working the perimeter and Lauren and NaLyssa/Queen working the interior. Didi has evolved into an excellent passer, with good vision, good angles, and good pace on her passes. Much like Magic Johnson, her length also allows her to pass over the top of most defenders so she has more options to deliver the ball. She is more than functional, she is very good with the ball in her hands. The reason I listed Moon in combination is that I believe Moon is an excellent on ball defender, and usually her size matches up best with opponent PG's. In my view, if Didi is our primary ball handler next year, she can still cover the opponent's best perimeter scorer, because Moon can defend the PG.
At this moment in February 2020, I would predict that option (4) is what we'll see next year, with Didi initiating the offense and Moon defending the opponent's PG. That leaves Sarah Andrews in the more appropriate role of backup PG off the bench. It also means we'll see either Trinity or Jordyn as the 5th starter, and that one is a coin flip for me. At this moment, I think Trinity is slightly a better defender and better decision maker, and Jordyn has slightly better athleticism and scoring ability. Wouldn't shock me if they average about the same number of minutes next year.
