How ugly is this season going to get?

[Coach_W]

Good points, all very true.

[imabison]

Two embarrassing losses at home to teams that the ladies should have dominated. *Wow what happened to Amy and her coaching/recruiting? *:-/

I was at both games, and what I saw was a lack of intensity and focus on the game.

One thing that has to be considered however is the MSU-Moorhead beat UNI over the weekend also. They may not be a low class DII school.

[NDSTATEBB]

I don't believe it's a lack of intensity or heart from the girls. It's purely a lack of talent. Like other ppl have stated, there has been a dramatic drop in the level of recruiting and a bad misjudge of talent. We need to get some girls in who have the ability to put the ball in the hole and lead the Bison to some victories. Ruley is a heck of a coach, but right now her program is going downhill, and something needs to happen quickly to restore it.

[TheDoctor]

[quote author=SDSUHuskies link=1162740868/0#2 date=1162762631]Two words: Tessa Wilka
one of the most versatile players in all of South Dakota basketball (and that includes males!)
one of the hardest workers
played well in Durham, NC
an elite guard...two-time Street and Smith H.M. All-American
By the time she gets here next season, the girls from this years squad will have a year under their belt..it's not too early to start thinking Sweet Sixteen NCAA and Conference champs by the time Wilka and some of thep layers now and upperclassmen...good things come to those who wait for it!

She better be a Taurasi or Holdsclaw to bring this group to the Sweet 16. *Has the Mid-Con ever had a women's team in the Sweet 16? *I can't remember.[/quote]


;D If she were a Taurasi or Holdsclaw she wouldn't have made it out of Durham, NC without an offer from Gail Goestenkors. Who's that you say? When they were interviewing for the Head Womens coaching position at Duke, they said they needed someone with a name harder to pronounce than Krzyzewski. ;D Thats right. If she were a Taurasi or a Holdsclaw, she'd also be a Blue Devil next year. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Coach_W]

I agree. While the best kids in the region, SD, ND, etc. certainly help, if you want this program to be seen in the sweet 16, you have to get kids being recruited by Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Iowa, etc. Then you'll see this program take off again.

As good as UND is right now, the kids they have would not put them in the Sweet 16 of DI basketball. I don't believe any of their girls were recruited by Big 10 or Big 12 schools; Kimbrough maybe, but that would be it.

[SDSUHuskies]

Can we please play common opponent real quick? Alright, NDSU beat SDSU women twice in the 2004-05 season. SDSU beat Middle Tennessee State ON THE ROAD. Middle Tennessee State *beat NC State (an ACC school) in the first round of the NCAA's and had a chance against Texas Tech before falling in that game. The year before that MTSU beat North Carolina in the first round and lost to Notre Dame (a Big East) in the second round. That is A SUN BELT CONFERENCE school hanging and beating ACC, Big 12 and Big East schools. And you're telling me that the only way we can beat others is by getting out-of-state players? Please, let's keep the Dakota players in the Dakotas. It is not about who gets recruited by who and who didn't recruit who. It's about coaches knowing what they go up against year in and year out and what personnel they want to fill those positions. I mean heck, take an average girl that doesn't even get an NAIA offer and turn her into a D1 player. In Geno's 05 recruiting class he picked up a girl named Cassie Kerns. Before she verbally committed, she wasn't even considered one of the best in HER CONFERENCE! Low and behold, she was named an all-american, probably for the fact that UConn signed her. But I can guarantee you, if she would have stayed home to play at Valpo or somewhere, would she be an All-American then? No. Probably not even All-State. Or take Breanna Bass for instance from Indiana. Even IPFW didn't want her! 5'2" guard...yet Pat Summit offered her a scholly and she verballed as a sophomore. Immediately, all the Indiana schools and then some were showing interest like crazy. If Geno signed Wilka, I think that would shine a lot of spotlight on her every move in all of her games wouldn't you say? My point is, it doesn't matter WHO the player got recruited by, or where they come from, it's if they fit the program. But I guess you're right, Mid-Co? Who ever heard of them....then why were you so dang excited to be invited by them in the first place? *> GO LADY BISON!!!!!!!!!!!

[Coach_W]

Well I can't deny your knowledge of DI basketball that's for sure. However, I believe that Geno and Pat are knocking on the doors of alot of the same players every year. I believe that Amy needs to knock on the doors of the same players as the coaches from U of Minn, Iowa, Iowa St., Wisc., etc.

Recruiting players of need is important but so is recruiting the most talent possible. Just my opinion.

[NoDakSt]

In Geno's 05 recruiting class he picked up a girl named Cassie Kerns.

Geno recently had a couple of "bad recruiting" years during which he lost an entire recruiting class to transfers, and brought in players like Kerns and 6'5" Kristen Phillips who he quickly recruited over by pulling in Tina Charles and Kaili McClaren. The program "fell" to only being an Elite Eight participant. He has since upped his ante pulling in Charles, the top recruit from 2006, Maya Moore, the top recruit from 2007 and UCONN is very much in the running for Elena Della Donne the top recruit for 2008.