Senior Watch Weeks 5-6

PG
Ashley Houts Georgia #1 last week
Kelsey Luna Indiana State # 2 last week
Taylor Lilly Oregon #3 last week
Quenese Davis San Diego State NR last week
Jordann Plummer Drake #4 last week

MIA: Courtnay Pilypaitis (Vermont)

SG
Kalana Greene Connecticut #1 last week
Alison Lacey Iowa State #4 last week
Ashley Barlow Notre Dame #5 last week
May Kotsopoulos Vermont #2 last week
Brittainey Raven Texas #3 last week

MIA: They all stick

SF
Alysha Clark Middle Tennessee #1 last week
Danielle McCray Kansas #3 last week
Shanara Hollinquest Chattanooga #4 last week
Nyeshia Stevenson Oklahoma NR last week
Heather Bowman Gonzaga NR last week

MIA: Lacey Simpson (Illinois), Monica Wright (Virginia)

PF
Kelsey Griffin Nebraska #1 last week
Jenna Smith Illinois #2 last week
Jacinta Monroe Florida State #3 last week
Dana Mitchell St. Bonaventure NR last week
Erica Beverly Hartford #4 last week

MIA: Siarre Evans (East Tennessee State)

C
Tina Charles Connecticut #1 last week
Jayne Appel Stanford #2 last week
Keke Carrier Auburn #3 last week
Alyssa DeHaan Michigan State #4 last week
Angel Robinson Georgia #5 last week

MIA: They all stick, but I am only tracking 5 of them...Monroe falls at #4 here if I were ranking her at center.

NCAA Senior Watch Week 4

PG

Player	School	Movement
Ashley Houts	Georgia	#2 last week
Kelsey Luna	Indiana State	#3 last week
Taylor Lilly	Oregon	#5 last week
Jordann Plummer	Drake	#4 last week
Courtney Pilypaitas	Vermont	#1 last week

I had to pull JJ Hones from the list after it sunk in that the 4th year student red shirted last season and has one more year of eligibility remaining.

MIA: They all stick.


SG

Player	School	Movement
Kalana Greene	Connecticut	#1 last week
May Kotsopoulos	Vermont	#2 last week
Brittainey Raven	Texas	#4 last week
Alison Lacey	Iowa State	NR last week
Ashley Barlow	Notre Dame	#3 last week

MIA: Brittany (Ray Rutgers)
Ray drops out as Raven and Lacey pull ahead.

SF

Player	School	Movement
Alysha Clark	Middle Tennessee State	#1 last week
Lacey Simpson	Illinois	#2 last week
Danielle McCray	Kansas	#3 last week
Shanara Hollinquest	Chattanooga	#4 last week
Monica Wright	Virginia	#5 last week

No movement in the list, but Kalana Greene would have slipped to number three this week behind Simpson were I tracking her at the forward slot.

MIA: They all stick.

PF

Player	School	Movement
Kelsey Griffin	Nebraska	#2 last week
Jenna Smith	Illinois	#1 last week
Jacinta Monroe	Florida State	#3 last week
Erica Beverly	Hartford	#5 last week
Siarre Evans	East Tennessee State	NR last week

The top players swap spots. After watching Smith play this week I considered moving her to Center, but decided to keep watching her here as a likely Power Forward consideration in the WNBA. Sweat continues her inconsistent play and drops from the list this week.

MIA: Ashley Sweat(Kansas State)

C

Player	School	Movement
Tina Charles	Connecticut	#1 last week
Jayne Appel	Stanford	#3 last week
Keke Carrier	Auburn	#4 last week
Alyssa DeHaan	Michigan State	NR last week
Angel Robinson	Georgia	NR last week

I took Amber Harris off the list as an astute reader pointed out she is a red shirt Junior this season. Jenna Smith qualified as #2 on this list as well, while Jacinta Monroe would have been #4.


MIA: Harris' exit leaves me with only 5 senior centers to track. I may have to consider moving either Monroe or Smith over to this position.

NCAA Seniors Week 3

I mucked with my formulas this week to better differentiate the values for posts vs. perimeter players.

Houts and Lilly return, and I move Pilypaitis over from shooting guard to take over my top spot at the point. The Vermont backcourt is confusing to me, and I have not seen them play. Pilypaitis is taller than Kotsopoulos, but she appears to be the primary playmaker.

PG

Courtnay Pilypaitis Vermont (NR last week)

Ashley Houts Georgia (NR last week)

Kelsey Luna Indiana State (#1 last week)

Jordann Plummer Drake (#4 last week)

Taylor Lilly Oregon (NR last week)

MIA: Andrea Riley (Oklahoma State), Jareica Hughes (UTEP), Mickel Picco (Boston College)

Moving Pilypaitis to point lets Green take the top spot, and the newly tracked Kotsopoulos fills in the # 2.

SG

Kalana Green Connecticut (#2 last week)

May Kotsopoulos Vermont (NR last week)

Ashley Barlow Notre Dame (#5 last week)

Brittainey Raven Texas (#4 last week)

Brittany Ray Rutgers (NR last week)

MIA: Lele Hardy (Clemson)

I am tracking Green at shooting guard, but she would be #2 on the SF list as well. Wright falls back and Simpson continues to climb.

SF

Alysha Clark Middle Tennesee (#1 last week)

Lacey Simpson Illinois (#5 last week)

Danielle McCray Kansas (#3 last week)

Shanara Hollinquest Chattanooga (#4 last week)

Monica Wright Virginia (#2 last week)

MIA: They all stick.

I move Jacinta Monroe to PF from C after watching her play this week. Florida State plays her mostly at PF and she ranks higher in that list this week.

PF

Jenna Smith Illinois (#2 last week)

Kelsey Griffin Nebraska (#3 last week)

Jacinta Monroe Florida State (NR last week)

Ashley Sweat Kansas State (NR last week)

Erica Beverly Hartford (#2 last week)

MIA: Ashley Ellis-Milan (Minnesota), Gabriela Marginea (Drexel)

I moved Monroe to PF, but she would have been 4th on the C list had I left her. Her move saves DeHaan after a bad week.

C

Tina Charles Connecticut (#1 last week)

Amber Harris Xavier (#2 last week)

Jayne Appel Stanford (#3 last week)

Keke Carrier Auburn (NR last week)

Alyssa DeHaan Michigan State (#5 last week)

MIA: They all stick.

Working the Numbers

I didn't have a chance to catch any games yesterday, though my DVR captured three of them for me.

Instead, I had the privilege of attending a coaching workshop through the Ballard Boys & Girls Club run by the Seattle Storm and led by head coach Brian Agler.

It was a real pleasure to experience first hand what I heard throughout last season with regards to Coach Agler's skills as a teacher. As likely the least experienced attendee, I learned quite a bit, though most of it won't help my Kindergarten/1st Graders. I did decide to keep coaching and will be picking up either a third grade boys or girls team next week.

I am crunching numbers for last week and should have a post up on Tuesday with the current state of my senior watch.

The Storm have their practice facility for the next five years having inked a deal with SPU.

Weekend Watch

I managed to fit three college games in yesterday, two were recordings of games from earlier this week.

North Carolina @ Michigan State

This game was a nice upset by Michigan State of the #4 ranked team in the nation. North Carolina made it interesting with a big second half comeback, but did not have enough steam left to secure the road win. I was watching this game to observe Michigan State senior center Allyssa DeHaan. I was disappointed at first as she picked up two quick fouls and sat out the entire first half. In the second half she played quite well, displaying some skills at both ends of the floor to go along with her obvious attributes of size (6'9") and length.

Florida State @ Indiana

I had a chance to watch Florida State take out Indiana in the Big 10/ACC Classic. I wanted to catch senior Forward/Center Jacinta Monroe and did get to see quite a bit of her. The Seminoles play her mostly at Power Forward, so I will add her to this week's list at that position as well as at Center. Monroe played very well in this game, scoring, rebounding and blocking shots. Like DeHaan, though, I think she will need a stronger base to play the post in the pros. Her 6'8" height is great, she has nice long arms, and she does seem to have more of a wiry strength than I saw in DeHaan.

Louisiana Tech @ Baylor

Yes, I am watching as much Baylor as I can this year even without a senior prospect on my list. I can't pass up a chance to watch Griner and see how see matures over the next four years. The last high school phenom I watched, Candace Parker, was much more polished when she arrived at Tennessee (of course she redshirted her freshman year). Griner brings a raw quality with her skills and physical abilities that is more exciting. You watch this young woman play and wonder what things will be like next year. In this particular game, Baylor faced almost all man to man coverage in the first half. Louisiana Tech's coach, WNBA great Teresa Weatherspoon refused to use the zone defense until the game was mostly out of reach. Griner and a sharp looking set of players starting and on the bench made them pay. The 10 point final margin is deceptive, as Baylor led by 15-20 points most of the game and only allowed themselves to relax in the final two minutes. Griner ended the game with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. I really like senior Morghan Medlock, but at 6'1" I don't think her skills will translate to the pros. On Louisiana Tech's side, I am tracking senior Power Forward Shanvia Dowdell. She was last on my PF rankings last week but in my top 40 overall players. She was clearly Tech's best player, and played remarkably well against superior competition, but at 6'2, I don't know that her skills will translate as a pro.

NCAA Seniors Week 2

Lots of movement in the guard realm this week, but the bigs are staying tight. Tina Charles is still in front of the whole pack at this point, not that we expected anything less.

PG

Kelsey Luna Indiana State (#3 last week)

Andrea Riley Oklahoma State (#1 last week)

Jareica Hughes UTEP (NR last week)

Jordann Plummer Drake (NR last week)

Mickel Picco Boston College (NR last week)

MIA: Tasha Harris (Boise State), Ashley Houts (Georgia) and Taylor Lilly (Oregon)

SG

Courtnay Pilypaitis Vermont (NR last week)

Kalana Green Connecticut (#3 last week)

Lele Hardy Clemson (NR last week)

Brittainey Raven Texas (NR last week)

Ashley Barlow Notre Dame (NR last week)

MIA: Alison Hightower (LSU), Tyra Grant (Penn State), Deirdre Naughton (DePaul), Alexis Rack (Mississippi State)

SF

Alysha Clark Middle Tennesee (#2 last week)

Monica Wright Virginia (#4 last week)

Danielle McCray Kansas (#1 last week)

Shanara Hollinquest Chattanooga (#5 last week)

Lacey Simpson Illinois (NR last week)

MIA: Sade Morris (Kansas)

PF

Kelsey Griffin Nebraska (#3 last week)

Jenna Smith Illinois (NR last week)

Erica Beverly Hartford (#2 last week)

Ashley Ellis-Milan Minnesota (NR last week)

Gabriela Marginea Drexel (#4 last week)

MIA: Ashley Sweat (Kansas State), Pauline Love (Southern Miss)

C

Tina Charles Connecticut (#1 last week)

Amber Harris Xavier (#2 last week)

Jacinta Monroe Florida State (#5 last week)

Jayne Appel Stanford (#3 last week)

Alyssa DeHaan Michigan State (NR last week)

MIA: KeKe Carrier (Auburn)

Lest We Forget...

Remember how lucky we are...

Sonicsgate

I am more than halfway through the numbers for last week's NCAA seniors...I should finish them up today.