mickey one

Could have some pleasant surprises--Malia Samuels tough defense and running the show; Kenzie Hare a sharpshooter in the tradition of Ciezki & Scalia.

That's true . . . unless Noyan was asking for $500,000, too (reportedly like Caffey). I wonder if the players know how much each other are getting paid. That could create some jealousy.

Malia Samuels might have been a sleeper. She could well be THE point guard, and capable of doing an outstanding job.

Big exodus from Stanford last year. Can Kate Paye hack it?

who is the starting point guard?

Edessa was a good rebounder and really reliable shooter going to the hoop in scoring position. But, in terms of creating offense, or showing moxie against good defenses . . . she could seem a bit timid. Against UCLA, for instance, she disappeared. Agree very much with comment above. With the investment in Z (risky, given injuries), it's impossible to get top-end center, unless you are South Carolina or LSU, who can stack several top players in one position (until they, too, transfer).

Interesting "get". Aside from a Petrie for Noyan trade, nothing gelling yet on the IU front.

Portal basically is insane at the moment. Teams have to go get 6+ players, and have only a few weeks (functionally) to do it--contact, invite, visit, decide on $ offer, get results, balance with dozens of other players on the market, to decide who to go after, and see who is interested. Wow. Ordinarily, a school has several years to contact and evaluate players coming up from high school, make offers, wait for decisions. With the portal, it's a few weeks at best. I don't know how teams can be expected to make this happen, and, sometimes, year-after-year! This process desperately needs to be stabilized. The President's proposal was to limit portal entries (with no waiting period) to ONE per player. Any portal entry after that requires sitting out for one year. Don't know the legal mechanics (Congressional legislation?), but it needs to be that, in order to restore some sanity and stability to the process.

Ayanna Patterson to Kentucky (per UConn boneyard).

Do the Lampleys have something against IU? Lola going to LSU looks like another "Good luck with that!" proposition. She'll probably follow Divine Bourrage & Bella Hines, et al. into the transfer portal.

According to Grok, Missouri women's basketball has a total of $648,000 in NIL + they share $1-2 m. in revenue sharing with ALL other women's sports. So, the total budget for women's basketball players looks like $1.5 m. ish at most. They have Grace Slaughter and a bunch of other decent players, so it seems HIGHLY unlikely that they would pay Caffey $500,000. Theory: Caffey painted herself into a corner with excessive demand, and going to Missouri was the best she could do to save face. She was not all-Big 10, or even all-Big 10 freshman team. No way a highly competitive program like UConn or LSU or TCU would have been interested. She needs space to develop more. Unfortunate outcome.

Do you think they paid her $500,000+?

It may go down as a decision she will regret.

On3 has Caffey going to Missouri. ??

https://tenor.com/view/finchy-desert-meme-funny-lost-gif-4350569011242824636

I don't know if there is any such thing as a "bargain" in the portal. By definition, most people in the portal are dissatisfied, i.e. they think they should have played more, or been paid more, or that the team wasn't good enough for them. So, they are going to want "big bucks" or "more bucks", or bring some "attitude" with them. The question is whether they are worth it and can really contribute, or will be a disruptive force. IU women have been lucky with the portal in the past. Don't know if you can say that about the IU men, or about most teams. For a lot of teams, it's shuffling the deck.

One "problem" with IU women & the portal is the question: are you looking for an Olivia Miles who is going to want big bucks, take over, and play all the time? or do you want more of a back-up or role player? IU is (maybe) sort of set for next year with Z, Beau, Maya all expected to start and play full-time. Out of the Freshmen, there should be enough talent to fill the other 2 spots. SO, what exactly do you need or want from the portal? Injury insurance?

Ayanna Patterson is in the portal, after 3 years of being injured and otherwise sitting on the bench at UConn. IU offered her in 8th grade.

A lot of places on the roster to fill. BTW: looks like she is able.

How about Sydney Fenn?

I wish they would do away with those handshake lines at the end of the game. When did they start that? It wasn't always that way. Particularly after a tough loss, and questionable calls, it's better just to head to the lockerroom, instead of forcing people to fake good sportsmanship. Dawn Staley is not a "good sport" by any measure. And there was the incident when Greg Gard used the handshake to pull over Juwon Howard and say something critical and inflammatory--which set off a ruckus. Just drop the handshake line.

to South Carolina? If she didn't get PT at Iowa, why expect it at South Carolina?

MAC offensive and defensive players of the year are in the portal: Madi Morson, 5-8, G, Soph. (20.1 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.3 spg – plans to enter) https://cmuchippewas.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/madi-morson/6869 Johnea Donahue, 5-8, G, Soph. (11.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4 apg, 4.2 spg – plans to enter) https://bgsufalcons.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/johnea-donahue/19468

Which team one player away from the Final Four is going to splash $500,000 on Caffey?

That is necessary, but not sure how to get there. In NFL and NBA, there are rookie contracts which run 4 years with certain money guaranteed. In college sports, you could run the contract for 2 years. Then, in the 3rd year, the player would become a free agent, and universities could sign them for an additional 2 years, not just 1 year, like with the present portal. That would give you more stability. Question of eligibility limits (more than 4 years?) will probably be litigated next.