mickey one

I think the WNBA is pretty worthless--I could not tell you the teams' names and don't care who wins. April Reese said she did not make enough money to pay her rent. I think it's a mistake to regard it as some kind of "benchmark" as to a basketball player's ultimate worth (people talk that way sometimes). I think college basketball is now the ultimate forum for women's basketball (esp. with the new NIL rules). IMHO. As to Holmes, unbelievable talent. If she wants to continue in B-Ball at some level, I'm sure that will be possible for her. I will remember all the games where IU needed a bucket, and she delivered. Didn't seem possible, but she made it happen. Amazingly deadly shooter around the rim, and played with such determination.

Zania Edessa Faith Sydney Jade Somebody needs to step up. Go for it! Striplin last year was fearless--we need more of that. Good thing about Jade: her team won the JUCO national championship last year, and she was a starter.

Sleeper?

Apparently, NCAA schools can spend up to $23.1 m./year as a cap (Sports Illustrated says $20.5 m). I don't know how IU has decided to spend that, or how different teams (like football, men's and women's basketball) can compete within the school for that money. ["NCAA schools will be able to spend a maximum of $23.1 million each year, and that cap will increase on a yearly basis during the ten-year-long settlement agreement. The spending limit is based on a formula that gives NCAA athletes 22% of the money the average power conference school makes from media rights deals, ticket sales, and sponsorships. Time will tell if this settlement raises more questions than answers for NCAA schools." From McCarter & English attorney website.]

No one would be here if they were not a fan. The question is how NIL/portal has transformed college basketball. It looks like a team would need at least about $5 to $10 m. per year to be competitive at the highest level, on the women's side. Does IU have it? How does it get it? How will it be distributed? Keep in mind that even in professional sports, it is not open-ended bidding for players. There is the draft, and then structured contracts depending on your level in the draft, and salary caps for each team. If professional sports teams did not have those features, teams would probably be bankrupted by out-of-control bidding wars. It is only when players hit free agency that bidding wars erupt. How is all this even possible for professional sports? Collective bargaining agreements (CBA) between the owners and players' unions impose order on what could be chaos and bankruptcy. Just turn on ESPN--all the commentators are expert in salary cap discussions, how much the "hit" is for signing a player, etc. It is part and parcel of professional sports. Is any such thing as a CBA necessary or even possible at the college level? If the NCAA does not impose some kind of order and fairness on the process, could it turn into the "Wild West" when it comes to bidding and money in college athletics?

I read on an Iowa blog that Emely Rodriguez was asking for $250,000/year in NIL payments. Not sure if that is true, but that raises the whole idea of paying players in college athletics. Is this such a good idea? 1. In Europe, if universities have athletic teams, they are sort of like intramurals, i.e. for fun. If you are seriously interested in a sport in Europe, you join a local athletic club and compete for that club . . . sort of like youth sports in the US. 2. In the US, we have preserved the idea of "college athletics", but it has now become some version of professional sports, where the players are paid. It is not about "student-athletes" or "amateur sports". And with the transfer portal, open bidding becomes possible on the best players. That raises a few questions: why 4 years of eligibility? An average student at IU graduates in 4 years, but the new NIL athletes are not "average students". If the Chemistry Department at IU hired an outstanding faculty member, they would want to keep that person, and even grant them tenure to encourage lifetime work at IU. Why are the student athletes (at least in NIL sports) booted out in 4 year? The incongruity of this all is seen in the Olivia Miles case--she literally is making TONS MORE money by playing with TCU next year and getting NIL, as opposed to entering the WNBA, which pays peanuts. Olivia Miles will probably make more money next year than everyone in TCU basketball, except for the head coach. You can go on the internet and find out exactly how much money the roster of the Indiana Pacers is being paid. Shouldn't that be the case with college athletics and NIL now? I love IU basketball, but NIL and the transfer portal have transformed college athletics into something different, sadly. I guess there is no going back, so it seems that some new rules, at least re "transparency" might be a good idea? Or should we continue to hide NIL payments, and pretend that it is still the "old days"? I think I can see why CTM resisted going the "NIL route", and I can also see why she would have had to accept the "NIL universe", because that is probably the only way you can succeed in college basketball these days.

Boo! Waiting for a high-low post of Zania-Edessa, with Edessa stepping back to hit 3's. Need some positive surprises from this group.

CTM praised Garzon to the high heavens . . . really a bit more than was justified. Maryland has been a cauldron where players are tossed and have to compete for time. You've got people like Kaylene Smikle, Mir McLean, Saylor Poffenbarger, Okananwa, and more. They're good. If Garzon can earn minutes on that squad, great. But, Brenda will not do her any favors.

https://www.si.com/onsi/womens-fastbreak/news/uconn-fans-foresee-championship-repeat-after-serah-williams-transfer-commitment-01jt3skrdz4t

https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/hawkeyes/womens-basketball/2025/04/29/iowa-womens-basketball-targets-transfer-portal-ucf-emely-rodriguez/83351931007/ Had offers from UConn, South Carolina, Florida State, and UCF . . . and chose UCF . . . and is all-rookie team in Big 12, and pursued by Iowa, IU, & Oklahoma. Girl looks smart to me.

QUESTION: in this age of the TRANSFER PORTAL, where 1/3 of all players are on the move at the end of each season: instead of going from high school to a Power 5 school, and risk being stuck on the bench (+ some coaches will not play freshmen), wouldn't a better strategy be to go to a mid-major or lower grade university, distinguish yourself there, and THEN move up to a "Power 5" conference, if you have shown yourself to be good enough? Case in point: Emely Rodriguez goes to a sub-par team (UCF), does exceptionally well, picked to All-Rookie team in Big 12, and now she is in demand. I hope IU gets her. At the other end, Faith Wiseman is well-regarded in HS, pursued by IU, Iowa, Maryland, and she sits on the bench freshman year at IU--almost no PT. Even the fans almost forget that she is there. Wouldn't she have been better off going to UCF or Miami (Ohio) or a Mountain West or A-10 team, get rookie of the year, all-conference, and THEN you have all kinds of experience, and people want you. There are a whole bunch of examples of this in the portal this year. I suppose the "danger" is that you will not be great in the A-10 and get "stuck" there, but if you weren't going to be great in the A-10, then you probably were not going to be great in the Big 10 or SEC either. I know there are slogans like "challenge yourself" or "be all that you can be", but that's hard when you do not get into the game, and develop through challenge and adversity. Maybe we need a new "paradigm" for success and player development, driven by the transfer portal (which is here to stay, like it or not)? What do you think?

Not sure what the over-under means. 12 is plenty--this may be a "wait and see" year, unless Zania steps up to dominate, and IU plays its usual cohesive team play. Going forward, maybe Colsten Thompson will make IU competitive for the top 20 type players--add that to CTM coaching, and IU should challenge to win Big 10.

Looks like a good choice for her. She could really get in there and hustle, but didn't get a chance to play much at IU. At Wyoming, she will hopefully have a central role, and I think she will do well. Same conference as Lex.

Agree. Also, at a certain point, I like to think that we need to trust the people we have, and give them a chance . . . rather than initiating some kind of merciless and ongoing "survival of the fittest" where you bring in more and more talent, knowing that in the process some very good people are not going to get a chance and will end up on the bench.

You've got Faith Wiseman and Sydney Fenn.

She had a nice interview:

Zania Noyan Caffey Shay Phoenix ??--Is Wiseman going to step up? Can Makalusky be the reincarnation of Sydney Parrish? If so, they play a lot. Need a bigger lineup option. Don't know about Beaumont--she's kind of untested.

???

Don't expect her to be a 3-point shooting ace, and she can run the CSU offense pretty well. Good defender. Confident ball handler. I think her choice of a Mountain West team was a good one--fresh start, and a chance to shine.

Hard to judge talent in this portal business, or in recruiting in general. You have to figure out which ones are REALLY going to thrive at the next level (not a certainty), and, also, it's about putting together a TEAM . . . something that CTM has excelled at. The potential is there, if some people step up. Going from the shock of mass exodus, to the feeling that next year's team could be an improvement has been an interesting journey over the past few weeks.

Edessa Noyan highlights: https://www.facebook.com/UVAWomensHoops/videos/edessa-noyan-highlights-vs-north-carolina/1391592455081422/ https://www.instagram.com/uvawomenshoops/reel/C7hQ5uWOrhh/ https://www.support-by-report.nl/stories/2011829_edessa-noyan-shows-her-talent-and-determination

GCU overachieved big time last year, and their coach moved to Arizona State. Their NEW coach is an up and comer from South Carolina . . . so it should be exciting at GCU for Jules. She should have the PT to show what she can do.

If Williams goes to UConn, Ayanna Patterson and several others are most likely history.