mickey one

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.

I think she is ethnic Turkish (or as they write now "Turkiye"). Turkiye and the Balkans, they play some decent basketball down there.

Looks like she can be a force, with the proper coaching.

Anything else in the works?

Laura Ziegler? https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=44182313

Any word on Laura Ziegler? I'm afraid to ask, for fear that it turns out she's going to Iowa or Ohio State. Ziegler could solve a lot of our problems.

It would be easier to root for her, if she were at Iowa State . . . or Clemson . . .or UNC. At least she didn't go to Purdue, right?

Agree. CTM was kind of a miracle worker in that respect . . . which is why you hope she could do the same thing for a Phoenix Stotijn or Valentyna Kadlecova or (is she still on the board?) Laura Ziegler (from Denmark/St. Joe's). If you can't win all the conventional recruiting battles, then look for sleepers or Luka or Nikola-type players, whom everyone else overlooked.

Give that talent to CTM.

And, by the way, Geno Auriemma himself says it is broken. It has become about money, but people won't admit it. He said: "you don't fly 3,000 miles for a conference game if it is not about money."

Agree 100%. There needs to be a "salary cap" and NIL figures should be published. In the "old days", if an alum supporter bought a car for or made payments to a prospect, that was totally verboten. NOW, it is the way things are done, but it's hidden from the public. System broken. Needs to be fixed.

Good for her. A real talent, and doesn't even start (neither does Joyce Edwards, who was All-SEC)! That South Carolina situation is nuts--stockpiling talent to make up for Dawn Staley's average coaching, and they still can't get it done.

Williams supposedly visited Storrs, CT; and being followed on social media by Azzi Fudd & KK Arnold: https://the-boneyard.com/threads/2025-transfer-wish-list.206893/page-3#post-5255431 Would she play much at UConn? Not a sure thing at all. Would she play much at IU? Sure thing to the max.

Does IU have any chance? Any sightings? UConn is supposedly after Williams.

I though Sofilkanich could be a good addition, and would redeem a lot of recruiting fails, BUT she is headed to Michigan: https://www.michigandaily.com/sports/womens-basketball/bucknell-forward-ashley-sofilkanich-transfers-to-michigan/

Sharnecce's new team values her highly. Murray State had a lot of success last year and got into the NCAA tournament. Hopefully, Sharnecce can keep them on this winning path: https://goracers.com/news/2025/4/7/womens-basketball-currie-jelks-joins-racers-for-2025-26

Would she start at all of those places?

One other thing on English: don't know if you remember, but Garzon freshman year was VERY awkward and afraid to speak in English. By this year, she was very confident. Nothing like "immersion learning" for a foreign language!

I remember, but that was the beginning of last year. Some of these Europeans can really pick up English. Don't know if you remember, like Uwe Blab or Matt Haarms (at Purdue). Their English was SO incredibly good. Anyway, I just like Valentyna's game, and would like to see her get some major minutes. If she screwed up, ok, back to the bench. There were times last year where Cieski looked less than stellar . . . but she was the starter, and that wasn't going to budge. CTM can be stubborn and inflexible. Great when it works . . .. but last year was a bit of an off year, and maybe a time to experiment. Coming year will be even more like that.

+ I like her game. She has come in and shown that she can go to the hoop. CTM said she was good on offense. Can't she learn defense? She is a good athlete.

She majors in Game Design. That is like Rocket Science, compared with some of these majors like "Exercise Science" or "Recreation". By this point, she probably knows more English vocab than your average US student!

Did she leave the program or something? I agree she always seemed to have a lot of potential, but never saw the court. Could not understand why CTM did not play her more. Or at least challenge her with some major exposure.