Remember that MM told someone (probably Anthony Anderson) that Gilbert would not be playing point this year (meaning 2018-19), probably figuring that Jordan would get into the rotation at point and Katlyn could spell one of the "off guards."
And in this signing-day article, she told Anderson this about Peoples:
"Though widely listed as a point guard, Peoples likely will not fill that role with the Irish, according to McGraw.
“'But she definitely will pick up things quickly,” the coach said, and “be able to handle the ball.'”
Well, that was said before the season, with the assumption that Jordan would go through a year as a regular sub, learning the ropes form Mabrey, Young and Arike.
So, was the plan for Gilbert to become back-up point guard for Jordan in 2019? Or, given what happened to Nixon and the year-ender to Gilbert, are all of them essentially at ground-base zero?
But Peoples will play. You can feel MM looking forward to her ball-hawking abilities:
"Peoples, meanwhile, “is somebody that can guard the ball, which we haven’t had since Skylar (Diggins) graduated (in 2013),” the coach said of the incoming 5-10 guard from Schlarman Academy in Danville, Ill. “We haven’t had anybody that can really get up and pressure the ball, so I’m excited about her ability to defend, but she also can get to the rim."
I would fully expect Abby will see a lot of PT for pretty much the same reasons.
Stay tuned...this is really going to be interesting. Look forward to seeing how these players are molded into a unit.