One Almost Wishes A Task Force Could Be Assembled...
by dillon77 (2019-06-24 16:34:57)
Edited on 2019-06-24 19:28:10

In reply to: This exodus is seriously concerning  posted by Orangutan


...to examine why ND has recently lost four recent prime recruits (five if you want to go back to Taya Reimer, but she did graduate).

There are some excellent opinions and remedies brought up here, but with the transfer portal being entered more and more, questions are raised in my head with every answer or opinion I read.

As Orangutan points out, we're doing well enough as evidenced by our getting to/the brink of the final four most years. Still, one would've expected a bump from the National Championship. Is there something lurking that is getting in the way? Something definite? A number of things? Or a disconnect?

I think it's worth asking these questions and trying to find some answers because, as Muffet points out, these transfers have effects on programs.
(And, btw, I think this is happening throughout WBB: UConn and Oregon are certainly not immune to it, to look at two other NCAA Final Four Teams.)

RECRUITING

- Are we going after the right players/people?
- What are the expectations they have coming into college regarding the university (academics/social life/demands/what one can get out of it)?
- In a similar mode, what are the expectations as players. Playing time is the most obvious. What about competition within the team? Expectations?
- How will they be coached? Do people have a full picture of MM's approach to coaching? Is there a disconnect between the expectations and the reality?

RETENTION
(to pull a phrase from my corporate background)

- Having had two recent students at the University, ND puts a lot of effort into making sure the frosh don't get lost, utilizing the frosh college, as well as the residence halls staffs.

- Athletes are under even more time demands. When coupled with the expectations (self- and otherwise), is everything in sync? Who takes care of that on the hoops team? Is it formal? Semi-? Both?

- Can expectations be re-calibrated? Assuaged? Can one keep a player from going from frustrated to turned around, rather than the transfer portal?

SOME AREAS TO ADDRESS:

- Playing time. I remember a Kayo post that pointed towards this above all. Muffet and Geno A. are both using increasingly short benches with top recruits sitting and watching.

Are the expectations (for the coaches) that high that they don't feel they can play newbies? Or is their level of expectations so high that they won't put players in until they are at a certain level of play?
Is that level, perhaps, too high (for retention and/or developmental purposes)?

- COACHING STYLE.
-- Dani Patterson said she wanted to go somewhere that would help her get into the pro's, yet she left a campus that had five WNBA draftees and coaches who helped facilitate that? So is it the style in which they're coached?
-- Tenor. MM is known for being, ahem, very straight-forward -- even sarcastic on occasion -- with her players. While she's toned it down over the years, there is a new breed of athlete coming through. Obviously, some can take it (Mabrey), but for those that can't, should one back off (Bill Parcells rule: know your players)? Or find a mix of players that include some who can take the proverbial heat?

- OTHER ISSUES

-- Linked issues: expectations of players/coaches not being in sync.
Seems we now have two instances where MM chose to bring in a grad point guard from Stanford with the result being that a prominent ND undergrad transferred. Lili Thompson in, Ali Patberg gone. Marta Sniezek in, Jordan Nixon gone. And Nixon also had the specter of another 2020 point guard (Clark or Kelly) coming in the next year. Were the reasons why explained? Did they feel bait and switched?

- Transfer Portal: It's getting easier for athletes to join the portal. On one hand, you can get players, but it still might not make up for losing a player after all the work one has done to recruit a player.


- Squad Size. Many posters suggest having a somewhat larger roster to make up for transfer losses. I get that, but if one of the issue gets down to short benches and limited time, does that hinder recruiting?

- Squad Make-up: Or do you address that with the kind of people you go after to fill out squads? Look for kids who are have D1 talent but are not necessarily 5-star products but can give solid minutes when called upon. And will match up well with ND? A Hannah Huffman? A Brittany Mallory, who fit into the starting lineup?

Sorry for the lengthy discourse, but we're starting to see this at a lot of schools and there are probably underlying commonalities that could/should be addressed.










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