Huffman. I think she will contribute well. Perhaps Niele is planning on playing 7-9 players. MM was more comfortable with a smaller squad and shorter true bench.
A few interesting tidbits I had not seen before on Dara:
—Indicates the decision on to offer/not offer was made by ND and Dara did not have an opportunity to attend ND out of high school?
“Mabrey was initially recruited by Notre Dame out of high school, before the Irish eventually opted to go a different route.
If hard feelings arose, they weren’t significant enough to create an ongoing roadblock.”
—There are some hard feelings between Dara and VT?
Mabrey says that she prefers not to discuss the circumstances of her transfer from Tech.
“I kind of knew I needed to find a new home, so I put my name in the portal,” Mabrey said. “Let’s just stick with, I needed to find a new place to truly feel happy.”
—She prefers PG, but is really a “combo guard”?
Nevertheless, “I would say I would like to be labeled a point guard first,” Dara shared, “rather than stuck with being just a shooting guard, but really, maybe just a combo guard. I’m super, super excited that I’ll have somebody like Coach Ivey who can help me become a better point guard, because that’s what she was, but I’ll do whatever helps our team win. If you need me to bring the ball up the court, feed the post for one half, then get myself open for shots the second half, I’ll do that.”
—Wants to and will apply for a waiver (I do too!)
Ivey says it would be difficult to speculate on how quickly the NCAA will make a decision regarding Mabrey’s eligibility, let alone what the decision will be.
“It takes a little bit of time following admittance. You have to go through the paperwork,” Ivey said. “You just never know with that.”
Mabrey says she would definitely prefer to begin her Irish career immediately, but understands she may have to wait until the 2021-22 season.
Link, below
worth reading. It is ironic to note that ND had one year of Jordan Nixon at the beginning of her college career and will now have the final two years of Dara Mabrey. As best we can tell ND rated Nixon ahead of Mabrey in the search to replace Jenna Brown. Jenna has been the least productive of the three in college and Dara has been more productive than the other two combined. Brown has proven to be a poor shooter during her limited playing time at Stanford.
Jenna Brown has been strangely horrid at Stanford with very little playing time, most likely coupled to each other. Jordan Nixon, fairly forgettable in her freshman year (poor assists to turnovers), sat out last year at Texas A&M. As MPG states, Dara, while rated much worse than the other two, has done much better. It will be interesting to watch the three for the rest of their college careers.
It's got a couple of quotes from Dara and also does a nice job of comparing the three "savant" hoopster sisters.
Here's an interesting assessment from author Gregg Lerner, a long-time hoops writer:
"While Michaela was a cerebral and intuitive playmaker at Manasquan, Marina was an imposing physical presence with finesse, whether around the rim or beyond the arc, more forward or off-guard though fully capable of fulfilling practically any requirement on the hardwood. Each powered the Warriors to a Tournament of Champions crown.
"Dara was cast in a smaller version, a few inches shorter than her sisters but driven by the same passion to compete and win that fueled Michaela and Marina, a part of two TOC title teams at Manasquan and equipped with a fierce drive that should play well for the Irish and their new coaching staff..."
As you may know, I grew up in Mercer County, so I have a keen eye towards NJ HS sports. I follow many of them religiously, so Dara was on my radar for several years. I was crushed when she committed to VT, but she claimed she wanted to make a name for herself, etc. We will never know what happened with her recruiting, relative to ND, but in the end, she landed where we all hoped she would
I am a big fan of Lerner too. I think he has a strong relationship with The Mabrey family, so he has his ear to the pulse
Yes, lots and lots of guards. Bring them in waves (no jersey shore pun), be aggressive, play fast-paced and wreak havoc on the opponent. Should be great to watch!
Add me to the group that thinks the DM waiver gets rejected, but great point on Boneyard if successful. They will need to have all sharp objects removed from their reach.
...on the Boneyard and feel the collective angst level rise. You start seeing words like flop, whiny, what did you expect. It's like a dog whistle was blown!
That's not everyone though...many hoops fans know what the Mabreys do for ND and I think Skyler nailed it -- "dubs." The sisters play to win and while they contribute in different ways outside of the long bombs, they push for that.
I like the "wave idea" a lot, as does MPG. Niele is on record as saying she wants to be high-scoring and keep the pressure on. How better than guards like Dara, Anaya, Katlyn, Abby, Alasia, Olivia and Sonia (21' version).
BTW, while always keeping hope up, if Fudd goes to Storrs or somewhere else, I expect Niele to go after KK Bransford hard. If she does not pan out, I'll push hard for Madison St. Rose of St. John Vianney on the Shore. State MVP as a sophomore. Similar player to Bransford...combo guard who draws fouls.
I’d actually prefer Paris Clark of Long Island Lutheran. Saw them play against each other late in the HS season. A battle of two Top 20 HS teams. And Clark seemed to be the better player. Clark’s game has taken off this year since Celeste Taylor graduated. ND was at a preseason open gym to see her play before the start of the season. Clark is ranked 16th by Blue Star b-ball and was 5th team HS AA by Max Preps this season. But since Coach McGraw is gone. Does Coach Ivey have any interest?
for guards in the Class of 2022.
Thanks for your post and insights. I'm running out the door to do a few errands but a cursory look at Uncle Internet shows they're rated somewhat equally by Dan Olson (42- St. Rose, 44 - Clark), look to be about the same height and both are combo guards. And both had great seasons with Clark being LI Player of the Year and St. Rose the same in NJ.
I'll take your word for it in the one game they played...the LI Lutheran/Manasquan game I saw was one of the best HS games I've watched in a decade. Mabrey was exceptional and Taylor a very steady, all-round presence.
Excellent coach at Lutheran who keeps producing excellent D-1 guards (Grace Stone at Princeton, Taylor at UT and now Clark).
As for Niele's interest, hmmm. She was away last year and Beth M-C oversaw the ship, but I was not aware of trips to LI or the Jersey Shore and when she cam back Niele went to the wells she dug, with Citron (whom I adore as a player) and Miles (the moons the proverbial balloon).
ND has had strong interest in Bransford for years and I've got to think it's all systems go for her, particularly if Fudd - as expected - goes elsewhere.
If that's the case, back-up is a good idea. St. Rose, Clark...get the names and games to Niele: she'll go see them if she likes them. Plus LaGuardia's just been upgraded :-)
I don’t know either if ND has any interest in Clark? All I know is that they came to see her before the season. As for St Rose. She is a very nice player. I had seen her play a couple times last year. In the game against Luhi and Clark. Her team got routed. And she struggled. I think she finished with 10 points. I left in the middle of the 4th with Luhi up by 30. I had thought it would have been a better game if two top 20 teams were playing each other. But that’s basketball. And you are correct. The Luhi vs Manasquan was a great game, one of the best HS games I have seen.
the Manasquan vs Luhi game? Great gym to be in.
Got to give Manasquan credit for managing to be competitive year in, year out. Now a lot has to do with the Mabrey-Masonius-Clark families, but the youth/AAU organizations feeding into them continually seem to develop kids.
And Lisa Kukoda seems to have her charges' respect, which is always helpful. Transfers in also help.
Don't need to sell me on Lutheran....great program, year-in, year-out.
I saw St. Rose and her team vs. Red Bank Catholic and their sophs Justine Pissott and Ally Carman. St. Rose just managed to draw contact time and time again. Pissott has a stroke...really would've like to see her play on the Belles with Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron and St. Rose this summer.
Look forward to your posts on all fronts when and if the gyms light up again. (knock on some playing surface).
Certainly a pleasant surprise! I'm sending you an updated chart that I worked on early this morning.
I incorporated it into the report and tinkered with the worded roster. Wow, we've got an impressive guard roster, do we not?
I think all those forward and post names found on our coaches' twitter following lists now make a whole lot of sense for 2022!
Even if she has to sit out a year, Dara will add to this team with her combative spirit in practice. Skylar has it right: swag time. And then once she's up and running with her teammates and newcomers Miles and Citron, this team can make it's presence known.
I added Nicole for this year and made the assumption that Dara will not be able to play until next year.
The big question is: Will Dara be respectful of *all* of ND's coaches? 😉
beyond enjoyable to watch if DM were granted immediate eligibility (which is probably unlikely as you and dillon said)