which has neither had a player xfr out nor signed a player to xfr in despite currently having 8 of their players in the portal. Still trying to figure that out for the Beavers. This was Stanford only loss in the portal despite their legendary coach retiring.
So, the best player from the other school left out in the cold of the PAC-12 disintegrating, signs on with the Bruins. Leger-Walker suffered a season-ending injury in January '24. According the the ESPNw article attached below, "...it's unknown at this time if Leger-Walker will be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season. She averaged 16.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 105 career games at Washington State."
If she does come back next season, great pick-up for the Bruins who can add a proven scorer to make up for Charisma Osborne.
of two sisters who both played at WSU. She will always be a Coug even if she gets a chance to play as a Bruin. But her greatest achievement was keeping the Bruins from winning the PAC12 championship. CLW is a great player and leader who got WSU their only PAC12 tourney championship as she was the tourney MVP when they beat the Bruins in 2023.
Most important to her is she is a New Zealander as the Leger-Walker;s name runs deep inside the New Zealand's National Women's Basketball Team, known worldwide as the Tall Ferns. Their mother Leanne Walker, guided New Zealand to its only two Olympic appearances in women's basketball in 2000 and 2004. In 2018, Charlisse made her history as the youngest player to suit-up for the Tall Ferns at just 16-years-old playing alongside her older sister, Krystal.
Good luck to her as a Bruin & beyond as a pro or on her National team.
yesterday.
Still hasn't committed anywhere though she has visited a few other places including L'ville, Kentucky, and Colorado.
PSA for those who want transparency upfront, or those who truly don't know who Kiki is but don't think they should have to click on the OP's link to find out
I'll die on this hill
retired from BB, prob not transferring
And is s/he related to Kiki?
I kid
Now I understand the frustration.
..tells you how far and fast WBB has come in a short time.
To see if Kiki sees the ball much with Juju on the same team. Will Watkins defer to Kiki for the good of the team or continue to dominate the ball like this past year. Gottleib better have this conversation and an understanding or could create chemistry issues.
- Whenever I watched USC last year, it was Watkins-centric. She had some help from Marshall and the Ivy League transplants, but it seemed they were afterthoughts more than second choices. At least the Ivy Leaguers -- particularly Davis -- could crash boards and run the court to get the ball.
Kayleigh Haeckel, the freshman point guard who orchestrated the attack at LuHi (where Kat Koval and the Swords sisters also play(ed)) will be out there and I think, over time, she could give some order if given a chance.
But that chance belongs to Gottlieb figuring out how to use everyone.
The top transfer, we were a finalist for her out of high school, and she would’ve made perfect sense in our rotation, but she stayed out west in LA.
I will add that "gems" come in the eye of the beholder and Niele has managed to get lesser-known ones (Maya Dodson, Lauren Ebo) and make them shine well individually and collectively, which is really even more important.
I just wrote a post on this that Niele develops her team from an integrated, collective standpoint and that's what guides her.
Lastly, even though it was before the portal era, Jessica Shepard was a flat-out gem of a transfer who was an individual star and a team player. We can nail it. As Cav points out, it's a difficult play now.
Also, there are four top notch starters who wear ND uniforms right now ...
Yeah - we get some but there are too many good options closer to home. Even FB these days struggles with CA (only 5 on current roster and one of them supposedly considering transferring).
I just think absent real ties (legacy or really Catholic family) CA is fools gold for ND for to most athletes in many sports. It is a big burden on families given the distance and time zone differential.
Because she had us in her final five out of high school and if the ND teams post 2019 were in decent shape, I wonder if she’d have committed and excelled under Muffet/Niele.