Where does the UW go from here? Staff/Board Q

[HecEdHooligan]

So with the departure of McCormack what does Washington do? Particularly in light of the as yet undetermined knee injury of Liz Lay?

Is there anyone out there that is interested and might be able to play at the Pac-10 level?

If a player who had originally been recruited but not offered by a D1 school and signed with a D2 school, if a scholarship opened at the D1 program can that player rescind their D2 commitment and sign with a D1 school without penalty or if there is a penalty what is it? Year of eligibility etc...

[ClayKallam]

In the Pac-10, quick turnarounds are possible ... but it starts with recruiting elite players, not D2 signees.

Washington should be a good program, but for some reason has struggled. Maybe it was June Daugherty (though Wazzoo has won two games with almost no talent), maybe it's the administration.

What sports are the Huskies good in now? There was a time they were pretty good in almost everything.

[HecEdHooligan]

Is there anyone out there that's a D1 talent that's still uncomitted and would be interested if Washington came calling?

I wasn't implying that the D2 signees would be the answer, just a better insurance policy than a walk-on if Lay, Argens, Banks etc aren't healthy next season.

[HecEdHooligan]

Volleyball is still pretty darn good, Softball was in the CWS last year. Track's doing decently, golf has been performing pretty well.

[scoutnwhoops]

They will do what every other school does when they can't fill their scholarships with plan A or plan B high school kids, they'll look at JC kids and possibly overseas and hope to get right in 09.

[ClayKallam]

It's not a good sign, necessarily, when a new coach and old players don't get along. Ideally, everyone likes the new coach and hangs in there until she can get her own recruiting pipeline in place.

One problem Tia Jackson has (and so does Joanne Boyle and Lavonda Wagner) is that, as East Coast coaches, they don't have the West Coast connections their competitors do. They will, but it takes time and of the trio, only Boyle has bought herself a lot of time -- though she did so with Caren Horstmeyer's recruits. (Horstmeyer, by the way, was at the Cal-Stanford game, just as another fan. You have to wonder what thoughts went through her mind ...)

[skiverdu]

is she still at UW?

[scoutnwhoops]

Yes, redshirting. She has one year left and I think the staff believes she will be a tremendous addition next year. She fits their uptempo plans and is a pretty exceptional athlete.

[lboogie]

It's not a good sign, necessarily, when a new coach and old players don't get along. Ideally, everyone likes the new coach and hangs in there until she can get her own recruiting pipeline in place.

One problem Tia Jackson has (and so does Joanne Boyle and Lavonda Wagner) is that, as East Coast coaches, they don't have the West Coast connections their competitors do. They will, but it takes time and of the trio, only Boyle has bought herself a lot of time -- though she did so with Caren Horstmeyer's recruits. (Horstmeyer, by the way, was at the Cal-Stanford game, just as another fan. You have to wonder what thoughts went through her mind ...)

Clay she coached on the West Coast for several years in the PAC-10 as an assistant. And if the geography holds true why don't east coaches have an issue recruiting on the left coast?

[ClayKallam]

I stand corrected -- Jackson did spend five or six years at Stanford and UCLA ... but she spent more time at Duke and Richmond, and the last three were on the East Coast. I still think that makes it harder for her than someone who'd been working LA for 10 straight years, say.

As for the East Coast coaches worrying about the West Coast, they don't need to. The Pac-10 simply isn't as good as the elite conferences, and talent leaves the area to go where there are bigger crowds, better competition and more TV. As has been said before, the game of women's basketball desperately needs West Coast basketball in general and the Pac-10 in particular to improve. If the sport is going to grow, it needs to be national in scope, not regional, and right now, the weakness of the Pac-10 is a major problem.

What's laughable is the administrators and coaches on the West Coast talking about TV times and East Coast bias and all that, when in men's college basketball, the Pac-10 is the best conference in the country. If there were anything structural that prevented West Coast schools from competing with East Coast schools, then the Pac-10 men wouldn't be able to be as good as they are.

No, the problem lies with administrators at Pac-10 schools, most notably UCLA, that simply don't care about women's basketball and refuse to recognize its revenue potential. If USC ever gets healthy, and UCLA ever gets serious, East Coast coaches might have to start worrying about talent flow -- as it is, though, the best in the West don't stay there.

[28point5fan]

Why did the staff, administration and press push for Jess as hard as they did? From what I saw of her game her only upside was she was able to score at times. Her defense was marginal, her rebounding minimal, and she seemed soft. Every time she played big physical post players she seemed to disappear.
After all is said and done she still left. Hopefully Tia Jackson will learn from this and play all her players early in the season to see who pans out, and not listen to the administration. If she is going to keep her job she will need to play the players who will win games.

[scoutnwhoops]

Having watched numerous games live I can say that Jess could have been a very good college basketball player. Her pivots and footwork were ahead of most she played against and she is one of the few players that has great touch with both hands. She was not a bruising post and not a player that could stretch out to the wings but I think she would develop into an effective college player. When she was healthy and practicing regularly you could see the improvment. She just never played with the aggressiveness that you would expect from an Olympian. Maybe the makeup of the team with only two seniors and neither were strong vocal leaders that the youngsters needed more time than if they had four seniors that had been to the tournament a few times and knew how to get it done.

I love the spirt that Florence plays with and at 5-5 being the tops on your team in rebounding and among the leaders in the conference says a lot for her lead by example abilities but I think a vocal leader to rally the young pups was what was missing and Jess shouldn't have to be that player as a frosh.

[28point5fan]

So with the departure of McCormack what does Washington do? Particularly in light of the as yet undetermined knee injury of Liz Lay?

Is there anyone out there that is interested and might be able to play at the Pac-10 level?

If a player who had originally been recruited but not offered by a D1 school and signed with a D2 school, if a scholarship opened at the D1 program can that player rescind their D2 commitment and sign with a D1 school without penalty or if there is a penalty what is it? Year of eligibility etc...

With the departure of JM the Lady Huskies just seem to be getting better what gives?Does anyone have a logical answer?

[dfineguy]

Tia never coached at Richmond. That was Boyle. Caught ya in one that time. ;) Must be that bright sunlight we've been having here in the Bay this week. :rolleyes:

The basketball mindset in the Pacific Northwest is a little different than even the rest of the Pac-10, let alone the ACC or Big Ten. Give Jackson a little time and she will bring the Huskies around. They just ambushed Cal and soon they won't be upsets, but Expected wins. Look who she learned under. Stringer, Goestenkoers, VanDerVeer and Olivier (oops). Hey 3 out of 4.

[HecEdHooligan]

The fact that we get less sun up here and spend more time inside and hence have more time for hoops might have something to do with it :p .
I've seen enough from the Huskies and Tia this year to think there is a very, very bright future ahead of this program.

[28point5fan]

The fact that we get less sun up here and spend more time inside and hence have more time for hoops might have something to do with it :p .
I've seen enough from the Huskies and Tia this year to think there is a very, very bright future ahead of this program.

Good buy Katie Redmon!

[CalwbbFan]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/ncaa/wires/03/12/2060.ap.bkw.washington.redmon.0201/

I guess she didn't want to stay despite having a great season...wonder if she will end up in Pullman?

[HecEdHooligan]

She'd have to sit out 2 years. I think Spokane is a likelier destination.

[HecEdHooligan]

I still think the future is bright, though definite word on Lay's knee would be nice.

[ClayKallam]

I know nothing about Tia Jackson or the Washington program, but when kids leave, especially the better players, it's not a good sign.

One of the main jobs of any head coach is to have a good relationship with the best players, and it's troubling that good players are leaving Seattle.

[Bobbk]

The Pac 10 changed it's rule a couple of years ago, so transfers within the league must only sit out one year.

[scoutnwhoops]

I still think the future is bright, though definite word on Lay's knee would be nice.

Lay had surgery. It went well and she is expected to be ready for her freshman season.

As for Redmon I think she'll end up back at home playing for a very good Gonzaga team who loses only one senior, Michelle Elliot. Add Redmon and freshman Kayla Standish and you have an even better squad in Spokane next year. We'll see how it all plays out but I expect she'll be a Zag next year sitting out one and playing the following year.

I wish Redmon and the UW program both the best.

[HecEdHooligan]

Breathing a HUGE sigh of relief, thanks Chris. You hearing any rumors of anyone that may be floating out there for the Huskies in the late signing period.

In a lot of ways I'm not surprised about Jess & Katelan leaving, they were the ones that wanted out to begin with.

Jess never seemed to fit in with the team after the games, she was always kind of off on her own.

Katelan seemed to fit in very well, and her departure comes as more of a surprise than McCormack.

Tia's a young coach, and she's probably made a number of mistakes that a young coach makes but she's a smart coach and she'll learn from them.

As opposed to June and Mike who kept making the same mistakes over and over and over again.

[scoutnwhoops]

As a coach you're always challenged with learning from your mistakes. The coaches that don't will get passed up by the game... old and new coaches.

It is an intense sport at a high level and the challenge is keeping it fun while also getting the most out of the kids. Add the overwhelming youth of the team and this season was going to be up and down no matter what.

If Argens can get healthy they should still have some good size inside. They'll probably look for Kingma to come in and be that gun-slinger that Redmon was this year and those that don't know about Liz Lay, I think she would be an impact player at most teams in the country. Point guard is the issue for UW. Morton didn't get much run between her injury and the team's rotation. Whitcomb is better off the ball so is Kingma going to have to handle the ball? Do they get a JUCO?

I've been saying from the beginning Husky fans need to give it a couple of years.