STAYED:
Kymora Johnson (G) (2 Years of Eligibility)
Olivia McGhee (G) (2)
Paris Clark (G) (1)
Jillian Brown (G) (1)
Yonta Vaughn (G) (1-2*) (*medical redshirt a definite possibility, I would assume)
Breona Hurd (F) (3)
IN:
Gabby White (G) (5-9, from HS, 4 YOE)
Raiane Dias Dos Santos (G) (5-9, from FSU, 3)
SaāMyah Smith (F) (6-2, LSU, 2)
Romi Levy (F) (6-3, USF, 1)
Caitlin Weimar (F) (6-4, NCSU, 1)
Adeang Ring (F) (6-5, UCF, 3)
Tabitha Amanze (C) (6-4, Princeton, 2)
Danelle Arigbabu (F) (6-4, West Virginia, ?)
So we lost our young guards and our entire front line, and weāve brought in a couple of young guards and SIX bigs. Three one-year rentals in the front court but also good looking forward if we can retain Hurd, Smith, and Ring (and Arigbabu?).
Amanze might have 2 years, she had an injury year that I assume she can get a medical redshirt for. Ivy doesnāt really do redshirts because they donāt let grad students play.
If thatās the case, then she fulfills the Taylor Lauterbach role of ācenter with 2 years of eligibility who Dave thought only had oneā. Itās a proud tradition.
Iām still confused how Lauterbach still had a season to play, but it was super fun to watch her finally develop into a genuinely productive P5 player. My joints hurt watching her run the court, but she had one of the highest basketball IQs on the team (she probably led the team in recognizing the ball-hander had gotten into trouble after picking up their dribble and sprinting to them for a quick hand-off to bail them out. She probably saved a TO every other game doing that) and Iām sorry to see her go but sheās already like 24 so thatās fine. Edit - Wait, sheās still 22? What?
Lattimore Iām sorry to see go, but I only realized she had a year left when she entered the portal so I never had an opportunity to be sad about her departure.
Noyen Iām sorry to see go, but she might be the single player whose failure to develop their game over last year was the most costly, so Iām not as sad as I might be.
Dunbar and Valenti-Paea, Iām not sure how I feel about. I was really pulling for Dunbar at the start but then she had a game where she turned the ball over on the first two possessions she was in and the third possession was also a TO due to a miscommunication between her and Vaughn (I think) and I never got over it.
Grays was an absolute dawg and is by far the loss Iām the saddest about.
So, I guess Iām not all that sad about the departures. I find it weird Lattimore decided not to stick with the coach who transformed her from a ā2nd big off the benchā into a double-double machine, but thatās life these days.
Lattimoreās departure is especially weird given weāre presumably paying above-market this year. Maybe Ole Miss is paying her more than Mox wanted to. Or maybe she was unhappy with something off the court.
I hope Amanze somehow graduated in 3 years or has some way to still graduate. Otherwise sheās leaving Princeton a year short of a degree and going to Virginia whichāll require her to do 60 more credits to finish her degree. I presume academics is actually important to her given she chose Princeton and Virginia so far.
I know sheās getting paid more at Virginia, which helps, but me personally, Iād have to think long and hard about how much the school name prestige difference and lost credits is worth.
This weekās Jeff White podcast is with Coach Mox. She basically said that some (most?) of our out transfers were āmutualā decisions. That is, with our increased resources, people were encouraged to go find better playing opportunities. Hard to tell how much of that is copium, but sounds like the NCAA tourney is absolutely her expectation.