What’s the word out of Oxford re: next year’s team? Have we finally seen the end to student athletes having a Covid year? And doesn’t Miami’s reputation lend for some strong 5th yr types wanting to come here to get Grad hrs? I.E. whose talked to the staff and your take-aways?
This is the last year of Covid players. Probably wont be much portal action till everyone’s spring ball is over. Miami had a junior day today, just doing normal recruiting activities right now.
Dude, this is in the Women’s Basketball forum.
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Well then, I AM A MORON!
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For the most part, but if they were true freshman in 2020 and also took a redshirt, they’d be eligible in 25. Not too many players in that bucket I’d bet though.
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Miami (OH)
Jessie Dai, 6’1, F, Jr. (0.9 ppg — 2022-23)
[Jordan Tuff]), 5’8, G, Sr. (1.1 ppg)
Riley Neal, 5’11, F, Soph. (2 ppg)
Maddy Huhn, 5’8, G, Fr. (2.6 ppg)
Found this online - I’m assuming this is current?
And not to double post but it appears Maddie Cluse is leaving Clemson after playing in 13 games this season.
A little surprised to see Maddie Huhn in the portal. Glenn managed to keep her onboard last year as one of Hendrix’ recruits. She got lots of minutes as a true freshman. But she’s from San Diego - a long way from Oxford. Homesick maybe?
It was clear Jesse Dai would be gone. She was allowed to keep her scholarship this year with the understanding she wouldn’t play or even dress. None of the others will be missed. Huhn’s playing time dropped as the season wore on.
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I did notice that.
Huhn is the only girl from this group who might have eventually played, she would have had to shoot a lot better. It is a long way from home to sit the bench. It really makes sense to me for all 4 of these girls to try to find a place where they can play regularly.
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I sure hope Coach Box calls her just to see if she would like to return. We really need a player just like her, someone who can put the ball on the floor and create and finish. Really, Maddie has a complete, all around skill set. Her natural position is a small forward, and that is a position of need for next season. She might like to get her degree from Miami and certainly still has friends here. Plus, depending on how filling out the roster goes, we could be pretty good next year.
We do have Emily Bratton coming in, she will be an elite MAC point guard, maybe as soon as next season. She averaged 23 ppg and was one of 12 Miss Basketball candidates We also still have 4 girls who started the last game of the year in Richason, Tretter. Lard, and Luu-Brown. All were playing pretty well down the stretch. Edwards should be better next year, injuries kind of ruined her season. Jurjo has athleticism, but was still adjusting to American basketball, she could end up being a stat stuffer. I have heard that we are working on a few transfer portal girls and back in the preseason Coach Box stated that he would like to bring in some older transfer portal girls for next year. We also have signed a 6-2 girl from the Netherlands, Isle de Vries who Coach Box thinks will be good. When you put all that together we should end up with may 9, 10, or 11 good players. Practices would be a battle. Maddie Cluse would be a big help though.
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You are a glass half full kind of guy on this , I am the opposite. I really hope the glass overflows.
Right now we have just 6 returning players on our roster. Those are the 6 best though, the staff has plenty of open scholarships to use in the portal. We also have 2 committed and signed incoming freshmen. So that makes 8. This staff has a head coach and 2 assistants with like 20 to 25 years of college coaching experience and plenty of connections around the country and over seas. They now get the opportunity to fill out the roster and shape the team the way they want. They were deprived of that opportunity last year. What happens next will be very interesting and should determine where our program is headed.
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One other thing. We could change our style of play heading into next year because Bratton is dynamite in the open court and Lard and Luu-Brown are both very fast. The way they want to play should also determine the players we sign. Again, Maddie Cluse or a similar player would be great on that style of play. Or we could become bigger and more physical like Kent State did this year and focus on dominating the half court.
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To your point about connections…
Summah Evans 6 ft senior forward from Mercer is in the portal. 13.4 ppg, 7.5 reg. SoCon defensive player of the year in 2022-23.
Coach Wierzba was an assistant at Mercer before coming to Miami and would have coached Evans.
She looks like she would be a great addition if we could get her. From Australia.
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I would like to see Clare Chambers return. Her situation was much like Jesse’s, kept her scholarship for the year but didn’t dress. She was originally a walk on who earned a scholarship under Hendrix. This season she could often be seen advising the players during timeouts. She would be valuable in that role next season. Sort of a volunteer coach.
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100% agree with that. Clare is just the kind of person you want involved, always team first and smart, works hard, and is enthusiastic. I kind of wonder if she does not have the idea of coaching in her future. I think she would be good at it.
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