2013-2014 Minnesota Basketball Season Preview

The Lynx

One thing is already clear about the 2013-2014 Minnesota basketball season. The Minnesota Lynx are WNBA champions for the second time in three years, and they are the team to beat for Minnesota hoops team of the year. Cheryl Reeve is out ahead in the race for coach of the year honors.

But as to player of the year? Well, they Lynx have too many great players for any one to dominate. I guess I would pick Maya Moore as the Lynx' MVP, but Lindsay Whalen is riiiiiiiiight behind. Bottom line: The door is open for somebody else to be Minnesota's 2013-2014 player of the year.

The T-Wolves

But somehow the bloom seems to be coming off the rose of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Too many injuries, too many lost opportunities. Are they really ready to fulfill their potential in 2014? I am not convinced. Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovich, yes, they're among the elite at their respective positions. Ricky Rubio? Can he hit the shot? Can he be a complete player? Again, I am not entirely convinced. 

And Kevin Martin? Yes, he's a huge improvement. But I keep hearing that the Wolves must be a better defensive team, but you don't sign Kevin Martin for his defense. And Corey Brewer? Is he really that much better than two years ago? Can he hit the shot? Or is he another one-dimeinsial player? 

If I had to say, I would say the Wolves are a .500 team, and that isn't going to get you very far in the post-season, nor get you any player or team or coach of the year awards. 

Gophers

Similarly, I don't have a good feeling about the Gophers, men or women. Don't get me wrong. I'm a big supporter of Rick Pitino. He will get his kids to play harder and to get more out of their talent than Tubby did. But with Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams gone, the talent in the front court is just not Big 10 caliber. I will be shocked if this is a .500 team, and if it's a .500 team in the Big 10 then Pitino should be coach of the year.

As for the women, well, the talent on the court could be a bit better than it's been if 6-5 Swedish post Amanda Zahui proves to be the real thing. But the talent level on the bench will be what it has been for the past decade, which means that getting out-coached will be a weekly thing and a late-season let-down will lurk unless it happens earlier. I expect that this will be a .500 team, but contending for the Big 10 title? No. And a trip to the NCAA tournament? Maybe, but then once-and-done.

The Small Colleges

Two words. Saint. Thomas.

Unfortunately, the only way anybody else is going to contend, much less win, an MIAC title is if the Tommies implode--and I mean the men, and I mean the women. The men went 30-2 last year and advanced to the D3 Final Four before losing in the national semis. Four prominent players from that team have completed their eligibility, but forwards Connor Nord and Zach Reidemann and guards Erik Tengwall, Marcus Alipate and Dylan Stewart return.

Augsburg center Dan Kornbaum is the top individual returnee.

The Tommie women went 24-6 last year and 31-2 the year before. They lost in the Sweet 16 a year ago and in the Final Four two years ago. Only one senior was lost to graduation and post Maggie Weiers, who missed the 2013 season with an injury, will also return in 2014. Taylor Young, Minnesota Hoops readers player of the year in 2012, also returns for her junior year, along with Kelly Brandenburg, Jenna Dockter and Anna Smith. Another 30 win season and another trip to the Final Four would seem to be reasonable ghost for the Tommies women.

In the Northern Sun, the men are down, down, down after 16 of last year's top 20 scorers completed their eligibility. The exception that proves the rule is Mankato State (sorry: Minnesota State Mankato) which has pre-season player of the year, post Assem Marei, and point guard Zach Monaghan also returns. That makes them the class of the NSIC, hands down.

There's a lot more returning talent among the women, but Minnesota State Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul, #1 and #2 in the regular season a year ago, will again battle it out for the title. Mankato forward Ali Wilkinson (17 points, 8 rebounds, 55% shooting a year ago) and UMD's Katrina Newman (16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) look like the top two players.

The Boys

In a word, Repeat. Apple Valley with point guard extraordinaire Tyus Jones is an obvious (prohibitive?) favorite to win a second straight state title, while DeLaSalle with Reid Travis is an even more obvious favorite to win a third.

A and AA look to be more wide open. Rushford-Peterson, defending champion Southwest Christian, 2012 champ Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and Battle Lake should all contend in Class A. The crystal ball says...Rushford-Pete.

AA is even more wide open. Instead of 5 or 6 bona fide contenders, there may be 10 or 12. Esko is probably the best bet to win a section, but state...? Fairmont and Minnehaha will be tough. And there are 3 or 4 contenders from Section 8 alone. The crystal ball says...

Well, Crosby-Ironton would at least be a sentimental favorite. Here's a school that played for the state title twice in the good old days (1944, 1947) and twice quite recently (2008, 2010) and always came up empty. Maybe this is the year. But on the other hand Perham and Hawley are at least co-favorites in Section 8. So let's just say that somebody from Section 8 will win.

The Girls

Stop me if this sounds like a broken record. Hopkins will repeat in Class AAAA. DeLaSalle...wait. Did you want to stop me? DeLaSalle is not the obvious favorite in AAA this year. After 3 straight titles, it appears that the losses to graduation are just too great. Fergus Falls, Park Center and Hill-Murray appear to be poised to finally get a share of the wealth.

In AA, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva would appear to be a shoo-in for a 2nd straight title behind the exploits of Carlie Wagner, who has already scored 241 points in 6 state tournament games. In A, most of the teams that appeared last could be back. Best bets are defending champ Minneota and runner-up Ada-Borup, plus 2012 finalists Maranatha and Mountain Iron-Buhl, and Win-E-Mac from the frozen north.

Awards Contenders

Roll it all together and the most likely to win our annual awards next March-April include the following. But keep in mind, the awards are not limited to players, teams, coaches, etc., who are on this pre-season listing.

Team of the Year Top 10 Contenders...okay, 12

Minnesota Lynx
Apple Valley boys
Hopkins girls
St. Thomas women
DeLaSalle boys
Mankato State men
NRHEG girls
Rushford-Peterson boys
Mankato State women
St. Thomas men
Minnesota Timberwolves
Concordia-St. Paul women

Player of the Year Top 10 Contenders

Tyus Jones, Apple Valley boys
Rachel Banham, Minnesota Gopher women
Reid Travis, DeLaSalle boys
Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
Carlie Wagner, NRHEG girls
Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
Assem Marei, Mankato State men
Nikola Pekovic, Minnesota Timberwolves
Taylor Young, St. Thomas women
Deandre Mathieu, Minnesota Gopher men

Coach of the Year Top 5 Contenders

Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Zach Goring, Apple Valley boys
Matt Marganthaler, Minnesota State Mankato men
Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women
Tom Vix, Rushford-Peterson boys

Best Games of the Year

As we've done in the past, we'll have a feature game every day...or two, really. There will be a list of games that is published beforehand, and then there's a list of games afterward, because let's face it. It usually turns out that there's a game each night that is better than the one you thought would be the greatest

And if we had to pick right now, the pre-season picks are:

Team of the Year--Minnesota Lynx. They'll be tough to beat.

Player of the Year--Tyus Jones. Especially if he decides to go to the U.

Coach of the Year--Cheryl Reeve.

Announcing: Northstar Girls Hoops now open for business

I set out to cover Minnesota hoops. All of it. Everything. From the high schools to the pros. And I've done that.

But from Day 1 it was obvious to me that what got the greatest readership was Minnesota girls basketball in the high schools and the clubs. You girls hoops fans just cannot get enough. Of course, there's the fact that the traditional media do a so-so job of covering girls hoops, at best, and the traditional media quite specifically does a totally crappy job of covering AAU ball.

So little by little at first--then by leaps and bounds with the addition of girls player rankings--Minnesota Hoops came to emphasize girls hoops quite a bit more than anything else. And don't get me wrong, I love girls hoops. But mainly, if it's what my readers wanted, I was happy to write about what got the strongest response.

Well, I'm not the only one who noticed this phenomenon. I mean, 1st and foremost you've got the dean, the deacon, the king, the jack, the ace, the foremost authority of Minnesota girls basketball, Kevin Anderson. (His Web site in case anybody doesn't know is kjasr.com.) I've had the privilege that past 2-3 years of working with Kevin. Right up to and including this summer's Tartan Meltdown, I send/sent my game reports to Kevin to publish on his Web site. Of course, you needed a subscription to read them.

Announcing North Star Girls Hoops Report

Some of you may be familiar with North Star Hoops Report. For the past year or so, they've been covering Minnesota boys basketball. But the fact is the North Star guys have a football site, too, and on Monday, October 21, they will launch a girls basketball site called North Star Girls Hoops Report. It will be located at:

www.northstargirlshoops.com

And the North Star guys have approached me and offered to pay me actual cash money to go to work writing for North Star Girls Hoops. Now I can assure you I'm not going to get rich doing it. Minnesota Hoops was a labor of love, totally. North Star Girls Hoops will still be 2 parts labor of love for every 1 part of anything else.

But I'm going to be writing about girls hoops--in the schools and in the clubs--for North Star Girls Hoops. And girls hoops is going to mostly disappear from Minnesota Hoops. And, yeah, you'll need a subscription to read my posts...and my player rankings.

Minnesota Hoops will continue. I'll be writing about everything except the girls. I hope you'll continue to visit, though I know that for many of you it's the girls that bring you here.

Thanks for visiting, thanks to everyone who sent in a comment. I think you know that your comments have influenced my player ratings and have influenced them for the better.

Again, I hope many of you will keep on coming. But for you girls hoops fanatics, I sure hope to see you over at North Star Girls Hoops.

MORE as of Sept. 26/The Class of 2014 Blue-Chippers Are Finally Getting Picked Up

September 26--Cayla McMorris announced her choice a couple days ago--and it is the Wisconsin Badgers.

Tonoia Wade is going to St. John's (NY).

August 20--And more in the past few days:

Kendall Babb, Chaska--Marist (where she joins Sydney Coffey of Hopkins [2012])
Kaila Burroughs, St. Cloud Tech--Denver (where she joins Jordyn Alt of Cretin)
Michaela Rasmussen, Holy Family--Toledo (where she joins Lindsay Dorr of Rogers)
Grace Sawatzke, Monticello--North Dakota (where she joins Bailey Strand of Fergus Falls)

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August 11--Top 2014 recruit Cayla McMorris narrows list of colleges to 5: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. Speculation is that Minnesota came off the list when the Gophers got the verbal from Rangie Bessard of Dallas, TX. Like McMorris, Bessard is also a 6-1 forward.

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August 9--There have been a couple high D1 verbals since I wrote this. They are Tia Elbert (#4) and Hannah Grim (#13), both of whom are going to Marquette. Many of you know, of course, that Kenisha Bell (#3) is also going to Marquette. So that is quite the Minnesota backcourt, at least potentially.

Marquette compares, then, to Creighton which has Minnesota guards (but from different classes) Marissa Janning, MC McGrory and now Sydney Lamberty (#8 2013).

And that also compares with the Minnesota Gophers who have Rachel Banham, Shayne Mullaney, Mikayla Bailey and Carlie Wagner (#1 2014).

Cayla McMorris remains the top-rated 2014 who has not committed. I have been told that she has offers from Minnesota, Creighton and Marquette. And Pam Borton has said that with Rangie Bessard, the Gophers are done with the 2014s.

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With the announcement of Bailey Norby's verbal today and a variety of them in the past week, the recruiting process of Minnesota's blue-chippers in the class of 2014 seems to almost be done. 10 of the top 12 2014s have verbal led. Cayla McMorris remains the big prize but Tia Elbert will be a worthy recruit, and Hannah Grim and Grace Sawatzke can really play, too. Beyond that, there's a couple dozen D2 prospects and several dozen who are good enough to contribute at D3. But 1st we'll have to let the D1s play out. There are already 7 girls below the top 25 who have D1 offers and have verballed. But as a generalization, I think the top 25 are the real D1 prospects. So beyond the big 4, I expect Claire Lundberg and Tonoia Wade, in particular, to draw a high level D1 offer (not necessarily BCS high level but, you know, good basketball schools. Better perhaps than Valpo and Toledo, who have verballed MN girls in the past few days. Not that Valpo and Toledo aren't good offers--congrats to Anne Hamilton, Georgi Donchetz and Lindsay Dorr, who are going to those 2 schools.

And if that's correct--that the top 25 will command D1 opportunities, and 6 more below that already have offers--then that would be a total of about 31 D1s among the 2014s. That would be 1 more than the mighty 2013s, who got exactly 30. And the 2013s got 11 of those from BCS conferences and right now, I would expect 11 this year--10 of the top 12 plus Katie Quandt.

For the record the numbers for various years:

2014 (est.)--31 total and 11 BCS
2013--30 and 11
2012--23 and 8
2011--24 and 6
(numbers are courtesy of kjasr.com)

These numbers are perhaps skewed a little by the fact that Creighton was not high D1 (BCS) until now. I counted Creighton's recruits from previous years (Janning and McGrory) as BCS. The point is more that Creighton's change of status may have changed the way they recruit.

And, just for the record, the 2015s look more like a typical recruiting class--25 and 8--while the 2016s look more like the past 2 years--30 and 10ish.

But, returning to 2014, do the MN Gophers have any scholarships left? I didn't think so. Cayla McMorris would sure look in maroon and gold.

1. Carlie Wagner, NRHEG, 5-10, combo guard--Minnesota

2. Cayla McMorris, Park Center, 6-1, center-power forward--not verballed yet

3. Kenisha Bell, Bloomington Kennedy, 5-9, point guard--I've heard a report that she's verballed Marquette but it hasn't been confirmed

4. Tia Elbert, Tartan, 5-7, combo guard--not verballed yet

5. Chase Coley, Mpls.Washburn, 6-3, center-power forward--Iowa

6. Taylor Thunstedt, New London-Spicer, 5-8, combo guard--North Dakota State

7. Ellie Thompson, Chaska, 6-2, power forward-post--South Dakota State

8. Sydney Lamberty, Park, 5-10, off guard--Creighton

9. Bryanna Fernstrom, Chisago Lakes, 6-5, post--Iowa State

10. Bailey Norby, Forest Lake, 6-2, power forward-post--Creighton

11. Grace Coughlin, Benilde-St. Margaret's, 5-7, point guard--Minnesota

12. Kylie Brown, Simley, 6-3, forward--Creighton

13. Hannah Grim, Rosemount, 5-9, combo guard--not verballed yet

14. Maddie Dean, Jordan, 5-9, shooting guard--Drake

15. Grace Sawatzke, Monticello, 5-9, point guard--not verballed yet

16.-22. Michaela Rasmussen, Holy Family; Tonoia Wade, Kennedy; Clare Lundberg, Anoka; Bailey Strand and Brianna Rasmussen, Fergus Falls; Brooke Yaggie, Thief River Falls; Darby Youngstrom, North Woods--all not yet verballed

23. Alexis Alexander, Champlin Park, 5-8, point guard--South Dakota State

24. Katie Quandt, Lakeville South, 6-2, post--Boston College

25. Claire Ziegler, Mankato East, 5-11, forward--Mankato State

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31. Anne Hamilton, Minnetonka, 6-0, small forward--Valparaiso

39. McKenna Happke, Providence, 6-1, post-power forward--North Dakota State

41. Daijzah Morris, Centennial, 5-8, wing--Army

43. Georgi Donchetz, Burnsville, small forward-shooting guard--Valparaiso

45. Kyrah Fredenburg, Anoka, 5-11, small forward--Concordia (St. Paul)

47. Lindsay Dorr, Rogers, 6-2, power forward--Toledo

54. Destinee Morris, Centennial, 5-9, wing--Army

68. Alli Knuti, Mountain Iron-Buhl, 6-2, center-power forward--Bemidji State

Orris Jirele won 4 Minnesota state basketball titles

Orris Jirele, who knew almost nothing but success on the basketball court, died last Saturday evening, September 21, 2013, of natural causes while duck hunting.

Orrie played high school ball at Austin Pacelli, leading the Shamrocks to the 1958 state Catholic championship. Austin High School won the MSHSL state championship that year, too, making this the only season ever in which teams from the same city (other than Minneapolis or St. Paul) won both the Catholic and public school titles in the same year. He then played college ball at St. Bonaventure (NY). He was the Bonnies' point guard at a time when they were rated as high as #3 in the nation (in 1961).

He returned to Minnesota where he taught math at Pacelli in 1964-1965. It was there that he met, and married, his wife of 48 years, Marie. They moved to Rochester the following year, where Orrie coached the Lourdes Eagles to the first three state Catholic basketball championships in the school's history. 

His first team, in 1965-1966, had no returning starters, no size to speak of, and no expectations of success. What they had was an aggressive full-court pressing defense—from baseline to baseline, and for 32 minutes. Nobody in southern Minnesota had ever seen anything like it, and Orrie and his kids just devastated teams with it. In the 1966 Catholic final, they hammered the DeLaSalle Islanders, who had won seven state titles in the previous dozen years, 64-43. 

The following year, Steve Fritz (yes, that Steve Fritz) transferred to Lourdes, rendering the Eagles unbeatable. But, as good as Fritz was in the lane, even he can tell you that the full-court defense of the Galuska brothers and Tom Resner was the key to their success. At the conclusion of Lourdes' unbeaten season, Jirele sent a letter to Duane Baglien, coach of the equally undefeated and two-time defending state (public) champions, proposing that the two schools meet during the 1967-1968 season. Jirele never received a response.

Lourdes won its third straight state title in March 1968, making it a clean sweep in the three years in which I lettered in high school hoops. The last game of my high school career was shellacking by Jirele's Eagles in the old Catholic regional tournament.

Jirele moved on to Green Bay, WI, in the fall of 1968, where he coached for five years. He returned to Minnesota in 1973, and coached (and taught math and was a counselor) at Albert Lea for 15 years, before retiring from coaching in 1988. Orrie took on a tough challenge, coaching basketball at the smallest school in the Big Nine and in what is generally regarded (and correctly so) as a "wrestling town." His son David was a wrestler. Still, his Tigers won three Big Nine titles, though they never played in the state tournament.

I had the pleasure of meeting Orrie many years later, thanks to his son David and granddaughter Andrea, who now plays ball at Eden Prairie. Among other things, I asked him where he learned the full-court defense that his Eagles deployed to such devastating effect. He said, oh, that was back east. Nobody played like that out here in the midwest in those days.

Jirele molded his strategies to the available talent

At Pacelli, Jirele played for legendary coach Marty Crowe who, like his protégé, also won four state Catholic titles—three in Wisconsin and the one at Pacelli. He "was known for molding his strategies to the abilities of his players," according to his obituary (in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 1999). So it was with Jirele. He said he used full-court pressure because the Galuskas, in particular, were good at it. He never played the full-court defense at Albert Lea, he said, because he never had enough players who were good at it.

He also reminisced about the days (and confirmed that it happened) when the dads of great athletes from various and sundry southern Minnesota towns would mysteriously receive offers of good jobs at the Hormel meat packing plant in Austin on the condition, of course, that their sons would play for the Packers. He named names.

Jirele is survived by his wife, Marie, of Albert Lea; four children; and ten grandchildren. Funeral services are at 11 a.m. Thursday, September 26, 2013, at St. Theodore Catholic Church in Albert Lea. Visitation is from 4 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, September 25, at Bonnerup Funeral Service, and one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorials are requested in lieu of flowers. 

Orrie was a great basketball player, a great basketball coach, a devoted husband and father, and a wonderful, warm, engaging and very likable man who will be missed by many.

So Far, So Good

The Minnesota Lynx met their 1st goal for 2013, clinching home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Considering the Lynx are 15-2 at home and 11-6 on the road--and considering the L.A. Sparks are also 15-2 at home and just 9-8 on the road, and considering that Chicago is 14-3 and 10-7--home court advantage is not window dressing.

A reasonable conclusion, without getting into the number crunching too deeply, is that the home court advantage at least doubles the Lynx' likelihood of winning their 2nd WNBA title in 3 years. They can do it without ever winning a road game.

And they finished strong, winning 8 of their last 9, including 7 in a row before a 1-point loss at L.A. and a finishing 79-66 homecourt win over the East Division champion Chicago Sky.

At the beginning of the season I said that the Lynx' chances of winning the WNBA title would ride with Maya Moore, now in her 3rd year and ready now to play like a WNBA MVP. And, indeed, she's done that. She is now listed on the WNBA Web site as 1 of 5 MVP candidates--along with Elena Delle Donna of Chicago, Angel McCoughtrey of Atlanta, Candace Parker of L.A. and Diana Taurasi of Phoenix.

Moore increased her scoring by 2 points per game to more than 18, 3rd best in the league, mostly by virtue of her deadly 3-point shooting. She leads the league, making 50 percent of her attempts. She is now perceived as being the Lynx' best player, a perception that last year at this time leaned toward Seimone Augustus. Moore has been player of the week several times, and her 35 points against Indiana are the most by any WNBA player this year.

But, somebody is quoted on the WNBA Web site saying that Maya is now the "focal point" of the Lynx, and this perception is somewhat flawed. Moore played every game for the Lynx while Augustus missed 3 games with injury. On a per game basis, Augustus took just as many shots as Moore did, and Augustus shot .516 to Moore's .509. The difference, of course, is those 3s. But Seimone's scoring average is the same as a year ago, surprisingly.

There's also been no slippage in Lindsey Whalen's game, which I had erroneously predicted. I mean, she's 31 years old. But her scoring average increased more than Moore's, from 11+ to 14+. Her shooting percentage dropped from 50 to 48 percent, but her assists increased from 5.4 to 5.8.

Put it all together and the Lynx look a bit tougher than a year ago, which is a good thing because a year ago they weren't quite tough enough.

First Round Match-Ups

Minnesota 26-8 vs. Seatttle 17-17

Seattle might have a very slight advantage inside with Tina Thompson but, seriously, that would be very slight and Minnesota has the advantageLynx sweep. at the other 4 positions. That's why the Lynx swept the season series 4-0 by an average of 79-62.

L.A. 24-10 vs. Phoenix 19-15

We keep waiting for some kind of explosion from Phoenix, but it hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile L.A. boasts one of he WNBA's top talents in Candace Parker and a solid supporting cast. Of course, Phoenix boasts one of the WNBA's top talents in Diana Taurasi, but the supporting cast is not quite as ready for the playoffs. L.A. in 3.

Chicago 24-10 vs. Indiana 16-18

This could be interesting. Indiana cranking it up a notch at playoff time a year ago to win a surprising WNBA title. Chicago presents a formidable obstacle, but is Elene Delle Donna 100 percent? She suffered a concussion late in the year and was subpar vs. Minnesota in the regular season finale. Indiana in 3.

Atlanta 17-17 vs. Washington 17-17

Angel McCoughtrey should be the difference here. Atlanta in 3.

EDIT: ONE MORE/Jasmyn Martin to Hopkins, and Other Transfers

EDIT 7-8-13: Lizzie Odegaard is leaving Cretin to play for Minnetonka.

As has been long rumored, 6-3 freshman sensation Jasmyn Martin will not return to Bloomington Kennedy in the fall. It has now been reported that she will be playing for 3-time defending state champion Hopkins.

Martin is of course a world-class volleyball player as well as basketball player, and it just so happens that Hopkins has an all-America volleyball setter in Samantha Seliger Swenson, rated as the #1 sophomore (class of 2015) last year in the state of Minnesota by Breakdown Sports USA. She will be a junior this coming year, as Martin enters her 9th grade season. Hopkins was 27-5 last year, 5-3 in the Lake Conference. Eden Prairie won the Lake Conference title at 7-1 and defeated Hopkins in the section final to earn a trip to the state tournament.

Turning to Hopkins girls basketball, Martin joins a star-studded roster. Hopkins of course lost Nia Coffey, Mikaala Shackleford, Taylor Anderson and Erin O'Toole to graduation--all 4 going D1, though Anderson doing so in track and field rather than in hoops.

But the cupboard remains fully stocked. Here's a guess as to the Hopkins lineup come this fall.

F- Jasmyn Martin--6-3 freshman,  9 ppg with 6 rebounds at Kennedy last year, rated #1 in her class
PF- Molly O'Toole--5-10 senior, rated #26 in her class
SG/SF- T.T. Starks--5-9 junior, #2 in her class, scored 6 ppg a year ago
PG- Viria Livingston--5-7 junior, rated #15 but as high as #3 before sitting out Jan.-July with a knee
SG- Nia Hollie--5-10 sophomore, rated #3 in her class, scored 9 ppg

Bench

C- Liz Bulver--sophomore, rated #27 in her class
F- Ashley Omete--5-11 junior #66
G- Ashley Bates--5-7 sophomore #12
G- Kaezha Wubben--5-7 sophomore #34
G- Deanna Winston--5-4 freshman #13
G- Evelyn Knox--5-6 sophomore #36
G- Sierra Bagstad--5-9 sophomore #86

Hopkins' bench could probably win a couple of sections. Its full roster would seem to be utterly incapable of NOT winning a 4th straight state title. I mean, Martin moves them from heavily favored to prohibitive.

Other Transfers

A whole bunch of transfers are rumored. The ones that have been confirmed are:

Lindsay Malecha from Lakeville North to Hill-Murray
Brooke Heggie from Crookston to Alexandria
Kiara Russell from Bloomington Kennedy to Osseo
Aejah Lockett from Simley to DeLaSalle

Among the rumors are additional girls to DeLaSalle.

Another Gopher 2014 Verbal: Rangie Bessard, Houston, TX

Here's what the Alvin Sun said about the Minnesota Gopher women's latest recruit. This was at the conclusion of a summer 2013 event.

"Rangie Bessard, 6-1 forward, Houston Elite White (Manvel HS)
 Bessard continues to improve and over the weekend she showed a consistent mid-range game. She’s hard to handle in the paint, she can  score easily and rebounds on both ends. She’s also knocking down the three with regularity, even capping things off with a couple of four-point plays.  She is currently being recruited by Texas Tech, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Southern Mississippi and Texas Southern."

Someday Gopher fans are likely to look back on 2014 as a watershed year for the Gopher women. 2014 is now a huge group as recruiting classes go--6 girls. 

And it's notable by the fact that only 2 of the recruits are Minnesotans. 6 of 8 women on the roster as of today are from Minnesota. Only 3 of 8 in the incoming classes of 2013 and 2014 are Minnesotans. 5 of 8 are from Texas (3) and Ohio (2).

And basically coach Pam Borton whiffed on what is regarded as one of the greatest graduating classes in Minnesota history, "the Mighty 2013s." And only Carlie Wagner among the 3 current Minnesota verbals is regarded as a "catch."

Why Ohio and Texas? Well, associate head coach Curtis Loyd's hometown in Dallas, TX, and he was associate head coach at Akron U. in Ohio for 2 years from 2009-2010. Assistant coaches Ted Riverso and Kelly Roysland have no known connection to either state. 

Right now the 2016-2017 depth chart looks like this:

C- Zahui Sweden (Sr), Buckingham Ohio (Jr)
PF- Stapleton Ohio (Jr), Bessard TX (Jr) 
SF- McDaniel TX (Sr)
PG- Coughlin MN (Jr), Hedstrom MN (Sr)
SG- Wagner MN (Jr), Jacob TX (Jr)

The 4 "bigs" average 6-3.5 so it looks like the Gophers are also getting bigger. 

With the addition of Bessard, the Gophers have 1 scholarship left to give to a 2014 if they should choose to do so. It is notable that 1 of 2 offers that are known to be "out there" is also a 6-1 forward, Cayla McMorris, of Park Center. On paper she is almost a carbon copy of Bessard. The other is even taller at 6-2 but is more of a perimeter type player, Tonoia Wade of Bloomington Kennedy.  

Minnesota is known also to have an offer out to Nia Hollie, Hopkins, a 5-10 sophomore guard (class of 2016; she would be a freshman in college in 2017). No other offers are known. Among the 2015s, the #1-rated Minnesotan is Sam Trammel, Eden Prairie, 6-2, post; #2 is T.T. Starks, Hopkins, 5-9, 4 position player; #3 is Maddie Guebert, Eastview, a 5-9 scoring guard. Among the 2016s Hollie is #3. Jamie Ruden, Rochester John Marshall, a 6-2 post/power forward is #1; and Courtney Frederickson, Minnetonka, a 6-1 forward, is #2. It is perhaps a moot point, however, to wonder which (other than Hollie) the Gophers are recruiting.