COLUMN: This team is ready
I think it’s time to shift gears this week.
Before I do so, let me just mention that I have not been blocked by any woman in the past two weeks. Hopefully, the team’s tallest player, 6-foot-6 Banna Diop, will remain the only member of the team that can claim that feat this season.
Let me also mention that there’s nothing quite like fulfilling a childhood dream by playing on the Spectrum floor. Wednesday, I was able to take 20 minutes shooting alone. I started working on post moves, pretending to be former Aggie great Spencer Nelson, leading USU to titles in the Big West. Then, I stepped outside the perimeter and knocked down a few three-pointers, trying to mimic the Aggies’ all-time leading scorer Jaycee Carroll.
A guy can dream, right? Who says you have to grow up completely? Certainly none of the Packer fans of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, or even the “Sweet Caroline”-singing Red Sox fans in Boston would deny a guy his 20 minutes of imagined glory.
But this isn’t about my dreams, it’s about the teams’. The Aggie women open up their season with an exhibition game today at 5 p.m. in the Spectrum against the University of Mary.
This team has the ability to be a major WAC surprise this season. Highlighting a few players at each position can help explain how a potentially special season could be in store.
You’ve got to start with Diop, who comes off a promising freshman year looking to be the starting center. On defense, she causes many of the problems in the middle. On offense, she shoots well outside, particularly for someone her size. Helping her inside will be juniors Maddy Plunkett and Reyneisha Mays. Plunkett returns from last season, while Mays comes as a junior-college transfer from Moorpark College in California.
At the power forward position, major athleticism is provided by junior Ashlee Brown and senior Stacey Howard. Brown is an all-WAC sleeper who commands attention in the post, while Howard may be the most conditioned player on the team.
On the wings, watch out for preseason second-team all-WAC performer Amber White, also a senior. In practice, she has finished some of the most athletic-looking layups I’ve seen and may be the most explosive player on the team. Then, look no further than sophomore Jenna Johnson for examples of how to play fundamental basketball. Senior LaCale Pringle-Buchanan provides a great spark, as does sophomore Chelsea Burns, who if she can come back from injury could have a great campaign.
Among the floor generals, senior Alice Coddington may be one of the strongest guards in the WAC. She has a solid understanding of how to run the offense and will be expected to be a major play-maker if the Aggies are to succeed this season.
Coddington will be backed by sophomores Devyn Christensen and Pua Furtado. Christensen has a knack for scoring from the outside, while both she and Furtado are creative in finding ways to score once they maneuver into the paint.
Okay, now you know the team. You may not get to rub sweat with them in practice, but that’s not to say that this team doesn’t deserve to be supported this season. I encourage you to go to the game today and see that these girls are fun to watch on the court, and girls whom you might think twice about knocking to the floor.
– rhett.wilkinson.aggiemail.usu.edu