← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
Checking In: Transfer Tiers and the Undefeated Club
00:35:27
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- [00:00]
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- [04:51]
Zena Keda
For the Athletic. I'm Zena Keda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. I am Zena Kada, joined by Sabrina Merchant. Shout out to our sponsor, Michelob Ultra for allowing us to continue the conversation around the ncaa. Make sure you are subscribed to our show because we're going to be continuing conversation all throughout season and conference play is right around the corner, folks. Sabrina, I know that we have talked about the fact that there are still some undefeated teams left in the country. The Big 12 has been the number one conference that we've been talking about for a while but there's still some teams on the West Coast. I'm not giving up this PAC12 conversation. All right. I know that that's something that we've also, you know, harped on a little bit, but it's been fun to see. See, there's four teams in the Pac 12 that are also still undefeated. UCLA, shout out Coach Close, who is also on the show. Go back and listen to that episode. If you haven't usc, who has been absolutely dominating, especially from a rookie play of juju Watkins, Oregon State, which we haven't given too much. Too much love here, too, but we'll make sure to talk about them, too. And then the Washington Huskies. So I want to start off. Let's talk Washington. And I think you mentioned, like, looking at their schedule. They have some legitimate opponents on their schedule so far, and I just wanted to know what you think about them.
- [06:35]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I think this might be the first time we've brought up the names Oregon State and Washington on this podcast, maybe potentially in reference to the alma maters of WNBA players, but never in the context of college basketball. So this is kind of cool, you know, a little bit deeper, deep pack 12. You know, Oregon State is holding down the fort for years to come. We'll see how that goes in the future. But, yeah, Washington, I couldn't tell if you're being sarcastic there, Xena, because Washington has maybe the worst schedule strength in the country thus far, 357th out of 360, which we call that cupcakes in this. In this part of the country. But, hey, you know, you got to win, win the games that are put in front of you. And this is a team that didn't have a lot to write home about the last couple years. They did defeat Stanford, one of their marquee wins last year. They had a nice little run in the nit. And I always like to keep track of the teams that do well in the women's nit because, you know, I don't know if we brought this up before on the show, but the women's NIT is not paid for by the ncaa. So if you compete in the NIT as a women's basketball program, that means your school is funding those games, you're hosting those games in the tournament, and all of the money comes from your program. So it sort of indicates this extra level of investment of participation, of just wanting to see your program succeed. When we have programs that compete in the nit, so I always like to keep track of those because they tend to auger Some sort of success going forward. So Washington had a nice run in the NIT last year, and they started off this season again taking care of everybody on their schedule. Not a lot to write home about on the schedule, but, you know, wins are wins. We talked about this, and I'm really excited to watch Washington because they get to host Louisville this week. And we've definitely spent some time talking about Louisville, you know, their whole point guard situation, what Jeff Waltz is doing with the transfers. Washington has a lot more continuity going on on their team. You know, they've got El Ledine, who's leading the. Or, you know, right up leading the league, leading the team in scoring, who had that big game against Stanford last year. They've got Lauren Schwartz, they've got Delayah Daniels, all averaging around 12 points per game. These girls were all, you know, on the team last year. Just. It's nice to have that continuity going forward. Building the program. Their coach, Tina Langley, built a program at Rice, you know, with the younger Gumake sisters. Actually, she has the experience of having coached in Maryland under Brenda Freese. So it's about time for Washington to be good again. I don't know how that's going to carry over to the Big Ten next year, but for now in the Pac12, I do think that this is not going to be an easy out for teams like it was in recent seasons, but I also just have no idea how good Washington is because of the fact that they haven't played anyone. So it's gonna be a fun week in terms of just discovery. Right. What exactly are the Washington Huskies?
- [09:20]
Zena Keda
You did pick up on my sarcasm. But, I mean, if you look at their schedule, the only team that they had before was Washington State that was ranked number 21. And then you look at some of the other ones. I mean, they were. They blew some teams out. San Francisco right around the corner. I actually was. I was going to go to that game, but there was a Warriors game that game that. That day, so I wasn't able to, but ended up blowing them out by 30 points. I remember that. That lineup. And then also blew out my old coach that is now at Air Force. Blew them out by 20. Yeah, that. Like you said, cupcakes all season long. But this Louisville matchup is going to be a solid test to their ability to play. I need to watch that game because, like, like we've said, we haven't talked a lot about Washington. We haven't talked a lot about Oregon State, but I. I want to see if there's anything to this in terms of, like, the undefeated record.
- [10:07]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm glad you brought up that Washington State game, though, because that was one of the most remarkable first quarters I've seen all season from anyone. They held the Cougars to two points in the entire first quarter, which doesn't happen for a team that has, like, Charlize legend Walker on it, one of, like, top five point guards in the country. So there's definitely something going on there. I just would like to see more of it than 10 minutes against a, you know, Apple bowl opponent. I don't know. Would you call it Apple bowl and women's basketball? It's not a bowl, anyway. Apple Cup.
- [10:34]
Zena Keda
Charlize Ledger Walker. Important to mention her because she was on Lindsay Dark Angelo's list of players that might impact or most impactful players of, you know, different rosters throughout the country. They kept her to no. Threes in that game.05 from the floor. So that, you know, being able to keep a score like her to just 11 points over 38 minutes is legitimate solid defense. Think about Jada Noble. I do. I remember her from last year being a solid defensive player within, you know, their roster as well. So I did not know that that was how that game went. Now, I know they won that game 60:55, but like I said, I do want to see them in action against Louisville, so that will be a really good one to watch. But let's talk a little bit about Oregon State because while their schedule's a little bit better in terms of difficulty, still haven't seen a ton of them myself. And so I'm curious what you've been able to see and what you're excited to kind of have them be tested against when they go up against Texas Tech that they're going to face off against soon.
- [11:36]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, Oregon State was a team that I had my eye on last year, actually, because they brought in two top 10 recruits. One of them, Regan Beers, was actually Pac 12 freshman of the year last year, and she's averaging a double double again this year. It was a bit of a point of contention in Los Angeles that she was freshman of the year, you know, because we've got Kiki Rice, among others, who were really stud freshmen for the PAC12 last year. So the fact that she took home that award says something about the kind of season she had last year for the Beavers. But they also had Tamia Gardner, who was, I believe, the number sixth recruit in the country for ESPN last year, and she had some blood clot issues, really wasn't able to play much of last season. So that held back a lot of what Oregon State was able to do. Now you've got her, you've got beers. And you can see why both of these players are ranked in the top 10 of their class because one rebounding machine's like, really hard to get a defensive rebound against Oregon State. They just put a lot of pressure on the glass. And you know, another thing, like with Washington, just a lot of continuity on this roster, players developing together, knowing, you know, how they play off of one another, and you're starting to see that comfort just in terms of like their assist percentages and, you know, how often they turn the ball over. It's a fluid system with Oregon State and, you know, only, only a couple Power 5 matchups on their schedule so far. Haven't learned a ton about what they're capable of. Like, you know, they played Arkansas, Pine Bluff, a team that we obviously have given great esteem to on this podcast. But yeah, I don't, I don't know what to learn about Oregon State thus far this season because of just again, the quality of the opposition. That's why I'm really, really excited for PAC12 to get going. Yeah, speaking of undefeateds in the PAC12, it's a couple weeks away, but if for some reason you have an opening in your schedule at 5pm on December 30, USC, UCLA, hopefully both teams are undefeated by the time that game tips off, you know, the day before New Year's Eve. But yeah, it's, it's just hard to know what to make of Oregon State, like with Washington. Again, I'm never going to fault a team for winning the games that are on their schedule because we've seen a bunch of teams not be able to take care of the opponents that are in front of them. So it's a good step to take forward. But again, I just. Other than these stud sophomores and Gardiner and Beers, I don't really know much about Oregon State because they haven't been tested yet. And like you mentioned, they get another undefeated team, Texas Tech, that, as we mentioned on our Big 12 episode, has not really played anybody. So this is a nice of like, is this anything? Right? Doesn't matter that Texas Tech is undefeated. Doesn't matter that Oregon State is undefeated. We're going to find out one way or the other.
- [14:02]
Zena Keda
There's something to be said about, and I actually want to get your thoughts on this because when you look at some of these teams that have gone up against some solid opposition to start the year. You think of South Carolina, you think of UConn, you think of these teams that have really challenged themselves and suffered some losses as a result, but you feel like they're battle tested, right? You see their ability to be resilient, you see their ability to adjust in these crunch time type of moments or these very elevated levels of play. I almost wonder from programs that need that confidence boost or like you just mentioned earlier in the podcast, talking about the WNIT teams, where schools were investing in them to get them to a level where they could show themselves, like, hey, we can do this, we can play in these type of tournaments and perform and produce. Is it better to play a lot of kind of, I guess you could say cupcake wins or, you know, opposition versus really packing your schedule with some really tough opposition and potentially losing a bunch. But seeing your grit and seeing your.
- [15:10]
Sabrina Merchant
Resilience, yeah, I think it can go both ways, right? Like we saw last year's national champion LSU not play a ranked team until SEC schedule, right. We had no idea what LSU was capable of until the SEC schedule and I think that was the right play for them because it was almost an entirely new roster, right? Like you had Angel Reese coming in, you had Kateri Poole coming in, you had a stacked freshman class led by Flaje Johnson, Smyya Smith, right? Like it was a lot of new pieces to work together. And maybe the way to build their confidence, to build their chemistry with one another is by letting them essentially have 40 minute scrimmages against teams that really couldn't contest them. Right? Whereas you have a program like UConn players aren't exactly coming in and out of Yukon, right? They're in Geno system. It's been the same system for 30 some years, right? Like they know what they're doing, they know who they're playing with. It's okay to test yourself early, especially when, all due respect to the Big east, you're not getting the South Carolinas and you know, the, the quality of the Big Ten and the Pac 12 in that conference and the NC states, right? Like that level of conference play isn't coming in January and February. So you kind of have to stack your schedule up at the beginning of the year just to have a chance of knowing, you know, what you are. So I do think it kind of depends on where you are in your program's growth. Right? Like we see this with ucla. They have so much continuity from last year and it makes sense that they would want to test themselves now at this point of the schedule, whereas usc, it's almost an entirely new team with juju. Right. So, yeah, they had that game against Ohio State, but since then their non conference has pretty much been okay. We need to figure out who we are just with all these new players. So I think it depends where in that growth cycle you are. And it's hard to figure out, you know, when you're planning your schedule, because with transfers, you just don't know who's gonna be on your roster any given years in advance. But I think there's merits to both. And if you haven't been a historically successful program, sometimes it's kind of hard to, like, get teams to want to play too. Right. So it's not even entirely in your court.
- [17:01]
Zena Keda
Okay. I'm just, I'm imagining I'm thinking about that UConn Texas game or I'm thinking about that UConn NC State game. And obviously seeing the bond that UConn is in with their injuries and not having players. It's like, you almost are like, it's a good thing we're able to see us have a run against Texas while we were out, you know, significant personnel, yes, they didn't come up with the win, but they were able to show some resilience that come March, you would hope, you know, players are back and they're back in the rotation, they'll be able to play against higher quality opponents or March level opponents, you would say, but okay, well, I think that, you know, Oregon State, Texas Tech, I love when undefeated teams go up against each other because there's just so much pressure around it. Right. It's like, who's going to come out unscathed? But I think that Oregon State has more to prove in this matchup. What do you think? Does Texas Tech have more to prove in this matchup or does Oregon State do.
- [17:57]
Sabrina Merchant
I kind of think they're on level playing fields here, you know, I think they both, you know, are coming from a situation where they didn't make the tournament last year. You know, they haven't tasted the postseason in a little while. They both haven't played much of a schedule thus far. So, you know, I think it's relatively even footing and it'll be nice to just see how that plays out. And it's on a neutral site, too. I think they're playing a Maui Classic this week, which I didn't know that happened at this point of the year. But, hey, kudos if you can escape and go to Maui in December.
- [18:25]
Zena Keda
Like, yeah, they're in Makawa Hawaii.
- [18:28]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah.
- [18:29]
Zena Keda
Um, yeah, that's interesting. Didn't know they were doing that, but yeah. So 11 and oh. And you're right. I'm looking at their schedule now and I'm just like, hmm, Texas A and M, Commerce, utsa. I mean, Rutgers is a decent team, but not, you know, obviously not ranked, not the same caliber. But actually, I might have to flip it out now that I see Texas Tech scheduled. I'm kind of like, maybe it's actually Oregon State, but either way, both teams being undefeated coming into this situation, everyone wants to walk out with the undefeated schedule. And so it feels like there's. It's almost like an even bigger elevated game than just a regular preseason game going into conference play. Okay. I am very impressed with the teams that still, regardless of how hard your schedule is, there is a mental aspect of being able to keep that level of perfection up. And the expectation of just because the team that you're about to play isn't as good as you does not mean that you lower your play to the level of competition. How many times you hear that? Oh, coaches have ran that quote through, do not lower to, you know, to the level of competition just because they're lower, you know, in terms of production or whatever it may be. So I still want to give them their credit. We're not, you know, crapping on you because your schedule's not the top of the top within the. The 360 teams, but it is still a. A mental game to be able to say, we are the better team and we meet, we must act like it. Teams on all professional levels, amateur levels, et cetera, fight that struggle every time to not lower themselves to the competition. All right, let's keep going because we got a lot to cover. Transfer tiers. We started this out earlier this year. We had an update December 13th on the site. Go check it out. Want to talk a little bit about the big shifts in our transfer tier updates? Because transfers are very important to the game. It's going to be a part of what we're doing moving forward. Get used to it. If you think this is just a little bit of the aftermath after the pandemic and some of the COVID year situations and all the above. No, no, no, no, no. The transfer portal is here to stay. The transfer aspect and the ability to get and recruit transfers or be able to recruit your own players and keep them from becoming transfers, all of this is a part of the game now, and you're seeing some transfers make legitimate, massive, impressionable impact on their team. Lauren Betts, ucla, probably the number one that I would say in terms of impact. But Sabrina, you and Chantelle broke it down. You still had Lauren Betts on your, your list. But I want to talk to Hina Powpow because, man, she has truly become that calming, poised presence on South Carolina's team. And sure, Raven Johnson and the whole of what South Carolina can do as a system is great, but her addition from Oregon is a wonderful addition from a perspective of just keeping them poised through the end of the games when they're experiencing legitimate challenges. Thoughts on her game and what she's been able to bring to South Carolina so far?
- [21:34]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, so just a little, you know, behind the curtain when Chantelle and I were debating our rankings the first time around. So this is during the preseason. It was between Pow Pow and Celeste Taylor for the top spot. And I pushed really hard for Pow Pow to be number one on the original rankings, which is what we ultimately landed on. And South Carolina had just a phenomenal start of the season. They're having a phenomenal start to the season. And it was pretty clear that, oh well, seamless fit Tahina Pow Pow. Right. I was, you know, a little interested because she ran a lot of pick and roll at Oregon. That's not a ton of what South Carolina does. So different offensive system. But you play her off the ball a little bit. She's a fantastic three point shooter. Right. Like, you think about the way she broke the game open against both of those Tobacco Road schools, just really good on and off the ball. And the fact that you can have her full Wiley and Raven Johnson, all playmaking at different points is just. It's a different level of playmaking than we've seen from South Carolina in some time. So she's been awesome, just tremendous. And probably my favorite anecdote of the South Carolina season was, you know, after the Duke game. So South Carolina had gone into, you know, North Carolina. They played the Tar Heels really close. Pow Pow was huge in that game. Malaysia Folweiley, who's been sort of like the viral standout of South Carolina season, only played like three minutes because Don was not impressed with their defense. Then they get to the Duke game once again, you know, they fall behind early and Powpow is again outstanding. Like you said, that veteran hand hitting a bunch of threes in the third quarter, settling South Carolina down. And then Dawn Staley takes out Pow Pow and puts in full wily. And she said afterwards, like, yeah, we could have kept Pow in, but, you know, talked to her and Said, hey, the young guns need to figure out how to get this done, so is it okay if they play? Even though obviously Tahina had deserved to play based on her performance. But that's kind of also what it means to be a leader, is knowing when you let everybody else get a chance to learn. And I thought that was such a cool example of, here's a player coming in where, you know, she's. She's a transfer. It's not like she has all of this built in equity with Dawn Staley. Right? Like, she's also fighting for her, you know, minutes and what her role is gonna be down the line for what, you know, promises to be a season that ends in April. And yet she's comfortable seating these minutes because everybody needs to figure out what their role is. And I just thought that was such an interesting example of being a leader, being a veteran, even when you're not on the court. And I'm so glad Don gave that interview because, like, just another example of how well Tahina Pow Pow's been. I realized she did drop. We'll get to that in a second. But, yeah, Pow Pow has been awesome.
- [24:07]
Zena Keda
Yes. No, I love that antidote, too, and I do appreciate dawn sharing that story because I even had retweeted the video and mentioned how there are teams on the professional level, players on the professional level, that would not have that level of humility and also that level of foresight to see how important a moment like that could have been. And if you didn't watch that Duke USC game, it was heated, right? It was going back and forth for a while, and there was a lot going on. You know, Chloe Kitts was having quite the battle inside, and there was just. There was a lot going on. I'll just say that. And particularly towards the end, there were some key turnovers that were happening, too. Pow Pow being one of the ones that had committed it. And you still saw that she should have been in that game. I mean, she ended up. She was 2 or 4 for 3, but she hit them at key moments. So you're thinking, you know, the momentum, et cetera, but Malaysia full Wiley came in and immediately impact immediate surge of offense. I mean, I think her very first move crossed over to the basket as soon as she came in, in the last minutes of that game. And so it was really cool to then hear what the context was behind that. So I think a lot of people gave a lot of respect to Tahina Powpow for that. Now, why did she drop?
- [25:23]
Sabrina Merchant
Yes, this really has nothing to do with Tahina Powpow. It's just we've watched the number two team in the country, ucla, and it's pretty clear to me what the difference is between a team that was good last year and a team that is great this year. And that is Lauren Betts. So it's not that Powpow is not awesome and hasn't had a great season for South Carolina. Just the burden that has been placed on Lauren Betts in this offense, in this defense is more than what Tahina has to do. It's just, it's a bigger role for her and she's filling it just seamlessly. You know, her field goal percentage is off the frigging charts. And the way she's able to, you know, let those UCLA guards play super aggressively on the perimeter, knowing that they have this 6 foot 7 behemoth in the middle just ready to clean up all their mistakes. Yeah, like that's how UCLA wants to play. And they did that last year and then nobody was there in the middle to clean up, you know, at the rim. And they'd have to foul all the time, which they still foul all the time. But thankfully, Lauren Betts is not the player that does that. So she gets to play a lot of minutes.
- [26:21]
Zena Keda
And I think that that's something to be called. I mean, again, we get, we've given a lot of love to Lauren Betts, but I do want to call out what you just mentioned. When someone is 6, 7 and at that size in the women's game, it's easy to be like, oh, well, she's just good because she's tall. Right? She's just good. No, because when you're that tall, you're more prone to thinking that you can do whatever you want and it'll work out in your favor, AKA swatting at everything or whatever, you name it. She is an incredibly adept player from not fouling while playing aggressive inside.
- [26:54]
Sabrina Merchant
Exactly.
- [26:55]
Zena Keda
And that is a very big part of her game that allows her to one stay in the game the entire time. Right. When you think about other players that are also impactful, like an Alyssa Pele at Utah. Foul trouble. Right. Cameron Brink has gotten into foul trouble. There's other players that are not necessarily at Lauren bets size, but are that impactful in the middle of the paint. And once their guards are broken down, they're that next level of defense and they have to be able to have some sort of rim protection without fouling. And Lauren Betts really does this well. And so I Just want to give her the credit for that. I am interested. You just talked about the guards and then them being able to maneuver around her. I am interested particularly in this next matchup against Ohio State, because when you think about Ohio State, I think press, I think about their press, I think about their defense, full court, I think about how much they're gonna make Those guards work. J.C. sheldon, I know we just gave her some love. I'm just thinking about her on the defensive end too. Like, this is gonna be a really great matchup from a defensive perspective for Ohio State to take advantage and take, take that aspect of their game away. And then also, you know, thinking about, you know, Cody McMahon and, like, what she can be able to do. And by the time we listen to this episode, they will have played. I'm excited for that. That's going to be a really, like, top tier matchup and we'll see how Lauren Betts does against the way that they play defense. Because they are perimeter focused first. They make it tough for you to get those inbound passes. They make it tough for you to get the ball up the court. So, yeah, we'll see.
- [28:35]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. And as you're listening to this episode and you want more ucla, Ohio State content, our guy, Cameron Teague Robinson is going to be at the game, so make sure to read everything that he has from the game and also his feature on Celeste Taylo that just dropped today. Another transfer in our top tier.
- [28:49]
Zena Keda
Talk to me about Celeste before we keep moving. Tell me about a little bit more about Celeste and her impact on the game from a Buckeyes perspective.
- [28:57]
Sabrina Merchant
So Celeste, ACC defensive player of the year last season, and you put her in a defense that is as active and aggressive and just frenetic as Ohio State. It feels like a match made in heaven. It's very clear why, you know, Chantel wanted to put her number one in the rankings. And that defensive impact has been exactly what you'd expect. She's also getting to run point guard in the second unit, which I think is pretty cool because. Because she's going to have to do some ball handling at the next level, you know, depending on where she gets selected in the wnba. But, like, that's going to be a part of her role as a guard. Like, she's going to have to do some playmaking. So I think it's cool that Kevin McGuff has sort of just given her the bench unit and been like, all right, let's, let's roll. We'll see when, when the jump shooting comes Back. It hasn't quite traveled to Columbus yet, but only 10 games into the season. So we'll, we'll see how that develops for Celeste.
- [29:40]
Zena Keda
And that's another person. When I think about their defense, like I've mentioned J.C. sheldon, but Celeste Taylor as well, I have her like permanently burned in my mind. Just like clapping her hands and like getting ready. Even from like her Duke jersey days to now being at Ohio State, like I, I, it's burned in my mind of like, ooh, I would not want to face up against her trying to take the ball up 90ft. Um, okay. All right. Is there anyone else on the, the transfer tiers updated list that you wanted to, to particularly call out?
- [30:10]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. So this was an interesting evaluation point because we ended up cycling out a third of the list which was I think more than either of us expected. Right. You know, you think you have a good sense of what's going to happen and then everything changes.
- [30:23]
Zena Keda
Yep.
- [30:23]
Sabrina Merchant
So I just want to highlight one of the players who wasn't on the original list but then, you know, has made the jump and that's Dreona Edwards. And Edwards had an interesting story where you might remember her From Kentucky in 2022, she hits a game winning three pointer in the SEC tournament championship to beat South Carolina. This is the South Carolina team that won the national championship. So not exactly a slight of a team, right? Exactly. This is the big moment, the only time that she'd ever advanced to the NCAA tournament in her four year career to that point, you know, she'd played at Utah and Kentucky and just big game, big moment, big shot from a big time player. And she transferred to Baylor last season but because of the double transfer situation was ruled ineligible for all of last year. But she gets this time to learn Nikki Collins system, you know, figure out where she fits in this roster. It's a lot of the same roster that there was last season. So that year of practice time definitely seems to have helped because she's just crushing it for Baylor. Like this is an undefeated team. She's playing the five even though she's charitably listed at six one. She's taken charges, she's bodying up players in the post. You know, she's getting a lot of steals, shooting really well from three point range. I think above 40% at this point of the season. Just looks so natural playing for Baylor. It makes me sad that we missed out on a year of her, but I like to think that we just forgot about her because we didn't think of her in the 2023 transfer list, but she's been awesome. Definitely overlooked earlier in the season and an enormous part of why Baylor is undefeated at this point of the year, for sure.
- [31:52]
Zena Keda
I remember I did watch that, the Utah matchup with them, and that was a fun, fun game to watch. She hit two threes throughout that game and also was just like, so creative in the way that she scored. She ended up with 14, but you would have thought she was performing way higher than that. Like, I thought she was really in the 20s, the way that she was being able to break down defenders. It's funny because you said she's charitably six one, which is Sabrina, your way with words. Chef's kifs. Just love it. I would love to stand beside her because she plays so long. I don't know what her measurements are, but she. Even when she attacks the basket, I feel like her one step is probably the step that you would expect out of someone that's 6:3, but you can tell she's shorter, but she just plays so long. She extends her body really well. And she also elevates really well, too. So I think that's a really good call out. I feel like we haven't been talking about them either as much, Baylor being undefeated. I know we've mentioned them, I think when they played Harvard, but we mostly mentioned Harvard and their tough matchup against them. They lost by 10 points against Baylor. That was a good game too, to watch, but yeah. Okay. Shout out to Driuna. All right, Sabrina. Well, thank you for breaking that down. I appreciate you guys telling us the updates to the transfer tiers, and that is interesting that you cycled out so many, but that's awesome for those that are now on the list, obviously making the impact that they have. And also, except expanding our view of NCAA women's basketball, seeing all of the players that are being able to, you know, make a name for themselves and make an immediate impact on their new program. So definitely check out the updated list of transfer tiers and keep an eye out on those undefeated teams because like I said and like we talked about, conference play is right around the corner. And I know there are some teams that are just salivating to take one of those undefeated teams down. So appreciate you breaking that down. Now it is time for off the script. Sabrina, don't go anywhere because I do want to talk to you about this. This is someone that we saw make a very important announcement from the University of Arizona. A particular player decided that she was going to prioritize her career and her education over playing basketball and wanted to pursue that and you know, a little bit more about her. This is Maya Najee out of Arizona. What do you know about the situation? And I want to kind of break down just our thoughts on it.
- [34:26]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, Maya Najee, not exactly a benchwarmer. You know, she was the number, number ninth recruit in, you know, the top, the ESPN class of 2022. So a really highly regarded freshman. This is her second season with Arizona. She's the starting center, you know, for the Wildcats. And obviously this is, this is a big time program. You know, Hadiya Brahn's coaching at her alma mater. She got to the national title game a couple years back. So you just expect players in this program to have, you know, basketball as the number one priority. And that sometimes doesn't have to be the case. Right. We're looking at a player like Maya Naji who had decided that she's in this pre medical track because she wants to be a doctor at some point in her life and has decided to make the academics her priority and take the time away from basketball. She's leaving the team because she wants to focus on her schoolwork and make sure that she's putting herself in position to ace her pre med coursework and, you know, get to medical school and go on this track of her life. And, you know, it's a little bit surprising, obviously, because we mentioned her pedigree. She's the younger sister of an NBA player, Zeke Najee from the Denver Nuggets. This is a basketball family. And it's interesting and kind of cool, you know, to see her have this independent idea, you know, like, I'm gonna break with. I assume basketball's been an enormous part of her life, an enormous part of her family situation. And to have the courage to make that decision and say, hey, like, this is what I want to do. And it's, it's too hard to do both. And like, I mean, you were a student athlete, Tina. Like, I don't know how they do it.
- [35:54]
Zena Keda
That's exactly what I was gonna say. So there's two things that makes me, like, when I look at this story. Number one, Maya Naji and that family, their father is Nigerian. And there is something to be said about the importance of education and the pedigree when it comes to just wanting to have a higher education standard, et cetera, within Nigerian families. From that perspective, I can understand this decision. Being of Guinean descent myself, knowing many other African basketball players and African athletes and things of that sort, Academics is always Huge. Always huge. It's interesting because literally last night I did a show for Dubstalk Live covering the warriors. And Festa Cecili, who played for Vanderbilt, was telling us a story that I had never heard that when he first came to the States, he had graduated high school. He's Nigerian, graduated high school at 14 years old, and went to junior college as a 16 year old, and was a very tall 16 year old walking around Yuba College. And I had no idea. But he, he was the video guy and he wasn't allowed to play until he was 18. And so he was the video guy until he was 18 and then was able to get to Vanderbilt and then end up in the NBA. And so I'm hearing this story of, you know, Maya Najee, and I can see that potentially being a part of her story as well. Just that emphasis on education and also being able to pursue that career. Another thing that comes to mind is exactly as you mentioned, the student athlete experience. In the time that I played, there were several of my teammates that ended up being physicians that were on the pre med route. I was once on the pre med route that ended soon after organic chem. I'm just gonna put that there. But it was hard. It was incredibly hard. And even at these larger athletic schools, you know, with programs that really do focus on making sure that student athletes are supported and have the resources, et cetera, it is still incredibly difficult to be able to make lab right and make some of these aspects that come along with being on the physician track. Because you're not just taking classes, you're taking labs that are four hours, five hours, sometimes in your afternoons. And guess what? When you're an athlete, what are you usually doing in the afternoon? You're lifting, you're practicing, or you're playing games. And when you're always on the road and this whole situation with, you know, maybe not necessarily Arizona, but thinking about all of these teams that are going to be traveling across the country coming up right, with these conference realignments, this is going to be a large portion of it. How are these students going to be able to balance trying to make lab right or trying to make certain classes or trying to make all this work. I know that this was not an easy decision for Maya, especially considering the level that she was at at Yale. It wasn't that hard, I'm sure for some people, like we weren't all on the WNBA fast track. I'll just say that Maya must, like, most definitely was, like there was an option for her to be on that track. And so I give her kudos. That's why I wanted to go off the script and talk about this because it's not an easy decision. But I really do give her kudos to be able to make that decision and put her heart, you know, behind that and follow her passion. And it was really cool too that, you know, head coach Adia Barnes supported her, made a statement as well to support her in that decision because I'm sure she's not too happy, you know, in terms of like losing that legitimate of a player. I'm sure she's happy for her, but, like the adjustment she now has to make is legit. So that is great to see that sign of support from her head coach. But yeah, I just wanted to give that a cool little shout out from Maya Naji and yes, from a basketball family out of Minnesota. So, you know, that's a basketball family.
- [39:43]
Sabrina Merchant
That's basketball country right there.
- [39:45]
Zena Keda
Yeah, basketball country right there. All right, well, that is all for today's show. Appreciate you, Sabrina, for joining us. Definitely tune in. There's quite a few games this week and other than that, make sure you subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We are going to have another show this week, so don't miss that. But for now, I'm Zena Keda encouraging you to keep listening, keep learning and keep loving the game because that is the only way we're going to grow it. All right, until next time.
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