90yote
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Post by 90yote on Feb 9, 2023 11:36:47 GMT -6
For those that claim they don't have the same culture, are you directly tied into the athletic department or coaches/players? Otherwise, I'm not sure how you say that. It may be right. But how do you know? Culture is great, but it's nebulous. I do know what helps culture. Winning. And having a 6-3 center that is skilled, has a huge wingspan, is athletic, and may be the likes of someone who we will never see again in a Coyote uniform. Having someone like that would sure help the culture. This reminds me of a story from the Wichita trip last spring. Apologies if I have told this before. Someone in our extended friend group who is more of a casual WBB fan said that the key to the future was to get another Hannah Sjerven. My buddy muttered to me "yeah, that's a great idea. Someone should go tell Dawn. I'm sure she hasn't thought about that." 🤣 We have kept that joke going throughout this season.
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Post by kiyoat on Feb 9, 2023 11:48:27 GMT -6
... I'm talking about the culture of winning that was built here over the past 4 or 5 years. I'm concerned that the culture left with Dawn and the transfers.... A winning culture with Coyote Women's Basketball didn't start with Dawn, and it sure as heck isn't going to leave with her either. Dawn was an amazing, probably HOF coach here, and elevated the program to new heights, but she was also building on achievements from before she got here. Don't forget that Williams's Yote teams won a SLT championship, two regular-season titles and a WNIT championship in the three seasons before Dawn was hired.
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Post by elcoyote on Feb 9, 2023 12:06:48 GMT -6
... I'm talking about the culture of winning that was built here over the past 4 or 5 years. I'm concerned that the culture left with Dawn and the transfers.... A winning culture with Coyote Women's Basketball didn't start with Dawn, and it sure as heck isn't going to leave with her either. Dawn was an amazing, probably HOF coach here, and elevated the program to new heights, but she was also building on achievements from before she got here. Don't forget that Williams's Yote teams won a SLT championship, two regular-season titles and a WNIT championship in the three seasons before Dawn was hired. ...and Amy left the program in far better shape than Dawn did.
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Post by elcoyote on Feb 9, 2023 12:07:45 GMT -6
Last year was magical. Absolutely, unequivocally nothing short of that. A great year, unbelievable level of play, all done with kids we’d all be proud to call our own. A bona fide potential Hall of Fame coach lead this team. What this tells me is that it can be done again. And again. But we have to make the investment in the program and not just hope it happens. That means ticket sales and HP memberships need to rise. Take a look at our VB program. We have a coach that truly WANTS to be here. She has maybe one of the top assistants in the country. Continue to invest in this program and we’ll be saying the same thing about this sport as we’re saying with basketball. We have very good players that have been coached up. Continue being successful and you start signing kids with a little bit more talent and so on. I’m hopeful Coach Kayla is the right person. Not making excuses, but she’s been dealt a tough hand. Our young kids appear to me to be awfully talented. But I’m not a BB guy, so I’ll leave that opinion open for debate amongst those of you that truly do understand the game. I just feel very strongly that in basketball if you have a somewhat solid base it doesn’t take as long to climb to the top as say football. Less kids. One or two recruits exceed expectations, maybe a transfer ( like Hannah )and you’re off to the races. The level of talent between Power 5’s and mid majors isn’t like it used to be. Last years team proved that. But at the end of the day, if you want to succeed in what I’d call the (4) majors….WBB, VB, MBB and FB,then you have to invest in all those programs. Arm the respective coaching staffs with what they need to succeed. Not just get by on bare minimums. Their needs are all different I can attest to that. But I’m telling you we aren’t that far off of succeeding if we set our directive to accomplishing that goal. Of course I want all sports at USD to succeed, but the (4) biggies are the ones people discuss on Monday morning and get hyped as game day gets closer. That is why you want / need successful teams to market your university. Our women’s basketball and volleyball can repeat what WBB did last year. I believe that. But we must invest. Period. Track says, "Hi".
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90yote
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Post by 90yote on Feb 9, 2023 12:18:50 GMT -6
A lot of fair points out there, but I’d say it’s 50/50 on whether or not this season hurts us long term and it’s too early to know. At this point our goal is make sure our recruits maintain their commitments and that we don’t have anyone transfer out. Right now if you’re being offered by sdsu and USD I’m sorry but they’re going to consider SDSU more. I hope Kayla is the right one for the job, I really do. But your first season is about building relationships and buy-in to your culture regardless of the outcome. We’re towards the end of that crucial first year and this team still does not have that. I also agree on the funding portion; why we still think we can only pay $150k (I assume that’s her starting, idk tho) as a d1 school for a quality basketball coach is idiotic esp when we shell out 300k for a 2/7 winning season FB coach. The thing with recruiting in women's basketball is that it's so far into the future that it's tough to see an immediate impact. Kayla's first recruit won't set foot on campus until next summer. All three 2023 recruits that verballed under Dawn did sign last fall, so that is good. SDSU already has their 2024 class verballed, barring other roster movement. Five SD players, at least two of which verballed before Dawn left. Kayla's immediate recruiting involves retaining current players, and that started the day she was hired.
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90yote
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Post by 90yote on Feb 9, 2023 12:19:48 GMT -6
A winning culture with Coyote Women's Basketball didn't start with Dawn, and it sure as heck isn't going to leave with her either. Dawn was an amazing, probably HOF coach here, and elevated the program to new heights, but she was also building on achievements from before she got here. Don't forget that Williams's Yote teams won a SLT championship, two regular-season titles and a WNIT championship in the three seasons before Dawn was hired. ...and Amy left the program in far better shape than Dawn did. And Ryun Williams elevated the program as it moved into D1.
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Post by gopheryote on Feb 9, 2023 12:28:29 GMT -6
A couple of random thoughts: - It is still too fresh to discuss/debate, but last year's team isn't the best Yotes team in the past few years. COVID gave us super seniors (like SDSU has this year), but took away a team that would have likely been favored through to the Swwt 16, maybe Elite 8. Given and take, as was mentioned earlier. - Seems like we need to re-post the girl from Louisville that is transferring to play VB at SDSU. Current winning - or even a history of winning - doesn't always lead to where a recruit wants to go. The cultures between the two programs (SDSU and USD WBB) are very different, and some are more attracted to one or the other. - Hanna as a sophomore - heck, even Ciara - were not the players we saw as seniors. Grace may end up of the WBB Mt. Rushmore here, and there are a couple other playing now who may be 1st team all-league in 2 or 3 years. - I really appreciate this discussion, because it shows a lot of people care.
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Post by kiyoat on Feb 9, 2023 12:28:46 GMT -6
A lot of fair points out there, but I’d say it’s 50/50 on whether or not this season hurts us long term and it’s too early to know. At this point our goal is make sure our recruits maintain their commitments and that we don’t have anyone transfer out. Right now if you’re being offered by sdsu and USD I’m sorry but they’re going to consider SDSU more. I hope Kayla is the right one for the job, I really do. But your first season is about building relationships and buy-in to your culture regardless of the outcome. We’re towards the end of that crucial first year and this team still does not have that. I also agree on the funding portion; why we still think we can only pay $150k (I assume that’s her starting, idk tho) as a d1 school for a quality basketball coach is idiotic esp when we shell out 300k for a 2/7 winning season FB coach. The thing with recruiting in women's basketball is that it's so far into the future that it's tough to see an immediate impact. Kayla's first recruit won't set foot on campus until next summer. All three 2023 recruits that verballed under Dawn did sign last fall, so that is good. SDSU already has their 2024 class verballed, barring other roster movement. Five SD players, at least two of which verballed before Dawn left. Kayla's immediate recruiting involves retaining current players, and that started the day she was hired. Great points. I'd say that we might get an immediate impact from currently injured players that return from medical redshirts next year, especially Grange. She was really hitting from the arc well when she went down with injury.
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Post by Men's League Waterboy on Feb 9, 2023 12:29:47 GMT -6
Coaches and "culture" are only as good as the horses they bring to the race. Vermillion's stable is a bit lacking at the moment due to a variety of factors but I don't think there's any reason to start panicking about the ability to re-stock it and continue building on the culture of more than the last four or five years.
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Post by marco on Feb 9, 2023 12:34:21 GMT -6
State has all the top players in the state for 2024 signed. Our last coaching staff must not tried to get a couple of these girls
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Post by kiyoat on Feb 9, 2023 12:35:33 GMT -6
A couple of random thoughts: ...a team that would have likely been favored through to the Swwt 16, maybe Elite 8. Given and take, as was mentioned earlier. Yep, that 2020 squad was projected as a 6-seed IIRC. Would have been fun to watch that tournament.
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Post by yotenation on Feb 9, 2023 12:37:03 GMT -6
Coaches and "culture" are only as good as the horses they bring to the race. Vermillion's stable is a bit lacking at the moment due to a variety of factors but I don't think there's any reason to start panicking about the ability to re-stock it and continue building on the culture of more than the last four or five years. This.
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Post by kiyoat on Feb 9, 2023 12:42:02 GMT -6
State has all the top players in the state for 2024 signed VERBALLED... FIFY
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Post by captaincoyote on Feb 9, 2023 20:19:06 GMT -6
Not much to add to this conversation, but I’ll say that I like the class we’re bring in this year. We’ll undoubtedly be much better next year. Time will tell with the 2024 class and transfers, but coach K certainly seems like the type of coach who can get a recruit excited about playing for USD. I’m too worried, yet.
Also, I think the fact that, pretty much every year, if we don’t win the conference, SDSU will really increases the intensity of our expectations. This is a good thing, but I wish a third team (other than NDSU) would rise up to challenge for championships just to create a little more parity in the conference.
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Post by fightsd on Feb 9, 2023 20:20:27 GMT -6
Dawn inherited a team that was ready to win when she got here. They never would have achieved what they did without her, but she had the pieces in place to win right away. Kayla had an uphill battle when she got here and it's unfortunately gotten tougher since. The two situations are not even close to the same.
Winning is contagious, and so is losing. When everybody gets healthy, this team is going to have to learn how to win again. It's not gonna be a switch flipping on and they're back to the top of the league. The program can bounce back from a little hiccup, but I feel like this season has been a major step backwards. It's nobody's fault either, just the way it is.
As for fans investing more in the program, I support it. I would just like to know how throwing more money at this will get the program back on track quicker. We have facilities that rival a lot of P5 programs around the country, we offer full cost of tuition, and fan attendance that most women's programs would envy. Outside of offering major NIL money to bring in a couple of 6'5" scorers, I don't see how more money is going to fix it.
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