2023 Portal Possibilities

[soofooyote]

Clearly the guy is bitter...and how many high schools did they bounce her around too? All that height got them a championship up there in Wolsey-Wessington too right?!? Right?

[kiyoat]

back to Kendall:

I was just looking at the DePaul Blue Demons program.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DePaul_Blue_Demons_women%27s_basketball

Looks like they have a long-time very successful coach in Doug Bruno (36 seasons, lots of titles, etc.) Forgive my ignorance, if this is well-known stuff

DePaul had been dominating the Big East in the seven seasons since the big split (basketball-football) from 2014-2020, but has been much more average in the last three seasons.  That's not to disparage Ms Holmes at all.  Take this into account: at the time Kendall was being recruited to DePaul, they were the unquestioned top of the heap in that P-6 conference, and occasionally got to the Sweet 16.  So she was likely a "big-time" recruit, or she might have been a walk-on, considering she is from the Chicagoland area.  Either way, she seems to have gradually worked into a starting role.  Good stuff, and lots of high-level experience.

[yotenation]

Interesting article on Holmes

depauliaonline.com/56810/sports/sophomore-guard-kendall-holmes-recent-breakout-performance-testament-to-hard-work/

[yotenation]

And a nice quote from the article:

"Some players are bricks and some are the mortar that holds the bricks together,” Bruno said. “You can’t have a great building without bricks and mortar. She does a great job cementing it all together. She naturally brings the component parts of the team together on and off the floor. The team has more cohesion when she is on the floor.”

[soofooyote]

Holmes is an absolute home run for us in my opinion. We need experience and leadership and I think she could bring both to this team. Very, very excited about this signing!

[kiyoat]

Also: I really like the growth I see on her stats history there:

depaulbluedemons.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/kendall-holmes/2847

She only played 9 games as a freshman, but played an average of 17 minutes a game.  Then she tore her Achilles, and was out for that season.

As a Sophomore she played 28 games as a back-up, and but only averaged 10 minutes a game.  Some of her stats took a dip in the Sophomore year.  She was playing less minutes per game, but she was also coming off of a major injury and surgery, so that must have been a factor.  Here's an article that was written in February of last year (2022) that goes into it in great detail: (LINK)

As a Senior her stats really ramped up.  Looks like we are catching her at the right time.  Here are some selected stats:

Assist/Turnover by year:
Fresh--0.78
Soph--1.33
Junior-1.33

Points per 40 min:
F-9.4
S-6.2
J-10.5

shooting (FG/3PT/FG)
F-33/35/75
S-25/21/71
J-40/38/78

And a quote from the above linked article:

When Bruno recruited her, Benet Academy, one the most respected programs in the Chicagoland area, according to Bruno, had five or six Division I basketball players on the team. He noticed that with six top-tier talents on the team, Holmes was the one that never came off the floor. Bruno realized at that moment the reasons behind her constant presence on the court, highlighting how special Holmes was.

“You start to notice why she doesn’t come off the floor, and you start to pay close attention to the little details and you realize that she is more than just a shooter,” Bruno said. “She can shoot, but she pays attention to details. She has a toughness and intelligence to her that makes her special.”

[kiyoat]

Ha! beat me to the punch on the article. That's what I get for composing long posts. 

[yote18]

We’re getting the needed pieces now let’s put them together. Between this addition, some 24 signees and the new former jacks Assistant this could be a fun year after our outcomes last season.