2024 portal

[lowbbiq]

Tori DePerry is going to play ball in Porto Portugal.

[yotewannabe]

I’m hearing that we may have some roster changes already. Sounds like Hillman has left. Not sure on the reason. I did notice that on the elite camp picture she was not there with the team so not sure when this all happened. Also Viki has yet to join the team. I was told she had commitments and is playing in Lithuania this summer.

[90yote]

Hillman was recruited here by Kayla, so I guess that's not a shock. I don't know what her expectations of playing time were, but obviously with RLG here, her court time was going to be minimized. I wonder if Wilke is strong enough to play the 5 and she maybe wasn't even going to be in the rotation?

[kiyoat]

Jul 10, 2024 7:27:11 GMT -6 90yote said:

Hillman was recruited here by Kayla, so I guess that's not a shock. I don't know what her expectations of playing time were, but obviously with RLG here, her court time was going to be minimized. I wonder if Wilke is strong enough to play the 5 and she maybe wasn't even going to be in the rotation?

Interesting.  Hillman was originally recruited to play for this staff at Kearney, though.  When Coach E left for Idaho, that was when she switched to the Community College near her hometown in Northern Iowa.  Agreed that Kayla recruited her to Vermillion, but it's not like this staff was new to her.  Maybe some early evaluation of her in practice led her to believe that her playing time or scholarship might not be guaranteed?  Oh well.  We probably will not ever get the whole story, and that's fine. She looked good on film, though.

All of this recruiting, portal transferring and coaching changes has happened very quickly, relatively speaking.  In the end, the Yotes have have had a big net benefit (potentially) with a coach that seems to be a better fit, keeping Grace for her final year, and grabbing Ruthie from the portal.  Losing a big isn't ideal, but I'm sure there is a good reason for it.

[90yote]

Alright, thanks for the info kiyoat. I did not know the history there with the current staff. If Hillman deciding to leave is true, that makes it quite a bit more surprising.

[kiyoat]

It does seem like an odd time to leave the team, though.  With the lack of restrictions on transfers, she could have just went ahead and played the season out and seen what was possible.  People get injured, opportunities happen.  One would think that just having a season on a D-1 roster of a good mid-major (with good coaching) would be worth something in terms of visibility and training for future opportunities.  Either with this team or another.

Could have been something more like off-court personal stuff.  Who knows.

She's still on the official roster, so let's cross our fingers.....

[yotewannabe]

I have no idea the reasoning behind her departure. I did watch a bunch of her game film from her previous school and my initial thoughts were that it was going to be a big project. Watching game film can be deceiving but I’ve watched a lot of game film in my day and have scouted many players. So I was somewhat skeptical and hoping to be wrong. And who knows maybe it was something else altogether.

[kiyoat]

Jul 10, 2024 8:51:53 GMT -6 yotewannabe said:

I have no idea the reasoning behind her departure. I did watch a bunch of her game film from her previous school and my initial thoughts were that it was going to be a big project. Watching game film can be deceiving but I’ve watched a lot of game film in my day and have scouted many players. So I was somewhat skeptical and hoping to be wrong. And who knows maybe it was something else altogether.

Have you watched Ruthie's film, or any of our other new additions?  Who do you see being immediate contributors out of the new kids? (just curious) 

I have to imagine we will see a lot of Ruthie out of sheer necessity in the post, regardless if she is game-ready or not.

[marco]

She practiced all year with power 5 Colorado I am sure she can play in the summit as we dont have anyone else. I think Carson can play down low she 6-1 and athletic. Also I heard Wilke has looked good. I not worried about it we were not to good in the post last year

[captaincoyote]

Hillman’s instagram has pictures of her with her boyfriend in the SDSU student section at a football game last October. Maybe she was confused when she committed (kidding!). I agree with what everyone else says about her anticipating little playing time, with the addition that we were probably a fallback option if she really does have ties to state. That analysis was probably enough for her to decide on a quick exit. It will be interesting to see where she goes (probably somewhere more palatable to her bunny boy).

[soofooyote]

I'm really not too concerned with the loss of a community college transfer. She was a desperate answer to a hole in our post in my opinion that got filled more appropriately and effectively by the new staff. I wish her the best wherever she lands.

[kiyoat]

Jul 11, 2024 12:36:08 GMT -6 captaincoyote said:

Hillman’s instagram has pictures of her with her boyfriend in the SDSU student section at a football game last October. Maybe she was confused when she committed (kidding!). I agree with what everyone else says about her anticipating little playing time, with the addition that we were probably a fallback option if she really does have ties to state. That analysis was probably enough for her to decide on a quick exit. It will be interesting to see where she goes (probably somewhere more palatable to her bunny boy).

I'll hazard a guess... Northern State?  Not because of her BF or SDSU.  She follows that staff, too.  And one of her would-be teammates in her recruiting class to Kearney ended up there, too.  Not a bad WBB program.

[yotewannabe]

Jul 10, 2024 10:21:07 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Jul 10, 2024 8:51:53 GMT -6 yotewannabe said:

I have no idea the reasoning behind her departure. I did watch a bunch of her game film from her previous school and my initial thoughts were that it was going to be a big project. Watching game film can be deceiving but I’ve watched a lot of game film in my day and have scouted many players. So I was somewhat skeptical and hoping to be wrong. And who knows maybe it was something else altogether.

Have you watched Ruthie's film, or any of our other new additions?  Who do you see being immediate contributors out of the new kids? (just curious) 

I have to imagine we will see a lot of Ruthie out of sheer necessity in the post, regardless if she is game-ready or not.

Of the remaining new comers I have watched Wilke the most. My first impression on her was I would like to see her at the five. Her speed at the four was an area of concern but she has skill offensively and with some strength I thought she could help us at the 5. She likes to shoot the three so able to stretch the defense also. Haven’t seen as much on Coons. Appears long and athletic and some nice back to the bucket stuff. Will be interesting to see if they red shirt her with the recent ACL recovery. I’ve seen a little on Cossette. She played with some very talented young ladies and played her role well. Nice ball handling skills but will need to put on strength to play in the summit. Which I am sure they are working on. It’s really hard to get a good feel by just watching high light reels. Hillman had more games online from her junior college so was easier to get a feel for what she was bringing. Ruthie WILL be a contributor!!

[kiyoat]

Well, Hillman is no longer on the official roster. This was a recent change (sometime this past week).

Groman still listed, but without a photo (like Viki M). Not sure why she hasn't been on campus yet. With Viki M. (freshman) she has been playing in Europe, and according to a recent tweet from WBB, she is now on campus.