Yesterday, Kandance Satterwhite and UB made it official, a few weeks after the Cincinnati-area guard first announced her commitment on Twitter. With the 5'10" Satterwhite joining the Bulls, next year's freshman class swells to three, four if you include the redshirted Courtney Wilkins.
Where does the team stand right now, in terms of scholarship distribution?
|
1 year remaining |
2 remaining |
3 remaining |
4 remaining |
| PG |
Karin Moss |
Camera Miley |
Stephanie Reid |
Gabi Bade |
| SG |
Mackenzie Loesing |
Joanna Smith |
Liisa Ups |
Kandance Satterwhite |
| SF |
|
|
Katherine Ups |
Brittany Morrison |
| PF |
|
Alexus Malone |
Mariah Suchan |
|
| C |
|
Cassie Oursler* |
|
Courtney Wilkins |
Please don't get too picky with the specific position lines; it just makes things look nicer. For what it's worth, I'm not sure either Oursler or Wilkins are true centers, think Ups is more of a guard and Morrison more of a forward on that middle line.
Oursler transferred to UB from Robert Morris between semesters in 2014-15 and as a result has funny things going on with her eligibility. The rules are much easier to grasp when players transfer in the offseason. I pestered the always-helpful UB Compliance Office today and got clarification on three points:
- Cassie must sit out both Spring 2015 and Fall 2015, so she won't be eligible until next January.
- Of four seasons in which any athlete can compete, Oursler has used two (she played for RMU twice last fall).
- Of five years in which any athlete has to play four seasons, Oursler has used two.
My (possibly wrong) understanding is that if Oursler plays as soon as she's eligible this spring, that's another season and another year, leaving just a full senior year left, but if she sat out another year, she would have two of her five years and two of her four seasons remaining.
That situation would be functionally equivalent to Cassie formalizing her transfer today after a full season with Robert Morris and would maximize her time with UB, but I don't expect that to happen, as frustrating as the alternative is. Players want to play, and should play.
***
So that's that. Looking at the table again, the scholarship distribution is pretty good, and Bade, Morrison, and Satterwhite fill in for the three departing seniors, but Buffalo has another scholarship to play with after Rachael Gregory left mid-season.
In a perfect world, that last scholarship goes to an impact freshman who is an immediate star and stays for four successful years. It doesn't always work that way. With the team replacing two starting forwards and heading into Mackenzie Loesing's senior year, my hunch is that UB will look for immediate, experienced eligibility in the post.
Indulge me on this one: Do you think the team, fresh off losing MAC Defensive Player of the Year Christa Baccas, could us a former Big East Defensive Player of the Year?
IUWBB: Liz Stratman to leave IU | The Hoosier Scoop
Stratman has one year of eligibility remaining and could play immediately for another team if she graduates from IU this year.
Curt Miller's move to the WNBA was a proud moment for the MAC and Indiana, but it's also led to a number of defections from the Hoosiers. Stratman never played for Indiana after transferring from Butler, where she starred for a year and a half after transferring there from Xavier.
Truthfully, if not for the IU media saying she still has one year left, I'd be confused, but it seems she's taking advantage of the same situation I detailed with Cassie Oursler above, after her midseason transfer as a freshman. But I believe Stratman and Coach Jack must already know each other; the center played high school ball in Indianapolis while Coach Jack was the Hoosiers head coach.
Stratman would likely step right in to the Christa Baccas role -- as a junior at Butler she averaged 2.7 blocks per game -- and would be a great get for a team looking to maintain the momentum of the last few seasons.
Maybe I'm way off base on Stratman. But UB does have another scholarship to fill, and between injuries and unexpected departures -- we never really talked about Sloan Walton, did we? -- I'd imagine they want to use everything they can. Maybe they go international again; the entire UB coaching staff has recently followed Dutch coach Remy De Wit on Twitter. But Satterwhite is likely not the last new name this spring for Women's Hoops.
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