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Shannon???

If I am not politically correct I apologize in advance. I am not trying to offend anyone but it is shortsighted to try to recall all players from prior years. I am sure there may be others that I can't remember either but two others that haven't been mentioned are Tianna Ware of Bakersfield, California and I'm not sure about Sarah Ena's heritage but think it was mixed. There has never been a problem with coaches attempting to recruit players of color but rather the players choosing other schools where there is a larger population for them to mix with and where they felt more comfortable.

Here is a November 19, 2007 quote from Tianna when she signed with the Lady Griz."At first I was uncomfortable with the thought of playing at the University of Montana," Ware said. "I didn't think that I would blend in with the team, the school or the coaches. But as time went on and I began to speak with Coach Selvig more and more, the more comfortable and relaxed I became.

"When my father and I visited (in October), I'll admit that I was scared. But that all changed after meeting the team. Everyone was so welcoming, and the coaches had such a cordial presence about them . . ."

I think it highlights concerns players have in coming to Montana.
 
& that Reminds me of a late-1990s story: Dennehy's staff recruited a football player out of Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and obtained his commitment. The player and parents drove up to Missoula in late August, and the kid got scared, quit and caught the bus back to California and arrived home before his parents. :shock: :shock:
 
Proud Griz Man said:
& that Reminds me of a late-1990s story: Dennehy's staff recruited a football player out of Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and obtained his commitment. The player and parents drove up to Missoula in late August, and the kid got scared, quit and caught the bus back to California and arrived home before his parents. :shock: :shock:

That's funny. One of my football friends in college did the same thing. His parents drove him on a mini-family trip from Minnesota to NH. He was a sophomore. He quit right away, flew home, and beat his parents home. He was from the Home of the Jolly Green Giant.
 
BWahlberg said:
Zirg said:
reinell30 said:
Paytonlives said:
Again,
She only still at UM because of her playing days...

Her coaching is average at best.

I would like to see what she could do with a healthy team. She hasn't had her entire team healthy since she took over for Robin. She has always been without her "Star" player.

Exactly. She's been dealt a terrible hand every year by injuries (to top players). We still have no idea if she can coach, IMO.

At what point does this go from "being dealt a terrible hand every year" to examining more about the current training, conditioning, dietary planning, injury prevention, etc? I get freak things happen but these last 3 years are unprecedented in terms of what has occurred. Is it just bad luck, or is it something more?

Summed up the thoughts I've been having since early this past WBB season.
 
717s7e said:
I predict a very strong year with the returners, newcomers, and finally a healthy team. I think Shannon has grown in the job and will do fine.

If mediocrity is your definition of a very strong year, you are probably correct. Under her leadership, win the Big Sky, go to the NCAA tournament? Not a chance.
 
Griz1 said:
If I am not politically correct I apologize in advance. I am not trying to offend anyone but it is shortsighted to try to recall all players from prior years. I am sure there may be others that I can't remember either but two others that haven't been mentioned are Tianna Ware of Bakersfield, California and I'm not sure about Sarah Ena's heritage but think it was mixed. There has never been a problem with coaches attempting to recruit players of color but rather the players choosing other schools where there is a larger population for them to mix with and where they felt more comfortable.
IIRC Sarah Ena is of Samoan heritage.
 
I see lots of anonymous posters with personal opinions / personal grudges. Disagree? :shock:
At least we knew the person behind Alpha and his alter ego poster names.
 
Griz1 said:
If I am not politically correct I apologize in advance. I am not trying to offend anyone but it is shortsighted to try to recall all players from prior years. I am sure there may be others that I can't remember either but two others that haven't been mentioned are Tianna Ware of Bakersfield, California and I'm not sure about Sarah Ena's heritage but think it was mixed. There has never been a problem with coaches attempting to recruit players of color but rather the players choosing other schools where there is a larger population for them to mix with and where they felt more comfortable.

Here is a November 19, 2007 quote from Tianna when she signed with the Lady Griz."At first I was uncomfortable with the thought of playing at the University of Montana," Ware said. "I didn't think that I would blend in with the team, the school or the coaches. But as time went on and I began to speak with Coach Selvig more and more, the more comfortable and relaxed I became.

"When my father and I visited (in October), I'll admit that I was scared. But that all changed after meeting the team. Everyone was so welcoming, and the coaches had such a cordial presence about them . . ."

I think it highlights concerns players have in coming to Montana.

Michael Oguine have similar stories. I think he even stated that he was surprised that Missoula was an actual "city' when he got here. There is a stereotype for sure but, hopefully, as the name continues to get out there UM will be able to attract top talent no matter what ethnic background. Great city and environment for kids to excel
 
MissoulaCanucksFan said:
Griz1 said:
If I am not politically correct I apologize in advance. I am not trying to offend anyone but it is shortsighted to try to recall all players from prior years. I am sure there may be others that I can't remember either but two others that haven't been mentioned are Tianna Ware of Bakersfield, California and I'm not sure about Sarah Ena's heritage but think it was mixed. There has never been a problem with coaches attempting to recruit players of color but rather the players choosing other schools where there is a larger population for them to mix with and where they felt more comfortable.
IIRC Sarah Ena is of Samoan heritage.

Thanks MissoulaCanucksFan for reminding me. You are absolutely correct. My apologies to the Ena family for my unclear memory. I seem to remember that her father played running back for WSU and her brother was a linebacker at EWU also but those memories are not cast in stone either.
 
Spanky2 said:
Money, those are extreme comments. Do you have information to support the comments or are you just ranting?

Everything that i say on this forum is fact. You can verify it if you want. Through the freedom of information act you can request all the emails to Haslam and the University from many people from March through about May of last year. You will find that there was enough cause to have a Climate Survey from the entire team. In the end some decided not to pursue the issues because they feared retribution from Shannon. Instead they just quit the team. The story that was spun in the Media was absolutely false and orchestrated by Shannon and Kent as to why the girls left the team. When the day comes that Shannon is fired I think then the story will be told. Until then no one is willing to bite the hand that feeds them.
 
BWahlberg said:
Zirg said:
reinell30 said:
Paytonlives said:
Again,
She only still at UM because of her playing days...

Her coaching is average at best.

I would like to see what she could do with a healthy team. She hasn't had her entire team healthy since she took over for Robin. She has always been without her "Star" player.

Exactly. She's been dealt a terrible hand every year by injuries (to top players). We still have no idea if she can coach, IMO.

At what point does this go from "being dealt a terrible hand every year" to examining more about the current training, conditioning, dietary planning, injury prevention, etc? I get freak things happen but these last 3 years are unprecedented in terms of what has occurred. Is it just bad luck, or is it something more?

That is a fair question, I guess. I don't have any insight to how Shannon and Robin's coaching philosophies/or practices differ and until I hear anything otherwise I have no reason to believe Shannon's coaching style caused these injuries, I will remain neutral.
 
PlayerRep said:
Zirg said:
billingsgriz said:
If Shannon has been recruiting Phoenix and Southern California for years, her 2018-19 roster sure does not reflect this.
On the 2018-19 roster, there were/are only 3 Lady Griz from outside the Inland Pacific NW:

Abby Anderson, a redshirt freshman 6-2 F from Hillsboro, Oregon, a Portland suburb

Sammy Fatkin, a 5-11 sophomore G from Snohomish, a small town in Western Washington

Katie Mayhue, a freshman 5-10 G from Albany, Oregon near Corvallis, home of Oregon State and the Tinkle's, where Katie originally committed to go to school. She has already entered the portal and is transferring out of UM.

The only girls of color playing on this year's team were Lee Camel, a 5-9 guard from Ronan that is Salish and from a great Griz family. And Jace Henderson, our great 6-0 post from here in Billings.

Gabi Harrington, a 5-9 Redshirt Sophomore Guard from Bishop Kelly in Boise is the Lady Griz from the largest city. While I love Boise, a thriving capital city that is home to Micron, Albertson's, and JR Simplot, and I am driving there in a few weeks to visit clients, it's population of 225,000 pales in comparison to Seattle and Tacoma, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, LA, San Diego, Phoenix, and Denver.

This year's Lady Griz have 0 African-American players, and black girls on the team have been a rarity for as long as I can remember.

To state my basic point again, if Shannon has been recruiting Southern California and Phoenix, her roster sure does not reflect it. Where are the California and Arizona players ? Where are the players from Seattle and Tacoma ?

Shannon, originally Shannon Cate, is from here in Billings and I want to see her do well and pick right up where Robin left off. She hasn't done that thus far, and for her to succeed, she needs to expand her recruiting footprint and take full advantage of the state-of-the-art training facilities for the Lady Griz at the Washington Champion's Center along with the latest training strategies and regimen to dramatically reduce the number of season-ending injuries the team has suffered during her tenure.

She needs to win more and lose less or in another 2-3 years, she will be a former Lady Griz head coach !!!

Nobody complained when Selvig's Lady Griz won every year with an almost all-white team year after year. He only had one black player in his entire 38 year career that I know of (Vicki Austin) but he DID try to recruit others, including Lisa Leslie, believe it or not. She never responded back. He gave up trying to recruit big cities as he was a small-town Montana hick (with a limited budget to start with) and got the best recruits he could and his superior coaching style worked with whoever he got. Shannon was his only real "national coup" ever. Vivian Stringer of Iowa/Rutgers tried to recruit Shannon out of hs, but similarly failed, and then was later infamously mocked by radio Dj Don Imus for only having "inner city" girls on Rutgers, although he used worse terms. So is Vivian racist for not having more (any) white girls on her team? Nobody would ever say that. You recruit girls that you can relate to and work with usually relatively close to your school. Every coach does.

Robin did recruit and play more Native Americans than any D1 basketball coach in America (men or womens) during his era, and I challenge anyone to provide contradictory proof.

And Shaunte, AJ's, wife.

My bad. YES, I can't believe I forgot about Shaunte. PR was correct! I might never say it again, but I can admit when I am wrong.
 
HookedonGriz said:
Recent Haslam interview said Shannon is staying put

The interview from May 5 with MontanaSports.com (print and full-content broadcast) is excellent. Good range of questions from Slim Kimmel. Mr. Haslam is open and transparent regarding all aspects of the Montana program. I particularly respect how he clarified his own personal positions on certain areas, re: Haslam strongly believes that the strongest/hottest team should host post-season tourneys.

https://montanasports.com/sunday-conversation/2019/05/05/sunday-conversation-kent-haslam-talks-contract-negotiations-big-sky-conference-health/
 
Good GJ - thanks for posting and highlighting that interview. :clap:

Maybe more importantly - were the interview's points made about Haslam being decisive and recognizing "not a fit" and punctually not renewing Stitt's contract, becoming a better listener and reading his own eMails, and working with the University President are key topics.

Also the heavy involvement of parents. :shock: :shock: :shock:

grizzlyjournal said:
HookedonGriz said:
Recent Haslam interview said Shannon is staying put

The interview from May 5 with MontanaSports.com (print and full-content broadcast) is excellent. Good range of questions from Slim Kimmel. Mr. Haslam is open and transparent regarding all aspects of the Montana program. I particularly respect how he clarified his own personal positions on certain areas, re: Haslam strongly believes that the strongest/hottest team should host post-season tourneys.

https://montanasports.com/sunday-conversation/2019/05/05/sunday-conversation-kent-haslam-talks-contract-negotiations-big-sky-conference-health/
 
Proud Griz Man said:
Good GJ - thanks for posting and highlighting that interview. :clap:

Maybe more importantly - were the interview's points made about Haslam being decisive and recognizing "not a fit" and punctually not renewing Stitt's contract, becoming a better listener and reading his own eMails, and working with the University President are key topics.

Also the heavy involvement of parents. :shock: :shock: :shock:

grizzlyjournal said:
HookedonGriz said:
Recent Haslam interview said Shannon is staying put

The interview from May 5 with MontanaSports.com (print and full-content broadcast) is excellent. Good range of questions from Slim Kimmel. Mr. Haslam is open and transparent regarding all aspects of the Montana program. I particularly respect how he clarified his own personal positions on certain areas, re: Haslam strongly believes that the strongest/hottest team should host post-season tourneys.

https://montanasports.com/sunday-conversation/2019/05/05/sunday-conversation-kent-haslam-talks-contract-negotiations-big-sky-conference-health/

Agree 100%, PGM. This interview was probably the perfect format (and time) for Haslam. Kimmel's questions were direct, but the interview allowed Haslam to interject a wide range of "issue points" ragarding the changing focus and challenge of the job. I can imagine the "cell phone" communications he has to field from people with "agendas."
 
grizzlyjournal said:
changing focus and challenge of the job. I can imagine the "cell phone" communications he has to field from people with "agendas."

I completely understand when parents want the best for their children. But you do not see citizens regularly offering their critique and "you should do this" opinions to their religious clergy, doctors, dentists, lawyers, mechanics, general contractors, farmers, ranchers, loggers, truckers, garbage haulers, taxi drivers, airline pilots, etc. Politicians and educators/coaches get to hear everyone's opinion.

Again, thank you GJ for sharing the link to the interview. It is a great read. :clap: :clap:
 
I am a LT Lady G fan from the Shannon playing days! Good forum, lots of concerns mostly legit, some questionable. Lots of hopefulness for the upcoming season. As mentioned, what can any coach, players and fans expect with a team beleaguered with injuries and with players while talented low in overall collegiate experience, and players who choose to leave the team. Some observations: Offense play sets, slow up court ball movement with repeated high post & point guard interaction not showing positive results. Point guard not dishing out to clearly open and highly capable wing players,(for instance Goligoski an explosive all around player) instead often forcing shots with mixed results in the paint challenging the bigs? Basic shooting, lots of bricks in the paint, low free throw%, not enough three shots. Inconsistent ball handling, and turnovers hurt. When the ball moved up court quicker, and around the key there was some excellent play. This team shows great promise, working out the kinks on all fronts including team building this summer should pay off.
 
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