Well the reason I said we could be the preseason favorites next year is because we're not the only ones getting ravished by the portal and graduation, and actually many other teams (Eastern, SAC) have had it quite worse than us. A lot of talent is being offloaded on the women's side and Holsinger is a very good recruiter so I trust him to pickup high caliber players out of the portal and the high school ranks.If the LG were a train wreck when Holsinger came, then the train wreck had already improved under Petrino. How can you say the LG may be preseason favorites next year. The LG lost 3 of their top players who exhausted eligibility. One of the top remaining players, who would have become a starter, has gone to the Portal. Another contributor has gone to the Portal. Some of the injured players may not be able to return or be ready for the start of next season. On the best returning starter was a Petrino recruit.
H has been at UM for 3 full seasons. He's won one conference tourney game. The LG had a better season this year, but 4 of the top players will be gone next year. Yes, there's the Portal. I will certainly wait to see what comes from the Portal, because talking about preseason conference favorites.
This is the type of cheerleading on Holsinger that drives me nuts. It's unrealistic.
Quoted below is what Oregon St Fan said on March 25. Things have gotten worse since then.
"Looking at the roster (scholarship players) for next year:
PG - Konig, Donarski
SG - Stump, Wacker
SF - Bruno, Huard, Lincoln
PF - Bartsch, Waddington
C - Pirog, Greenslade
Obviously a few players can play multiple positions. Multiple players coming off major knee injuries (including mid-season for Stump and Greenslade), so who knows when they’ll be 100%.
Looking at what we need:
- Definitely a post player. Greenslade is very injury prone and Pirog hasn’t shown she’s capable of being the go-to post player yet.
- Maybe a shooter? Maybe a PG to replace Marxen (Sheffey from San Diego is really good)? Another big?
Of course we still have no idea who else will leave."
Part of the issue this year was the injuries to Greenslade and the other big we were supposed to have inside (can't remember her name). It's part of the reason we had to adopt this live by the 3 die by the 3 scheme for this year. We had nobody to go to inside when Gfeller needed a break or got into foul trouble. Trust me, the Lady Griz will be in contention next year