I PREDICT BAYLOR WILL NOT BE A ONE SEED NEXT MARCH AND OREGON WILL BE NEXT SEASON'S ARIZONA!!

Charlie Creme and the ESPN pundits are all figuring Baylor to be a one seed in the 2022 tournament, currently ranked number four in the nation behind UConn, South Carolina, and Stanford. Even after Kim Mulkey left for her dream job at LSU and took Moon Ursin and Hannah Gusters (a 6'-5" center) with her - and after Didi Richards and DeJonai Carrington left for the WNBA. 

NyLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo are very good players, but in my opinion the eastern pundits place them on much too elevated a pedestal. In their minds, even though the Hall of Fame coach and the core of last year's team have gone - they think NyLyssa and Queen and their role-players will make the Bears a number one seed in 2022. I respectfully disagree.

In 2020 the bears recruited two top 100 recruits. Sarah Andrews will be a sophomore guard next season and Hannah Gusters transferred to LSU, as mentioned above. In 2021, all the top 100 recruits have committed and one (listed as committed to Marquette) is going to Baylor. In 2022, to date, about half the top 100 have committed and none to Baylor. There's time, but Baylor needs to do some serious recruiting. Who is lurking in the Transfer Portal that can lift the Bears to a number one seed?

In 2021, Trinity Oliver a 5'-8" guard transferred from Baylor to Washington and Ja'Mee Asberry transferred from Oklahoma State to Baylor. One freshman, Kendra Gillispie a 6'-2" Forward, a four star recruit ranked #58 has signed at Baylor for the 2021/2022 season

So, my thought is that Nicki Cullen (Baylor's new coach) definitely has her work cut out. I think all of the two seeds and some of the three seeds (Maryland, Louisville, N.C. State, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Iowa, and Oregon) of next season's projected bracket could beat the Bears as presently constituted. And during the Big Twelve season, I think Texas will finally beat'em. 

So, who do I think the fourth number one seed should be? 

Oregon. 

In March, Oregon went into the tournament without their point guard. Te-Hina Paopao is back from her season-ending injury and was recently named to the USA Under 19 team that will compete in Hungary next month. She will return from that experience better than ever. Endiya Rogers is an All PAC12 slashing scoring problem for any defense. Her decision to transfer from USC to Oregon was a major coup for Kelly Graves. Nyara Sabally and Sedona Prince will come back next season ready to be a dominant force in the paint. 

They've got the coach and the team and by March they'll be battle-hardened and ready for the bright lights on the big stage. All along I've been predicting that Oregon (currently a three seed) will be next season's Arizona - so, watch out UConn, South Carolina and Stanford! 

COME ON CARDINAL!! LET'S GO BACK TO BACK!!

 

NEXT SEASON THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS WILL BE TOUGHER THAN EVER!

South Carolina is ranked second, behind UConn, but that was before Dawn Staley announced the transfer of the ACC Freshman of the Year Kamilla Cardoso,  a 6'-7" Post from Syracuse (Montes Claros, Brazil). Kamilla was All ACC in her freshman season and averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game. Playing beside Aliyah Boston they will be one of the best paint duos in the country.

The Gamecocks return all of their starters from last season and bring in the number one recruiting class in the country as follows:

Raven Johnson 5'-8" Point Guard is a five star recruit ranked number two in the nation (Atlanta, GA.)

Saniya Rivers 6"-0" Guard is a five star recruit ranked number three in the nation (Wilmington, N.C.)

Sania Feagin 6'-4" Forward is a five star recruit ranked number four in the nation (Ellenwood, GA.)

Aubryanna ("Bree") Hall 5'-11" Guard is a five star recruit ranked number fourteen in the nation (Dayton, Ohio.)

Lele Grissett 6'-2" Grad Student Guard is returning for her second senior year granted by the NCAA.

In women's basketball, success breeds success and Dawn Staley continues year after year to bring in four or five of the best players in the nation. It's also helpful that the university admits 69% of it's applicants. As you know, Stanford admits 4%. 

They've scheduled a game against UConn again next season that is being thought of as the Battle of the Titans. Last season USC (the eastern one) lost on a last second jump shot by Paige Bueckers falling out of bounds on the right baseline, heavily guarded. 

By March 2022, the Gamecocks will be an awesome contender for Dawn's second National Championship. They've made the Final Four in 2015, 2017, and 2021 and won the title in 2017.  

Look for a starting lineup that looks something like this:

Aliyah Boston 6'-5" Junior First Team All American Post Player.

Kamilla Cardoso 6'-7" Sophomore All ACC Power Forward.

Zia Cook 5'-9" Junior Guard NCAA All Tournament Team in 2021.    

Raven Johnson 5'-8"Freshman Guard 

Destanni Henderson 5'-7" Senior Point Guard

Last April, Tara said we managed to win the semi-final even though we didn't play our "A" game. In the first quarter, we got off to a 15 to 4 rough start. In the second quarter, we shot 5 for 18 or 28%. For the game, we missed twenty contested driving layups, most of which we ordinarily make. We shot 5 of 8 three pointers - while in the previous four games of the tournament, we shot an average of 11 of 25. Thank goodness in the semi-final our "A" game was happening on the defensive end of the floor.  

When we beat this sure-to-be-improved Gamecock team next April, you can bet your bottom dollar Stanford will play it's "A" game on both ends of the floor. And I can't wait!

GO CARDINAL!! LET'S GO BACK TO BACK!!     

WHAT KIND OF A CHALLENGE WILL THE OTHER TOP RANKED TEAMS PRESENT TO THE CARDINAL NEXT SEASON? WE'LL START WITH UCONN.

Over the next month or so I'll preview the other top teams in the country - and try to project what the Stanford Cardinal will be up against in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

The top team in the pre-season rankings is - to the surprise of no one - the UConn Huskies. Next season they'll be loaded and tough to beat.

Basically, all their starters from last season return. Plus, they have a dynamite freshman class coming in and a powerful grad transfer in                                   Dorka Juhasz, a 6'-5" veteran post player from Ohio State (Pecs, Hungary.) 

Azzi Fudd is a 5'-11" freshman guard and a five star recruit rated #1 in the country (Arlington, VA.)

Caroline Ducharme is a 6'-2" freshman guard and a five star recruit rated #5 in the nation (Milton, Mass.)

Amari DeBerry is a 6'-5" freshman post player and a five star recruit rated #15 in the nation (Williamsville, N.Y.) 

Saylor Poffenbarger is a 6'-2" freshman guard and a four star recruit rated #30 in the nation (Middletown, Md.)

Their sophomores were also a top-rated recruiting class in 2020:

Paige Bueckers is a 5'-11" sophomore guard and was the number one ranked recruit in the nation (Hopkins, Minn.) In 2021, as a freshman she was named the AP Player of the Year, first string All American, and the Wooden Award winner.

Piath Gabriel is a 6'-5" sophomore post player (Manchester, N.H.)

Aaliyah Edwards is a 6'-3" sophomore post player (Kingston, Ontario, Canada.)

Nika Mull is a 5'-10" sophomore guard (Zagreb, Croatia.)

Mir McLean is a 5'-11" sophomore guard (Baltimore, Md.)

Their sole junior player is Ashley Griffin a 6'-1"forward (Ossining, N.Y.)

Their three seniors are:

Christyn Williams is a 5'-11" guard (Little Rock, Ark.)

Evina Westbrook is a 6'-0" guard (Salem, Ore.)

Olivia Nelson-Ododa is a 6'-5" post player (Winder, Ga.)

Obviously, the Huskies will be a very powerful team next season. Their first team will be practicing every day against their second team, which will probably be the fourth or fifth best team in the country. Most of their games will be total blowouts, however they have scheduled several preseason games against high-powered teams like Tennessee, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, and Louisville.

Look for a starting lineup that looks something like this:

Christyn Williams a 5'-11" senior guard

Azzi Fudd a 5'-11" freshman point guard

Paige Bueckers a 5'-11" sophomore shooting guard

Dorka Juhasz a 6'-5" grad transfer post player

Amari DeBerry a 6'-5" freshman power forward

Stanford will have their work cut out to defeat this group, but they can and will.

GO CARDINAL!!