Women's Nat'l Basketball Report: UT-Martin's Butler among many 'worthy' of mention
George Rodecker, National Women's Columnist
_____________________________________
John Wooden once said,
“To me, the best pure basketball I see today … is
among the better women’s teams.”
Practice is in full bloom, the Conference and team Media Days are over for the most part, and the start of games is visible on the horizon.
But I have issues burning away on my keyboard even before the first game tips-off. Issues that concern parity between the men’s and women’s game. While 50 men are selected to the preseason list, the women's preseason contains just 30. In a previous column I also pointed out that 27 of the 30 current women on the watch are from BCS super conferences.
I got a ton of feedback regarding the Wooden Watch 50 men and the Wooden Watch 30 women from last week’s column and, after listening to some coaches, a crazy idea was born. I'll take a shot at addressing the issue by choosing 20 preseason Wooden worthy players to bridge the gap and show fairness. My list of 20 deserving women players will adjust itself as play commences and continues, and each week we’ll be checking in on the players and looking over their accomplishments. But for the moment, here’s my first list of the Worthy 20 who should be included.
Introducing the Worthy 20 -
|
1 |
Ashley Brown |
Utah State |
Senior |
|
2 |
Brandi Brown |
Youngstown St. |
Junior |
|
3 |
Heather Butler |
UT Martin |
Sophomore |
|
4 |
Brittney Carter |
Memphis |
Senior |
|
5 |
Saadia Doyle |
Howard |
Junior |
|
6 |
Shante Evans |
Hofstra |
Junior |
|
7 |
Jamierra Faulkner |
Southern Miss. |
Sophomore |
|
8 |
Ashley Gayle |
Texas |
Senior |
|
9 |
Angel Goodrich |
Kansas |
Junior |
|
10 |
Megan Herbert |
Central Arkansas |
Junior |
|
11 |
Kamilah Jackson |
Hawaii |
Sophomore |
|
12 |
Jericka Jenkins |
Hampton |
Senior |
|
13 |
Kylie Kuhns |
Sacramento St. |
Junior |
|
14 |
Kristina Ford |
Iona |
Senior |
|
15 |
Kevi Luper |
Oral Roberts |
Junior |
|
16 |
Lindsey Moore |
Nebraska |
Junior |
|
17 |
Kirsten Olowinski |
Miami (OH) |
Junior |
|
18 |
Casey Garrison |
Missouri State |
Senior |
|
19 |
Avery Warley |
Liberty |
Senior |
|
20 |
Corielle Yarde |
Marist |
Senior |
We’ll compare Worthy 20 players with the existing 30, not as a way of discrediting the 30 selections by any means whatsoever, but rather to highlight the 20 omissions, and to do so by pointing how similar they are to many of the 30 players.
As a footnote - there is a Naismith Award which originates in Atlanta and has 30 Men and 30 Women nominees – no issues there.
S.I.D.’s and coaching staff members are most welcome to submit players for consideration which will be featured here each week. I welcome it.
The first player up on center stage is University of
Tennessee-Martin's Heather Butler, who hails from
Medina, Tennessee. Butler, a 5-foot-6 sophomore, made quite
the impression as a freshman -- averaging 19.0 points and 2.7 long
distance bombs per game while shooting 79% from the free throw
line. She was second in assists, third in steals
and started all 31 games for Head Coach Kevin
McMillan’s very, very young 21-11 Skyhawks.
Coach McMillan spoke to me about the type of player and person Heather is, along with what she means to the school and program.
“Heather has played extremely hard to compensate for her height. She works on everything she does – both on and off the court – at a very high level. Her high school coach (who followed me) told her that she had to approach everything she does with 100% dedication. She took the coach literally at his word and goes after everything the same way,” he said.
When you compare Heather Butler with Louisville’s Shoni Schimmel, there is a striking similarity in their stats. Schimmel is on the Wooden Watch 30, but the stats say Butler has a case to belong right alongside her.
PPG
Butler
19.0
Schimmel 15.1
RPG
Butler
2.9
Schimmel 3.6
APG
Butler
3.7
Schimmel 1.9
FT%
Butler
78.7
Schimmel 68.9
Obviously the BIG EAST and the Ohio Valley Conference are not the same, but 19 points per game is 19 points per game. Not a big difference between the two players and that is exactly my point. The Louisville player makes the cut, while the Tennessee Martin player does not.
Overtime
The movie: “The Mighty Macs” debuted last Friday and this is your official advisory to make certain that you go watch a movie especially bound to please fans of WBB but is a great story for all sports fans alike. The movie is a sort of Glory Road plus Sister Act meets Hoosiers. It’s a 'G' rated movie but the story of Pennsylvania’s Immaculata College – a financially strapped all women’s Catholic school – is all true, all wholesome, and all entertaining. Head Coach Cathy Rush is the centerpiece of this amazing story, and the story is told quite well.
If you consider yourself either a fan of WBB or a student of the game, you MUST go see this movie. You will not be disappointed.
Double Overtime
This coming week brings us those silly exhibition games followed the soft matchup mismatches. Don’t ever let these games fool you. Each coach wants to use in-game settings to implement and test different offensive and defensive sets. When you see Powerhouse State wallop North Nowhere State 126-49 (or the opposite), never take it as a harbinger of the season to come. Even when the pre-conference schedule begins don’t get overwhelmed by what you see. The best coaches always have a plan, and it’s usually what they think will position their squad best for conference play and ultimately their conference tourney and beyond.
Last thought on the way out
The Associated Press Top 25 initial Women’s poll was
released on Saturday October 29th and I, for one, am
certainly baffled by Baylor being picked No. 1 over Notre Dame (No.
2).
Each school returns four starters. The Baylor schedule puts them up against nine of the teams in this poll, while Notre Dame is pitted against 11 ranked teams By comparision UConn is facing a giant 13. While the Lady Bears lost to eventual National Champion Texas A&M in the Elite Eight, Notre Dame also lost to A&M, but in the national title game. Along the NCAA Tourney way they beat the likes of Oklahoma, Tennessee and Connecticut. Not too shabby.
I understand that the only real poll that matters is the one at the end of the season (every Head Coach would tell you that), but shouldn’t the Fighting Irish begin the campaign on top? Baylor, led by all world Brittney Griner is good, no, very good, but Notre Dame led by Skylar Diggins is way, way deeper – and to my way of thinking – way better, better, better!
There’s an outside chance that the Preseason NIT could have them facing off in the final on November 20th. Sign me up for that!
Around the Conferences
The Red Foxes of Marist was the choice in the MAAC and as expected their senior leader Corielle Yarde was selected as the preseason player of the year.
South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit was chosen the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year while Western Kentucky was picked in the preseason polls as the team to beat.
Dayton and Temple were picked as co-favorites of the Atlantic 10, while Princeton got the nod to capture its third consecutive Ivy League Title.
Tennessee Tech is the coach’s choice in the Ohio Valley Conference and T-Tech’s Tacarra Hayes was picked as the OVC’s preseason player of the year.
The Missouri Valley Conference gave Missouri State a double double
as the Lady Bears were picked to capture the MVC crown and
Casey Garrison (left, courtesy
Missouri State Photographic Services) was selected as the
preseason player of the year.
Over in the SEC, the media gave the nod to Tennessee and Lady Vol Shekinna Stricklen was named preseason player of the year.
Penn State is the choice in the Big 10 while their guard Alex Bentley was given the designation as player of the year.
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