So this is gonna talk about the coaches how the team forms and the players colllege careers and where there future in the wnba could be. It will also talk about how the teams came together then compare and contrast the two teams together.
UCLA
Cori close has been there for 15 years and has built this program into oneof the best programs in the country as she is a great recruiter a great coach in the game knows what she’s doing and then her biggest superpower is recruiting and the transfer portal which has brought here her greatest time alike going to the final four last year and winning the championship and becoming a winner. She is also a nice coach which helps her recruiting and is so caring.
Lauren Betts: she was in the latest stages of her recruiting and she was between Stanford and UCLA with two great coaches with coach vanderveer and Cori close and she chose Stanford who won a championship very recently and had a great winner of a coach. She went through her first year at Stanford but her confidence was shattered So she entered the transfer portal and went to UCLA with coach cori close and took a little mental health break then came back and has been th starting center ever since and has transformed into oneof the biggest stars in women’s college basketball. She may be drafted number one in the draft next to Paige bueckers but it will definitely be in the lottery. Now we’ll talk about her sister.
Sienna Betts: she was a big prized recruit here and but she came here with not a lot of oppurtunity but she really bought all of her ability into getting the seventh spot in the rotation but she did lose time in the championship as she will have her own time after all these seniors leave this will most likely become her team with the new freshman the next year and Cori will get in the portal.
Kiki rice: man she came here as the prized recruit of her class and she was supposed to be the franchise or program point gaurd as the prized recruit an struggled a little bit when she was expected to be everything and had a few mental health issues but when she noticed that the star can be Lauren Betts and she doesn’t have to do it all she had flourished and has just had more fun playing and can run an offense but doesn’t have to be the number one option and going to the wnba if you what to jump on a good team that is a key quality.
Gabriel’s jaquez: another great player that had stayed here for 4 years and her whole career as wing for this team and her daily is now really etched into this university and basketball programs with her brother being Jamie jaquez that family has brought an nba player and a women’s national championship with hopefully a wnba player on the rise. She has been a key wing on this team that has been the shooter on the side most of her career and a good defender. She will be going to the wnba as a role playing shooting wing like she was used here so i think it was helpful for her and everyone on this team to come together so they are not all number one options in college and then 3-4 or even lesser options in the wnba.
Angela Dugalic: she started her career at Oregon but was not very the star there that she may have been after a few years but why may have been one of the best decisions of her career she transferred to ucla and became a starter the last three years as the big next to Lauren Betts which is amazing for her as on most other teams she would be the starting only big at 6”4 and would be a star in most other cases but this sets her up for the wnba as well and that is amazing for her.
Charlisse ledger walker: she was a point gaurd at Washington state and was an absolute star there as the point gaurd and she was amazing as a scorer Brian a leading scorer and leading the offense she really kept them in contention in the tournament but when they weren’t in a conference when the pac 12 fell apart she entered the transfer portal. The she came and transferred to UCLA but had to sit out last year with a torn acl as she had surgery on her knee and then came back here playing the backcourt starting next to Kiki and they were an amazing backcourt duo and it set her up not being the only star on the team.
Gianna kneepkens: she was an amazing player at Utah her first few seasons as a 2 gaurd and she was the scorer but really had to do everything for this team and was a sniper. Then she entered the portal and came to ucla and became the player that I think is how she is supposed to be used and is this type of player. She really can into being a wing sniper and played some defense on the side and this set her up for the wnba like everyone else I talked about being a side sniper that will be very helpful in the pros.
This national championship teams has tons of different paths from above but Cori close is the one that really put it together finding all of these finishing pieces to this core and recruiting the core early in their careers and she played it beautiful and coached it very well with the rostation to lead them to the national championship.
Now Michigan:
Dusty May has been a great coach in the little time he has been a coach so he has really been thrown right into this new landscape of college basketball and sure Michigan is a rich school with all this money but he has almost perfected the transfer portal and has guys with talent come in and has recruits be finishing pieces not the starting core.
Roddy Gayle: he has probably been her one of the longest and was a gaurd and oneof the first guys the dusty Kay brought in here from Ohio state so there is a major rivalry there but has been a great bench piece to these teams though he was a starting very important key piece to the other teams that he was on with Michigan in the last couple of years. Just a great 7th guy for this team that really brought them together.
L.J Cason: the sixth man for this team all year before he unfortunately couldn’t make the march madness run with the team because of injury but he has been at Michigan for his only two years of college basketball so far and has been the guard for these teams and will continue to probably now be the leader for immediate future dusty may teams in the next few years for Michigan.
Trey McKenney: the hometown freshman from Michigan who was the athletic 2 gaurd in this team that was very big especially as a starting 5 and he fit perfectly right in there letting Cadeu run the offense but he was on the side moving as he could drive but he could also do other stuff and Handel the ball hit he was also a great defender. The freshman that is used as the finishing piece not as the core of this team.
Elliot cadeu: he was th starting point gaurd and a bench guy for North Carolina in his first few years but Trimble was coming right in and really taking it over so he decided to get on the move and he took Michigan as his team as the starting point gaur really leading dusty mays team. He could’ve gone in the draft last year and I’m interested in why he is gonna do when it comes to the pros in the future. For this team he was the guy to go run this offense and decide who gets the ball distribute it and he ca score by himself so when teams would attempt to lock him in on one of those he would lock in on one of those and be great using it. A great passer and a great bucket getter. He built incredible chemistry with hs guys especially Mara.
Morez Johnson jr.: He stated his career for one year at Illinois but he wasn’t getting a lot of playing times so he transferred here and has been a starter and might be a top nba pick form being here. A lob threat that worked on this team but most importantly he was a great rebounder and he did a lot of th nitty gritty work for this team setting screen and doing a bunch of stuff that this team really needs. He played great defense but being small really impacted him as a big.
Yaxel lendeborg: he started his career at uab but could only play 2 years as one year he was injured or jus didn’t play the whole season but then last year he flourished as the number one option and jumped on some big boards but stayed in college transferred to a bigger school and his stock has now rises up in this draft.A big that can do absolutely anything you need as he could go in the pod be a lob threat space the floor on the side or drive just right in there and make his own bucket and he ca also fit in this lineup as a shooter and play in this offense absolutely amazing. He can play some defense and being able to be a top option or a side character which is a great quality for the NBA.
Aday Mara: an amazing talented center that came in after 2 years at UCLA where he didn’t get the runway to be a starting center but in his freshman year especially with Adem Bona being there but then in his second year he just wasn’t there for mick Cronin and he enters the portal to go to Michigan where he has gotten all the runway he would ever need to really show all his potential and he did to get into the nba. He has been a lob threat and has built great chemistry with Cadeu. He had the ability to pass and had all the vision he needed as the center there an then he also was a great rim protector on the help but Johnson was amazing as he could be more on the ball so Mara wouldn’t get blown by all the time.
This Michigan team was a bunch of talent brought in through the transfer portal by dusty May and they all came together in the right spot with the returners becoming perfect on the side. They worked together perfectly with the chemistry. Dusty ma really pressed all the right buttons.
These teams both got to these positions in fairly similar ways in the way guys transferred and returned and came in with recruits but one Team was older and built the chemistry even though they all brought in different talent but then another team was younger with more sophomore juniors.
These teams both went through tough paths as a team and as individual players to get to this point and they are now legends.
I will be coming out with more transfer portal coverage and my wnba mock is still coming. First article longer then like 2000 characters and this is 10000.