5 PLAYERS WITH NO GAME TIME MINUTES LAST YEAR, WHO WILL EARN THE MINUTES THIS YEAR.

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

1. Cierra Walker 5'8" comes in a favorite having played 3 seasons with Vanderbilt and redshirted as a transfer last year. What we know she was known for her 3 point shooting in High School, and at Vanderbilt. The Zag coachs know about her game, but she is really a mystery to most Zags fans. She is a Senior this year, and most Zag fans seem to think she will start the year as a starter. So obviously of the 5 players we did not see in a real game last year, if she is named a starter she will top the list on minutes out of the gate.

2. Yvonne Ejim 6'2" she mirrors Louise stats coming from Canada. Louise 31 point per game, 14 rebounds, 5 assists. Yvonne 24.8 point per game, 15.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists. However Yvonne is 6"2" and from a picture looks to built sturdy and stronger. Louise was from British Columbia, Yvonne is from Alberta. So Jill Barta averaged 23.1 Points per game and 8.9 rebounds her Senior year. Jill Barta might have been the best offensive player point wise we have ever seen in the 3 years she played for the Zags. So once again asking Zag fans due you think Canada High School stats are way over inflated for some reason? Or do you think Yvonne will be a recent Canadian break thru for us? The guy Zags have had at least 2 Canadian stars on their team since we had our last break thru. Emma Wolfram had a few good games, but injuries finished her off really before she got off and running. Was Janelle Bekkering our last key consistent Canadian contributor to the Lady Zags team?

3. McKayla Williams 6'1" from LA. Ca. was 72nd rated recruit. Averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds last year. Not really flashy numbers. Is she facing better competition?

4. Kylee Griffin 6'2" Marysville, Wa. was the 79th rated recruit. Kylee has been out the last two years with a reoccurring shoulder injury. She is now a redshirt sophomore. This is a big year for her one way or another. Sometimes its hard to judge looking at pictures, coming out of High school I thought she would hold up physically. Then when I saw her at practices before games she looked very thin. Lets hope that shoulder holds up this year, same recurring injuries are tough to overcome, hope she beats the odds.

5. Lily Scanlon 5'9' Australia. Hard to tell anything from their stats they are usually lower than state side.

As noted by several posters we are stocking up on players and 2021 will bring in more players expected to battle for minutes. This is a huge year for Kylee to prove if she can stay healthy with that shoulder, if it happens again would say her playing days are over. Would think CLF would want to get long looks at Yvonne and McKayla to see if they will be a answer when the Wirth twins and Jill graduate next year.

Lilly we will see what she brings. Two of these players come form different countries, a third has been injury riddled. Yes it is a crapshoot. I'm most interested to see how Yvonne skill set translates from Canada.

Other thoughts Alex Fowler last year in Australia averaged 9 points and 10 rebounds per game on the National team. My opinion the Zags Women team staff have not been to good at finding foreign talent the last few years. I fondly remember Sunny and Emma from Germany and Georgia from Australia. Talking about recent success.

Shout out to Zag Engineer you need to drop last season that class is history, as far as rosters.

[seacatfan]

I think you are underselling 39% 3 point shooting. Would've been 4th on the team last season. Anything 40%+ is great, 39% is pretty darn close to that.

[ZagDad84]

ZAB,

McKayla Williams 6'1" is from Los Angeles, not England. Ester Little, a 2021 recruit is from England.

You forgot to include Eliza Hollingsworth on your list.

ZagDad

[sylean]

Graves didn't exactly have to go far for Georgia...she played for North idaho college IIRC....

re Canadian rankings.....got to remember that LF got off to a bad start, for some reason didn't redshirt, maybe it wasn't even offered...but she got hardly any time her first two yrs here....she played on a championship team behind a recruit that has been the starting PG at NCst for the last 4 yrs, so she didn't come from a shabby team....I want to see her start....starting is not the same as playing the most minutes....

from what I hear, all those on the bench this year are terrific players....Kylee apparently didn't have the proper type surgery on her shoulder first time around, and the 2nd surgery was the fix.....

since we are going to loose some of our most favorite players next spring, I expect CLF will give lots of time as possible to the incoming players....that's what her plan was with the Wirths, but I think she already suspected that JB would be leaving so she HAD to get the twins ready....

what was the question again?

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

1. The big question was who do you think will make the biggest impact for the Lady Zags next year Ejim, Williams, Griffin, or Scanlon?

2. Next question was do you think Ejim becomes the first real impact player we had from Canada for quite awhile?

3. The third question was do you think the women Canadian High School stats are inflated? Case in point Louise averaged 31 points a game, 14 rebounds a game her Senior year.

[sylean]

it would be only a guess but perhaps williams?

Ejim?....yes....sounds like she's the real deal...

I watched a few games of LF's games, both when she was a junior and a senior.....they played run and gun....the stats are true but when your team doesn't play defense and concentrates on scoring a lot of points, then stats can be padded......lots of players in HS and college benefit from being on offensive minded teams....

[SkipZag]

I’m thinking this year’s freshman class may have a hard time getting court time... with eight returners and three red shirts, I think this years class will need to understand that their time will come. Will any of them red shirt... guess we will see.

If GU WBB has a decent OOC schedule... 10 to 11 may see the court.

Go Zags!!

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Good job Sylean answered all three questions. Particularly impressed by your answer to question #3, lots of bang for your buck into two sentences.

[ZagDad84]

I agree with Skip in that, with the large number of returning players and redshirts when combined with what will likely be a significantly reduced summer conditioning/camp, it will be difficult for the Freshman to get minutes.

As far as who gets the most minutes, of the players you have listed plus EH, it will be no contest. Based on her demonstrated leadership from the bench and CLF's comments, I would expect CW to start and average over 20 minutes a game. Nobody else on your list will likely average over 10 mpg.

As to which player will have the most impact will depend on how you define impact. Like a MVP award, everybody seems to have their own definition of impact may it be points, affecting the opposition (defense) and so on. The freshman will likely have less playing time and combined with the freshman tendency to pass up the open shot to make the pass, make it unlikely any of the freshman you have listed will lead in scoring. Look for KG, if she stays healthy, to be the scoring leader of the people you have listed.

Because of her size, international experience and year of being on the Lady Zag team, I think EH may have the biggest impact on the Lady Zag defense. She is a little taller than MK, and a slightly bigger body than both the Wirths and MK which will tend to make opposition's trips to the key a little more physical.

I don't think the Canadian HS experience is significantly different from the USA HS experience as in larger schools will tend to typically play against a higher level of competition than players competing for a lower division school. I think the USA kids have a much greater likelihood of playing on high end AAU travel teams than many of their Canadian counterparts, so the USA players may frequently have more experience and results against a higher level of competition.

Could Ejim be the next significant Canadian import for the Lady Zags? Of course, she is the next one up. She has the size and most likely will have the playing time to make a significant contribution. However, you can have all the talent in the world (Emma Wolfram) but injuries can just keep you off the court. If Ejim stays healthy, she will have a chance to make her mark at Gonzaga.

Here is a freebie prognostication for you. Look for last year's best 3-point shooter (by percentage) K-14, to double her scoring output for this year.

ZagDad

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Ok ZD it depends on each person to make up their own definition what they consider a impact player. But since you asked I will share what new players in the last 3 years I consider impact players to the Lady Zags.

2017 Was a boom year for impact players. Jean Wirth came as a high touted player and right out of the gate she showed potential against lesser competition. LeeAnne Wirth showed she could keep right up with her sister. Have to say SkipZag was on the bandwagon for both from the beginning. ZD might prefer stats, well both Wirth sisters played major minutes. Jill Townsend when I saw her play, I wanted her on the court more and more. Whatever coach wanted she did with 100% effort and always seemed to make a immediate impact shot in the arm when she entered the game. Jill was terrible on 3 point shooting that year, but she had a good field goal percentage. The fourth impact player that year was skinny Katie Campbell, she shot a horrible FG and 3 point percentage. But what I saw in Katie was fire on the court, the way she punched the basketball with such ferocity with anger. That showed me she was going to put in the work to get better. All four players I saw potential in varying degrees, they were in the Zags rotation.

2018 Only Melody Kempton made my impact player list. Melody showed she was a fighter who got up for big games, shot a good field goal percentage, and became part of the rotation.

2019 Kayleigh Truong came in highly touted and did not disappoint, Kaylynne Truong just like the other set of twins impressed me just as much as her sister.

Some impact players start strong and you can identify them quickly, some you have to watch over the whole season.

CLF wisely lets players show what they got and if they do what she tells them the first year. CLF has evolved the last 3 year has given the new players a chance to prove themselves on the court. If you become part of a every game rotation, or move up in the rotation its because they earned it.

[ZagDad84]

ZAB,

A good list you have there. I assume you are only listing freshmen or 1st year transfers in your impact list.

2017 - On my list I would agree with the Wirths and JT. The Wirths benefitted significantly because of the injury to Emma Wolfram which led to considerably more playing time for them. Had Emma not been injured the Wirths would have been lucky to see 15 mpg between them instead of the 29+ mpg that the averaged for the year. No matter why, like Barta, they got thrown in as freshman and made the most of their opportunity. I also agree with JT. She brought an entirely different dynamic to the wing position over CS. JT was (is) more physical, takes the ball right at her opposition, looks for an opportunity to mix it up. That was not CS's game, and it brought a different dynamic to the team. Sorry, can't put KC on the list in 2017. Averaging just over 7 mpg and shooting only 25% overall and 23% from 3-pt range does not get you on my impact list. She could make the Someone to Watch list, but in 2017, she did not make my impact list. Now in 2018, that is a whole different story.

2018 - Total agreement here in that only MK makes the impact list. MK also benefited to some extent because there was only three (3) other #4's and #5's on the team, so by nature of her position she saw a reasonable amount of playing time and when on the court she made the most of it.

2019 - I am in full agreement with K-11 on the all impact roster. She, like MK benefitted from a relatively few roster players at her position and a couple of vital injuries. With KG and EH both hurt, the lady zags were short of players on the wing and #4, so LF moved from her previous #2 spot to the #3 spot opening up time at the #1 & #2 for K-11 and K-14 and as with MK, K-11 made the most of her playing time. Much like KC, I can't put K-14 on the impact list for 2019. While averaging over 14 mpg resulting in only 3.6 ppg and 1.3 rpg she did not make the type of impact on the lady zags that JT and MK did with similar amounts of playing time in their freshman year. However, K-14 most definitely makes the Someone to Watch list. If you compare most K-14's stats to K-11's, and adjust them up by 50% to account for the playing time difference, they are petty darn close. Where K-14 stands out is in her shooting percentage, both overall and from 3, which are both very high. K-14 just needs to become more comfortable with taking the open shot. If she learns to let it go like KC did this year, K-14 could lead the team in scoring next year.

The other things to remember is that in 2017 the team roster had 14 players on it but EW redshirted essentially the entire year leaving 13 players to compete for PT. In 2018, the Lady Zag roster only had 11 players on it to compete for PT. This past yea, with the three (3) redshirts not available, the Lady Zags only had 11 players fighting for PT. Depending on injuries and redshirts, the Lady Zag roster may be considerably deeper making it much more difficult for a freshman to get the PT and stand out.

ZagDad

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Off topic always plugging Christian Movies I see. Today I watched "I Still Believe". I am well aware of Jeremy Camp the singer and his songs. Never was aware of his back story. Which made the movie much more inspiring not knowing the story prior to seeing the Movie.

Their is a Zillion miracles happening everyday in some form. Some prayers might be answered 16 years later when we have given up on something and stopped praying for it. God is always in our lives, if you quiet yourself take a moment its amazing. For every bad thing happening in our lives God shows us good. For instance this year I have seen trees and bushes blossoming so fully and in such vibrant colors that I can never remember ever seeing before.

[Zagineer]

......
...... Shout out to Zag Engineer you need to drop last season that class is history, as far as rosters.

Thanks for your input, ZAB. I appreciate it. But I'm going to hold on to the column with the previous year's roster for now. I think it adds value in identifying trends on how the team is evolving.

GO ZAGS!

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