BIG 2018-2019

Some early, and probably inaccurate, thoughts on how the BIG will shake out for next year. Please know that I've spent no time researching newcomers for each time, so you'll have to excuse my lack of due diligence. Maryland should be the favorite, followed by these teams in order: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan State, Purdue....OSU will be interesting with a ton of transfers. In order for the Gophers to finish as I've projected them to finish, the Gopher starters will have to stay healthy, as this team won't have a lot of proven depth. And Staples will have to step in and contribute immediately. T. Bello will have to step up her game and cut down on the foul trouble that plagued her last year. And one of the other posts will probably have to contribute also. Gophers have some star power in the starting lineup with Bell as possibly the best returning guard in the conference, Hubbard an experienced and solid contributor, and Pitts as the reigning BIG Frosh of the Year and possible all-conference contender.

Without putting a whole lot of thought into it and probably being inaccurate, I would go as follows for my extremely early prediction of the conference.

1. Maryland
2. Michigan St.
3. Nebraska
4. Iowa
5. Purdue
6. Gophers
7. Rutgers
8. Michigan
9. Ohio St
10. Indiana
11. Wisconsin
12. Northwestern
13. Illinois
14. Penn St.

I think graduation hits Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan hard. I think gophers go as far as Bell, Hubbard and Pitts take them. Similarly, Iowa goes as far as either Gustafson takes them or as far as her pieces around her take them. Maryland easily looking like the one to beat however with the big graduation losses for the conference as a whole, big ten might fall further being in the national scene.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/23866176/which-schools-produce-most-draft-talent

In a look at which schools produced the most draft talent in the last 10 seasons by sport, ESPN lists the number of players drafted by the WNBA. (Yes it's just the number of players drafted and is not weighted for talent). The top ten schools:

17 UConn
16 Tennessee
12 Dukie
10 Maryland
10 Florida State
9 Rutgers
9 Texas A&M
8 Baylor
8 Georgia
8 Stanford

https://wbbblog.com/2018/05/09/power-5-transfer-additions/

Big Ten teams receiving grad transfer players thus far:

Illinois
• Sarah Shewan, 6-2 SR forward, Russell, ON / Quinnipiac (grad xfer)

Michigan
• Taylor Rooks, 6-0 SR guard, Warren, NJ / Harvard (grad xfer)

Nebraska
• Kristian Hudson, 5-5 JR point guard, Birmingham, AL / FIU (grad xfer)

Ohio State
• Ashanti Abshaw, 5-9 RS JR forward, Cleveland Heights, OH / Cleveland State (grad xfer)
• Carmen Grande, 5-8 JR point guard, Madrid, Spain / Ball State (grad xfer)
• Adreana Miller, 5-11 JR guard, Somerset, NJ / La Salle (grad xfer)
• Carly Santoro, 5-10 JR guard, Bellevue, OH / Bowling Green (grad xfer)

Purdue
• Jenelle Grant, 6-0 SO wing, London, England / Pacific
• Lyndsey Whilby, 5-11 FR guard, Powder Springs, GA / Texas Tech

Rutgers
• Charise Wilson, 5-5 SR point guard, West Babylon, NY / Rhode Island (grad xfer)

Wisconsin
• Alex Luehring, 6-2 FR wing, Verona, WI / Green Bay [note: Wisconsin will apply for a waiver for immediate eligibility (source)]

Neither of those purdue transfers are grad transfers. Grant definitely has to sit and Whilby is gonna submit a waiver but i doubt the ncaa approves that.

whalenfan said:

Neither of those purdue transfers are grad transfers. Grant definitely has to sit and Whilby is gonna submit a waiver but i doubt the ncaa approves that.

Click to expand...

I should've caught that. I do think Whilby will get the waiver. The NCAA has become more lenient in granting waivers after coaching changes. And Whilby said:

"I didn't enjoy myself (at Tech)," she said. "Part of it was the coaching change, but I just didn't enjoy it. I just felt like it was time for something new and I knew that Purdue was a great place. And my major, Computer Science, they're ranked No. 1, so when I had the opportunity I knew I had to take it."

https://purdue.rivals.com/news/purdue-picks-up-women-s-basketball-transfer

https://scarletknights.com/news/201...schedules-to-be-announced-tuesday-on-btn.aspx

According to this Rutger's release:

The 2018-19 Big Ten Conference men's and women's basketball schedules will be announced via B1G Basketball & Beyond: Schedule Release Edition on Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 3 p.m. ET on BTN. Host Rick Pizzo will be joined by analysts Shon Morris and Christy-Winters Scott on the special edition show, which can be streamed on the FOX Sports app and BTN2Go

The Big Ten previously announced the opponent breakdown and home-and-home match-ups for 2018-19.