Other B1G Team Notes 2024-25


Really thought we would see a retirement from Joe McKeown this offseason. He will be 67 next season, has had health problems, and Northwestern's last 2 years are the worst 2-year stretch of his nearly 40 years as a head coach.
 
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Big Ten is showing well in the post season. Illinois and Penn State are in the WBIT semi-finals on Monday.

Purdue and Wisconsin moved to the final 8 of the WNIT last night and Minnesota can join them tonight.

NCAA has Indiana and Iowa still playing.

Add UCLA and USC if you're looking to next season.

1/2 of the next years league is still playing.
 


Ohio State's guard situation after Harris entered the portal:

Harris’ announcement follows guards Emma Shumate and Diana Collins who also announced their addition to the portal.

It leaves the Scarlet and Gray with Greene, Kaia Henderson, and Kennedy Cambridge as the only returning guards on the roster. However, there’s the addition of No. 1 overall point guard recruit Jaloni Cambridge and fellow freshman Ava Watson that adds to Ohio State’s numbers.
 


Assistant coach Sharnee Zoll-Norman leaves Penn State for Virginia Tech:

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech women's basketball head coach Megan Duffy tabbed Sharnee Zoll-Norman as an assistant coach of the program Thursday. Zoll-Norman comes to Blacksburg after spending two seasons at State College on the Penn State staff. A veteran of the professional ranks, Zoll-Norman was drafted in the WNBA where she played for three seasons before continuing her pro career overseas.

"I am thrilled to welcome Sharnee and her family to Hokie Nation," Duffy said Thursday. "She is a rising star in our profession. Sharnee will bring an incredible amount of knowledge to our players from her time in the WNBA and overseas. She will be a great mentor for our student-athletes. Sharnee has an energy about herself that will shine on the court, on the recruiting trail and in the Blacksburg community."

Working with the Lady Lions' backcourt, Zoll-Norman helped Makenna Marisa, Leilani Kapinus and Shay Ciezki rack up several accolades. Marisa repeated as Academic All-American Third Team and All-Big Ten First Team selections, becoming the third Lady Lion to earn Academic All-America distinction for two or more seasons and 12th to repeat as a first team selection in the league.

Kapinus was named an All-Big Ten Defensive Team selection and the only B1G player to be selected to the Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, Kapinus finished eighth in the nation in steals (97) and was one of two players in the nation to be averaging at least 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and one block per game.

Ciezki was just one of two freshmen in the nation to average at least 2.0 three's per game with a 40.0 or better three-point percentage and finished second on the team in scoring (11.8 points per game)
 





Purdue women's basketball has netted a transfer portal commitment as former Stephen F. Austin guard Destini Lombard committed on her official visit to West Lafayette this weekend. Lombard becomes the first portal pledge of the off-season for the Boilermakers as Katie Gearlds and company look to bolster the roster heading into next season.

Lombard comes to Purdue after three seasons at Stephen F. Austin and one season at LSU as a freshman. The senior guard is coming off the best year of her career, averaging 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, all career-highs. She also shot 48% from the field and 27% from three-point range. Lombard was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2024, setting the conference record for steals with 89.

The newest Boilermaker now becomes the veteran presence in the back court, for a group that will consist of two sophomores and two freshmen next season. Lombard has proven to be a facilitator with a 2:1 assist to turnover ration that can go an get a bucket, having six games with 17 or more points last season
 


Good article on the Illini:

Darianna Alexander, a 6-foot-1 guard ranked sixth in ESPN’s 2025 class, trimmed her list of schools from 15 to three, and the Illini are one of them.

Illinois beat out several powerhouses of women’s basketball, including UConn, Tennessee, and the two teams that duked it out in the national championship (Iowa and South Carolina).

The Cincinnati native will either be staying in-state or playing for Shauna Green
 




Good news for the Badgers?

Serah Williams doesn’t appear to be leaving the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team anytime soon.

The Badgers' leading scorer wrote Wednesday that she’s “excited to return next year stronger than ever,” while announcing she underwent surgery to repair her injured right meniscus.

“I want to thank my doctors and medical staff for their care as well as Badger Nation for the well wishes!” Williams wrote
 







Olsen will step in for Clark as the team’s primary point guard. Stuelke will play either forward or post and Affolter is an off guard. McCabe and Feuerbach will get opportunities also to play in the backcourt, while O’Grady might step in at center.

In addition, the Hawkeyes signed five players, four of which were ranked among ESPN’s top 100 recruits. They include post Ava Heiden (No. 42) from Sherwood, Ore., guard Aaliyah Guyton (No. 58) from Peoria, Ill., guard Teagan Mallegni (65) from McFarland, Wis., and Taylor Stremlow (94) from Verona, Wis. In addition, guard Callie Levin from nearby Solon, Iowa, was named the state’s Miss Basketball.
 





Review of Michigan's incoming class: "There's a lot to be excited about"

Olivia Olson - 6-foot-1 guard, New Hope, Minnesota

Five-Star, rated No. 20 on ESPN rankings

Olson and [Michigan recruit] Swords played in the McDonald’s All-American game together, combining for what may have been the play of the game, with Olson seeing Swords in transition and adding a little razzle-dazzle with a no-look pass before Swords finished the layup.

That play showcased Olson’s excellent court vision. Like Swords, Olson also has a quick release on her jump shot; her form is textbook and she does a great job creating space for herself with her pivot foot before pulling up from mid-range or from three. She can get to the rim and finish with ease, and is a decent defender who anticipates passes well — you can tell by how quickly she makes decisions that her basketball IQ is through the roof
 





Indiana women’s basketball has made an addition to at least in part address the void left by Mackenzie Holmes.

6-foot-3 Tennessee transfer forward Karoline Striplin announced on Thursday morning she is transferring to IU.

Striplin was one of four players to appear in all 33 games for the Vols in 2023-24, starting 11 of them and averaging career bests of 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game. She scored in double figures in a career-high eight games and carded her first collegiate double-double. Striplin posted career season highs for minutes, field goals, three-pointers, free throws, rebounds and steals.

The Alabama native shot 49.1 percent from the field and 76.2 percent from the free throw line this season. Striplin can make threes as well. She has converted on 32.3 percent of her 96 career attempts.

 



Boiler down

Mary Ashley Stevenson, star freshman forward and presumed program building block for Purdue, is entering the transfer portal, according to reports.

The news was broken on X Thursday afternoon and echoed across the platform as it was confirmed.

Stevenson was a top-100 recruit from New York, and flourished in her first season as a scoring machine from the post, winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She was part of a young nucleus that head coach Katie Gearlds believed would put Purdue, the only Big Ten school with a National Championship, back at the top.
 





Illini add guard depth

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois has landed a commitment from Mississippi State transfer Jasmine Brown-Hagger, she announced via social media. Brown-Hagger is a Shorewood (Ill.) native who played high school basketball at Example Academy.

  • The 5-foot-9 guard will have three years of eligibility remaining.
  • Brown-Hagger was the No. 54 player in the Class of 2023, according to ESPN HoopGurlz.
  • She averaged 2.1 points with 1.5 rebounds last season in 8.7 minutes last season for Mississippi State.
  • Prior to playing at Example Academy, Brown-Hagger began her career at Joliet Catholic High School.


What it means: Brown-Hagger adds guard depth to alleviate the workload of Makia Cook, Genesis Bryant and Adalia Mckenzie. Illinois gets a talented guard who was highly recruited out of high school, where she averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game. She chose the Bulldogs over offers from Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois, Rutgers, Ole Miss, Alabama and others. Though the Illini are set at the guard position in 2024, Brown-Hagger gives a multi-year player to pair with Gretchen Dolan, Shay Bollin, Cori Allen, Berry Wallace and Hayven Smith as well as what Illinois hopes is a talented freshman class in 2025. Head coach Shauna Green and her coaching staff recruited Brown-Hagger out of high school. Circling back to land a recruit they lost early in their tenure speaks to how far the program has grown in the last two years to be a landing spot for in-state recruits.
 

I can't wait for the new season to start already!! With Washington, UCLA, USC, and Oregon joining an already stacked Big 10 group of teams. This 2024-25 season is going to be exciting!!
 


The Spartans add ASU guard Jadden Simmons

Michigan State women's basketball has been quite active in the transfer portal so far this offseason. After adding transfer forward Grace VanSlooten and transfer guard Emma Shumate this month, the Spartans earned yet another commit through the portal on Saturday.

Former Arizona State two-way guard Jaddan Simmons announced on Instagram on Saturday that she has committed to Michigan State.

Simmons has one year of eligibility remaining. The former Sun Devil averaged 9.5 points per game, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists in her final season at Arizona State. She also reached the 1,000-point mark for her career and moved into 17th on the program's all-time scoring list.

Simmons was named a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention for the second year in a row.

In four seasons at Arizona State, Simmons totaled 1,139 points, 128 rebounds, 104 assists, 57 steals and 13 blocks in 108 games, 107 of which she started.

Simmons leads Arizona State's program in minutes played in a single season (1,136) and minutes per game in a single season (36.9). The former was accomplished last season while the latter was accomplished in the 2022-23 season. She is tied for second all-time as well in minutes played per game with her mark of 36.6 last season.
 




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