In the interview of Coach Close that was posted recently, she emphasized how coachable the team was this hear, and how she allowed them to make tactical decisions during games. She said that influenced her pov on the portal. She only wants players that are "aligned." And, she said that you have to assume that if a freshman doesn't play, you're training them for someone else. They leave.
She said that her assistants brought several (presumbably very talented) portal prospects to her attenstion. She said she frustrated her assistant's several times, rejecting their suggestions out of hand as "not aligned."
Betts, Gardiner, Muse, Bilic, Aarnisalo, Brown, Donovyn, Deas, Somto (sp?), Karamouzi (sp?)
That's 10, which I think is a good number. No need to pay players to ride pine - but we do need one more player for front court depth. The only Freshman we have coming in is the Spanish player.
I would postulate that there is no one on the board that is blown away by the portal-ins. Getting Aarnisalo back is good. Brown my be a catch. But, collectively, Coach Close has been talking about "reloading" .....
Now look at Staley. She has 14 players on her roster. If you divide 200 minutes per game, by 14, that's 14 minutes per game per player. And, you know the stars are going to play more like 25. So, she's going to have a LOT of players collecting splinters. Still, did she bring in Freshmen? Yep.
Jerzy Robinson: 5 star guard, 5th rated player in the class
Kaeli Wynn: 6'2" forward, 17th in class
Kelsi Andrews: 6'3" forward with range, 18th in class
Oliviah Edwards: #3 recruit in class.
Are all 14 of those players aligned? Are those four superstar freshmen going to play?
I think Coach Close may have gone overboard. It's my recollection that she said we're in the top 5 for $$$ to pay as NIL. We're in LA, that's got to count for something.
I like the idea of not having 14 players on the roster. Imo, you give good money to 10 players, and then if you can add a couple of "projects" that will attend UCLA, get coached up by a great player developer, for less, that's great. 10 plus 2 is what I would do. But, as I've said, we're so small guard heavy, I'd be looking for another big wing for depth. Someone that can defend well and not muck up the offense. If we can do better than that, great!
That said, I really doubt that all 14 players on Staley's roster are what Coach would consider aligned. If they are, then we seriously got repeatedly beaten out for great and potentially great players. And, I bet those four freshmen stick.
I'm wildly, speculatively conjecturing with no support that Coach got PTSD from having 6 players transfer out (incl 4 Frosh) at the end of the 25 season, and the ease of coaching 6 incredibly experienced seniors this season.
But, what do I know, I'm just a fat guy on a couch.
Peace.