dSPN post-portal top 25

[UNC76]

Women's Way-Too-Early Top 25: New No. 1, more risers after transfer portal rebuilds

South Carolina jumps to the top after making key additions, and Duke and USC join the top five.

www.espn.com

Heels come in at 9. Other ACC teams include dook at 3, Louisville at 7 and ND at 16.

Here is our writeup:

9. North Carolina Tar Heels​

Previous ranking: 11

The roster shuffling in Chapel Hill was significant, but the Tar Heels appear improved as a result. Starting guards Elina Aarnisalo and Lanie Grant depart, but the additions of Kate Harpring -- the top point guard in the upcoming freshman class -- and transfers Sophie Burrows (11.0 PPG at Syracuse) and Chloe Clardy (12.0 PPG at Stanford) lessens the impact of their losses. Another portal acquisition, 6-1 forward Achol Akot (12.4 PPG and 7.2 RPG at Oklahoma State), could be the biggest difference-maker.

 

[6string]

I’ll take starting in the top ten every year. Means someone is paying attention to our building process.

 

[3397char]

I don't think this team will be better than last year, though I will certainly conceded that it is more than possible, proving me wrong. There are just so many variables that have to fall our way:

1. Harpring ready to come in and lead
2. Toomey takes another big leap forward
3. Akot can mostly fill Harris's shoes
4. Kelly can contribute close to her Soph role
5. Clardy and/or Burrows regain their shooting touch that they lost last year, or Hull emerges as an ACC level starter
6. This team can perform close to a defensive level UNC has standardized under CB
7. Someone emerges as a legit back-up big, because Akot is too small to slide to the 5 on defense.
8. Brooks emerges on defense and as a go to scorer.

We need maybe 6 of the above to happen to be a clear hosting team. And in each case, we need players to be more than what they showed last year (on a college level in Harpring's case)

But what I can never wrap my head around is where other teams stands, given how much rosters turn over these days.

So Maybe what we have is good enough to be within that top 16, given the losses on other teams? Just so hard to tell.

 

[Jriv23]

3397Char you are forgetting the most important fact. The transfers that are coming in are not freshman. They are seniors that have played at the P5 level. CC and SB played in the ACC so that already know what to expect. Akot played in the Big 12 which is a P5 level conference. This team will be better than last year because we have size on the wings now. The transfers coming in are seasoned veterans now. We do have depth at the 1s, 2s, 3s. Why do you think they have us ranked in the top10 preseason poll. Harpring if healthy will be ready to come in and contribute right away. So will not have to lead this year because our team will have a lot of juniors and seniors on it to lead. RK, SB, SB, CC, CT, LH and Akot are juniors and seniors. You also left out Gabby White. Gabby will be an X-factor, I guarantee it. She will contribute right away on both ends of the floor. IMO, there is not as many variables as you think. The transfers alone have logged a lot of minutes playing college basketball. They are know the college game by now. The only issue as I see it will be the 5 spot. Hopefully BT will prove us wrong and work her tail off this off season. We knew IN and NH were graduating. Heck the way you are acting you would think that LG and EA cannot be replaced, but actually they can. Harpring is better than both of them to be honest right now. We all saw it during the McDonalds AA game, and I for one was wrong about Kate. She proved me wrong because I thought defensively she would not be ready but I was dead wrong. That is probably why EA left. As we have stated before, Kate H is too good to be on the bench. Somebody was going to have to come off of the bench. The question was, Is that going to be LG or EA? Well, we want know the answer to that question because they both hit the portal. Just like in women's Lacrosse. Marisa White left because she knew the freshman coming in and Addison P was going to take her starting spot so what did MW do, she transferred out just like LG and EA.

 

[3397char]

3397Char you are forgetting the most important fact. The transfers that are coming in are not freshman. They are seniors that have played at the P5 level. CC and SB played in the ACC so that already know what to expect. Akot played in the Big 12 which is a P5 level conference. This team will be better than last year because we have size on the wings now. The transfers coming in are seasoned veterans now. We do have depth at the 1s, 2s, 3s. Why do you think they have us ranked in the top10 preseason poll. Harpring if healthy will be ready to come in and contribute right away. So will not have to lead this year because our team will have a lot of juniors and seniors on it to lead. RK, SB, SB, CC, CT, LH and Akot are juniors and seniors. You also left out Gabby White. Gabby will be an X-factor, I guarantee it. She will contribute right away on both ends of the floor. IMO, there is not as many variables as you think. The transfers alone have logged a lot of minutes playing college basketball. They are know the college game by now. The only issue as I see it will be the 5 spot. Hopefully BT will prove us wrong and work her tail off this off season. We knew IN and NH were graduating. Heck the way you are acting you would think that LG and EA cannot be replaced, but actually they can. Harpring is better than both of them to be honest right now. We all saw it during the McDonalds AA game, and I for one was wrong about Kate. She proved me wrong because I thought defensively she would not be ready but I was dead wrong. That is probably why EA left. As we have stated before, Kate H is too good to be on the bench. Somebody was going to have to come off of the bench. The question was, Is that going to be LG or EA? Well, we want know the answer to that question because they both hit the portal. Just like in women's Lacrosse. Marisa White left because she knew the freshman coming in and Addison P was going to take her starting spot so what did MW do, she transferred out just like LG and EA.

Akot was not All-ACC, she is replacing an All-ACC starter now in the W.
Clardy and Burrows were not all-ACC. One is replacing an All-ACC starter now in the W. The other may replace our leading starter, Grant who has a higher portal ranking and lead our team last year.

could they grow into that role? Sure they can, but so far they have been average starters on very average ACC teams. So I will agree that they have a high floor as upperclassmen. That creates some surety and comfort. But there is no indication of a high ceiling here unless they find another gear at UNC.

Harpring has a very high ceiling. But as a freshman with shoulder issues she also has a pretty low floor. Kelly also a high ceiling but has had chronic injury every year at UNC. So there is uncertainty at Guard. This will be the x-factor for this team: a potential for the 2nd best backcourt in the ACC. If that happens, then yes, we will be a top 10 level team. IF being the key word here.

we don’t know why Aarnisalo and Grant transferred out. Based on their destinations, I suspect money was in that equation. Those schools are top 5 in portal spending. Grant led our team in minutes played. I don’t think her PT was really in question all that much.

Charlie Crème’s assessment is just one opinion. I hope he is right. But Most have us in the late teens or low twenties. That would be a lesser team with hosting on the line.

 

[Jriv23]

Akot did not play in the ACC. She played in the Big 12. So, what you are saying does not make any sense. My point was the transfers coming in have plenty of college experience and that is the difference. They are mainly seniors and maybe a junior. If you go back and look at film. The teams that make a deep run in the tournament are lead by veterans and not freshman that is the basis of my point; therefore, with that being said, we have more senior leadership on our team. By the way, NH lead our team in scoring this past year. Here again she was a senior. IN lead our team in steals and she was our best defender for the past two years. Here again she was a senior. Harpring will not have to carry the load next year. That is why CB brought in CC. I do not think you read the article that I posted about CC from the Stanford HC. She said that CC can carry a team if need be. She is just like IN on the defensive end and she can also score the ball better than IN. She is also not afraid to take the last shot if need be. This is where senior leadership will come in. Akot was killing in the Big 12. She gave Crooks all she could handle in the inside. The four spot will be fine because getting her from the portal was a perfect replacement for NH. Kate is the real deal. She will not be forced to have the lead this team this year because our team has a lot of veteran leadership on it which will take that pressure off of her. Also, having RK, CC, LH, SB, and GW will him Kate navigate how to play the PG position in college. They will be showing and guiding her when she makes mistakes, etc. That is the difference when you have veteran a ton of veteran leadership on a team. UCLA proved that this past year. Their starting 5 and first few bench players were seniors.

 

[HOFcoachRoy]

Dook at 3 seems high, but I guess we’ll see.

 

[Mtns2Sea]

Dook at 3 seems high, but I guess we’ll see.

DSPN has a particular fondness for Dook.

 

[3397char]

Dook at 3 seems high, but I guess we’ll see.

With the mast exoduses at both Texas and UCLA there is room for new blood in the Final Four. But I definitely have a healthy USC above dook. and probably Michigan as well.

I also think Louisville is well positioned to challenge dook for the ACC title.

With that said, dook should have a little more talent than this last season with Skinner and Crump replacing the two senior departures, plus two top 15 recruits entering the picture. The question is, does that become a great team or just a collection of talent?

 

[mpaer]

Returning our players and adding the HS kids would have been fun
Being number 9 makes not returning our eligible players a little hopeful

 

[MeisterBlu]

I don't think this team will be better than last year, though I will certainly conceded that it is more than possible, proving me wrong. There are just so many variables that have to fall our way:

1. Harpring ready to come in and lead
2. Toomey takes another big leap forward
3. Akot can mostly fill Harris's shoes
4. Kelly can contribute close to her Soph role
5. Clardy and/or Burrows regain their shooting touch that they lost last year, or Hull emerges as an ACC level starter
6. This team can perform close to a defensive level UNC has standardized under CB
7. Someone emerges as a legit back-up big, because Akot is too small to slide to the 5 on defense.
8. Brooks emerges on defense and as a go to scorer.

We need maybe 6 of the above to happen to be a clear hosting team. And in each case, we need players to be more than what they showed last year (on a college level in Harpring's case)

But what I can never wrap my head around is where other teams stands, given how much rosters turn over these days.

So Maybe what we have is good enough to be within that top 16, given the losses on other teams? Just so hard to tell.

Yeah, I just think that Lanie Grant leaving was such a big blow. Why did she leave anyway? She was starting and getting tons of minutes. Was the paycheck that high from TCU?

 

[kjcooper]

Based upon an assortment of things it appears that money was the driving force behind Lanie Grant departing, along with the competition which she would have been competing against. Not sure what type of impact she will have at TCU where the competition maybe more than what she could have endured at UNC. Granted we all hated to see her depart, but she made the best decision for herself financially, and I hope it works out for her. Have to admit that CB gave her a lot of lead way with her game, but not so sure that will be the case at TCU.

 

[tarboy]

JMO but Lanie is not a PG, she is not strong enough with the ball(see the UCONN game).

Lanie is a great 2G just the way CB used her. With Kate driving the lane and dishing off to her in the corner
she would have been sitting pretty here at UNC.

Maybe she see's playing PG at her size as where she needs to play to enhance her WNBA prospects.

I am going to miss her and wish her well. She can really shoot the 3 ball and was a great teammate
it seems.

I think/hope Sophie Burrows, Chloe Clardy, Nyla B and a healthy Reniya Kelly and L. Hull maybe even J Zubich (10 3's last season in limited minutes) can take up the slack and make up those ACC leading 3's left behind.

We need a great summer of team building but IMO we can be a top 10 team if the pieces fall together so I
am going to do something I rarely do and agree with dSPN and our #9 ranking.

 

[Jriv23]

I agree with you totally, tarboy. There is a reason why ESPN has us ranked number 9 in their preseason poll. Some of you guys are acting like the transfers coming in are freshmen. Let me say this again. The transfer pieces coming in are seniors, one sophomore, and 1 junior I think. They have all played at the P5 level with three of them starting or have played a ton of minutes at their previous schools. They will be able to absorb the scoring of the players who just left our program. Also, LG is not a PG. She is a true 2. She can shoot when left open; however, she has yet to prove that she can create and get her own shot off when guarded by elite defensive players. We saw that throughout her UNC career. When she tried to play the PG spot when playing against the elite PG's in the ACC she struggled. She get ripped a couple of times, remember HH ripping her a few times. She could not score against UCONN, AF had her on lock. These are just a few examples. I admit she will be missed, but let us be honest, she was not an elite player in the ACC.

 

[3397char]

Most preseason polls have us significantly lower. This is literally one man’s opinion.


we lose 4 starters, the best 4 players on our team. That means:

a) it’s hard to argue this team would be better than last year. 9th place would be better.
b) the fact is, none of us know how good this team will be with so many variables unanswered. We are all just guessing.

 

[Jriv23]

Yeah, there is some true to want you are saying; however, it has been proven that teams that reached passed the sweet 16 have a lot of juniors and seniors on their team. My case and point will be UCLA this past year. That was a senior heavy team. UCONN the year before, ND and NC State the year before. So, based on those facts this is why I feel the way that I feel about our team coming into next season. This team will be loaded with junior and seniors on this team to guide our two freshmen and four sophomores that will be on our team. Junior and senior leadership is a valuable commodity to have.