It seems that Ohio and Western Michigan have added players who can't possibly contribute in games but who at least will round out the respective rosters for practice purposes and in case of a rash of injuries. Since these players will be gone in a year, they won't hinder future recruiting by taking up a scholarship. Still, it's pretty sad to see a MAC team give a scholarship to someone who was unable to contribute significantly at the DII level.

And incredibly the roster additions are not yet done, as EMU adds another player:

5'5 G Nia Boston, juco transfer from Mesa CC in Arizona. She must have a lot of frequent flyer miles, as she is from Stockton, CA and played her freshman year at Delta College, a juco near Bay City, MI before transferring out to Arizona. Now she is back in Michigan. Averaged 13 points per game at Mesa, shooting 35% from three.

This brings EMU's roster back up to 14 players, after 2 of their previously announced freshmen disappeared from the roster. That does mean that they still have one more slot open. October signings?

I checked on some of the other EMU verbals/signings who are not listed on the EMU roster today:

Jazmin Adams who signed a NLI, has apparently now committed to NAIA Oklahoma City U.
Claudia Clement, a Spanish big who verballed to EMU last year, now shows up on the roster at Winthrop.
Can't find anything definitive on 6'6 Kenyan Madina Okot who had reportedly signed an NLI with EMU, nor DII transfer Kaya Goldsby who had announced her verbal commitment to EMU earlier this year.

Also, Ball State signee Iris Vannema from the Netherlands, appears to be playing pro ball in Spain now.

OP was horribly out of date, but I think it is now up to speed again. Let me know if anyone sees any errors.

OK, I am gonna go out on a limb and guess the roster changes are over. Here is a little chart I put together summarizing the MAC-wide changes this year compared to last year. MAC lost a ton, but the majority of that is due to all the coaching changes. I would argue that, without the coaching changes, almost all the top players (other than the graduates) would still be in the MAC. Anyway, that's water under the bridge now.

(09-24-2023 12:25 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  OK, I am gonna go out on a limb and guess the roster changes are over. Here is a little chart I put together summarizing the MAC-wide changes this year compared to last year. MAC lost a ton, but the majority of that is due to all the coaching changes. I would argue that, without the coaching changes, almost all the top players (other than the graduates) would still be in the MAC. Anyway, that's water under the bridge now.

Coaching changes were a big factor but I would say far from the whole story. Elisa Brett (Bowling Green) went through senior day, so presumably she was gone no matter what. Ohio lost its best player, Yaya Felder. Northern Illinois lost its best player, Aja Davis. Western Michigan lost its two best players, Lauren Ross and Taylor Johnson. Kent State lost one of only two returning starters, Santoro. I'm probably forgetting some. I think that Central Michigan's best player went into the portal before Osterle was fired. I really hope that the MAC is good this year, but I do not think it will be.

(09-24-2023 01:06 PM)Lester Wrote:  

(09-24-2023 12:25 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  OK, I am gonna go out on a limb and guess the roster changes are over. Here is a little chart I put together summarizing the MAC-wide changes this year compared to last year. MAC lost a ton, but the majority of that is due to all the coaching changes. I would argue that, without the coaching changes, almost all the top players (other than the graduates) would still be in the MAC. Anyway, that's water under the bridge now.

Coaching changes were a big factor but I would say far from the whole story. Elisa Brett (Bowling Green) went through senior day, so presumably she was gone no matter what. Ohio lost its best player, Yaya Felder. Northern Illinois lost its best player, Aja Davis. Western Michigan lost its two best players, Lauren Ross and Taylor Johnson. Kent State lost one of only two returning starters, Santoro. I'm probably forgetting some. I think that Central Michigan's best player went into the portal before Osterle was fired. I really hope that the MAC is good this year, but I do not think it will be.

Of course a few players are gonna leave every year. But a large portion of the players who transferred did so due to, or influenced by, coaching changes. Tate and Hampton stay at BG but for the coaching change. Scott, Cluse and Freeman stay but for the Miami change. Utberg reportedly planned to stay but for the change at CMU. Ferrell and probably Camp both stay but for the Akron change.

WMU's Ross had reportedly planned to follow her assistant coach, Rose, to CMU until Oesterle was let go and so they didn't hire Rose - so that loss was also due to a coaching change too, just not a head coach. I don't know if that coaching change also influenced Williams' decision or not.

Davis and Brett are both going into 5th years, and would have been done in a normal season anyway. Davis made it known she was looking to turn pro anyway, unless a good transfer option arose. It's unknown to me what Brett would have done if Fralick had not left. I've seen a few players go through senior day ceremonies only to return the next year at other schools in other sports.

If I didn't miss anyone, that leaves Ohio's Felder, CMU's Harris, Miami's Wolf and Kent's Santoro as top players with at least 2 years left leaving for the portal without extenuating circumstances, as best as I can figure. Those changes hurt the MAC, but Santoro was the only one leaving from a good team. That's not a huge number.

So my point is that despite the appearance that the "portal" has decimated the MAC, it really didn't in and of itself. At least not this year. Next year could also be a bit hectic depending on how the new coaches meld with their new teams, but probably need to wait until the coaching stabilizes to see what the portal impact really is.

(09-24-2023 07:27 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  

(09-24-2023 01:06 PM)Lester Wrote:  

(09-24-2023 12:25 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  OK, I am gonna go out on a limb and guess the roster changes are over. Here is a little chart I put together summarizing the MAC-wide changes this year compared to last year. MAC lost a ton, but the majority of that is due to all the coaching changes. I would argue that, without the coaching changes, almost all the top players (other than the graduates) would still be in the MAC. Anyway, that's water under the bridge now.

Coaching changes were a big factor but I would say far from the whole story. Elisa Brett (Bowling Green) went through senior day, so presumably she was gone no matter what. Ohio lost its best player, Yaya Felder. Northern Illinois lost its best player, Aja Davis. Western Michigan lost its two best players, Lauren Ross and Taylor Johnson. Kent State lost one of only two returning starters, Santoro. I'm probably forgetting some. I think that Central Michigan's best player went into the portal before Osterle was fired. I really hope that the MAC is good this year, but I do not think it will be.

Of course a few players are gonna leave every year. But a large portion of the players who transferred did so due to, or influenced by, coaching changes. Tate and Hampton stay at BG but for the coaching change. Scott, Cluse and Freeman stay but for the Miami change. Utberg reportedly planned to stay but for the change at CMU. Ferrell and probably Camp both stay but for the Akron change.

WMU's Ross had reportedly planned to follow her assistant coach, Rose, to CMU until Oesterle was let go and so they didn't hire Rose - so that loss was also due to a coaching change too, just not a head coach. I don't know if that coaching change also influenced Williams' decision or not.

Davis and Brett are both going into 5th years, and would have been done in a normal season anyway. Davis made it known she was looking to turn pro anyway, unless a good transfer option arose. It's unknown to me what Brett would have done if Fralick had not left. I've seen a few players go through senior day ceremonies only to return the next year at other schools in other sports.

If I didn't miss anyone, that leaves Ohio's Felder, CMU's Harris, Miami's Wolf and Kent's Santoro as top players with at least 2 years left leaving for the portal without extenuating circumstances, as best as I can figure. Those changes hurt the MAC, but Santoro was the only one leaving from a good team. That's not a huge number.

So my point is that despite the appearance that the "portal" has decimated the MAC, it really didn't in and of itself. At least not this year. Next year could also be a bit hectic depending on how the new coaches meld with their new teams, but probably need to wait until the coaching stabilizes to see what the portal impact really is.

Yeah, with the lax transfer rules, I expect we'll see bad teams losing good players, good teams losing players who want more playing time, and teams with coaching turnover losing virtually all of their players.

I still think you're putting lipstick on a pig when it comes to last year. You've chosen not to count players who are in their fifth year or players leaving because of an assistant coaching change. Those choices make things look not as bad.

If the MAC's new coaches turn out to be good, though, then maybe the conference will be strong again in a year or two. Akron and Bowling Green, the two programs that were good (BG) or decent (Akron) before losing their coaches, look poised to be at least decent right away.

Interesting to find out that the MAC is not the only place where schools are having trouble hanging on to their freshman signees, as Michigan FR and former Illinois Gatorade PoY Katy Eidle is no longer listed on their roster. Of course that's just 1, whereas in the MAC I have tracked 18 players this year. Still makes you wonder what is happening.

OK, so I was wrong about MAC roster adds being done, as EMU has added another player to theirs. 5'9 G Sophie Canen. From Saline MI, she was a '22 graduate who had committed to DIII Hope College. She's listed on the Hope website as being on their JV team. What? Schools still have JV teams? Anyway, probably a walk-on at EMU to be added this late, maybe? That gives EMU 15 players on their roster now.

(10-07-2023 08:25 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  OK, so I was wrong about MAC roster adds being done, as EMU has added another player to theirs. 5'9 G Sophie Canen. From Saline MI, she was a '22 graduate who had committed to DIII Hope College. She's listed on the Hope website as being on their JV team. What? Schools still have JV teams? Anyway, probably a walk-on at EMU to be added this late, maybe? That gives EMU 15 players on their roster now.

DIII schools may have JV teams because having huge non-scholarship sports programs allows them to increase enrollment.

(10-07-2023 08:25 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  OK, so I was wrong about MAC roster adds being done, as EMU has added another player to theirs. 5'9 G Sophie Canen. From Saline MI, she was a '22 graduate who had committed to DIII Hope College. She's listed on the Hope website as being on their JV team. What? Schools still have JV teams? Anyway, probably a walk-on at EMU to be added this late, maybe? That gives EMU 15 players on their roster now.

Holy cow, a player who can't make a DIII roster isn't even a practice player. That's insane.

CMU held a press conference at their media day this week with Coach Haynie and 2 seniors Norris and Jean. Interesting that coach said they only have 10 players on the team, although there are still 11 listed on the roster. Based on her saying that they have 2 seniors, and Norris & Jean are two of them and were interviewed, that seems to indicate that Anika Weekes is maybe not available this year??? I don't know. No one asked. Really need to hope they have no injuries during the season.

Someone did ask about Boyke, and coach's response was just that she decided to "go in a different direction" which is not an unexpected response. I haven't been able to find any indication of whether she is moving on to another school, or retiring from BBall.

Not too much else learned. Coach said they are going to focus on defense this year, which is definitely a change of direction from recent CMU teams. She said D is well ahead of the offense right now and that the offense is still a little rough at times.

(10-21-2023 11:24 AM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  CMU held a press conference at their media day this week with Coach Haynie and 2 seniors Norris and Jean. Interesting that coach said they only have 10 players on the team, although there are still 11 listed on the roster. Based on her saying that they have 2 seniors, and Norris & Jean are two of them and were interviewed, that seems to indicate that Anika Weekes is maybe not available this year??? I don't know. No one asked. Really need to hope they have no injuries during the season.

Someone did ask about Boyke, and coach's response was just that she decided to "go in a different direction" which is not an unexpected response. I haven't been able to find any indication of whether she is moving on to another school, or retiring from BBall.

Not too much else learned. Coach said they are going to focus on defense this year, which is definitely a change of direction from recent CMU teams. She said D is well ahead of the offense right now and that the offense is still a little rough at times.

It's now confirmed that Weekes will not be on the team, as she is off the team roster and now listed as a Student Assistant Coach. That's a significant blow to CMU to lose her experience on the court.

So it looks like CMU has added a volleyball player to add some depth to it's roster. Alina Anderson, 5'9 DS/L, and transfer from Ferris State is now on the roster as a guard.

CMU had 13 players on the roster in the summer, but that dropped to 10 before the season started, after three players dropped off the team for unknown reasons. But Capria Brown (transfer from Missouri State) has not yet been eligible due to it being her 2nd transfer. Reports are she may be eligible come January. Recently we know starting PG Tamara Ortiz got injured and is out, but I don't know for how long. Also freshman center Desrae Kyles did not play in the last game for unknown reasons - maybe also injury. That put them down to 7 - the minimum needed to suit up for a game as I understand it - before adding Anderson. Other MAC teams have had roster crunches due to large numbers of injuries, but in this case, starting a season with only 9 eligible players seems to be the core issue.

By my count, this is the 3rd time in the last 3 seasons a MAC team has had to add players from other sports to fill out their WBB rosters. CMU added 2 volleyball players 2 seasons ago after their mass exodus in the portal under Oesterle, but I don't believe either actually played. Then Buffalo added a VB player last year who got some minor minutes at the end of a few games. So, now it's CMU's turn again.

Schools outside the MAC are also having roster problems, as for example, Xavier has cancelled their last 2 games due to not having enough players. They have 14 listed on the roster, so unsure whether this is just a large number of injuries (would have to be at least 8 players out), a rash of illness, or some other problem. The press releases did not give any hint as to the reasons.

(12-05-2023 05:58 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  So it looks like CMU has added a volleyball player to add some depth to it's roster. Alina Anderson, 5'9 DS/L, and transfer from Ferris State is now on the roster as a guard.

CMU had 13 players on the roster in the summer, but that dropped to 10 before the season started, after three players dropped off the team for unknown reasons. But Capria Brown (transfer from Missouri State) has not yet been eligible due to it being her 2nd transfer. Reports are she may be eligible come January. Recently we know starting PG Tamara Ortiz got injured and is out, but I don't know for how long. Also freshman center Desrae Kyles did not play in the last game for unknown reasons - maybe also injury. That put them down to 7 - the minimum needed to suit up for a game as I understand it - before adding Anderson. Other MAC teams have had roster crunches due to large numbers of injuries, but in this case, starting a season with only 9 eligible players seems to be the core issue.

By my count, this is the 3rd time in the last 3 seasons a MAC team has had to add players from other sports to fill out their WBB rosters. CMU added 2 volleyball players 2 seasons ago after their mass exodus in the portal under Oesterle, but I don't believe either actually played. Then Buffalo added a VB player last year who got some minor minutes at the end of a few games. So, now it's CMU's turn again.

Schools outside the MAC are also having roster problems, as for example, Xavier has cancelled their last 2 games due to not having enough players. They have 14 listed on the roster, so unsure whether this is just a large number of injuries (would have to be at least 8 players out), a rash of illness, or some other problem. The press releases did not give any hint as to the reasons.

Yeah, the Xavier case is an interesting one. They were in Tempe for a tournament and played their first game, losing to Temple on Dec. 1. Then, they were unable to play their game vs. Arizona State the next day. Nine players played in the Temple game, although one of the starters played less than five minutes, so I assume she was injured. Maybe another player or two were injured in that game as well?

On a somewhat related note, Xavier has lost 27 games in a row. Their last win was against Cincinnati nearly a year ago (Dec. 9). For what it's worth, now that their game against Oakland on Thursday has been canceled, their next scheduled game is against UC on Sunday.

Interesting report today that supposedly former EMU player Ce'Nara Skanes has entered her name into the portal. She chose not to take her 5th year at EMU last year, but I guess has had a change of heart and wants to play 1 more year?