Welcome Back!

[Blue Raider Lightning]

Saw a social media post by Coach Insell with the background music from "Welcome Back, Kotter" playing. Pictures with individual players in his office scrolled across. It looks like everyone, minus our two graduates are returning next season. To me, that's huge! You never know who is going to hit the portal these days. I was worried we might lose some depth as players with potential like Grannum might look to jump ship to somewhere where she might play more. It's great to see that all of our young ones seem to be staying put and with that, hopefully they grow in the system and break out into stars in the future. Heck, Ty Petty sat the bench a lot of her freshman year and she turned out to be one of our best point guards ever. It took Charity Savage three years to get consistent playing time, but what a memorable senior year she had. I'm already excited to see what a more experienced team can do.

We know the Wheeler kid from Marshall offsets the loss of Saar and with Blakely, that is a awesome 1-2 punch at the point. Provided they all come we have incoming freshmen Meioshe Mason (6-foot-4 center), Lanae Riley (6-2 forward) and Ta’Mia Scott (6-foot guard). All these kids will add size and depth . I don't know a whole lot about any of the three freshmen but if they crack the starting five, they are definitely going to be something special.

I would assume that the signing class is complete at 4 (they fill the void of our two seniors, and two who transfered out during the season). That said, glad to have everyone back and looking forward to seeing what 2022-23 holds for this talented team.

 

[MTOleBlue]

This is huge news. We were really good this year, and next year -- we'll be even better.

 

[blueboro007]

Always seem to lose a few players and don’t expect anything different this off season. And does it really matter how many players we have since CRI only plays 6-7 anyway?

 

[Blue Raider Lightning]

Always seem to lose a few players and don’t expect anything different this off season. And does it really matter how many players we have since CRI only plays 6-7 anyway?

I don't disagree with either of your points but I see it as a positive in the sense that our players are committed to return at this time. That is certainly subject to change but most likely if they wanted to transfer, they would hit the portal now.

And I get frustrated with the lack of bench use myself. But I think that collectively as a team, it makes for a stronger unit if the girls have been together. For the first time in a few years, this seems like a close team. In the event something happens and they are called upon, I think they are comfortable with one another and that can only help.