*** 2025-26 ISU WBB Season Thread ***
- Thread starter BoxsterCy
- Start date
Yowza…you’re speaking of a very small percentage of women who leave and an even smaller percent who leave for reasons other than playing time.or pursuing a grad degree.
If you talk to, and this is quite well documented, all of the players who stayed at ISU, they rave about Fennelly and the staff for a variety of reasons.
One thing we’ve yet to see out of this group since their freshman season is staying healthy. They faced injuries last year and this year that impacted success. Let’s hope, more than anything, they all stay healthy next year.
Injuries have played a part, but the last two years haven’t been as good as hoped even when everyone was healthy. This talented group is running out of seasons. Then we are looking at a total reset.
Easy to lump the departures into players pursuing graduate degrees, but I think a lot of those players were looking for a fresh basketball starts too.
It seems that most of the players we see returning to celebrate Bill and Iowa State are from quite a few years ago. Ashley and Bridget are exceptions.
I hope all the contributors decide to stay next year, but nothing is guaranteed. Even if they all come back, something needs to change.
Fresh basketball starts aren’t the same as leaving because of the coach which is what the OP was going after. Some players, like Dawkins, knew they were never going to break into the lineup at ISU. Same would be said of a player like Zingaro. Then you do have players like Diew and Kane who did leave for graduate degrees. The number leaving because of the staff is rather small compared to other reasons. In fact, the staff is noted for helping players to find landing spots.
I guess for me Fresh basketball start = New coach and new situation. I'm sure some part of their decision was due to a graduate degree, but most that left didn't seem to be happy with their basketball situation either. Without specifically asking the player, I would say the "graduate degree" reason is over stated. In every program some players are going to not be happy and leave. Unfortunately, we have lost some quality players who could have helped us. Lexi, Maggie, Jalynn, Denae, Diew, Zingaro, Wise, and Kelsey to name a few. In my opinion, none of these players were enjoying basketball at Iowa State the season that they left.
I know you want this to happen so it destroys the team to make you happy.
Incorrect. I build my schedule around watching each ISU WBB game. I pay more attention to the WBB team than the high flying men's team. I think CBF's time has come and gone and advocate for new leadership, but I always want the team to do well.
I normally ignore stupid comments, but you went too far.
Without doing any research, Diew went to a school that offered her grad program and Wise went 30 minutes from home to be with a sick parent. I mean I could look at many teams over this time period and list many transfers. Some who were a big part of the rotation and some that were not. It is not just Iowa State.
You’re stepping overboard a bit. Zingaro? Left for more playing time at a smaller school and it took her three years and another transfer to hit her prime. Was never going to make it at ISU. Diew? Left for a grad degree and had zero to do with the staff. Jalynn? Homesick. Period. Denae was a product of tampering. And she regretted leaving. So, you have a couple left on your list that might fit that bill.
It is naive to think that Zingaro, Bristow, Diew, and Danae were happy with basketball at Iowa State.
You're accusing someone else of stepping overboard a bit? What a joke. You act like you know what happened with these transfers when you know NOTHING other than whatever sanitized note got printed on-line. Kids leaving programs don't throw coaches under buses.
When Zingaro left the team two games into a season but stayed at ISU for the rest of that school year, the ISU Daily cited "personal reasons and to work on her health". You say she left to find playing time at another school? Two games into a season? Try again. She couldn't take Bill's constant harassment and needed to regain her confidence, which began at Montana (unfortunate coaching change in middle of season) and culminated at Cleveland State.
I don't know what happened with Jalynn, but it wasn't homesickness as reported. Jalynn lived in a quad with Kelsey - she had a boyfriend on the football team, who gave her a pet snake - by all reports she was "happy" at ISU. As we all know, Jalynn's freshman season ended on a team high note, with the strong showing against Stanford - the future looked bright. Jalynn had a good game against Stanford - 27 minutes with 7 points and 8 rebounds. The night before Jalynn's end of season meeting with staff, she told Kelsey & Isnelle she planned to return to ISU. She entered the transfer portal the next afternoon. I suppose something else could have happened in that 18 hour period, but I'd wager it was something said in her end of season meeting.
You don't know Diew's leaving had nothing to do with staff. We all saw the decline in play between her Junior & Senior seasons, which led to decreased playing time. What happened?
You're suggesting Denae was tampered with by Baylor. Where in the world did you get that? What makes you think she regrets leaving?
The transfer which really made me sit up straight in my chair was Kylie Feuerbach. Her grandfather played basketball at ISU and is in our Hall of Fame. Her parents both attended ISU. She was my favorite player in that recruiting class, then left after her Freshman season to join our hated arch-rivals. We all saw how Bill treated her in games - make a mistake and go straight to the bench. Can you imagine those family discussions when she announced she wanted to leave ISU for Iowa? She is smart and made the move to a program on the rise and I don't think she regrets anything!
Not that any of this really matters. Regardless of which side of the aisle you occupy, Bill's not going anywhere - he's got a fat $850,000+ salary and an ill-conceived $700,000 retention bonus sitting out there. Good thing he has you as his public relations champion, since CBF Season #32 will begin with high expectations - with all your experience, you'll have a plethora of excuses ready to roll out!
You know I assumed that they took a charter from Ames, but I don't think an aircraft of that size could take off from Ames.
If that's a Southwest plane, which it looks like, it's a Boeing 737. Runway in Ames is about 3000' too short to take off. Quite a big plane for a basketball team.
I acknowledge many shortcomings, though in this instance, I do know former team parents and former team members, plus I shared how I came to be told things. People don't like to hear anything negative about their cherished institutions.
