I think Baylor wins it...again. So much talent, and the conference's best coach.
I don't think Baylor wins the league this year. Big big X on their back, and a very cupcake schedule in noncon. Their close game against Louisville says they can play with the sluggers of the world though. Definitely have the POY in Sims, which makes me sad for Hallie, otherwise it would be hers.
Re: Best coach - Measuring combination of Xs and Os with recruiting, yes. Definitely the best recruiter(though I don't know if hiring AAU coaches to land their players is ethical), but not the best Xs and Os coach. BF is probably the best X and Os coach, and actual "game" coach.
Sherri Coale is probably the leagues 2nd best, considering the combo, but I would put her 2nd after Mulkey on recruiting and BF on Xs and Os.
Be curious to see how Whitaker and Aston make their mark over the next couple years. Aston has got the recruits rolling. Whitaker has a mess to start with.
We just agree to disagree then. When she took over at Baylor, they were the worst program in the Big 12; she took them to the NCAA tourney in her first year there. And people forget that Mulkey won her first national title in 2005 without that much name talent - and certainly no 5-star recruits. Sophia Young was a no-name player until Mulkey developed her. Mulkey played as a point guard for La Tech and Leon Barmore - and won two national titles. This notion that she's not a great game coach or X's and O's coach is ridiculous. Her body of work and the building of the Baylor program says otherwise.Re: Best coach - Measuring combination of Xs and Os with recruiting, yes. Definitely the best recruiter(though I don't know if hiring AAU coaches to land their players is ethical), but not the best Xs and Os coach. BF is probably the best X and Os coach, and actual "game" coach.
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About the best coach thing... Mulkey is a great coach and has basically done what BF did here for Baylor. Her methods can be questioned but her results can't be. Mulkey and Coles have better results than BF has had. The best coach tag is like shooting pigeons in a barrel. The result is blood, guts, and a lot of feathers.
Go Cyclones...
We just agree to disagree then. When she took over at Baylor, they were the worst program in the Big 12; she took them to the NCAA tourney in her first year there. And people forget that Mulkey won her first national title in 2005 without that much name talent - and certainly no 5-star recruits. Sophia Young was a no-name player until Mulkey developed her. Mulkey played as a point guard for La Tech and Leon Barmore - and won two national titles. This notion that she's not a great game coach or X's and O's coach is ridiculous. Her body of work and the building of the Baylor program says otherwise.
I happen to believe that Mulkey is the best coach in terms of player development and X's and O's, not just recruiting. Again, she won immediately at Baylor, with leftover players from the league's worst program, and average talent, at best, to start with. Her 2005 NCAA title team had no right to win it all, except that Baylor had a brilliant coach who is great at developing players. Sophia Young was not a high school "star." She was an exchange student from the West Indies who had scholarship offers from Nicholls State, Centenary, Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas-Monticello...and Baylor. Do I think any other Big 12 coach could win an NCAA title with that 2005 roster, and develop Sophia Young to that level? No.I guess, I thought I agreed with you that Mulkey is the best coach. She has National Championships, that says it all to me; but what she has done is recruit better than anyone else, and that includes evaluation and scouting. She is also a great motivator.
Young fell into her lap because of her Louisiana connections, or she probably wouldn't have even known about her. It was also 15 years ago where there were a lot more unknown gems to be found, which BF used to get lucky with.
While the 2005 national championship for Baylor is an accomplishment, they did not have a tough draw and ended up playing an MSU team that had overachieved throughout the season and didn't have the athletes to match up with Baylor. So yes, give them credit for what they accomplished, but it does not define Mulkey as a great coach.
I guess, I thought I agreed with you that Mulkey is the best coach. She has National Championships, that says it all to me; but what she has done is recruit better than anyone else, and that includes evaluation and scouting. She is also a great motivator.
Young fell into her lap because of her Louisiana connections, or she probably wouldn't have even known about her. It was also 15 years ago where there were a lot more unknown gems to be found, which BF used to get lucky with.
I ask you, do you think BF would have brought a national championship to ISU with Sims, Griner, and Williams and the gluttony of other All American caliber seniors on that Baylor roster if they were on the roster at ISU?
noDoes Mulkey call her players vulgar names in the locker room and yell in their faces until they cry?
Does Mulkey call her players vulgar names in the locker room and yell in their faces until they cry?