I have always liked Bill and the entire coaching staff and I love reading your posts but if you think not mentioning the coaching staff in that twitter message wasn't intentional then you are clearly in denial. I think it was Lexi's way of telling the fans I love it here but this is why I'm leaving without saying it.
Lexi Donarski entering transfer portal
- Thread starter SaraV
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I have always liked Bill and the entire coaching staff and I love reading your posts but if you think not mentioning the coaching staff in that twitter message wasn't intentional then you are clearly in denial. I think it was Lexi's way of telling the fans I love it here but this is why I'm leaving without saying it.
Thanks. I'm 17 min in and they are still talking about little league and girls softball. Now I can turn it off.
Regardless of why she left, I wish Lexi nothing but the best. So enjoyed watching her play.
I don't know Lexi's family but I do know some people around the program. It sounds like the pressure to succeed got to Bill this year and he was even more abrasive than year's past. It's also not hard to see from watching that Bill doesn't run the most progressive offense. As I mentioned before, it's one thing to play for an abrasive coach when the ball is good. It's also one thing to play for a coach you love even if you aren't playing great basketball. But an abrasive coach and an offense that doesn't play to your abilities are a bad combination.
My point is…don’t jump to conclusions. We don’t know what we don’t know. Anything laid out here pointing at anyone is pure speculation. This thread has been like reading a semi-adult version of chicken little.
They aren't bread crumbs. They're giant loaves. It's common knowledge that the way to take your last shot out the door is to not mention coaches in your transfer announcement. Maybe it's not just the head coach but that doesn't really matter.
If you still think Fennelly is a net positive for the program, that's fine. Hell, I'd probably even agree right now, but to just pass everything off as not him, is asinine at this point. This is the third lifelong ISU fan from that class, who played a lot to leave. Kylie, Lexi and Aubrey aren't dead weight transfers. What happens when/if this class ends up the same? I think BF really needs to spend some time thinking about how to make sure that doesn't happen and doing whatever it takes to correct it. This whole "kids can't take hard coaching stuff" is fun to say for us old guys but a lot of the data doesn't agree. They don't like being disrespected and they don't like needless harshness but most kids actually do want to be coached. You can do that without screaming and dressing people down, especially publicly, semi-regularly. Also, it has to be equal opportunity accountability.
Are you suggesting that all of the girls on the team, staffers, employees, managers, trainers, etc. would never talk to someone about what happens in that locker room? Of course they do. Like it or not, people are told things, and are often told things from people who know what they are talking about. So not everything is speculation.
Not everyone on here has mentioned having any source or contact…a few have. Most, including anything I say on the subject as I have no inside context on this one, is pure opinion. I’ll leave it at that.
Sure, and everyone who seems to have a point of contact has kind of reached the exact same conclusion, right?
It’s been a while since we have met expectations or exceeded them. The program has been stagnant for quite a while. I was optimistic with the class coming in that we were finally going to get back to what we wanted to be. I was really excited for this year and next year. I’m not going to put to much blame on this year with the injury situation but this is the straw that breaks the camels back for me. I won’t call for his firing but I’m not going to be invested until something changes. Whether that is a coaching change or showing success with the current staff in open to it but I need to see something before I reinvest.
Me too. And she was clearly not happy. If this is a surprise to the staff and they don’t know why she left, that’s a problem.
Having been a highly motivated 18 to 23 year old (read my feed title)at one time..I'm not going to keep trying to get an answer, that makes sense to me. I wish her the best. There is nothing that makes me want to go back to that stage of life and I was not a division 1 basketball player. Lets move along folks, ok?
Why does everyone always speak in such absolutes? Maybe she was hiding her feelings? Maybe her parents got involved? Maybe the staff screwed the pooch? We shouldn’t always assume the worst when we just don’t know.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Kinda fun choices here.
Lexi is the #2 ranked transfer in the transfer portal per ESPN. There are 300 in this year’s transfer portal so far after having over 1,300 last year.
ESPN Women's Basketball Transfer Ranking
-15 of 16 teams in the Sweet Sixteen had a starter that was a transfer
-the transfer portal is here to stay. Managing players, rosters and way of coaching has to adjust as well or you put your program at a competitive disadvantage.
-in the men’s game, assistant coaches advance based on recruiting success and turnover in assistant coaches is often a positive to improve recruiting and bring in new ideas/approaches. Is the lack of new blood at Iowa State a good thing? Is the staff evolving to keep up with the times?
ESPN Women's Basketball Transfer Ranking
-15 of 16 teams in the Sweet Sixteen had a starter that was a transfer
-the transfer portal is here to stay. Managing players, rosters and way of coaching has to adjust as well or you put your program at a competitive disadvantage.
-in the men’s game, assistant coaches advance based on recruiting success and turnover in assistant coaches is often a positive to improve recruiting and bring in new ideas/approaches. Is the lack of new blood at Iowa State a good thing? Is the staff evolving to keep up with the times?
From the link:
The bad news in Ames just keeps coming. First, the Cyclones lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, meaning Ashley Joens has played her last game in an Iowa State uniform. Then 6-foot-6 center Stephanie Soares ' petition to play another year in college was denied by the NCAA. That makes Donarksi's decision sting that much more. After 95 starts, 13.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, plus a 2022 Big 12 defensive Player of the Year honor, the one-time five-star recruit is looking elsewhere. With that kind of experience, she could be a difference-maker.
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