Esmeralda Morales and Hannah Robbins commit - added Robbins since comments are already posted here.

[lutecat]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

I think Picton could end up the 3rd string PG or backup. Which given she was a true frosh, could be benificial. I love watching her play. The article I read says Morales is a PG. Then you have the injured soph from last year who was supposed to start, Dylan Phillip. Then Isabel Bunyon. Egan leaving I guess makes sense when you look at it that way. I think she was a PG. Granted any PG can be a shooting guard.

I know we lost 2 people through graduation and gained 3. 2 freshman and a transfer. So Eagan was the 3rd to leave.

[84CatGrad]

Anyone know anything about Dylan Phillip's injury and how she is doing?

[BelligerentBobcat]

Does this mean the transfer portal is okay now?

[MSU01]

Does this mean the transfer portal is okay now?

No, but MSU still needs to operate within the system that's in place no matter how flawed it is if they want to remain competitive.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I hated when two of our girls transferred to NAU before last year. Hated it. This feels........................different.

It is different. Those two had lost their starting positions and were clearly disgruntled. This one had her whole team collapse around her, in large part due to the new transfer rules. Oh, she lead the conference in scoring and could be the preseason MVP candidate. We win, this time.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Does this mean the transfer portal is okay now?

No, but MSU still needs to operate within the system that's in place no matter how flawed it is if they want to remain competitive.

There have always been selected transfers, even when they had to sit out a year. Fallyn Frieje comes to mind. But now, like three teams in the Big Sky have almost completely lost their players to transferring. If I remember correctly, Portland State was one of them. Without the new transfer rules, that team might have been more stable and Morales may have stayed there. The free-for-all transferring thankfully has not affected MSU much at all. What, maybe three instead of two transferring. Good job, Coach Bin. I don’t blame Morales one bit for looking for a new team for her last year. It’s a lot like Frieje and it really, in her case personally, doesn’t have much to do with the transfer situation.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

I thought Couture is in the class of 2025.

[BobcatDel]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

Interesting you are excluding Dylan Philip who was the heir apparent at the starting point guard going into last season before injury. Are you thinking she is gone?

And don’t be surprised if we see some other changes.

[MSU01]

Does this mean the transfer portal is okay now?

No, but MSU still needs to operate within the system that's in place no matter how flawed it is if they want to remain competitive.

There have always been selected transfers, even when they had to sit out a year. Fallyn Frieje comes to mind. But now, like three teams in the Big Sky have almost completely lost their players to transferring. If I remember correctly, Portland State was one of them. Without the new transfer rules, that team might have been more stable and Morales may have stayed there. The free-for-all transferring thankfully has not affected MSU much at all. What, maybe three instead of two transferring. Good job, Coach Bin. I don’t blame Morales one bit for looking for a new team for her last year. It’s a lot like Frieje and it really, in her case personally, doesn’t have much to do with the transfer situation.

Agree 100%. Overall I think the system is broken when you can have players playing for 4 or 5 or even 6 different schools during their careers, but in this specific case MSU gets a great player who can get out of a bad situation and play her last year for a contending team without sitting out a year. This is how the Transfer Portal was intended to be used.

[snarf]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

Interesting you are excluding Dylan Philip who was the heir apparent at the starting point guard going into last season before injury. Are you thinking she is gone?

And don’t be surprised if we see some other changes.

I think we have to lose at least one more from last year’s team. Right now we are +1 with:
Incoming:
Chirrick
Erickson
Harris
Morales

Outgoing:
Hall
Olson
Egan

[arvcat2]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

Interesting you are excluding Dylan Philip who was the heir apparent at the starting point guard going into last season before injury. Are you thinking she is gone?

And don’t be surprised if we see some other changes.

I think we have to lose at least one more from last year’s team. Right now we are +1 with:
Incoming:
Chirrick
Erickson
Harris
Morales

Outgoing:
Hall
Olson
Egan

Yup, they're one over the 15 limit so at least one is bound to leave...one way or another.

[CatBot]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

Interesting you are excluding Dylan Philip who was the heir apparent at the starting point guard going into last season before injury. Are you thinking she is gone?

And don’t be surprised if we see some other changes.

I think we have to lose at least one more from last year’s team. Right now we are +1 with:
Incoming:
Chirrick
Erickson
Harris
Morales

Outgoing:
Hall
Olson
Egan

Yup, they're one over the 15 limit so at least one is bound to leave...one way or another.

I don't know anything and rushed my post just from memory. I hope Philip is good to go.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

I thought Couture is in the class of 2025.

I would see Picton as the point guard for the second rotational unit (not discounting Philip at any level — she looked good). Picton and Morales are both 5’5” (maybe) and you can’t give up that much size. Besides, they are both point guards. Issy Bunyan moves to your first group. The incoming freshman will be battling everyone. As it needs to be to have a championship team. Is there a chance that someone redshirts this year, since there will be three positions open next year?

[aucat]

It's the new landscape of college athletics. I don't like it. As an old timer I was all about seeing a kid go to a college on an athletic scholarship to get a good college education and become a true member of that university's family and play for four years. These days we really don't have that. Instead we just have players that switch their jerseys each year.

At first it was just the big time colleges and the men. Then we saw it happen with big time women's teams. Now it's everywhere.
No wonder Caitlin Clark was such a celebrity this year. Not only was she a fabulous player but she stayed home and played for Iowa
for FOUR years.

But as I say, it's the new landscape so what is a coach supposed to do? Obviously it's A LOT less risky to take a PROVEN player like
Morales, then offer scholarships to kids playing in Class C high school ball. I can't fault Coach Bin at all. It's just that I don't like
the new landscape. Frankly, it made me a bit ill when I attended the MSU-NAU game this year and had to watch former Lady Cat
Lea Beattie killing us. I guess Portland State will feel the same way this year.

[CatBot]

Picton, Morales, Lamardo, Dykstra, Deden - 1st 5
Berry, Bunyan, Brumfield, Johnson, Janssen - 2nd 5
Plus a few others such as Lindsey Hein and Kadynce Couture.

This should be a fun year.

Question: do we have anyone with ball handling skills like Picton? The loss of Egan surprised me.

I thought Couture is in the class of 2025.

I would see Picton as the point guard for the second rotational unit (not discounting Philip at any level — she looked good). Picton and Morales are both 5’5” (maybe) and you can’t give up that much size. Besides, they are both point guards. Issy Bunyan moves to your first group. The incoming freshman will be battling everyone. As it needs to be to have a championship team. Is there a chance that someone redshirts this year, since there will be three positions open next year?

Thanks for the clarifications/opinions. I do like Picton and Morales in a PG rotation. I'm certain both of those players are better with fresher legs. I foresee plenty of instances where we may need Morales to win the thing at the end.

I thought Bunyan was a pretty dang good basketball player and no concerns at all if she's a starting 2 guard. Yeah, let's hope Philip and/or one or more freshman compete. Looks like a great class coming in. I'm excited.

[4Mare]

Have to add a new name to those lists.
New transfer: Hannah Robbins from the University of New Mexico

[Bobcat4Ever]

Ok, I’m out of ideas on this one. Morales, a senior, helped balance the team, which is very young — step in for a year, buy us some time.

Hannah is a sophomore. 6’0” guard. She was the preseason pick as the Freshman of the Year in the MWC. Is she a friend of Brooke Berry’s? Are the bullets still flying in Albuquerque?

[MSU01]

Ok, I’m out of ideas on this one. Morales, a senior, helped balance the team, which is very young — step in for a year, buy us some time.

Not sure what class Robbins is. Is she a friend of Brooke Berry’s? Are the bullets still flying in Albuquerque?

Pretty similar story to Berry - she redshirted for UNM in '22-'23, played two games this season and then decided to leave the team. She was chosen as the preseason freshman of the year in the Mountain West, so clearly would have been a highly rated player coming out of high school. Should have three years of eligibility remaining.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Ok, I’m out of ideas on this one. Morales, a senior, helped balance the team, which is very young — step in for a year, buy us some time.

Not sure what class Robbins is. Is she a friend of Brooke Berry’s? Are the bullets still flying in Albuquerque?

Pretty similar story to Berry - she redshirted for UNM in '22-'23, played two games this season and then decided to leave the team. She was chosen as the preseason freshman of the year in the Mountain West, so clearly would have been a highly rated player coming out of high school. Should have three years of eligibility remaining.

Must have had strong feelings to leave. She was born in Albuquerque, and her dad was an Univ. of New Mexico basketball player.

[imacat]

Ok, I’m out of ideas on this one. Morales, a senior, helped balance the team, which is very young — step in for a year, buy us some time.

Not sure what class Robbins is. Is she a friend of Brooke Berry’s? Are the bullets still flying in Albuquerque?

Pretty similar story to Berry - she redshirted for UNM in '22-'23, played two games this season and then decided to leave the team. She was chosen as the preseason freshman of the year in the Mountain West, so clearly would have been a highly rated player coming out of high school. Should have three years of eligibility remaining.

Must have had strong feelings to leave. She was born in Albuquerque, and her dad was an Univ. of New Mexico basketball player.

https://www.abqjournal.com/sports/hanna ... b4c3d.html