WBB: 2022 Recruiting Update

[Chilly]

I thought I’d post an update related to the WBB team’s commits for the 2022 class. According to social media and various websites, the Utes currently have commits from three players in the class. Comments are my own from very limited viewing:

Teya Sidberry (committed 9/2/21) – 6’1″ W from Salt Lake City, UT. Versatile player who can play inside or on the perimeter, really seems to like to attack the basket. Very physical and draws a lot of contact. Probably can play the 3 or the 4?

Lani White (committed 9/24/21) – 5’11” G from Santa Ana, CA. I haven’t seen her play enough to know if she is a PG or more of a 2-guard but seems like a competitor and leader on her teams.

Naya Ojukwu (committed 10/15/21) – 6’0″ F from Meridian, ID. Extremely athletic player who played mostly on the interior for her HS team, haven’t seen her in AAU. In the HS state championship game (they won) I think she had something like 26 points and 20 rebounds. She will play both basketball and volleyball at Utah.

My guess is that will likely be the signing class next week but maybe we get a surprise. I would like to see the squad add another 5 either in the 2023 class or possibly through the portal as the Pac-12 has so many teams that are just loaded with monstrous front court players.

[UteBacker]

For those of us that don’t normally follow WBB, fill us in!  What is the state of our program?  Are we competitive?  I know the Pac12 is a strong WBB conference.  You obviously follow them and I’m curious as to how we stack up.

[Chilly]

First, the Pac-12 is incredibly tough – Arizona and Stanford played for the national championship last year. Stanford, Oregon and UCLA are in the top tier, with Arizona and Oregon State right behind. After those five, I think any team can beat anyone. The team had been gradually moving up the standings towards the middle of the Pac-12 until taking a step back last year. They are picked to finish 10th in the preseason coaches poll this year.

Our strength in recent years has been shooting. Brynna Maxwell is one of the best shooters in the country and gets routinely face-guarded through the entire Pac-12 season. Dru Gylten is a true pass-first point guard and makes the offense run. She was hurt the last half of last year and the team had a tough time without her. Kemery Martin is one of our leading scorers and probably the player most likely to attack the basket. Kennady McQueen can play the 1 or the 2 and is another shooter. Our posts are both in their second freshman year and them being able to battle with the other bigs in the conference will be key. At 6’4″ and 6″5″, they are undersized for the conference.

We have three true freshman and two transfers. Two of the freshmen are from Minnesota and one is from Portugal. One of the MN girls was the Gatorade player of the year there and averaged 42 ppg in HS, the other is a forward who was ranked #42 in the country by ESPN. The girl from Portugal is a ultra-fast PG who played professionally, so I don’t think she’s going to struggle with any jump in competition. The transfers will provide some defensive toughness for sure, I’ve only seen a few of their games. Nearly everyone on the team can shoot the 3. In my opinion we struggled last year when teams just extended their defense to take that away and we didn’t have enough players willing to attack the basket. I think that the newcomers will help in that regard, we will see. Finally, the team had a major issue with turnovers last year and I know that cutting those down is a priority – getting Dru back will help immensely. First game on Wednesday!

[UteBacker]

Sounds like they’re in a bit of a rebuild mode like the men’s team.  Thanks for the quick update.  Keep us posted!