New Season: Chemistry, Chemistry, and Congress?

A new season has begun.  Stanford played an exhibition against Pacific on Saturday, October 24, winning 72 to 54.  Only one regular starter from last season was on the floor: Hailee Swaine played 32 plus minutes scoring a team high 18 points with 4 assists, a block and a steal.  She was joined at guard by fellow veteran Shay Ijiwoye, who contributed 16 points with 3 assists and 3 steals.  That’s a powerful duo, but the team may lack depth at the guard position.  Highly touted freshman guard Jordyn Wheeler is out for the season with a torn ACL.

The other Stanford veteran in the starting lineup, Alexandra Eschmeyer, scored eight points including converting her only three-point attempt.  The other two starters were veteran transfers: Ines Sotelo Miguez from Spain via Michigan State and Charotte Tuhy, who transferred from American University.  Each played more than half the game and was a difference maker.  Miguez put up 12 points and Tuhy made a quarter-ending half court three-pointer.  The most remarkable stat from the game may be Tuhy’s 15 rebounds.  She accomplished this in just over 28 minutes, or an average of .53 boards per minute.  Tuhy was her team’s leading rebounder last year, so this stat is not a total surprise.  Consider, however, that playing just over 70% of the game, she grabbed more than 1/3 of the team’s total boards.  This writer did not see the game, but this sort of performance suggests that Tuhy is smart in positioning, quick on her feet, and highly competitive.

Two players with major minutes off the bench were Nora Ezike (19 plus minutes) and Kennedy Umeh (14 plus minutes).  This bodes well for Stanford’s interior depth.  Add to this transfer Ilse de Vires, from the Netherlands via Miami of Ohio.  De Vires is recovering from an injury and had no points and one board in just over ten minutes on the floor.  The hope is that once fully recovered, she can be a major contributor.

From what I’ve observed, this team may have the chemistry needed to have lots of Ws and a ticket to the big dance (after a two-year absence).  Ijiwoye, a quick, energetic, and fierce competitor, could be a leader in sparking that chemistry.  The team had its own retreat (with no coaches present) to reinforce bonding. 

On the national front, the Senate, with bipartisan support, passed a college sports bill before the midterm recess.  In its current form, the bill would limit most players to one transfer during their college careers (a second transfer would require sitting out a year and no player could participate in college sports for more than 5 years).  There is no certainty about action by the House, which could decide not to take any action or could alter the provisions of the bill.  For several reasons, this legislation is unlikely to have a major impact on Stanford WBB.  Of the 8 Stanford players who transferred over the past two seasons, only 2 of them, neither regular starters, transferred for a second time.   Stanford needs to focus on rebuilding its record of performance and success, a record that makes players want to stay with the program.  NIL compensation is part of that, but so too is team chemistry.  Here’s hoping that Stanford wins the Nobel Prize for team chemistry.