There are taller players on the Mississippi University for Women women’s basketball team this year, and there are more of them. But that’s not all that has coach Drew Johnson excited for the new season.
“We went from seven people to 16,” Johnson said. “We didn’t just fill the roster out with people; we filled it out with good people, we filled it out with talented people, we filled it out with people we think are going to help us win.”
Still, just having fresh bodies will help a team that went 7-16 two years ago and lost all three games during a COVID-abbreviated campaign by an average margin of 48 points last year.
“It was very tiring, considering I played so many minutes,” said senior guard Christiana Harris, who said she played 40 minutes per game.
But as Johnson said, it’s more than just bodies, it’s quality bodies. And taller ones.
“Not only is our roster bigger, the people that we have are bigger,” he said. “Average height last year was around 5-foot-4, this year it’s about 5-8, 5-9. That’s tremendous. Last year we had four girls that were 5-foor-5 and under. Point guard was about 4-10, God bless her. It was tough.”
Luckily for the Owls, recruiting is Johnson’s favorite part of the job.
“I enjoy the relationships, not only with the potential student-athletes, but with coaches of the potential student-athletes,” he said. “I love going to see people play. I love evaluating talent.”
And Johnson thinks he found some, some of which was still on display at Pohl Gymnasium after the first official practice ended Friday afternoon.
“Maddie (Guerin) over there is from North Pontotoc; she was about a 15-, 17-point-per-game scorer for them,” Johnson said. “She did it all for them, so I fell in love with her game first time I saw her.
“MG (Chamberlain) is a transfer from Freed-Hardeman University, extremely talented, extremely physical. Typical Memphis player, gritty but very skilled. She has had ACL surgery, but she’s fully cleared with that. Today, she looked fantastic. She showed a tremendous amount of strength and skill, and I think she’s going to be a player for us.
“We brought in Jaycee Haynes from Spain Park (High School in Alabama). That girl had people all over her, so we were very fortunate to get her.
“We got the two girls who transferred in from Judson (College in Alabama). The only reason that happened is Judson shut down, unfortunately, and I hate that for them. But at least those two found a home, and we’re very happy to have them, Annie Sparks and Cassidy Murphy, and they both were fantastic today.
“It’s a whole new team.”
Very new, according to Harris, as she thought about the players who took part in the opening practice.
“Maybe two played last year,” she said. “We’ve been spending time outside of practice, we hang out with each other, we kind of got a feel for one another.”
The Owls followed the rules to the letter, so Friday really was the first practice. While some of the men’s players in their practice earlier in the day were meeting their coach for the first time, some of the women’s players were seeing each other on a basketball court for the first time.
“There’s going to be growing pains,” Johnson said. “You just have to be patient, but at the same time we can’t get complacent, we can’t be satisfied. We have to continue to grow all the time.”
Growth in The W’s case means learning new ways to play the game, such as Johnson’s multiple versions of man-to-man defense.
“We’re going to run three different iterations of man-to-man, but we also want to run zone,” he said. “I’m one of those guys that likes to change defenses, give the offenses a few different looks. I think it gives you an advantage as a defender. The fact that our man changes with every pass, I think that’s going to be different as well.”
If that sounds confusing, maybe Harris can clear it up.
“We have red, yellow and green,” she said. “Red will be if the point guard is the best ball handler, green would be if a post player who really can’t handle the ball has it, so we kind of help, and then there’s yellow. You can’t really just say, oh, they play man to man.”
OK, maybe not. But if it confuses opposing offenses and not themselves, the Owls might be on to something.
“I think they can do it,” Johnson said. “I recruit smart people. Yes, it’s sophisticated, but anything worth having is worth fighting for. Yeah, we’re going to have to move a little slowly with it, yeah, they kind of look at me like I’m a little crazy right now, but it’s because they’ve never done anything like this before.
“We have to change the whole way you think about man-to-man defense here. It needs to be based on who has the ball.”
“Honestly, we’ve all been waiting for this,” Harris said. “Having the variations, and a different look in general, is going to shock everybody we’re going to play.”
For now, Johnson isn’t sure which five will take the floor for the opening jump against Rhodes College at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 in Memphis, Tennessee.
“I have no idea who’s going to start right now, because everyone looked really good today,” he said. “There are some things we’ve got to work on, some things we’ve got to iron out, but just from an effort standpoint, an athleticism standpoint, just from a skills standpoint, we’re there. We just have to put it all together.”
Johnson said the team’s strength at this point is on the perimeter. Rokila Wallace, a senior from Columbus High School, is the likely starter at point guard. Johnson called her “supremely talented,” while likely backcourt mate Sparks is “a lights-out shooter, strong with the ball and very good on defense.”
Johnson already has seen Sparks play; as she finished with 22 points — including five 3-pointers — along with 8 rebounds and 3 assists as Judson defeated Owls 69-30 on Feb. 4 in Marion, Alabama.
“We’ve got some very interesting players at the forward position,” Johnson continued. “The offense that we’re going to run is going to give them opportunities to play both inside and out.”
Harris is just happy to have forwards taller than she is.
“For someone to be over 5-5, that’s my height, is a blessing, because we’re playing against some trees,” she said.
There isn’t much time between the first practice and the first game, and Nov. 12 will be here way too fast for Johnson’s taste, as much as he’s looking forward to the season.
“Today was just getting a taste of what everybody can do,” he said “I’m very excited to see what everyone looks like.”
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