Charlie Creme sees OSU squeaking into the Dance next year

Who backed up Gulich her senior year? We basically needed 6’1” Maddie to spell her or give her minutes or have Taya play out of position yet we still took down Baylor’s twin towers. Now I don’t expect that we will get Marie’s minutes out of Jelena, but I think it’s possible from Gardiner and Beers.

Outside of possibly a 3, I’m not optimistic we get a starter-level transfer coming in, so I’m expecting this is what we have plus some help similar to what we had come in last year.

I am hopeful Adlee will be a factor as well - she has the kind of deep range that TvO brought while still HS age. If she’s serviceable on defense, she could help a lot. Hansfords length also could be very helpful in certain matchups, and brings the same kind of range. I really like both of them as shooters, they just have really sweet strokes that look effortless. I am much less optimistic about their defense sufficient next year.
But I worried about that with TvO even more, so who knows.

Agree. There are a bunch of players still in the portal. The Beavs clearly need to add to the current roster. At this point we have lost Taya, Taylor, Kennedy, and Greta (+ Tea and Ellie) off of an average team. We have added a really strong incoming class and Bendu, so far. At this point the roster is NOT better than it was last year. But there is plenty of time to add. It’s April 2022. It is totally a guess on what things will look like come tournament time 2023.

Its absolutely debatable and respect your perspective.  Personally, I would take Taya (4 year starter) over Gardiner (freshman, with zero pac 12 experience).  Taylor (all pac 12) over Beers (freshman, with zero pac 12 experience).  I can't really compare Kennedy to Adlee, so I would go with Kennedy.  I would call Greta (solid defender, better offensively) over Bendu (elite defender, but can't shoot) a push.  Then Tea and Ellie have not even been replace and Ellie was really good.  Which leads me to conclude that the roster is not better than last year, understanding that Taylor was hurt.  Just my opinion, which may very well be wrong.

And I also have faith in Scott.

If we are talking next season, and not long term, then I would take Bendu over Greta, so that is an improvement, but I'm with Norm on taking Taya over Gardiner, and Taylor over Raegan, based on experience (not talent). But, the Beavs didn't have Taylor for most of last season, but I would probably take Kennedy over Raegan too. Will the additions of freshmen, Lily and Adlee be better than Emily, Ellie, and Tea? Probably not. Again, I'm talking about next season. Long term, I love the potential of Tamia, Raegan, Adlee, and Lily and how they will fit in with Talia and AJ. But, as we've seen in recent years, the portal can be a horrible enemy to all coaches who want to have a team develop together. Playing together for so long was one of the things that made Hunter, Hamblin, Weisner, and Siegner (all freshman at the same time) great. Those four only won 10 games their freshman year (4 conference wins),but made it to the final four as seniors with key additions along the way. I think Talia, AJ, and the four freshman (maybe even Jelena will stick around) could get back to a conference title and more, but they alone won't be ready next season. They need some quality porter hoppers to come their way in the next few weeks.

Let me clarify. Those who know me know that there probably is not a bigger fan of Raegan's than me. If she was coming in with 3-4 established starters, I would expect her to start and fit right in, but if/when your entire front line is young and inexperienced, it's tough to see any of the freshman jump in and save the day. I would be absolutely thrilled to see 2 or 3 of the Beavs freshman come in next year and play like experienced stars, but that is a lot to ask.

One thing I will say. It seems like the chemistry just hasn't been there the last couple years. Perhaps our new freshman will bring that chemistry back. It's a lot of fun watching a team that just seems to have that 'it' factor.