Maybe it is time to put this thread to bed. There have been two or three reasons given for WW's departure, and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. That is, she may not like being yelled at and may also see that becoming a starter would be difficult. It is also possible that we may never know the "true" reason or reasons, and even possible that the player herself is not totally aware of all her motives. Maybe as has been suggested we may know more when we know the school she transfers to, but maybe not. I am still wondering why Ashley Arlen transferred to a smaller place. Did she want to be a big fish in a small pond? Maybe, but we may never know. I have learned to live with ambiguity--really have no other choice in most cases.
Whitney Williams transferring
- Thread starter mred
- Start date
I heard that Arlen hated flying, and wanted to go to a program where the travelling was almost always by bus. Perhaps true, perhaps only part, as you say, we must live with the ambiguity.
my two cents:
Maybe the writing was finally on the wall for her. She wasn't big enough physically to play in the Big 12. Her outside shot was a step too slow to be consistent. Finally, she saw what happened to Mossman and Flo. and knew that would be her by her senior season. Cole is bigger physically that Whit and probably has a bigger upside with the time remaining at ISU. The two new recruits would have eaten into her playing time next season. It was a good time for her to go. I think she will end up at a Christian college somewhere. I wish her luck and hope that BF can bring in another quality guard at the late date.
Maybe the writing was finally on the wall for her. She wasn't big enough physically to play in the Big 12. Her outside shot was a step too slow to be consistent. Finally, she saw what happened to Mossman and Flo. and knew that would be her by her senior season. Cole is bigger physically that Whit and probably has a bigger upside with the time remaining at ISU. The two new recruits would have eaten into her playing time next season. It was a good time for her to go. I think she will end up at a Christian college somewhere. I wish her luck and hope that BF can bring in another quality guard at the late date.
This has been a surprising long thread on the topic. Regadless of why she left or where she goes she can look back and say she was part of two pretty good teams at ISU that made nice NCAA runs. I do hope most of the fans here agree on one thing and that is wishing her good luck.
I'm not looking so much for farther back as farther in the future. I only see Floyd-era numbers in that spreadsheet. A lot of time has elapsed since then.
I don't know how ISU's recruiting budget compares to other B12 teams, but I do get the impression it isn't particularly big. That is certainly a factor.
I'm going to miss Whitney. She was becoming one of my favorites. I can readily believe Tornado Man because what I sensed in Whitney was an uncommon maturity. She is very confident, capable, and cognizant. She had solid plans for her life including backup plans. She is working those plans now. She was comfortable with others and more importantly with herself. I have to respect her decision because I know she will do well in life.
May God continue to bless Whitney.
I think Bill is changing his recruiting slightly. He has always recruited coachable, unselfish team players that fit his system of a great defense with many tools on offense. He often had to settle for the less-phiscally gifted players because ISU didn't have reputation or money to get the most gifted players that were also coachable team players. There aren't many players who are physically gifted, team-oriented, openly coachable and unselfish. It's much more prevalent to find players with two or maybe three of those qualities.
Bill hasn't sacrificed his system to "upgrade" his team's physical talent. With the success Bill has brought to ISU, he can now get a little more gifted player that has the core capabilities that a successful system needs. I think he is constantly trying to feather in better athletes without destroying the chemistry of his team. (Frankly I think this is what is hindering McDermott. He tried to leap frog the process of team building by getting better athletes that didn't mesh perfectly with more systematic players.)
Bill isn't perfect but I have to believe that, overall, Whitney's transfer is an unfortunate minor necessary adjustment to the WBB program's progress. I wish them all continued success.
Actually I've heard more than one player state: "He sure never yelled at me like that while he was recruiting me!"
I think TRB is very close to the bottom line. For a deeply religious kid - the profanity and taking of the Lord's name in vain would be very tough to take. One of the scout team guys who is a Christian and a friend of WW's is not at all surprised by this.
wow it took a long time to read all this at once. With all that said..you gotta wish WW. all the best!! One coment i did not read was anyone watching the way the players reacted on the court to the BFcoaching . Oz will show emotion,Heather Ezell showed the same positive emotions and so have many other great players at ISU. Watch Kelsey Bolte,WW,Joc. Anderson,Wieben,Zimmerman and as many as 50% of them play almost scared or with an blank look on thier faces. Communication between alot of players seems to be one-sided with coach and open or 2-way with others.Not once do i recall seeing WW. smile on the court or show any real excitement. i know players respond differently but sometimes you have to wonder.Ashley Arlen went on too have as good of year you can ask for and chose to go down too div.II so she could play immediately.As far as quiting goes 50% of all marriages fail...we all should be careful who we talk about...coach Fenn isn't going to quit we shouldn't either..nobody is perfect and that man try's harder than most...just a response too alot of people who care..go CYCLONES
I think Whit was headed the way of Florzak and Mosman, and while it worked out for them, she is just too competitive to stick around for that. If you look at our women's team, it has changed its overall style of play significantly since those conference championship teams. It may not look like it to some because the three's still fly, but for starters on defense, zones are now more of a special defense with man-to-man the rule. In the past it would be a surprise if they play man-to-man. Those teams had trouble with the thugs, but there weren't as many around then. Now, tuards need to be quick and strong and not afraid to go get a rebound.
Overall, BF has gotten tougher on players to make them tougher. You have to be able to stand up to the muggings that aTm and KU like to put on teams. You have to be able able to defend a player like Andrea Riley. Courtney Paris had a lot to do with this as BiG Griner is adding to now.
I hope this is a sign that the new guards coming in fit the profile of good, tough defenders, competitors that will not back down, and push back when the opponent does.
Overall, BF has gotten tougher on players to make them tougher. You have to be able to stand up to the muggings that aTm and KU like to put on teams. You have to be able able to defend a player like Andrea Riley. Courtney Paris had a lot to do with this as BiG Griner is adding to now.
I hope this is a sign that the new guards coming in fit the profile of good, tough defenders, competitors that will not back down, and push back when the opponent does.
Agree with Royalclone. These days I think more teams are getting more and more athletic. You can beat certain team with "finesse" but you face team like OSU or Baylor or SEC/ACC team, you need certain toughness. I think that's the reason why Deane was in the starting 5 because she offered a different dimension although she couldn't shoot (not that the other players were not tough but she was very physical, like Ezell)
Given the experience of the 20+ years that I have been supervised and have supervised others, what you have observed is exactly what I would expect. Some people respond to harsh verbal "coaching", and some just become numb to it. My experience has been in general that the harsh abusive berating verbal approach to management (or coaching) can initially improve performance, but over the course of several years, it causes people to become timid, unmotivated, apathetic, and causes them to lose the desire to take initiative to solve problems.
Ultimately, you can't coach someone into a stronger physical specimen by yelling at them. Adrenaline and fundamentals can only overcome so much physical disparity. If a coach is fielding a team that is night after night physically inferior to it's opponents, that is the fault of the coach, and no amount of yelling is going to fix the problem. ISU has been very slow to adapt the physical style of play (and the players required for that style) that has characterized major college WBB for the last decade. I hope that is changing.
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I imagine many times in this situation it is for non-basketball reasons. I think Whit was a very valued player, given how much playing time she got this year. Not every member of a team has to have all-conference speed or athleticism in order to help a team win. She definitely seems too tough to be leaving for being yelled at too much. I certainly don't believe the coaches didn't want her leadership and experience the next two years, as thin as our bench will be next year. I for one am still waiting for a reason that makes sense...
