Transfer Portal

[Lindsay]

I wonder how many players RMU needs. Could they stock up from the portal?

 

[Scott_TG]

I wonder how many players RMU needs. Could they stock up from the portal?

Chace Sperling, who transferred to St. Cloud after RMU folded after her freshman season with them is in the portal. Would be a full-circle moment if she was on that roster this fall.

 

[Reddington]

Wouldn't be surprised to see Lindenwood at 10-12 if something doesn't change quickly

Yet, another coach that did better with the other guy's players. Syracuse is the opposite, as the current coach has done worse with the other guy's players. OSU, Yale and RIT (until Davis was canned - don't forget he got coach of the year) had instant success with their new hires. Kampersal at PSU took six years to get a CHA Tournament championship. The program seems to be in good shape now, but there was no immediate bump up. Looney seems to be getting the same patience treatment as Kampersal. RIT may be in a position to grab a lot of these players as they have scholarships now.

 

[Popova1]

Looney was fired Friday. Not due to the record alone. Plenty of "other" problems.

 

[Reddington]

Interesting that there are no Harvard players listed on the portal. Given the turmoil with the program, I half expected to see at least three names on the list.

Most girls goto Harvard for the degree - Thompson was/is the exception. However, seniors are a different story.

 

[robertearle]

Most girls goto Harvard for the degree - Thompson was/is the exception. However, seniors are a different story.

Keep in mind that - as best I understand things - a Harvard senior would NOT have a COVID year to use elsewhere, because none of the Ivys played the 2020-21 season. Part of the inducement to get teams and players and schools to take the chance on playing that 2020-21 season was you had to play to be granted the extra year of eligibility. So a graduating senior from Harvard (unless there was a medical hardship in there somewhere) has no more eligibility to use.

 

[WIrinkrat]

Keep in mind that - as best I understand things - a Harvard senior would NOT have a COVID year to use elsewhere, because none of the Ivys played the 2020-21 season. Part of the inducement to get teams and players and schools to take the chance on playing that 2020-21 season was you had to play to be granted the extra year of eligibility. So a graduating senior from Harvard (unless there was a medical hardship in there somewhere) has no more eligibility to use.

they would not get 5 seasons of competition as those who competed during the covid year would, but would still have a 5th season to use their 4th season of competition if they so desired

 

[robertearle]

they would not get 5 seasons of competition as those who competed during the covid year would, but would still have a 5th season to use their 4th season of competition if they so desired

Sure. But then you go player-by-player. I looked at the Harvard web site, and they have their leading scorer Anne Bloomer listed as a 'senior', She just finished her 4th year of competition in her 5th year at the school, having treated 2020-21 as a 'red shirt' year. She was a 2018-19 freshman. Such a player has used up their 'five year window'. A 2019-20 freshman would have 2023-2024 left to use their 4th year of eligibility, but their web site appears to list them (her, there's only one) as 'junior'.

 

[Reddington]

Looney was fired Friday. Not due to the record alone. Plenty of "other" problems.

You scooped the news. Looney did better with the outgoing coach's players. That's not say there is not talent on Lindenwood. Interesting at least to me that a former Olympian could not turn things around. I feel horrible for all the girls that have been committed and expect to sign in November with Lindenwood. This is the single biggest factor girls overlook when they are looking at programs, the likelihood of the coach being there when you have to sign in November.

 

[ARM]

Interesting at least to me that a former Olympian could not turn things around.

She's not the first former Olympian to be less than successful as a D-I coach. Potter's season at tOSU didn't go well. Schuler has been successful as an assistant coach, but that hasn't translated as well in her two stints as a head coach. Just like Olympians have varying degrees of effectiveness as players, the same is true once they become coaches.

Beyond that, the location (and the travel it necessitates) and lack of name recognition is going to make Lindenwood a tough place to make a big splash as a coach.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

That's not say there is not talent on Lindenwood. Interesting at least to me that a former Olympian could not turn things around.

What does being a former Olympian have anything to do with one’s ability to coach?

I never could understand that concept.

 

[Reddington]

What does being a former Olympian have anything to do with one’s ability to coach?

I never could understand that concept.

Perhaps being exposed to high level competition and coaching does not transfer after all at least in this case. I would think there would be a recruiting advantage, but the other poster thought the location diminished attractiveness.

 

[Popova1]

What does being a former Olympian have anything to do with one’s ability to coach?

I never could understand that concept.

In her case especially....Nothing

 

[Cornholio]

There are of course exceptions but across any sport, very rarely do the best players turn out to be the best coaches. Actually a lot of times it is the last-on-the-depth-chart type of player that turns out to be a very good coach. Theories I've seen is that players who have a lot of natural talent don't really have to work at it as much as the players who love the game but are not as physically talented. They have to be better students of the game and have to out-work and out-think their more talented teammates/competition to 'make it'. I mean Georgetown just fired Patrick Ewing as the men's basketball coach after a very poor tenure.

 

[pucko]

She should have never been hired in the 1st place. She had ZERO college coaching experience. Not as an assistant at a D1, not as a head or assistant at DIII. So to start with, she had never even recruited. As we all know, recruiting and retaining those players are vital to a program making any strides forward. I don't know what the "other issues" are with Looney, but it seems that if teams are not performing well, the unhappy players get louder and louder in an administration's ear. Let's see who the next sucker is to take the job at Lindenwood and see how they do. Programs lose consistently for a reason, even when there are rotating coaches. I can't imagine Lindenwood caring very much about their women's hockey program when they are hiring coaches based on solely on playing experience.

 

[ARM]

There are of course exceptions but across any sport, very rarely do the best players turn out to be the best coaches.

I do think that there are certain traits of high-performing players that are useful as coaches. For example, both the Wisconsin (Johnson) and Minnesota (Darwitz) have coaches on their staffs who were Olympians. What do they have in common? They were both coach's kids. When that is true, I think that from a young age, you think of the game from another perspective. You are more likely to think about the game in terms of all the players on the ice, everyone on the bench, the full roster. The big picture is something you have grown up with, not something you start to think about when your playing days are over.

 

[Lindsay]

I’m reading a book by Keith Gave right now called “a miracle of their own” about the 98 Olympic team and it talks about Looney’s success in building grassroots girls hockey. I wonder if she’ll return to something like that. There’s definitely a market for someone to play that role in cities across America.

 

[Popova1]

She should have never been hired in the 1st place. She had ZERO college coaching experience. Not as an assistant at a D1, not as a head or assistant at DIII. So to start with, she had never even recruited. As we all know, recruiting and retaining those players are vital to a program making any strides forward. I don't know what the "other issues" are with Looney, but it seems that if teams are not performing well, the unhappy players get louder and louder in an administration's ear. Let's see who the next sucker is to take the job at Lindenwood and see how they do. Programs lose consistently for a reason, even when there are rotating coaches. I can't imagine Lindenwood caring very much about their women's hockey program when they are hiring coaches based on solely on playing experience.

The positive from it is that the AD is in his first year and saw past what the previous AD (that hired her) tolerated.

 

[KTDC]

I’m reading a book by Keith Gave right now called “a miracle of their own” about the 98 Olympic team and it talks about Looney’s success in building grassroots girls hockey. I wonder if she’ll return to something like that. There’s definitely a market for someone to play that role in cities across America.

I think maybe Winny Brodt-Brown, the first winner of the Minnesota Ms Hockey Award in 1996, might be an example of somebody that serves that function pretty well in the Twin Cities/Minnesota area.

 

[Popova1]

I’m reading a book by Keith Gave right now called “a miracle of their own” about the 98 Olympic team and it talks about Looney’s success in building grassroots girls hockey. I wonder if she’ll return to something like that. There’s definitely a market for someone to play that role in cities across America.

She played a great role in that by trashing the last 2 youth organizations that she was running. Anyone getting an application from her would do well to put it in the shredder.