Update: Hello Malibu: Mi'Cole Cayton Signs with Minnesota

Ignatius L Hoops

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Messages
10,169
Reaction score
3,108
Points
113

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota women's basketball head coach Lindsay Whalen announced Friday the addition of Mi'Cole Cayton to the Gophers' program. Cayton is a 5-9 guard from Stockton, Calif., who spent her last two seasons at Nebraska after spending three seasons at Cal Berkeley. She will have one year of eligibility at Minnesota.

Cayton has played in 78 games in her career, 38 at Cal and 40 with the Cornhuskers. Cayton has overcome multiple knee injuries during her collegiate career. After being named to the All-PAC 12 Freshman team in 2016-17, Cayton suffered an ACL tear at Cal in 2017-18 in the season opener and then missed the majority of her 2018-19 season due to another surgery. After transferring to Lincoln, Cayton played in 40 games and total 101 points, 43 rebounds, 34 assists and 19 steals.

Off the court, Cayton earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2022 and is a three-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selection. She was also a member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team in 2021. She was on the board of the Black Student-Athletes Committee at California.

"I am excited to announce the signing of Mi'Cole Cayton to our program," head coach Lindsay Whalen said. "Mi'Cole is a leader on and off the floor, as well as in the community. She's an Academic All-Big Ten student who will represent our program values. Her competitive drive and tenacity will be infectious for our fans. She also brings a high level of versatility and skill to our roster. We cannot wait to get started with Mi'Cole."

In her most recent season in Lincoln, Cayton came off the bench in 26 games and averaged 2.4 points per game while shooting 32.5 percent from beyond the arc. Cayton erupted for a Nebraska career-high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting with a pair of threes in a win at Wake Forest (Dec. 1). Cayton played in both of Nebraska's Big Ten Tournament games as well as the team's game in the NCAA Tournament First Round against Gonzaga.

Coming out of high school, Cayton was rated as the No. 78 player overall in the nation and the No. 17 guard by ESPN. The WBCA High School All-American averaged 12.0 points and 2.0 steals per game as a senior, while leading St. Mary's (Stockton) to a 28-1 record and a No. 2 final national ranking in the espnW 25 Power Rankings. She was one of six finalists for Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year. She led all scorers with 21 points to power St. Mary's to a CIF section title over Mater Dei and former UConn star Katie Lou Samuelson. Cayton was a Cal-Hi Sports Elite All-State, All State Division I, Underclass Junior and Underclass Sophomore selection. Cayton was also the Northern California preps Player of the Year. She played club basketball for the California Storm under Coach George Quintero, and she was a member of the Nike Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team.

Cayton becomes the second transfer to join the Golden Gopher program this offseason, joining Destinee Oberg (Arkansas). She becomes the first California native to play for Minnesota since Moneeke Bowden (Bakersfield) and Brandi Harris (Long Beach) played for the program from 1998-00.

For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherWBB) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the offseason.
 


Last season against Minnesota:

Game one: 7 minutes and 4 points including a steal
Game two: 9 minutes and 9 points including 2-3 from three

The previous season:
Game one: DNP
Game two: 7 minutes and 0 points with 1 rebound
 

Last season, Cayton played in 13 Big Ten games averaging 7.1 minutes and 2.1 points/game. She totaled 9 assists, 4 turnovers and 7 steals
 



I'm really excited about what she brings to the team.

Her Story
-Was a top-100 player coming out of high school. A high school All-American.

-Then Pac-12 All-Freshman. .401 field goal percentage during freshman year. Started the last 12 games of the year. 82 rebounds, 75 assists and 36 steals.

-Sophomore year suffered a torn ACL in the season-opener. Argh. Sorry to hear that. This appears to have been an impacting event that changed her career.

-A quality player, the kind Lindsey Whalen looks for. After transferring to Nebraska, she earned Tom Osborne Citizenship Team. Academic All Big Ten. Scholar-Athlete Honor role. Nebraska Women's Basketball Lifter of the Year. She's a worker, smart, accomplished. A great player for the newer guards to model from.

-Her shooting percentage last year wasn't very good at .333 field goals.

She probably would pleasantly surprise to the upside. And she brings terrific veteran experience as a terrific athlete on her way to a great career disrupted by an knee injury.

I bet Whalen helps her rise higher.
 

I'm really excited about what she brings to the team.

Her Story
-Was a top-100 player coming out of high school. A high school All-American.

-Then Pac-12 All-Freshman. .401 field goal percentage during freshman year. Started the last 12 games of the year. 82 rebounds, 75 assists and 36 steals.

-Sophomore year suffered a torn ACL in the season-opener. Argh. Sorry to hear that. This appears to have been an impacting event that changed her career.

-A quality player, the kind Lindsey Whalen looks for. After transferring to Nebraska, she earned Tom Osborne Citizenship Team. Academic All Big Ten. Scholar-Athlete Honor role. Nebraska Women's Basketball Lifter of the Year. She's a worker, smart, accomplished. A great player for the newer guards to model from.

-Her shooting percentage last year wasn't very good at .333 field goals.

She probably would pleasantly surprise to the upside. And she brings terrific veteran experience as a terrific athlete on her way to a great career disrupted by an knee injury.

I bet Whalen helps her rise higher.

I think she is what she is. Her various injuries have limited her upside. Cayton is a useful spot player.
 

In case anyone finds this useful. Ignore if it's not for you.

QUOTE: "Mi'Cole Cayton doesn’t play a lot for the Nebraska women’s basketball team. But Cayton almost always makes the most of her time in the game.

During a stretch when Nebraska went on a 10-0 run, Cayton made a three-pointer, scored on a layup and helped force a turnover. She played eight minutes in that game, finishing with five points and one assist.

There have been other games like that. While playing six minutes during a win against Penn State, she made a three-pointer and had an assist. During a win against Wyoming, she had three points, two rebounds and one steal in seven minutes.

Cayton relishes her role of bringing energy to the team during the short stretches she plays." END QUOTE

 

Attachments

  • 1651275519550.png
    1651275519550.png
    73 bytes · Views: 0

Her game pictures at Nebraska show her wearing a substantial knee brace during games. Perhaps she suffered a serious structural injury that knocked her from one of the top talents in the country to an effective bench player. Maybe her knee limits her minutes. Just speculation....

I think she's a great add. I feel bad for her but she's still competing and contributing.

 



Her game pictures at Nebraska show her wearing a substantial knee brace during games. Perhaps she suffered a serious structural injury that knocked her from one of the top talents in the country to an effective bench player. Maybe her knee limits her minutes. Just speculation....

I think she's a great add. I feel bad for her but she's still competing and contributing.

Not to say she hasn't had serious knee injuries but I would not call that a substantial knee brace. There is little more than a ruberized sleeve to it. I see it as more likely there to get it & keep it warm, make it feel snug and tight (mostly psychological) or limit swelling/fluid accumulation during and immediately post games.

If it was substantial it would have obvious external skeleton to externalize knee rigidity to the brace. For Example, here is a typical brace for an ACL injury:
1651296629720.png
 

Her game pictures at Nebraska show her wearing a substantial knee brace during games. Perhaps she suffered a serious structural injury that knocked her from one of the top talents in the country to an effective bench player. Maybe her knee limits her minutes. Just speculation....

I think she's a great add. I feel bad for her but she's still competing and contributing.

She has had a history of devastating knee injuries.

Redshirt Sophomore (California, 2019-20)
Cayton missed the entire 2019-20 season with a knee injury. She earned her bachelor's degree from California in May of 2020.

Redshirt Sophomore (California, 2018-19)
As a redshirt sophomore in 2018-19, Cayton returned to the court for eight minutes in a debut against her hometown school, Pacific (Nov. 18), before playing two minutes against Tulane (Nov. 23) and scoring her only points of the season in a win at San Diego (Nov. 24). She played three total games in her third year before undergoing surgery to repair cartilage damage in her right knee.

Sophomore (California, 2017-18)
She opened her sophomore season with 13 points, including a career-high-tying three three-pointers in a win over Saint Mary's (Nov. 10), but missed the remainder of the year after suffering a torn ACL. Cayton did not play the rest of the season.

Freshman (California, 2016-17)
Cayton earned an honorable-mention selection to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team by starting 13 games for California. For the season, she averaged 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steal per contest for the Bears. She finished second on the team in steals (34) and third in assists (73).
 

if i remember correctly, i read an article about Cayton a couple years ago (approx) that stated she was not expected to play basketball again. so, yes, she has had substantial knee injuries. if you watch her hs video, it is pretty obvious she is not the same player after suffering the injuries. she has proven many people wrong. high character young lady. should be a good mentor for the younger gophers.
 
Last edited:

With a desperate need for experience and leadership this is a good pick up. It is also a pick up that should not effect someone else committing.
 







Huh??? I thought she already played about 7 years including Covid and 2 injury years?
Um, research says her fourth school in 8 years. And it says she has degrees from the first three schools....that's a pretty remarkable journey in many ways. Best of luck at Pepperdine.
 


Um, research says her fourth school in 8 years. And it says she has degrees from the first three schools....that's a pretty remarkable journey in many ways. Best of luck at Pepperdine.
So I guess that means 1 Covid year, 2 injury years and a Redshirt year? Only way I can think of her getting 8 years unless she was able to claim a 3rd injury year. Congrats to Mi'Cole!
 


Obviously knows her priorities. When basketball ends, the education has to carry you forward. Congrats to her.
 




Top Bottom