Sara Scalia enters the transfer portal

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Her quick decision to join Indiana makes me wonder if she had made up her mind before entering the portal.
 

whalenfan said:
Seems like a weird spot, Indiana is a pretty slow paced defensive minded team. She'll do well there but definitely not the fit I expected.
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They like to shoot the three, and they’re finally losing Ali Patberg.
 

Shades said:
They like to shoot the three, and they’re finally losing Ali Patberg.
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I'm sorry to hear Berger is coming back for her covid year, she is impressive, really gritty and seems to do it all except shoot the 3 very well. Will she be their number 1 player next year?
 





Roland Brooks said:
Indiana is going to come to the barn and win with or without Scalia…
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I don't care. I don't want to watch her compete against us. Ask Packer fans how much they enjoyed Favre joining us and playing against them. Don't need a PhD in psychology to understand.
 

Aesop70 said:
Transferring within the conference seems disrespectful. While I want her to find success in general, I have no interest in watching her come to Williams and beat the Gophers. I honestly lose some respect for her now.
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I don't blame you. I don't like it either but rather than blame the kid who is following her dream, I choose to blame that horse bleep program currently being run ay the U. Until that changes, and I hope it does soon you can't blame any player who opts out.
 





gopher4 said:
I don't blame you. I don't like it either but rather than blame the kid who is following her dream, I choose to blame that horse bleep program currently being run ay the U. Until that changes, and I hope it does soon you can't blame any player who opts out.
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I don't blame her opting out. Not at all. But moving to a conference rival and playing against the fans who loved and cheered for her for the past 4 years I'm not going to respect. I will criticize that. With her level of talent there would have been dozens of winning programs that would have been interested in her.
 




whalenfan said:
They were 13th in the big ten in 3 pt attempts..
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Or to put it another way:
In Big Ten play Indiana, as a team, was 87-259 f(.336) from three.

By herself, Scalia was 64-151 (.424)

Berger rarely launches a three. The Hoosiers have lacked three point shooting. That's now remedied. Plus Scalia can get to the hoop with a layup or with that nifty floater.
 

Aesop70 said:
Transferring within the conference seems disrespectful. While I want her to find success in general, I have no interest in watching her come to Williams and beat the Gophers. I honestly lose some respect for her now.
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It's not like that's a hard thing to accomplish
 

I think Indiana is a good choice for Scalia. It's going to be Berger's team and that will take a lot of pressure off Sara. And they'll have a solid inside presence with Holmes, something Sara never had as a Gopher. Those things being said, I think IU might miss Patberg's leadership and Cordano Hillary's defense and all-around peskiness. (Scalia doesn't bring much defensively.)

I can't help but wonder if Scalia considered Iowa. That would have made for an interesting dynamic along with Clarke and Czinano. Iowa had trouble sometimes this past season with finding a consisternt third scoring option and Scalia could have provided that. And, yes, there's no doubt she would have been the third option there. But she'd have been able to get plenty of open three's and along with Clarke, that would have give the Hawkeyes two of the top long-range shooters in women's college basketball.

And unlike some, or at least one, I don't view her move to IU to be traitorous or disrespectful. Will I cheer for when the Hoosiers play the Gophers? No, I won't. But given the current direction, or the lack of direction, with the Gopher program, I can't blame her for going somewhere where she'll be able to win immediately.
 

Iowa found a 3rd option with incoming freshman McCabe. if she comes as advertised, who is gonna outscore iowa? my pick to win the Big Ten next season.
 

rowdaboat said:
It's not like that's a hard thing to accomplish
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I don't want to watch her do it. Shouldn't be hard to understand.
I'd rather watch a crew of well trained border collies (and one Bernese mountain dog at center) beat the gophers than watch Sarah put 30 on us. Or make even one point against us.
 

PhiloVance said:
Her quick decision to join Indiana makes me wonder if she had made up her mind before entering the portal.
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I always wonder about the timing of these portal transfers. Do the players enter the portal, and THEN talk to other schools, OR was there something in place, before they entered the portal?
 

LakevilleBro said:
I always wonder about the timing of these portal transfers. Do the players enter the portal, and THEN talk to other schools, OR was there something in place, before they entered the portal?
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I suspect the player has a destination in mind when they enter the portal...and would like some reassurance they, the school, had an interest in them. Otherwise it might be a little embarrassing.
 

PhiloVance said:
I suspect the player has a destination in mind when they enter the portal...and would like some reassurance they, the school, had an interest in them. Otherwise it might be a little embarrassing.
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As a desirable transfer like Scalia you would think she'd have some favorites and not just entering the portal with no idea who might want her or who she might like or fit in with. This didn't read like a "I hate it here so bad and hate the coach so I'm just leaving for ANYWHERE" sort of move.
 

PhiloVance said:
Her quick decision to join Indiana makes me wonder if she had made up her mind before entering the portal.
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Lots of connections with Target and school of business with Indiana. Wonder what here major was. May be all basketball, education plays a role as well.
 

Sara wants to be a star, just not with the Gophers. Remember how she played as a freshman, good but not great. Give Whalen and the Gophers coaching staff credit for her improvement. Yes, she worked hard but I just can't digest the lack of loyalty to Whalen and committment to the U of M. That was all Sara was about when she first announced. Just believe the Star power plus $ potential now available in College sports totally changes the dynamaics.
 

I do not follow the WBB team very closely, but if they are at the point of starting over to install a culture of work ethic, then it is an example of the opposite of what Ben is doing with the men’s program. Ben has been criticized for not keeping or getting higher talent players to just fill holes. He has shown that culture and mindset are the primary traits needed to build a program. Whalen came in with no coaching experience. It looks like she has accepted some lack of drive as she has learned how to build what she wants. Unfortunately, a lack of the right culture and work ethic tends to drive away the ones who have it. She needs to establish those standards immediately or she is done.
 

news.yahoo.com

48 hour makeover: How Scalia changes things, what it says about Indiana women's basketball

The Indiana women's basketball team made some huge additions last weekend. It came together quickly.
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com

Scalia becomes a Hoosier: "The staff just got to work when she entered the portal":

Things came together quickly for IU last weekend. Parrish visited Bloomington on Friday, and formally committed the same day. Meanwhile, Scalia flew in that evening.

So when Parrish posted her announcement on Saturday morning, and while that news made waves across the state, Scalia was visiting with Indiana's staff. She spent Saturday touring IU's campus and facilities, and committed Sunday morning.

Indiana had no prior relationship with Scalia, aside from playing against each other. The Hoosiers didn't recruit her out of Stillwater (Minn.) High School. The staff just got to work when she entered the portal, and they sold her on the direction of the program.

The Golden Gophers were 0-4 against the Hoosiers during Scalia's three years in Minneapolis.

Indiana has become a destination for players seeking a shot at a conference championship and an extended NCAA tournament run, a distinct difference from the past.

This isn't Moren's first experience with transfers. She's leaned heavily on transfers throughout the last four years. Patberg, who came in from Notre Dame in 2017, spanned that entire time frame. Brenna Wise transferred from Pittsburgh and played for two seasons, and then Cardaño-Hillary arrived from George Mason for the next two.

But bringing in players from within the Big Ten is notable, and Scalia is the first major transfer Moren has landed from within the conference.

It speaks volumes about where the program is headed when a player from the same conference chooses to come to Bloomington.

An electric shooter​

Its 3-point shooting was not one of Indiana's biggest strengths last season.

They didn't hide from that. After IU's loss at Nebraska in February, Moren said her team relied too much on the outside shot, and are better off when they shoot around 15 threes in a game instead of the 23 they attempted in that game

It wasn't a weakness — the Hoosiers shot just shy of 33 percent from beyond the arc as a team last season, which ranked 75th in the country and seventh in the Big Ten.

Scalia's former team, Minnesota? The Gophers finished fourth in the country in 3-point percentage at 38.2. They had two players in Scalia and Deja Winters (who exhausted her eligibility last season) who ranked in the top 25 in the nation and top five in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage.

Minnesota often lived and died by the three. Indiana won't suddenly turn into that type of team, but adding one of the best shooters from a team like that will be huge. And Scalia joins a much more talented team than the Gophers, who finished 15-18 overall with a first-round Big Ten Tournament exit and a second-round WNIT loss.

Scalia's shooting ability will open up a lot for the Hoosiers. It could draw defensive attention away from Berger, Holmes, and other weapons, and give them more space to operate. But it gives IU an offensive element it didn't have last season — Scalia's 3-point percentage topped everyone on IU's roster.

A plethora of options​

Over the course of one weekend, the Hoosiers went from a team that had some holes to plug to one that could be even deeper than last year

There are several combinations of starting lineups IU could go with now.

Holmes and Berger are locks for the starting lineup. Given her shooting ability, her nearly 18 points per game, and her familiarity with the Big Ten, Scalia also seems like a strong candidate to start.

The Hoosiers could go with a smaller lineup with four guards, and start Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil alongside those three. IU could also start just one of them and go with either Geary or Kiandra Browne.

And that's not even mentioning incoming Israeli freshman guard Yarden Garzon, who could be more ready to contribute right away than many other freshmen after playing with and against WNBA players in Europe.

IU has a lot of options. And that's not something that has always described the Hoosiers over the past few years.

Indiana is now at 14 scholarships allotted for next season — and the roster may not be complete.

Whatever happens, Indiana proved its prowess in the new age of women's college basketball last weekend. Landing commitments from players like Parrish and Scalia within 48 hours of each other shows the Hoosiers have become one of the top dogs in the Big Ten
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alchemy2u said:
I do not follow the WBB team very closely, but if they are at the point of starting over to install a culture of work ethic, then it is an example of the opposite of what Ben is doing with the men’s program. Ben has been criticized for not keeping or getting higher talent players to just fill holes. He has shown that culture and mindset are the primary traits needed to build a program. Whalen came in with no coaching experience. It looks like she has accepted some lack of drive as she has learned how to build what she wants. Unfortunately, a lack of the right culture and work ethic tends to drive away the ones who have it. She needs to establish those standards immediately or she is done.
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I could not have said it better. I have no doubt that much of the recent problems stems from growing pains with Whalen learning how to motivate players as a coach versus as a peer.

Whalen needs to ensure that the players that she recruits are mentally tough so they can withstand the perfection that she is seeking. If she can't figure this out, she will be be gone in short order.

Scalia appears to have left due to the work ethic of others. I am sorry to see her go as she could have served as a model for the newbies.
 




PhiloVance said:
She wants to "play around other good players." Doesn't want to go through a rebuilding process...

Don't get why she doesn't stick with UM but I guess I'm old fashion and believe in loyalty.
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I'm hoping that Borowicz, Battle, and Braun take that as a challenge, especially when playing Indiana.
 

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