WBB - Kamie Ethridge new head coach

[kayak15]

I am sure that she will do that. However,.I think that it will be her way or the highway for those players

You may be right about her approach but I hope not. O.K., I am an old sexist pig but I still feel that the ladies have much thinner skins than the men and this method of leadership does not work well with females. Remember our previous WBB coach known as Coach Psycho? Cannot remember her name, only the nickname that she acquired. Served in the military under a few officers who took this road and morale invariably sucked among us peons as did performance. Check out the current problem in the N.E. Patriots camp. Apparently even Brady, Gronkowski and others have reached the end of the rope with Belichick's leadership style. Compare the sensitivities of NFL pros with 18-20 year old girls and you can get my drift. Even Larry Bird- no sissy- bailed on Bobby Knight after a single season at the U. of Indiana. There are ways of getting the results from subordinates that one desires other than going full "my way or the highway."

Do not misunderstand my opinion here as I have no problem at all with Ethridge setting a high bar and demanding results. I hope that she does and expect that she will. It is just that a "I'm in charge here and your concerns and ideas do not count" rarely works and then only for a set period of time before it implodes. She should set high expectations and discipline but with a degree of flexibility and without going full Bobby Knight on the girls.

 

[ElComanche]

What i am talking about is that the players who left need to buy in totally or leave. She was effusive in her praise of the seven players who stayed. I think that most players want a strong leader who provides direction to players and the program.I will hypothesize that JD did not do that and there was most probably team dissension. The team was without direction and did not play as a unit. The players who left were not happy with that approach. The seven players who stayed sure blew up the "dumpster fire" mode of thought that some fans were espousing. I would guess that if a couple of players wanted to come back they would have to have the approval of the remaining seven players.KE 's success as a college coach shows that she communicates well with her players and gets results. The players want to become better and improve individually and as a team. The adage "one bad apple can spoil the barrel rings true. I do not see her as a"coach psycho' at all. As a PG at Texas ,she was the driving force behind their championships. One cannot get that type of result without the respect of other players. After watching the interview,i do not expect any of the eligible but departing players to ask to return. If they do,they will have grown up a lot.

 

[7ICoug]

Seven openings on the squad.

 

[kayak15]

What i am talking about is that the players who left need to buy in totally or leave. She was effusive in her praise of the seven players who stayed. I think that most players want a strong leader who provides direction to players and the program.I will hypothesize that JD did not do that and there was most probably team dissension. The team was without direction and did not play as a unit. The players who left were not happy with that approach. The seven players who stayed sure blew up the "dumpster fire" mode of thought that some fans were espousing. I would guess that if a couple of players wanted to come back they would have to have the approval of the remaining seven players.KE 's success as a college coach shows that she communicates well with her players and gets results. The players want to become better and improve individually and as a team. The adage "one bad apple can spoil the barrel rings true. I do not see her as a"coach psycho' at all. As a PG at Texas ,she was the driving force behind their championships. One cannot get that type of result without the respect of other players. After watching the interview,i do not expect any of the eligible but departing players to ask to return. If they do,they will have grown up a lot.

I agree. Not sure why June lost control of the team but that does seem to be the case and it showed in the season's results.

Very good point about any departed players who want to return having to have the approval of the remaining seven.

As far as the seven buying in is concerned, it appears that they have done so. Somewhat blindly as they do not really know what Ethridge style of ball or leadership is but they are ready and willing to give her a chance.

Overall, I believe that we can have renewed optimism about WBB and that is a good thing. We'll see how it works out next Fall. Going to be some rough going with only seven returning players and a few new recruits. Should be interesting.

 

[7ICoug]

One new recruit so far. Cherilyn Molina who is perhaps the best of the three sisters. But no doubt we will see several additions as Grad Transfers and Euro's show up. Coach Eldridge is also quite into New Zealand WBB with two on the current roster and Australians can't be far behind. One of her current assistants is evidently coming along. Interesting that the former HC of Kansas State under which HC was 18 year assistant was her head of basketball operations at NC

 

[Loyal Coug]

What i am talking about is that the players who left need to buy in totally or leave......... After watching the interview,i do not expect any of the eligible but departing players to ask to return. If they do,they will have grown up a lot.

I agree. Not sure why June lost control of the team but that does seem to be the case and it showed in the season's results.

Very good point about any departed players who want to return having to have the approval of the remaining seven.

As far as the seven buying in is concerned, it appears that they have done so. Somewhat blindly as they do not really know what Ethridge style of ball or leadership is but they are ready and willing to give her a chance.

Overall, I believe that we can have renewed optimism about WBB and that is a good thing. We'll see how it works out next Fall. Going to be some rough going with only seven returning players and a few new recruits. Should be interesting.

Sorry, I did not watch the presser. Did the "former" players come up, or are you guys just supposing?

 

[Loyal Coug]

One new recruit so far. Cherilyn Molina who is perhaps the best of the three sisters. But no doubt we will see several additions as Grad Transfers and Euro's show up. Coach Eldridge is also quite into New Zealand WBB with two on the current roster and Australians can't be far behind. One of her current assistants is evidently coming along. Interesting that the former HC of Kansas State under which HC was 18 year assistant was her head of basketball operations at NC

Which I mentioned in Post #25 along with an article link......

 

[gazooks2]

The players were at the press conference. KE also talked about a written message from the players before she met them. Those seven players sound like they are starved for good coaching. KE exuded confidence and determination in her introduction.. As a NCAA champion,AA ,and gold medal Olympian, she commands instant respect. On the Texas team she was the fiery leader and it seems like it translates to being a successful college coach. She sounds like she wanted a chance at "Big Girl" basketball and WSU gives her the chance to show what she can do in P5 College Basketball.The PAC 12 is a good conference for WBB. It will be an interesting ride with her at the helm.

 

[SaveFerris]

Sorry, I did not watch the presser. Did the "former" players come up, or are you guys just supposing?

One of the question was whether Ethridge would try to re-recruit any of the players. Ethridge responded her focus was on the group of 7 that stayed committed through the transition. She also commented about finding players who want to be in Pullman. So didn't totally close the door. My opinion but it didn't look like something she wanted to get into at her opening press conference as well.

 

[FnuLnu]

One new recruit so far. Cherilyn Molina who is perhaps the best of the three sisters. But no doubt we will see several additions as Grad Transfers and Euro's show up. Coach Eldridge is also quite into New Zealand WBB with two on the current roster and Australians can't be far behind. One of her current assistants is evidently coming along. Interesting that the former HC of Kansas State under which HC was 18 year assistant was her head of basketball operations at NC

Is Coach Eldridge any relation to Howard Eldridge, the former OL coach?

 

[jourdand]

The team failed to meet expectations and no matter what distractions may have contributed to that, ultimately it falls on the coaches door step and rightfully so. I attended a good portion of home games and watched many others on tv. I personally saw no indication of a divided team or any attitude problems. They simply didn’t win the way we all including the team thought they would. Again that falls on the coach and she was let go. The players leaving had way more to do with support for their coach and the way they were treated by the new AD than any team issues. We could use a few of them back but if not it’s not that big of a deal we just move on.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Is Coach Eldridge any relation to Howard Eldridge, the former OL coach?

Just in case you are not being a smart-ass, his name was Harold Etheridge. So no, she is not.

Me thinks you are really just bringing up the tenure of a former HC, like you did directly in my Sportsplex thread. Please don't be one of those posters.

Oh and heh after I posted I realized that her name was misspelled in the post you referenced. . Ethridge, Eldridge. Maybe she can lure Melissa Etheridge to play during halftimes.

 

[kayak15]

Just in case you are not being a smart-ass, his name was Harold Etheridge. So no, she is not.

Me thinks you are really just bringing up the tenure of a former HC, like you did directly in my Sportsplex thread. Please don't be one of those posters.

Oh and heh after I posted I realized that her name was misspelled in the post you referenced. . Ethridge, Eldridge. Maybe she can lure Melissa Etheridge to play during halftimes.

Fnu is O.K. I had the same thought. 'Ethridge, isn't that the name of our former O-line coach? Related? Eh, probably not.' It is not a common name and I am sure that some of the other posters noticed and were curious. Anyway, it's spelled differently so that is the end of that. Reasonable question, though.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Watched the press conference and had a few takeaways:

1) She is going to push these players hard and I will not be surprised if 1 or 2 leave in the next couple years. She basically said, "Be careful what you wish for" when she was talking about the players saying that they were looking forward to learning from her. She said that she loves what she sees from these girls but that right now, their love for one another is at it's peak and they will have days where they might not be.

2) She praised the current players and said that she was excited to work with them, but near the end, she made a comment that indicated to me that she knows that she doesn't have the players to win at the top level. In response to a question, Etheridge said something along the lines of, "until I get new players that deserve it, I plan on sticking with these players".

3) Kirk Schulz and his wife most definitely had a huge role in bringing her on board. They were both mentioned at the press conference.

She strikes me as a great choice to lead WSU and if she can get decent talent and get them to play at the same level and intensity that she played at, I think she'll be a great coach for us. I don't want this to devolve into a Wulff thread, but she showed how you can be very diplomatic in your answers on working with a team and still show that there's a need to build the program before you expect too much success.

 

[gazooks2]

Of course she cannot compete with the top talent yet. But she has a couple of top players now who are Capablanca of doing so. She will make an impact as early as next year with the players she currently has.in the PAC 12.

 

[Observer11]

She just needs to drive up the road and take a right. The GSL has enough talent to replenish the roster immediately.

Aside from Tia Presley - and there's some back story there how she ended up at WSU instead of elsewhere - June got who? Lexie Pederson back in her first year maybe?

She wasn't going to get the Hull twins (Stanford) but there's at LEAST 3 or 4 girls from Spokane every single year who get D-1 rides and it's been that way for 20+ years.

Her first calls should be to Ron Adams and Steve Kleese.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Watched the press conference and had a few takeaways:

1) She is going to push these players hard and I will not be surprised if 1 or 2 leave in the next couple years. She basically said, "Be careful what you wish for" when she was talking about the players saying that they were looking forward to learning from her. She said that she loves what she sees from these girls but that right now, their love for one another is at it's peak and they will have days where they might not be.

2) She praised the current players and said that she was excited to work with them, but near the end, she made a comment that indicated to me that she knows that she doesn't have the players to win at the top level. In response to a question, Etheridge said something along the lines of, "until I get new players that deserve it, I plan on sticking with these players".

3) Kirk Schulz and his wife most definitely had a huge role in bringing her on board. They were both mentioned at the press conference.

She strikes me as a great choice to lead WSU and if she can get decent talent and get them to play at the same level and intensity that she played at, I think she'll be a great coach for us. I don't want this to devolve into a Wulff thread, but she showed how you can be very diplomatic in your answers on working with a team and still show that there's a need to build the program before you expect too much success.

I hope that you are not quite paraphrasing that quote accurately. So when she gets "her" players, the current players are garbage? And that the current players don't "deserve" it?

I'll go watch the presser.......

 

[jourdand]

I think we can be competitive next year, I really thought last years team was NCAA bound at the beginning of the year and we all know that didn’t happen. We lost 3 girls that I would love to have back but we still return at least 4 girls who have started a significant amount of games plus add arguably our best recruit ever in the younger Molina. I’m excited to see what they can do next year, but what do I know I was more excited about last year than I’ve ever been about WSU women’s basketball

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I hope that you are not quite paraphrasing that quote accurately. So when she gets "her" players, the current players are garbage? And that the current players don't "deserve" it?

I'll go watch the presser.......

The 22:00 mark is where she makes the comment I was referring to and she looked very awkward saying it. Of course.....it was just my interpretation of what she said. I knew I didn't have the exact quote and should have made that more obvious.

 

[ElComanche]

She seems confident that she can coach up these players and make progress.One does not build a program overnight, and to really be able to make a run at the PAC 12 will take a little time.

 

[rufffrider]

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The 22:00 mark is where she makes the comment I was referring to and she looked very awkward saying it. Of course.....it was just my interpretation of what she said. I knew I didn't have the exact quote and should have made that more obvious.

I couldn't hear the question she was responding to, but took her statement to mean that she didn't have any plans in place right now to chase after the players that departed, and would build around the 7 that chose to stay. I think any awkwardness you might perceive is coming from not yet knowing how to address the issue of the departing players and having to speak to it w/o entirely burning a bridge that may be used for return. I didn't see or hear anything coming from her that I'd take as a slight on the current seven.

With this hire, this is the first time I've been interested in Coug basketball for quite some time.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I couldn't hear the question she was responding to, but took her statement to mean that she didn't have any plans in place right now to chase after the players that departed, and would build around the 7 that chose to stay. I think any awkwardness you might perceive is coming from not yet knowing how to address the issue of the departing players and having to speak to it w/o entirely burning a bridge that may be used for return. I didn't see or hear anything coming from her that I'd take as a slight on the current seven.

With this hire, this is the first time I've been interested in Coug basketball for quite some time.

I didn't take it as a slight on the current players. She had made another statement a few minutes earlier where she said that it was going to take time to get the program where she wanted it to be.......but she liked the foundation she had. I'm guessing that she looks at our current team (and only 7 returning players) and thinks that we can be a middle of the road Pac-12 team. She knows that these gals aren't good enough to be a Top 3 team. That's not an insult to the players....that's just the reality of the Pac-12. It's a tough league.

 

[Coug95man2]

And her first hire:
http://wsucougars.com/news/2018/4/1...ge-names-laurie-koehn-an-assistant-coach.aspx

 

[kayak15]

I did not see any denigration of the remaining seven either. Her position reminds me of that of Dick Bennett, who brought in that class of five and told them that they were going to be the foundation of the team he was going to build. She seemed to me to be satisfied and even pleased with the seven player foundation that June left her.

 

[ElComanche]

I also like the new hire. A former player who played in the WNBA and overseas. She will have great contacts and respect from the players.The players will be pushed to their limits. I believe KE said something about tears. The best women s coach,in my opinion is G Aurreima from Connecticut. He really drives his players hard and his players have come to accept that. KE is probably the same way and thus,the reasons for her comments. I just read where the new associate coach once made 132 out of 135 3 point shots shots in five minutes. Impressive ,i would never come close to that in my playing days.She had a lifetime average of 41.5 % from 3 point land .

 

[Loyal Coug]

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The 22:00 mark is where she makes the comment I was referring to and she looked very awkward saying it. Of course.....it was just my interpretation of what she said. I knew I didn't have the exact quote and should have made that more obvious.

I couldn't hear the question she was responding to, but took her statement to mean that she didn't have any plans in place right now to chase after the players that departed, and would build around the 7 that chose to stay. I think any awkwardness you might perceive is coming from not yet knowing how to address the issue of the departing players and having to speak to it w/o entirely burning a bridge that may be used for return. I didn't see or hear anything coming from her that I'd take as a slight on the current seven.

With this hire, this is the first time I've been interested in Coug basketball for quite some time.

Good good good, thanks. I see that she has a ring on her ring finger. But all her NorColo assistants were women. So that is a good sign. You get what I am getting at.....

 

[SaveFerris]

I couldn't hear the question she was responding to, but took her statement to mean that she didn't have any plans in place right now to chase after the players that departed, and would build around the 7 that chose to stay. I think any awkwardness you might perceive is coming from not yet knowing how to address the issue of the departing players and having to speak to it w/o entirely burning a bridge that may be used for return. I didn't see or hear anything coming from her that I'd take as a slight on the current seven.

With this hire, this is the first time I've been interested in Coug basketball for quite some time.

This is exactly how I took her response. The question was about the potential of re-recruiting the 3 players that left the program.

 

[ElComanche]

That "You get what..." is pure nonsense and has absolutely no bearing on her job or on this board for that matter. Times have drastically changed and it is absolutely astounding that you make that statement.

 

[rufffrider]

That "You get what..." is pure nonsense and has absolutely no bearing on her job or on this board for that matter. Times have drastically changed and it is absolutely astounding that you make that statement.

I took that comment to mean that she's not bringing her husband along with her on staff like our last women's head coach.

 

[Loyal Coug]

I took that comment to mean that she's not bringing her husband along with her on staff like our last women's head coach.

That "You get what..." is pure nonsense and has absolutely no bearing on her job or on this board for that matter. Times have drastically changed and it is absolutely astounding that you make that statement.

Uh, bingo, ruff. Exactly what I meant. No nepotism, which as I stated in another thread, is present in other WSU sports. Baseball, VB, one more....

ElC - I am shocked that you would take it any other way. What is wrong with you? Geez. Although I will say that I almost went back and explained what I meant in case some dufus didn't get it. I wouldn't have expected it to be you.

 

[ElComanche]

I will accept that explanation. the clarifications is enlightening and welcomed

 

[12375CAT]

HCKE was the long time asst coach for Deb Patterson @ Wildcatland