Any Recruitng News for the Women's Team?

I assume we are signing multiple players but have seen nothing regardng potential recruits.

DD, if you are out there, do you have any info?

And, btw, thank you for all the prior interesting info.

Nope, none!

Thanks for thinking of me as a quasi source of info, but unlike previous years, I just haven't talked specifics with the coaching staff.

I can tell that during the discussions I have had with Coach Sorenson, she has indicated she going for "tough and physical" student-athletes, as the lack of physicality and the lack of a point guard were the Pilots biggest undoings this year despite the very good shooters/scorers on the team.

It will take awhile to rebuild the team/program, but from what I've seen, the coaches are good recruiters and are the caliber of coaches that young ladies would like to play for.

While awaiting news of who will be joining the program this summer, it was a good time to say goodbye to the seniors.....

As Cyndi Lauper sang back in the '80's, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun....."

UP Athletics wrote:The Portland Pilots backcourt received a boost on Friday with the addition of junior college transfers Holly Blades (Meridian, Idaho/Meridian HS) and Rachelle Owens (Carson, Calif./Carson HS), who will be joining the women's basketball program as juniors next season. Both Blades and Owens spent the past two years at the College of Southern Idaho and both will have two years of eligibility remaining.

LINK
Coach Sorenson has said she'll recruit "toughness," and from what I've heard about Blades and Owens, she's keeping her word.

And this from five months ago:

UP Athletics wrote:The Portland Pilots women's basketball program has inked its first recruiting class under first-year head coach Cheryl Sorenson as Darian Slaga (Prescott Valley, Ariz./Boulder Creek HS), Julie Spencer (Chehalis, Wash./W.F. West HS) and Ellie Woerner (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS) have each signed a National Letter of Intent. The trio will join the team as freshmen next fall.

LINK
It's hard to say if UP will add anymore recruits to the roster this year, but there is room to do so.....

I believe D1 women's basketball can carry 15 student-athletes on scholarship, but I doubt that will happen at UP as the Pilots have, as a rule, gone with 13 student-athletes.  Last season's team had 14 players on the roster, but one was a walk-on.

The Pilots have announced five recruits joining the team for the upcoming season and there are seven returning players.....so there is obviously room for at least one more signing....

I haven't seen an official announcement yet, but I'm pretty sure UP picked up another JUCO student-athlete, Carissa Turley.

Carissa was a 6-0 shooting guard for two years at her hometown school, College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA.

With the recent departure of Greek guard Stefania Sideri, there are now 12 student-athletes on the squad (including one walk-on, Maddie Ward), so there could be one or two more additions.  The staff was on the road recruiting weekend before last, but that may have been to checkout recruits for 2016 and beyond.

Sideri redshirted her first year on the Bluff and played in only two games (14 minutes) in her second year, and it became clear should would not find any increased minutes going forward with the new recruits coming in.

PortlandPilots.com now has the announcement. But this earlier blurb from the Visalia Times-Delta suggests there was competition for Corissa's services:

Over the next two weekends, COS women’s basketball players Corissa Turley (Redwood) and Vanessa Mancera (Independence) will be going on official visits to four-year universities. Mancera, the 2015 Central Valley Conference player of the year, will be taking official visits to the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Chico State respectively over the next few weeks. Corissa Turley, a 6-0 sophomore out of Redwood, will visit the University of Portland (an NCAA Division I school that competes in the West Coast Conference) and Hawaii as well.

“The plan is for both of them to take their visits and then choose one of those schools. They both have great options and I can’t be any happier for them. They are both a big part of why our program here at COS has gained state wide recognition,” said COS women’s basketball coach Ray Alvarado.

An update will come after both have made their decisions.

DoubleDipper wrote:With the recent departure of Greek guard Stefania Sideri, there are now 12 student-athletes on the squad (including one walk-on, Maddie Ward), so there could be one or two more additions.

And what a wonderful addition they made.....Eastern Washington guard Jade Redmond will be transferring to UP this coming semester.

Redmond, who started all 33 games for the Eagles this past season, will have to sit a year, but IMO she's an extremely important addition, especially with the rule changes that will increase the necessity of bringing the ball into the front court in a timely manner.

Redmond had 10 rebounds, 14 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals for the Eagles against the Pilots just 6 months ago in Cheney, so the coaches are very familiar with her abilities.

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2015/6/12/WBB_0612154500.aspx

With at least a couple of scholarships in hand, Coach Sorenson has been hinting at a new student-athlete signing soon.....but nothing yet.

@PortlandPilots wrote:WBB: Pilots add transfer Jojuan Carrington! She'll join the squad as a sophomore

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2016/4/20/wbb_signs_transfer.aspx

One of our fall signees, Kate Anderson from Jesuit, was Metro Player of the Year and 1st team all state. Not a bad reputation. Unfortunately, she and her Oregon teammates took it on the chin in the Oregon Washington Shootout, in which she was a starter.

Let's hope we are more competitive next year.

up7587 wrote:

@PortlandPilots wrote:WBB: Pilots add transfer Jojuan Carrington! She'll join the squad as a sophomore

Pretty sure that is the good news that Coach Sorenson has been hinting at over the last week or so.

With the arrival of Carrington,  Andersen, and Quinlan, I would say that is the end of the recruiting for this coming season unless someone decides to transfer.....which is quite possible.

Women's basketball is allowed 15 scholarships, and 14 are now spoken for, but Coach Sorenson has generally maintained that 11 or 12 on the roster is a better number because there are enough players for practice and there is more opportunity for individual playing time.

However, there may be a number of reason for the Pilots poor WCC record last year (like turnovers!!), but the team was also VERY shorthanded due to injury.....

DoubleDipper wrote:

Women's basketball is allowed 15 scholarships, and 14 are now spoken for, but Coach Sorenson has generally maintained that 11 or 12 on the roster is a better number because there are enough players for practice and there is more opportunity for individual playing time.

However, there may be a number of reason for the Pilots poor WCC record last year (like turnovers!!), but the team was also VERY shorthanded due to injury.....

It's a stupid assertion that an underfunded team can compete in any league, much less the WCC. Injury is part of any sport.

If the administration doesn't care, that's ok, just don't expect fans to show up for a less than full effort.

Last years' team was unwatchable ( both because of their play and the WCC ref's) And I'm not the only one who thought so. Several long time fans who don't even Go to men's games stopped coming.

According to the note at the website, Carrington averaged 10 rebounds a game. Clearly JC competition does not directly compare to D1 WCC ball, but no Pilot averaged even 4 rebounds per game. Help on the boards, let's hope, is on the way.

Yup, I'm sorry to say I was one of those who stopped attending.

I always want to support our student-athletes, but it was just not worth the 3 hours out of one's life to travel to and from games where there was no hope of winning due to sloppy play.  I did get to see UP's only WCC win in the game vs. Pepperdine, but the team went decidedly down hill after that.

Coach Sorenson knows how bad a performance it was last year and knows how tough it was to watch for the fans and the staff.  

Maybe the team will have more players in the coming season....we'll just have to wait and see.

I too was one of those long time fans who stopped attending for exactly the reasons DD mentions.

Pilot signee Carrington had some competition for her services. Looks as though the Pilots got involved late in the recruiting process. This article from the Diablo Valley website printed January 18 alludes to the interest level, her on court performance and the support she received from her family and coach.

Jojuan Carrington is setting a high standard with the Diablo Valley women's basketball team.
A versatile freshman who's on track to transfer to a four-year program next season, Carrington is averaging 16.8 points and 11.0 rebounds a game in the Big 8 Conference for the Vikings (14-5, 3-1).
In a thrilling 68-67 win over Santa Rosa on Jan. 12, Carrington had a game-high 26 points to go with nine rebounds. She was 10 for 16 from the floor and 5 for 5 from the free throw line.
Moreover, she's doing it all with a touch of class on a team in transition.
"She's a really nice kid. Family has done a great job," DVC coach Ramaundo Vaughn said.
The 6-foot-1 Carrington, who helped Dublin High to its first North Coast Section title since 1988 last season and a NorCal Division II runner-up finish, is still weighing her options for the four-year level.
"It's very open right now. I'm just getting a feel for different schools," she said.
The schools are lining up.
Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, Ariz.), Hawaii, Fresno State and UNLV have all come out to see her, and Gonzaga called last week. A bunch of Division II schools have also inquired.
"She will end up at a nice school and pay zero to be there," Vaughn said.
A model of consistency throughout her four-year high school career, Carrington averaged 10.9 points and 9.1 records as a Dublin senior.
She's taken it up a notch this year, fine-tuning her skills and becoming even more of a scoring threat.
"My senior year I had to be a leader on the floor, and so that basically prepared me mentally to be able to play in different situations," Carrington said recently. "The previous year we weren't as good, and so when we finally got to our senior year and we were doing extremely well, it taught me how to play at a higher level, so that really helps."
Carrington, averaging 14.6 points and 9.6 rebounds overall, and teammate Brandy Williams (11.5 ppg., 8.5 rpg) have formed a dominating one-two punch in the paint and in transition this season.
Carrington says she draws her playing style from a variety of sources.
"I've played around a lot of different good basketball players, so I think I just take little things from everyone," she said, "but for the most part I just try to be the best person myself and try to get better every day."
Clearly, her family has had a lot to cheer about this season. Her mom, Mercedes, and younger sister Layla, a sixth-grader and volleyball player, attend all of her games.
"My biggest supporters are my mom and my little sister, but I get a lot of support from everyone in my family," she said.

A roster spot has opened up with the transfer of the Pilots top scorer last season, freshman Ellie Woerner.  

It was speculated a couple of month ago that Ellie might change schools when it seemed pretty clear that Jason Todd would be transferring.  Of course her transfer could be for an entirely different reason....like wanting to play on a winning team.

It's rumored that Ellie will most likely end up at Boise St......

That’s why speculation is dangerous, this is 100% false.  The two transfers are unrelated.

Woerner's loss will likely be significant to the team's fortunes. Let's hope one of these three recruits coming aboard can help with the scoring slack, as well as the rebounding.

wrv wrote:Woerner's loss will likely be significant to the team's fortunes. Let's hope one of these three recruits coming aboard can help with the scoring slack, as well as the rebounding.

Honestly, it's hard to imagine how it could get significantly worse than 3-27 for the season and 1-17 in conference.

One player lost is not the problem.

I concede the point.

DoubleDipper wrote:It's rumored that Ellie will most likely end up at Boise St......

Confirmed!

Saw a young lady at the Chiles Center last week that seemed to be speaking with a Kiwi accent.....you never know.

   Jayce Gorzeman  ‎@jgorzeman14
Blessed to say I have verbally committed to further my basketball career at the University of Portland⚓️🙌🏽🏀  

Jayce plans to sign in November and just enjoy her senior year at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico "without any pressure on me, and just play and have fun."

Coach Sorenson's staff had seen Ms. Gorzeman play AAU/club ball for the Texas Heat over the last two summers, and invited her to UP's elite camp last weekend....and she verbally committed almost immediately after being offered a full-ride scholarship at the conclusion of the camp.