2020 Recruiting

It's usually pretty difficult to follow WBB recruiting, but in this case, University High School in Spokane Valley made it easy...


That's 5-9 guard Jacksen on the left and her twin sister, 5-11 guard Tyler, on the right.

With only guard Kate Andersen set to graduate in May, it could be the Pilots WBB team will have more than 13 players on scholarship for the first time in many years during the 2020-21 season.

wrv wrote:Are these twins in fact signing with the Pilots?

Yes.
womens-hoops-signs-sisters-jacksen-tyler-mccliment-call

Fraternal twins Jacksen and Tyler are each an inch taller at 5-10 and 6-0 than they were last fall...



Their addition to next year's roster will bring the number of scholarship players to 14...assuming no on leaves the team.

Additionally, Coach Mike Meek is quoted as saying, "We're also excited to eventually add to this recruiting class in the future." It's rumored the staff is recruiting one more Aussie in hopes of having four from "down under" on the team next season.

The NCAA limits scholarships for D1 women's basketball to 15, but no on I've spoken to remembers a Pilots team with more than 12 scholarship players at any one time, at least since the late '80s when UP women's basketball moved from the NAIA to D1.

wrv wrote:I assume at this point Pilot scholarships are fully accounted for and there are none available for next year. If there were room, would the Pilots have enough pull to perhaps snag another Aussie, 6'5" Lucy Cochrane, who is transferring from the Ducks?

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2020/04/oregon-womens-basketball-forward-lucy-cochrane-enters-transfer-portal.html

Good find wrv!

Actually, there is a scholarship available, and I understand Coach Meek has been saving it for a transfer or an international player...and it would seem 6-5 Lucy Cochrane would be both!!

Even if she has to sit a year, she could add so much to the bench and to practice, and she would be available the following season after 6-5 Lauren Walker graduates.

Let's see how this plays out...

Another scholarship has opened-up...

Megan Engesser, a 5-10 freshman guard from Colorado Springs, has entered her name in the transfer portal.

Megan was a terrific teammate, but saw very little action this season as she really didn't fit Coach Meek's style of play, and the staff didn't feel they could afford to redshirt her because the squad was already so depleted from injuries.

The daughter of a well respected high school coach, I wouldn't be surprised if she lands at a D1 or very good D2 program and is one day a coach too.

By my count, there are now two scholarships available.

wrv wrote:The reigning Metro POY, Mikele Meek, intends to matriculate at the U of Portland, playing for her father, who rumor has it recruited her in person notwithstanding the NCAA regulations  intended to temporarily ban such shenanigans.

Will she be counted toward bball scholarships?

Haha, actually McKelle committed to play as a walk-on at UP at least a month ago...I learned of her decision at the OSAA Tournament at the Chiles Center.  

She revealed she’d only played for her dad once before, and that was during a summer of AAU ball, but also her dad has given her “a ton of instruction” since she was a youngster.

As most are aware, the Pilots are allowed 15 scholarship players by the NCAA, and the UP budget allows 14.

With Erika Kankfelt leaving the team due to injuries, Kate Andersen graduating, Megan Engesser transferring, and the Clement-Call twins arriving this summer, it means there are two scholarship open.

Counting walk-on McKelle, and assuming both current walk-ons return (Shasta Parker is a science major and Kris Woolridge is a nursing major, and both have full-ride academic scholarships), the roster is currently at 15 with the two open scholarships.

I sense Coach Meek, who tells me “he’s always looking to improve the team,” is looking for transfers and/or internationals.  Regardless, it would seem winning the WCC Tournament Championship will help his recruiting chances.

As McKelle wears jersey #10, the same as Haylee, I’m guessing the now vacant #1 will suit her just fine.



Oh, the 5-7 Meek is not only the Metro League POY, she is also the Oregon Gatorade POY.

DoubleDipper wrote:With Erika Kankfelt leaving the team due to injuries, Kate Andersen graduating, Megan Engesser transferring, and the Clement-Call twins arriving this summer, it means there are two scholarship open.

On second thought, I believe there may be only one scholarship available.  

I'd forgotten there's an NCAA rule that has to do with a coach needing to be at an institution for at least 5 years before he or she can bring in his their own kid (in this case, McKelle), and not have it count against one of the scholarships allowed.

The rule is meant to keep schools from hiring parents as head coaches to get their kid to come to the school immediately on a scholarship.  The rule sounds reasonable, I guess, but it would seem there have been plenty of schools that have hired assistant coaches just to get their kids to enroll.

Regardless, I sense that Coach Meek is looking for a transfer to add to the roster.

DoubleDipper wrote:Megan Engesser, a 5-10 freshman guard from Colorado Springs, has entered her name in the transfer portal.

The daughter of a well respected high school coach, I wouldn't be surprised if she lands at a D1 or very good D2 program and is one day a coach too.

Megan has transferred to Black Hills State University, a D2 school in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, "where she will continue her studies in math and science with aspirations to one day become a teacher and a coach."

https://bhsuathletics.com/news/2020/4/16/womens-basketball-wbb-yellow-jackets-add-engesser.aspx

wrv wrote: If there were room, would the Pilots have enough pull to perhaps snag another Aussie, 6'5" Lucy Cochrane, who is transferring from the Ducks?
https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2020/04/oregon-womens-basketball-forward-lucy-cochrane-enters-transfer-portal.html

There is now another 6-5 Aussie in the transfer portal, Lizzy Williamson, from Adelaide.
 
It would appear she might be immediately eligible with four years of eligibility remaining, as she is attending Utah St. as a freshman, but did not play this past season. On the other hand, she might not be eligible until December as she joined Utah St. this past December, immediately after graduating from school in Australia.      

You’d think she’d want to come to the West Coast and team up with Alex, but there have to be a number of other teams trying to snag her.

She was just 17 years-old and in her early development at Westminster School when this video was made:

Hey DD:

Have you heard anything at all whether or not Coach Meek is trying to land either one of the two 6'5" Aussies mentioned on this forum recently - Lucy Cochrane or Lizzy Williamson. You'd think the great success of landing 2 Pilots on the NCAA All-Australian 2019-20 first team would be a big boost to our chances. Thanks for sharing anything you know.

Shadrach wrote:Hey DD:

Have you heard anything at all whether or not Coach Meek is trying to land either one of the two 6'5" Aussies mentioned on this forum recently - Lucy Cochrane or Lizzy Williamson. You'd think the great success of landing 2 Pilots on the NCAA All-Australian 2019-20 first team would be a big boost to our chances. Thanks for sharing anything you know.

Well, I know he knows about both of them, and I know he has interest in signing an international or a transfer...so I can only conjecture.

I've been told San Diego is interested in Williamson, and Coach Cindy Fisher, the WCC Coach of the Year, and her staff are excellent recruiters to their coast town much like Adelaide...Williamson's hometown.

Bride Kennedy-Hopoate, a 6-5 RS senior forward from Brisbane, Australia, and currently enrolled at New Mexico after transferring from Iowa St. and after playing at two junior colleges, has entered her name in the transfer portal.

But with only one year to play and finding it difficult to stay anywhere for long, I personally don’t think she's the kind of help the team needs with 6-5 Lauren Walker entering her senior year with the Pilots.

DoubleDipper wrote:I've been told San Diego is interested in Williamson, and Coach Cindy Fisher, the WCC Coach of the Year, and her staff are excellent recruiters to their coast town much like Adelaide...Williamson's hometown.

Cindy Fisher and USD just landed Lizzy Williamson's Aussie teammate at Utah State, guard Steph Gorman.  

A 3-point specialist (122 in her two years at Utah St.) that UP held to 2/8 last fall, I doubt Gorman was someone UP was interested in, but it does indicate USD is also looking for Aussies and they knew Utah St. had two looking to transfer...

Any news or updates on where Lucy Cochrane might land?

DoubleDipper wrote:Cindy Fisher and USD just landed Lizzy Williamson's Aussie teammate at Utah State, guard Steph Gorman.  

A 3-point specialist (122 in her two years at Utah St.) that UP held to 2/8 last fall, I doubt Gorman was someone UP was interested in, but it does indicate USD is also looking for Aussies and they knew Utah St. had two looking to transfer...

Well, I was wrong, UP was apparently interested in signing Gorman.

From a tweet by an Australian coach, "Gorman narrowed her choices to Portland and San Diego before deciding to play in California."

It is admittedly very difficult to get a good handle on WBB recruiting, and I have no idea whether UP is interested in Cochrane or Williamson...one can only surmise they are, as they are both somewhat unique to WBB because of their height, and they are both Aussies, and three of their countrywomen helped UP win the WCC Tournament.

I do know that close to 350 women added their names to the transfer portal this offseason and approximately 225 have already found new schools to play at, including GU, SCU (2), LMU (2), USF, PU, UOP, BYU, and USD (2).

There may be more who have transferred to the WCC that I missed, but the 11 we know about can only make the conference stronger...one would think.

Rob's Jacket wrote:Any news or updates on where Lucy Cochrane might land?

No actual updates except that I'm told she could make her decision within the next week, or so.

I would imagine Lucy's coach, Kelly Graves, would be putting in a good word for UP and Coach Meek, and you'd think that Alex has been a big help in recruiting Lucy to UP if that is what Coach Meek wants...but again, it's all conjecture.

wrv wrote:One of the Aussie posts Williamson appears to be headed to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds coached by a former St. Mary's associate head coach, who is a former post herself.

I've watched Williamson and Cochrane on tape, and although the tape is from their time in high school, Cochrane appears to be the better athlete and the better all-around player from a shooting, rebounding and defensive standpoint.

wrv wrote:On the upside of this commitment, I assume that McKelle can make a positive impact, both as a shooter and a point. I am not sure if we ever had a Gatorade POY, Metro League POY caliber of player "walk on."

Look forward to seeing her play.

It's official, the Oregon 6A State Player of the Year, McKelle Meek, has joined the UP roster...

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2020/5/4/wbb-pilots-add-the-state-player-of-the-year-mckelle-meek.aspx

Nice interview with Ms. Meek:

https://www.kptv.com/news/20-senior-spotlight-southridge-hs-basketball-star-to-play-with-dad-at-u-of-p/article_d3841f68-958f-11ea-9c38-bfba610fc034.html

Rob's Jacket wrote:Any news or updates on where Lucy Cochrane might land?

There are literally no updates about the two 6-5 Aussies, Cochrane and Williamson.

A few weeks ago there was speculation that both were ready to commit to new schools, but now I'm seeing/hearing nothing.

After learning yesterday that Australia is locked-down for the duration, and that COVID-19 cases are beginning to increase in some places where social-distancing is being relaxed in the US, it could be both are considering playing professionally at home...I just don't know