Drury Panthers

[crazznewt]

Incoming freshman Haylee Mitchell is serious about her goal of dunking a basketball soon. She can already dunk a volleyball with authority. You have to admire a kid that works hard in the off season.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1380291479332081664

[crazznewt]

Coach Foster was introduced last night at the Oreilly Center. To say there is excitement surrounding the program is an understatement.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1385640252879089664

[crazznewt]

More national recognition for Amy Eagan.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1389582145253949440

Side note: the last two GLVC Women's Coach of the Year recipients now have D1 head coaching jobs. Quigley Smith from Lewis now at SIUE.

[crazznewt]

Congratulations to the Drury track & field and cross country programs. An anonymous donor contributed to new locker rooms and other improvements for their facilities.

Anonymous is a word seldom heard.

[crazznewt]

D2 National Player of the Year Paige Robinson has been named Academic All District. She was one of only five total chosen out of 3 conferences and will now be considered for Academic All American.

[crazznewt]

Wow! The Lady Panthers are serious in their push for a national championship as they just landed one of the best players in the MIAA for the last three years.

5'5" Kaylee Damitz, averaged 16.4 points, 5.3 assists, and 4 rebounds per game. She recieved All MIAA honors 3 times and Freshman of the year honors while at Pittsburgh State.

Drury already has signed a JUCO All American guard and return all their starting guards. A couple of the high school guards coming in had D1 offers. Looks like a return to 90 feet of pressure defense for the Lady Panthers.

On paper, this team is looking like a national contender again.

[crazznewt]

Coach Foster has picked up an athletic 6'3" combo guard from Rend Lake CC. Blake McKay is a prolific shooter who can get to the hoop and finish high and strong.

This is a clip from his high school days.
https://youtu.be/Vx0YhuCBM48

[crazznewt]

The Lady Panthers add another transfer, Terrion Moore from Illinois State. Last season's highlights:

MVC All-Defensive Team ... MVC All-Newcomer Team ... 2x MVC Newcomer of the Week ... started in all 24 games, averaging 10.9 points and 20.7 minutes played per contest ... shot 43% (92-214) from the floor and 36.3% (29-80) from behind the three-point line ... was 48-of-64 (75%) from the charity stripe ... led the team in steals with 50 on the year, averaging 2.1 steals per game ... posted double figure scoring in 15 games and recording 20+ points vs. Bradley (Jan. 27) and Missouri State (Feb. 13) ... went off for a career-high 22 points against No. 21 Missouri State on Feb. 13, also adding two steals and three rebounds ... had a career-high seven steals at Loyola Chicago......had 14 points and 8 rebounds in ISU'S WNIT win against Samford.

[crazznewt]

Apparently former Lady Panther coach Molly Miller was on "The short list" to replace Baylor's Kim Mulkey as the Lady Bear's head coach.

I think she stays at Grand Canyon and has great success. Her next recruiting class is phenomenal as she out recruited much bigger schools for players as is the norm for her.

Drury's current players love coach Eagan. It sounds like they feel Eagan is as good as Miller as a coach if not better. So far so good for Eagan with a National runner up finish (minus two graduated All Americans among others) and an outstanding recruiting class coming in.

Looking forward to June and a more active transfer portal. Also, a new pro-am league with 4 new basketball courts is set to debut later in June. This is a 15 minute drive on the back roads from my house.

[crazznewt]

Drury guard Malik Davis showed substantial all around improvement over the course of last season. This improvement is continuing as he has the luxury of playing full court street ball at a new park in St Louis. Anyone who has ever played ball in this setting knows you better not be a puss or you'll always be watching instead of playing.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1394111977149054976

[crazznewt]

The Lady Panthers have added a JUCO 6' forward from Western Nebraska. She didnt put up big numbers but her highlights show she is very strong and has some speed.

I guess Amy doesnt want a short bench like she had last season.
She could have the best guards in all of D2 including:
*Returning starter Paige Robinson, D2 POY
*Returning starter Payton Richards, 2nd Team All GLVC her sophomore year
*Returning starter Katie Kirkhart, transfer from D1 Oral Roberts
*Transfer Kaylee Damitz, 3 time All MIAA
*Transfer Terrion Moore, double figure scorer and all league defender from Illinois State.
*Savanna Collins, First Team JUCO All American.

I see her playing 10 players with zero drop off. This doesn't include another 3 All State freshmen she has to work in.

[crazznewt]

Updates:
Bella Sparaco, the 6' transfer from Western Nebraska, had at least two D1 offers.

And Paige Robinson was named an Academic All American today by CoSIDA.

[crazznewt]

Apparently Coach Foster has picked up another D1 transfer! Creighton guard Jett Canfield will have 3 years of eligibility with the Panthers. He initially walked on but eventually received a scholarship. Seldom used on a loaded Bluejay team, his top on-court performance came during the one game that didn't count, when he scored eight first-half points in the Big East tournament against St. John's before league officials canceled the event at halftime.

Speaking of transfers, the following is a televised interview with the Gayman transfers.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1383254011076235267

[crazznewt]

Tuesday night was the debut of the new pro-am league in Strafford, MO

My main observation is the fact a majority of D1 and D2 women college players misjudge how good these high school players are. These are elite teams that have been playing and winning elite tournaments all over the midwest since school ball ended. A lot of these college players have taken some time off after the season to let the nagging injuries heal. Add the mixing of new players into the lineups and the ensuing disorganization presented a monumental challenge. It was fun to watch!

*Incoming Freshman Anna Hitt is quick! Her athleticism is comparable to Daejah Bernard and Kara Rutledge. Elite.

*Incoming Freshman Haylee Mitchell can get up! She is a little green and is on a mission to block every shot..even if this means going through and over her teammates to accomplish this. What a motor!

*Paige Robinson isn't resting on her POY laurels. She put on a show with her ball handling skills.

*Transfer Kaylee Damitz is as good as advertised and is a very strong defender.

On the men's side:

*Transfer Clay Gayman is fun to watch! He can do it all, including defend. Has a motor that is second to none. Is a tremendous leaper and wide and quick defensively on the perimeter.
I know better than to make predictions.....this kid is a First Team GLVC lock!

*Returner Obi Okafor made at least 4 three point shots and drove hard against big boy pressure to finish impressively at the rim. Including a couple dunks from outside the lane over big people. Hopefully with this extra season of eligibility he can reach his vast potential.

[crazznewt]

Paige Robinson put on a show today at the Pro-Am Sunday session. She couldn't miss and had a lot of heat check moments. She was on fire as her teammates kept feeding her the ball and telling her to shoot. Several of her makes were from 25 feet after putting a move on a defender. She also surprised with her quickness.

The people in my section were estimating her numbers, and the consensus was that she had at least 60 points with at least 15 three pointers. People were turning to watch from the other courts as word was spreading across the facility. This was a game (40 minutes with a running clock) between a split squad Drury team and BBC, a local NAIA school.

I will try to find out the official numbers from the Sports Center later.