KSU Women’s Basketball Postmorten
Rewind
Kennesaw State finished the 2016-17 season with a 10-20 record overall, and 8-6 in conference, including a home win in the conference tournament vs. NJIT.
The Owls were led by a balanced offensive attack which included freshman Carlotta Gianolla and senior Ollie Sawyers.
The biggest challenge KSU faced this season was learning to play the style of ball that Agnus Berenato wanted, and how to overcome losing their senior point guard Karly Frye and senior big Jasmine McAllister.
Returning Players in 2017-18 (my best guess!)
Rising senior Clara Young. Young started the season stronger than she finished it. She’s a perfect first guard off the bench. She’s smart and quick, but she doesn’t have the physicality, consistent shooting or outright athleticism that you need from a starting point guard to win vs. the A-Sun elites.
Rising Senior Kelly Dulkoski. The sharp shooter took a step back this season percentage-wise, but she’s a player that must be accounted for at all times. She can be a complementary starter, or a bench piece.
Rising Junior Iceis Walker. High energy guard. Physical player…athletic and quick. Needs to develop her skill-set.
Rising Senior Katie Polinsky. Bench piece at center.
Rising Sophomore Alex Landby. Developmental forward who will be a year plus removed from a knee injury.
Rising Senior Deja McPhee. Hustle player. Glue piece. Better suited coming off the bench or being a match-up starter.
Rising Graduate Student Chloe Branch. Coming off a knee injury, she looked worlds better than she did in 2015-16. Could be a useful bench piece if she returns next season.
Rising Junior Allison Johnson: An aggressive rebounder who needs to refine her footwork, shot selection and become more consistent. Easily the second-highest ceiling of the returning roster besides Gianolla. I think Gianolla and Johnson are both best at the power forward spot…so we’ll see what happens.
Rising Sophomore Carlotta Gianolla. Agnus Berenato’s first signee was a steal. She’s 6’1″ long and athletic. She can hit the jumper or win off the bounce–a nightmare match-up for many A-Sun bigs to defend. She also is tough to contend with when the Owls decide to full court press, which is something I think we will see more of next season. Gianolla won freshman of the year and she can be the best player in the conference by the time she’s a junior, if she keeps improving. She’ll need to improve her free throw shooting, body language, and picking up cheap fouls — all correctable!
Write-Up
When Agnus Berenato was hired, I thought the hiring was absolutely ridiculous and a “safe hire” after what was endured under Nitra Perry. I saw a retread HC who hadn’t won a conference game at Pittsburgh in two seasons and then was out of coaching for a few years, and only had mild success before that. Obviously it’s too early to know if she is the answer to getting KSU OVER the hump, BUT after seeing this season play out, she’s without a doubt changed the culture of the program. Am I more optimistic now than I was a year ago? Absolutely!
It’s not hard to tell that the culture of the program has changed, just by watching the interactions of the players on the sidelines during the games and how they play the game. Gone are the dark days when players lost the love of the game at Kennesaw State.
While the results of the season were about what I expected — and similar to the results of the previous year (wins and losses), the biggest coup was getting Gianolla, who is an elite A-Sun talent.
The 2017 Class shows that the coaches have recruited Atlanta, but have also recruited other states and overseas. For her style of play, Berenato needs to bring in more athletic players than what she was working with this past season, and hopefully the 2017 Class will show that. Gianolla has raised expectations recruiting-wise, so it will be fun to see how 2017 looks when they get on campus. KSU’s athleticism and talent levels need to rise in order to compete with the dominant programs in the A-Sun (FGCU, Stetson and JU), and with its location and resource, KSU should be lapping the lower programs in the conference in no time.
Bottom Line
From what I’ve observed, the WBB coaching staff is well-liked, dynamic, full of personality and diligent, and I don’t doubt that they can bring in better talent than what they inherited from Nitra Perry.
The biggest immediate need for KSU is to find a point guard. If the Owls don’t find an upgrade to Clara Young this offseason (she’s more of a combo guard), I question the ceiling of the team in 2017-18.
The A-Sun Conference is set-up with 3 really good programs and 3 questionable ones (and throw KSU and Upstate in the middle), so the Owls should continue to find a #4 or #5 seed every single year. Physical talent alone should win KSU at minimum 6 conference games a season, because Lipscomb, UNF and NJIT, are and have been hot garbage, and that’s probably not changing. It’s the other 8 games that are going to show the progress of the team.
Source: ksuowlhowl.com
Link: KSU Women’s Basketball Postmorten