A Few Odds 'n Ends

[MikeADore]

* The team is on the way back from Italy after what was, by all available measures, an absolute success. The girls obviously had a great time together and seemed to perform well on the court in their two games. When they arrive this evening, I wonder if some will split off and try to head home for a couple days before classes start Wednesday. Those who return to campus will likely be at Dore Jam Saturday to meet with fans along with athletes from most of the school’s other programs.

* We should start getting some scheduling info in the next week or so. Mid-August is the usual time for the SEC to release full conference schedules including times, dates and locations.

* Also, many schools are releasing full non-conference schedules, and I would expect Vandy to do the same soon. That’s the one I’m most interested in seeing. I’m not looking for a full-on cupcake schedule, but I would like to see this team set up for a reasonable amount of success. Last year, coach Garrick said he has a hand in scheduling, and noted his philosophy is this: If you schedule 12 games, you want six to be games where you feel you have a very good chance of success, four games where, if you take care of business and play well, you should be OK, and the other two games should be a big challenge where you feel you will need to play close to your best in order to win. It’s not an exact science, obviously, but I think the philosophy is sound.

* We already have one of those “need to play close to your best games” with a November 29 trip to N.C. State as part of the SEC/ACC challenge. Thanksgiving is on the 23rd this year. We usually play a tough schedule in a Thanksgiving holiday tournament, but it looks like we might not play in one this season. Many of those tourneys have already released their schedules, and Vandy has not been mentioned. After what was no doubt a very expensive trip to Italy, it wouldn’t be surprising if we just scheduled some games closer to home during the holiday week and skipped the expense of a holiday trip.

* I didn’t see any evidence of Iyanna Moore playing in Italy, and only saw one photo of Jordyn Cambridge where it looked like she could be in a live game. Both appear to be moving around well off the court. I would think they will be carefully controlled when pre-season practice starts in roughly six weeks near the end of September. That would give both about a year of recovery time after being injured during last year’s preseason.

* Really hoping we see an official visit from Mikayla Blakes (’24) soon after the team gets back to campus. She could be a huge pickup.