wbbfan23

I could see Somfai being a potential fit. She didn’t consistently put up big numbers as a freshman, but I do think there’s possibility for more growth and development. She was a regular starter and a big, strong forward, but can also move pretty well for her size. A lot of fiery energy and has international experience. Obviously not the experience of others in the portal, but I also see some benefit to picking up a rising sophomore who could possibly be with us multiple years (unless the portal monster strikes again). Just my two cents worth. I’m sure someone here will tell me all the reasons I’m wrong.

I got to visit the South Bend airport several years ago en route to the Final Four (I believe in Cleveland that year). Our plane was trying to land, but we had to circle several times because of weather. We eventually got too low on gas and the plane had to make an emergency landing. The closest stop was South Bend. We had to deplane and spent a couple of hours exploring the airport. I remember it being small, but nice.

I noticed that, too. She was probably on her phone, but I couldn’t help but pick up on her demeanor, given the rumors. Her body language matched what’s been circulating. I’m really hoping it ends up being nothing more than rumors.

She’s at the men’s bball game in a boot. I know she had a great game Thursday, so hopefully it’s preventative and not a new injury…maybe still nursing the same tweak she sat out for during the Presbyterian game.

Watched her during warm-ups before second half. Definitely an injury of some sort; she was walking with a bit of a limp. Didn’t look serious, but a small hobble. Hoping something that some rest and recovery can take care of.

I’m wondering if she may not be feeling well or if it could be preventative from some sort of minor injury. She’s definitely doing her part from the bench though, supporting and cheering on teammates.

I refer to it as the “Carleigh shovel.” She just shovels it up and hopes for something to happen. Maybe a basket. Maybe a foul. Quite possibly nothing.

There’s a player besides Sears not dressed or participating in shootaround. Pretty sure it’s Freelon. Still trying to pick out the new players, but thinking that’s who it is. Hoping it’s precautionary from Tuesday’s hit and not an extended injury.

KD and Meghin Williams will both be moving back closer home. Definitely a promotion for KD. Williams’ new position sounds somewhat similar to her role at VT, based on her bio on Cal website.

Kathleen Doyle is from Chicago, so going to DePaul gets her back home. She still has friends closer to that area from her time at Iowa as well. I had a strong hunch that if she did a good job at VT, her time here was going to be limited. She seemed very, very good at her roles and I felt like it was only a matter of time before other schools noticed. I hoped for our sake it would be longer than a year though. I loved her energy on the sideline and she seemed to enjoy her job and the work she did with the players. Would’ve loved to see her promoted to asst coach with VT. I wish her the best; I think she has a very bright future.

I don’t get to purchase tickets until the end of the week and I already got the email telling me I don’t get a reserved seat because they’re sold out. I will still go to games and support the team bc it’s not their fault that this ridiculous system is set up the way it is. But I’m incredibly disappointed. I’ve let them know on a few occasions via email and phone, too.

I talked with the ACC head commissioner for wbb on the flight back from Tampa. We talked a bit about the coaching change at VT and I told her I was really happy with what CMD did this past season. She was very complimentary of CMD and mentioned several times that we “got a good one” and spoke highly of the staff CMD put together. Specifically mentioned CMD’s positive energy and wanting to build relationships and team chemistry. The lady told me she worked under KB as an asst coach at JMU, but said nothing else about him. I was glad I didn’t say anything negative in case there was still a good relationship there. Saw Coach Poppie on the plane as well and he said he’s happy at Clemson, but does still miss VT. I had a lot of respect for him when he was with Tech and although I won’t cheer for Clemson, I hope he’s successful there as he continues to build the program.

I will always be a faithful Hokie fan and follower, but also love watching women’s college basketball in general. I have a favorite team for most conferences and attend the Final Four each year regardless of who makes it. I loved the new Unrivaled league that just finished and enjoy the WNBA, too.

Entered the portal. I’ve been trying to keep up with posts, but may have missed it, so carry on if it’s repetitive.

It’s a horrible system. I don’t know if it’s ever worked the way it’s supposed to when I’ve tried to use it.

Unfortunately I’m not too surprised you got a voicemail. Thanks for looking into it and letting me know. I guess I’ll just wait until 2pm.

Any Hokie Club/season ticket holders having trouble accessing the noon sale? I’m logged into my ticket account and it’s telling me I don’t get to buy until 2pm with general public :/

From the first time I saw Carleigh as a redshirting freshman, I could tell she had fire in her. She was the first to celebrate her teammates and the first to get fired up and “protest” to defend them when needed. All done with passion from the bench…and sometimes she was the only player on the bench who showed that. Then watching her play last year, I definitely saw her fire carry over to the court. She’s always been feisty and played with an edge that I can appreciate. I’ve said several times that Carleigh is not the player anyone should piss off. I could tell early on that she wasn’t going to put up with bs from anyone and I’ve seen her prove it several times. She stands up for herself and her teammates whenever necessary. I hope the incident on Thursday will not dim her fire and passion. I’m thankful she chose to remain at VT and really hope she’ll stay for the long haul.

Good analysis. Stanford is also in a similar situation as we are experience-wise. Demetre and Bosgana have been with the team all four years. They have several freshman and sophomores and some upperclassmen were added from the portal. Tara did not use the portal, so their additions this year are having to find their role, just like Lani has with us. Some of their upperclassmen don’t see much playing time. Demetre, Bosgana, and Agara have all had some really good games this season. I’ve followed Stanford so long that I watched two of the assistant coaches when they were players there. Both were very good! Saw Jeanette Pohlen in a couple final four games.

The Carleigh shovel. She shovels it up and hopes for the foul. Bonus points if it actually goes in.

I’ve been following women’s basketball for so long that I remember watching CMD play at Notre Dame. She was excellent! Great court vision, all over the floor, quick, and it was clear she was a hard worker. I also saw KD play when she was at Iowa. She was very good as well. I think she has great potential to work her way up the ranks to an assistant coach (would love to see her stay at VT with CMD) in a few years. Both were very fun to watch as players.

I’m assuming they were mouthing off back and forth too much? They didn’t call it before the time out so did they see it during review? Couldn’t see what happened from where I’m sitting?

Hyping her team up as usual!

My mother, who has mobility challenges, checked on tickets earlier this month and said single day seats haven’t been released yet. I haven’t found any info on when they will be released. We went last year and sat in the handicap seating section. The seats are behind the basket and do feel a little far from the action, especially when things were occurring on the opposite end of the floor. But there were no steps for my mom to navigate or people to climb over to get to her seat. The coliseum staff was very kind and helpful. My mom uses a walker, but the staff met her at the entrance with a wheelchair. She was very appreciative because we had quite a hike from the parking lot (mom didn’t have handicap card at the time). They got us on the elevator and wheeled her to our section. It was very quick and easy. One other person can sit with you in the section. There was extra space so we were able to fold up her walker and keep it nearby if needed. Staff checked on her during halftime to see if she needed anything and met us quickly post-game with a wheelchair to get us back to the entrance. I didn’t love the location of the seats, but everything else about the experience was so smooth that I was willing to compromise a less than great view so that my mom could attend and enjoy it. A very long response to say that that there is a handicap section to avoid using the stairs and you’re correct when you say the venue is super about providing wheelchairs.

Top notch 🔥 She cheers for all her teammates and tries to get the crowd involved no matter how much we’re down.

Shoulder injury

Came out just before national anthem. Arm is in a sling. 😕

Anyone know the status of Suffren? Haven’t seen her on the court for warm-ups with 10 minutes left to tip-off. She also isn’t in any of the arrival pics on sm.

I’m still pissed off, too. People can try to explain it any way they want, but what happened with ticket sales was wrong and is not the way to do business. I don’t like that I’m not able to help the wbb program financially, which I do want to see flourish and succeed, but I am certainly going to think long and hard before I make any other donations. VT showed me just how thankful they are for my money by kicking me out of my seat. I will still go to games and support the team, but I’m not at all pleased with the way season tickets were handled. I’ll think twice about buying them next season, especially since there are no benefits; I could purchase per game and end up with the same seat I’ll be sitting in tomorrow night.

Carys, Tilly, Kayl, Mack, Carleigh, Lani, Samyha, Rose, Ramiya, Myah, and Leila

I interpreted the email the same way you did. We will log in to get tickets and pick any random seat because there are no reserved seats left. But whatever seat we pick won’t actually be our seat, because it’s general admission. So we’ll end up sitting anywhere in the general admission sections that we can, just as we have in previous years. Seems like a waste of time to continue the seat selection process if we’re all getting general admission at this point. Might as well send an email that says “We ran out of seats, so there’s no need to select them . You can purchase general admission season tickets or cancel your order.” Makes zero sense to me.

I have been a Hokie Club member for a couple of years and a season ticket holder for several years. My seat selection day is Thursday. I got the email last week that told me there aren’t any reserved seats left. I am furious! VT has to do better. I love women’s basketball in general, especially the Hokies; however, I’m strongly considering talking to the ticket office about getting my money back. I purchased season tickets because we were told they were adding more reserved seating and that Hokie Club members would get access to those during the reseating process. This is obviously not true and it’s the second year in a row I’ve been moved back to GA after paying for reserved seats. I realize we paid for ‘unassigned’ seats this year, but knew the price would be adjusted based on seating. I don’t like sitting in the nosebleed seats, but having to arrive at games 1.5-2 hours before tip-off for every home game is a lot. I’m a dedicated fan, but giving that amount of time becomes exhausting. Not to mention unpleasant once winter sets in and a lot of us are stuck standing outside in the cold waiting for the doors to open. I would think the goal is to sell out Cassell for as many games as possible, but I can’t see how it is supportive to the team to look into the stands and see empty seats because people snatched them up with little intent of using them. If VT wants each game to be full of support and energy, there needs to be fans in every seat. I’m just incredibly disappointed that this is happened to me, and many other fans, again. I’ll climb down off my soapbox now…

Liz is not under contract. She can use their rehab facilities, but can’t be on the bench with the team for games. There are some other stipulations, too, but I don’t remember them all. She discussed it briefly on the last podcast episode.

Such a great article! Her perspective is incredible. It would’ve been easy to stay down on herself for a long time, but she changed her mindset and started looking forward. That could certainly benefit her in her rehab and recovery. So glad she’ll get to experience the draft and I love that Cayla is going with her. I hope Liz returns to Blacksburg often, I think she’ll have a place in the hearts of Hokie wbb fans for many years to come. I’d love to see her join staff at some point.

We need them both! Can’t wait to see how Carys would continue to develop with more experience and I really think Carleigh has a lot of potential, too. Hers just needs to be harnessed a bit. It would be great to see confidence build for both of them.

when playing per NCAA rules. But she’d been wearing it/getting away with it all season. Definitely took a good bit of work to get it out though. I’m wondering if she hadn’t changed it since getting it done, so it was more difficult. But it took until now for someone to call her on it.

Sons of Saturday just posted a video tribute to Liz, G, and Cayla. It’s very well done and it may have brought some tears.

I’d love to see Wenzel stay at VT. I think she’s really talented and was never given enough of a chance to show that. She made some freshman mistakes, but we also saw glimpses of how good she could be. She was one of very few on the team who wasn’t afraid to drive to the basket. It ended in turnovers and no-calls sometimes, but I appreciated that she tried. She’s also feisty and got some sass and we need some of that! ** Edited by wbbfan23 at 3/27/2024, 9:00:09 PM

I fully acknowledge that this is likely not a possibility, so don’t come at me too hard…but it crossed my mind. If CKB interviewed at UK in an attempt to get Whit’s attention and negotiate more money for his staff, maybe he’s also looking for more money to create additional positions. Perhaps for Liz, G, or Cayla. Coaches sometimes “create” positions to keep former players around that they really respect and think will be good teachers/leaders. I could see CKB offering any of them a position like player development or something like that. I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t see Liz getting drafted this year knowing that she won’t be able to play in the upcoming season. Not to mention the WNBA typically doesn’t draft a lot of true centers. I know she has mentioned med school, but I wonder if she’d stick around if offered a position, especially the way this season ended for her. Cayla had a tough season, but we know there’s loyalty between her and CKB and players have spoken to her leadership skills. And obviously the jury is still out on G’s decision. I’m sure this is just my crazy wishful thinking, but I’d love for any of them to stick around. From what we’ve heard, they’ve been instrumental to supporting this freshman group and that mentorship could continue.

I attended the ACC semifinals and finals for the first time this weekend. Although the outcome certainly wasn’t what I hoped, I did have the wonderful experience of meeting Saniya Rivers’ family. They were staying in our hotel and I got to talk with them at breakfast both mornings. Friendly, genuine people. They were very complimentary of our players and coaching staff. They felt that not only do we have a talented team, but our players conduct themselves with dignity, class, and kindness (which they made a point to say was more important than talent). They also said they loved the environment in Cassell and how dedicated and enthusiastic our fans are. I thought those were very thoughtful things to share during a casual interaction between fans. When I saw the family again this morning, they said they were sorry things didn’t end in our favor yesterday and wished us luck in the NCAA tournament. Dad mentioned that even though we play them as opponents, he never wants to see any player injured and sent hopes for complete healing for Liz.

So many unreserved seating GA tickets make things much more chaotic than they need to be. I am really hoping someone/athletic dept comes to their senses and does more assigned seats for next season. The success of last year was obvious not a one time thing. I understand the reason for so many unassigned seats in years past, but I think and hope those years are behind us. To keep fans attending in upcoming seasons, it would behoove VT to assign seats, rather than having people show up hours before tipoff. Yes I’m one of those people and that shows dedication (or craziness?!) of fans, but I’m less than pleased about doing that when it’s pouring rain or 20 degrees.

So as not to jinx it, but that same thought crossed my mind during the UVA game. Thought about it again today, but didn’t dwell on it. Still too much season left for me to be completely on that bandwagon. I have one foot on, the rest is cautiously hanging off while keeping an eye out.

Wenzel played well today and does need/deserve more playing time. Does she make some freshman mistakes, yes…but she can’t learn if she doesn’t get more time. She’s one of the quicker players who can get in front of opponents and defend. I realize CKB may be leery of giving her more minutes in tight games, but the reality is that all of our games moving forward could be tight, including potential tournament play. ACC is jam packed with talent this season. If he’s reluctant to play more of his bench I’m worried key players, especially Liz and Georgia, are going to be completely gassed by the end of conference play and may not be at their best for the tournament.

And have also heard that CKB has really been on her. I realize that’s what coaches do, but afraid it may have really hurt her confidence. Does she still have a lot to learn? Absolutely. But she does bring quickness and spunk to the team. I loved her attitude when she was playing more freely at the beginning of the season and didn’t look like she was trying to do too much. She’s a bit of a “bull in a china shop” sometimes, but we’ve also seen glimpses that she can be fiery and passionate. I hope she can settle in and regain her confidence soon. She could have a lot of potential.

Which unfortunately leads me to think it’s not good news. It would be nice to hear something, even if it’s somewhat vague. I understand there are lots of reasons teams don’t release much info and I can respect that. I realize it’s hard to give definitive timelines on concussions (assuming that’s what it was), but the fact that everyone has been quiet about it on every outlet I’ve read is a bit worrying. I guess I’ll find out her status for tomorrow when I get to the game. I’m assuming she won’t play, but who knows. Just hoping for a complete and speedy recovery.

CKB and Georgia’s body language and tones were very different from any presser I’ve seen from them before. Understandable, but also hard to see and hear how frustrated/deflated they both appeared. Georgia looked like she couldn’t wait to get out of there. I’d love to see CKB stick up for his team more when talking to refs. He’s too nice about it. Maybe a few calls would play out a bit more in their favor if he was more consistently willing to stick up for his players. I’m hopeful the team will begin to come together for ACC play. They seem to have potential, but also obviously have a lot of work to do. Otherwise, it could possibly be a long, difficult season.