I'm cautiously optimistic. Beasley is a proven D1 performer with some big game experience. He's a different type of player than what we lost in Manjon, but I'm sure Les will figure out how to use him, and Johnson, to fill the Ezra void.

Plus, it'll be nice to have more height up and down the lineup. We lost 6'8", 6'6", 5'11", 6'5", 6'6", and 6'3" (some transfers, some graduation), but added 6'7", 6'3", 6'3", 6'9", 6'7", 6'7", and 6'9". That'll probably give Les more flexibility in his lineups.

Ags win 76-51. Went ice cold.

Overall looked decent. Sussman has good passing skills and is clearly a smart player. Don’t know if she has much of an outside shot but she’ll be a big contributor. Norris hit a corner three and was a lot more aggressive in the second half. We’ll have to watch out about the turnovers. Some of the sloppiness of course was because it was the first game. But still it’s a trend from last year.

Fun to have basketball back!

Yeah that’s why Darius wasn’t at the football game last week.

62-30 Ags after 3. Good defense turning into some easy buckets.

Sandy Simpson and Dez Abayta in attendance. And Kayla Konrad doing analyst work with Greg Wong.

39-22 Ags at half. They turned off the stats so I don’t know exactly who scored what. Seemed more balanced in the second quarter.

Random thoughts. Turner needs to score well for us to win. She’s the focal point. Baker brings quickness to the point position that Burns and Gray don’t have. She needs to watch the turnovers but I’ll chalk some off that up to jitters. Norris is looking pretty decent. Moves well but it’s hard to gauge when you’re playing against a small D2 team. Sussman is definitely in the CC role but of course we can’t expect that level of contribution. All healthy players got into the first half.

so interior defense is going to be an issue. So far I like Norris. Good size, some good athletic moves, and has fought for some rebounds. Her continued development will be important for the teams success. Ags ar playing more 3-2 zone than they “usually” do so that’s probably a sign that they aren’t comfortable with their man on man defense yet.

15-9 Ags after one qtr. Turner has 11 and Baker has 4. Turner’s shooting is in mid season form and Baker is quick. Russ nailed the starting lineup except for Norris instead of Svanholm.

I decided to drop in. Looks like no Svanholm, Shine or Gray. No obvious injuries like casts or braces. Hopefully short term.

I’ve got my tickets. Hoping that the summer European trip puts the Ags farther along in their development than the bears.

that’s a good guess. I gotta think they brought in Sussman to get good minutes so starting would make sense. I’m wondering a bit about Sabel. She’s got good international and high level D1 experience.

It will be interesting to see how the new players fit in with the returners. Lots of minutes up for grabs.

I watched Chima last night. He played aggressively, which did result in two fouls. On offense he mostly stood in the corner and then crashed the glass. The announcers said that even in the practices they watched they never saw Chima working with the 1’s, which probably lead to him looking a little out of place. Hopefully his hustle will earn him some additional court time

looking forward to seeing both Ty Johnson and Robby Beasley. Both will help fill in for the loss of Manjon. Sam Manu will be an interesting one. He’s got good size but you never know what you’re going to get with Jr college transfers. Size should be much better than in the past few years and I think we are going to have good depth.

Thanks for the info Liz. I’m sure the summer practices along with the European trip will really help the Ags, especially early in the season.

That’s good to hear. A fresh perspective can be beneficial

I guess Coach Gross finally gets to use the "us against the world" motivation speech.

I know we have a lot of holes to fill, but 5 seems pretty low. I was thinking 2 or 3 (not that it matters). Team has a lot to prove.

He dressed but did not get off the bench.

Aggies picked to finish 6th in the new BW coaches poll. That feels about right considering all the new pieces that will have to produce. I watched the ESPN+ preview, about 15 minutes. Nothing really new discussed. Coach Les did say that Anigwe had a knee injury that he was dealing with last year, which probably explains some down games. Hopefully we'll see steady production from him all season.

As far as I remember he is the first.