No preamble for the mailbag this month. While I typically write a bit of a preamble about what your subscriptions are funding this month, I instead have a video about the state of WBB media. Think of it like our State of the Union, just with less dweebs in ill-fitting suits and oafs in brown shirts. In short, it’s better than we think it is. You can find it just below. As for the podcast, I’m still trying to figure out a “subscriber podcast” option. According to the good folks at Beehiiv, that should be introduced as a feature here pretty soon so I’m holding off because I know how much of a pain it can be.

It’s embedded here as an .mp3 and also available on YouTube. Sorry everyone, best I can do for now but it’ll be fixed soon!

To the mailbag!

9:40 - Blondie asks…What is happening with the stunted development of guards under Dawn Staley? Feel free to agree, disagree, explain.

19:19 - Dakota asks…In light of what we’ve seen with guard play, how would you evaluate Fulwiley’s decision to transfer to LSU?

25:12 - Chris asks…If you were WNBA commissioner for a day / week and could implement one change, what would it be?

29:21 - JR asks…With UConn being the only ranked team in the Big East (again), how do evaluate Big East teams when it comes to March? Seton Hall look good but no marquee wins and same goes for Nova (with their one against WVU). Should Big East teams start emphasizing their out of conference games more? Or are they just a two tournament team for the foreseeable future?

36:33 - Dakota asks…Would love to know how sourcing works!! As someone who has never been in the journalism world, it seems like some folks just say they have an “anonymous source” & run wild with it lol! but I am sure there is some journalistic integrity involved with that. (Or lack thereof).

51:19 - Peruvian Ceviche

54:44 - Can’t Say by Travis Scott

Chris asks…How do the broadcast deals work for the different conferences? Like the ACC, SEC, & B1G10 have their own networks in partnership with ESPN or FOX, but what about the mid-majors? Also are there possibilities to "flex" certain matchups or are they locked in at the beginning of the season and can't be moved?

So yes to this. Every network negotiates with each individual conference. Typically, about a year or two before the deal is up, the leagues will start to solicit bids for the next round and take it to market. It’s probably changed now that live sports is the most precious commodity left in linear television but when I was a young warthog, networks typically bid on sports that they felt worked within their general strategy. NBC’s old strategy was wanting to own the entirety of a sports product. So if they wanted to invest in the Big Ten, they wanted to be the only rights holder, which was the strategy that served them well with the Olympics, Premier League and NHL in the mid 2010’s. Unfortunately, without the media tonnage provided by a major college conference, you started to see NBCS really lose steam behind FOX and now they’re kind of in this weird 3rd place battle with CBS Sports.

Ironically, this was the same position held by the Pac-12 and the reason why their network got off the ground with no major network support or equity stake. While the Big Ten and SEC entered split equity stakes which allowed them to bypass some trouble with getting their networks (SECN, BTN) on cable providers like DISH and DirecTV, the Pac-12 didn’t which led to them having carriage dispute issues that saw them have less than half of the cable reach of the latter two. That’s how we get the latter network dying and the wave of realignment that has defined our current college sports landscape. Nowadays, the SEC and ACC are more or less in with the Four Letters until the wheels fall of while FOX has hitched their wagon fully to the Big Ten.

Since conferences don’t split their rights off by sport, you end up with entirety of a sport becoming attached at the hip to a network. The mid-majors also get these broadcast deals but the dollar figures are substantially smaller and the time or network slots aren’t always nearly as good. The Mountain West, for instance, can do a deal with CBS and maybe they might get a small handful of network games in football, men’s/women’s basketball but generally speaking their down the totem pole and usually get thrown on the sports network or live on a streaming platform. Networks can flex games if they’re good but it’s exceedingly rare particularly in basketball.

Jay asks…Who would you say are the 3 players most likely to have a 'Caitlin Clark junior season' type of star making run over the next two months?

I wasn’t sure if you meant if they had to be juniors or if it’s just ‘that kind’ of season. I’m just gonna do my three favorites!

I think the first easy one has to be Mikayla Blakes, right? As good as Aubrey Galvan and Sacha Washington have been at times, you know exactly why we’re here. Yes, the two losses in the last week gave me a little bit of pause in assessing the Commodores ceiling but Blakes is just too good to count out. Considering the absolute gauntlet Vandy has to run through — Kentucky (twice), Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee — just to get to the conference tournament, I think if there were ever a player to rise up in several huge spots then it’s the player that I expect to be able to do it.

Jaloni Cambridge is next and a very different type of player than Blakes but no less fun. While she isn’t a volume three point shooter (nor is she a particularly prolific one either), she is one of the best slashers and finishers in the college game right now. She averages 22.5 points on 51% shooting splits. I don’t think Ohio State gets this far without her and, with her, may go further than even I think. I don’t know if Kylee Kitts and Elsa Lemmila are enough to take on the truly elite frontcourt players leading some of the top teams in the nation. But the Buckeyes could absolutely make a Sweet Sixteen or even Elite Eight run before they see someone like that. Cambridge feels like she’s got a masterclass in her too. Buckeyes play Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Minnesota, USC, Michigan, Michigan State. Whew.

I’d also really like to see Lauren Whittaker make it to the NCAA Tournament with Gonzaga. She’s one of the most unsung talents in the sport this year and has nestled into Yvonne Ejim’s role quite nicely. Oh, and she’s just a freshman averaging 19.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Hope Spokane has some money in the couch cushions!

JR asks…Who are your favorite players to watch in one of the smaller conferences or ones that could be a game changer in March?

I love some good hipster hoops. It’s good for the soul and one’s opinion of themselves.

First player I’m watching is Mia Nicastro of Western Illinois. I’ve dropped her into a couple stories before but I just don’t get why we can’t even speak the name of a player averaging 23.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. The 6’2 senior has locked in after the Leathernecks surprising upset loss to Morehead state in late January. And while it was one of her worst games of the year (12 points, 6 rebounds on 5/14 shooting), she followed it up with the following stat lines: 24 pts, 8 rebounds … 27 points, 13 rebounds and 22 points, 9 rebounds. WIU may be a one woman show and that has the chance to be a big dud come March but it’s still fun and Nicastro is still fun as hell to watch.

I am fully Halli Poock-pilled after watching her rip out Belmont’s heart in their own building on Sunday. The diminutive 5’6 guard doesn’t look like a world beater up close until she gets on the floor and then you see she’s got that dawg in her. She finished with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists as the Racers other star, Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, was contained early before ralling to end with 17 and 12. If the two, I’d say put your eggs into the Poock basket. Murry State is for real this year.

While I really like Brooklyn Meyer from South Dakota State, I do think the Jackrabbits are a little one-note this year. So instead, we’ll go even further north to Jory Collins’ North Dakota State Bison. NDSU’s win in the Dakota Marker has them firmly in the race to win a Summit League regular season title at last. Avery Koenen (19.1 PPG, 11.1 RPG) isn’t any kind of range shooter but the 6’3 junior can punish you on both ends of the floor. She’s probably the league Player of the Year this season.

Anna asks…What NCAA WBB team do you think will be the next “NIL pump” school, as I call it? Aka schools/programs that turn from obscurity to top 25 rather quickly thanks to massive investments into nil. TCU is an obvious one now, and I think Texas Tech will follow thanks to how well they’re doing this season plus other investments across their athletic department. Any other team you think will take a massive stride thanks to a large influx of investment?

I wish I had wrote this before Five Out because the easy answer was Krista Gerlich’s Texas Tech Lady Raiders! With so much money flowing into the school, a Big 12 champion TTU would be huge in pulling over some of the donors that usually are just watching football. Even without Aaliyah Chavez, they have all of the things to be able to do it. The question is if there is donor energy for a women’s basketball program when football is demanding a bigger and bigger slice of the pie every year.

I’ll give you one that’s a bit off the beaten path: Louisiana Tech.

Brooke Stoehr has been in Ruston for about a decade now and has just sort of been alright. The Lady Techsters have only won Conference USA once, taking first in the western division before being selected to the WNIT. Once one of the greatest programs the team has ever seen, now the people editing Wikipedia definitions can’t even be bothered to make sure there’s notes on their current season. It’s been a long fall from grace, coupled with bad in-state economics and realignment away from the Rustons of the world. But, as of this writing and recording, Tech is in first place in the CUSA race.

Do I think they’ll enjoy a nice renaissance and look like the Lady Techsters teams of old? Not a chance. But the idea of getting to the NCAA Tournament every year, or at least competing for CUSA titles reliably, is a huge win for Louisiana Tech and the sport of women’s basketball. That’s a Tiffany-type brand. The game is just better when they’re around in March. There isn’t a robust NIL or rev share apparatus at the school but I also think it wouldn’t be hard to reinvigorate an elderly population that remembered the glory years and might not be worried about flashing some cash in honor the venerable F. Jay Taylor.