Logic would suggest that Kansas University’s women’s basketball team is in for a rebuilding year.
The Jayhawks lost do-everything Lynn Pride to graduation and the WNBA, and three-point bomber Suzi Raymant and defensive specialist Heather Fletcher also ran out of eligibility.
The loss of those three key players would suggest the Jayhawks have plenty of holes to fill, but Kansas’ newcomers are confident KU won’t miss a beat.
“We have some seniors who are very important to us, and experienced undergraduates, too,” said junior Dalchon Brown, a first-year transfer from Independence Com-munity College. “This is not a rebuilding year. Everything is under control.”
“We lost some good players,” added KC Hilgencamp, a transfer from Hutchinson CC. “But you lose players. That’s part of the game. Everybody else steps up.”
To help fill the substantial voids, KU coach Marian Washington signed a big class it started at six but dropped to five when freshman guard Shannell Law left for personal reasons with a heavy emphasis on immediate-im-pact juco transfers.
The jucos are Brown, a 6-foot-5 center originally from Virginia Beach, Va., who averaged 14.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 8 steals a game as a high school senior; Hilgenkamp, a 6-foot guard from Arlington, Neb., who averaged 14.5 points, 7.5 assists and four rebounds at Hutch; and Fernanda Bosi, a 6-foot guard from San Pablo, Brazil, by way of Western Nebraska JC who averaged 15 points and 16 rebounds a game last season.
The other newcomers are Rodneikka Freeman, a 6-5 forward from Stone Mountain, Ga., who averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as a senior at Redan High; and Leila Meguc, a 5-7 guard from Sweden who averaged 20 points and six assists last season.
Throw in Sharonnpencer, a 6-2 forward who sat out last season under academic partial-qualifier rules, and the Jayhawks will have nearly as many players without major-college experience as with.
But chemistry, Hilgencamp said, shouldn’t be a problem.
“With all the time we’ve been playing together, we’ve really come together as a team,” she said. “We all fit together well.”
It was an easy transition for Brown. She committed to KU out of high school before heading off to junior college for academic reasons. Brown estimated she made eight trips from Independence to Lawrence just to check in with the Jayhawks.
“I was used to everybody already, since I came here all the time,” she said. “I’ve been to every Late Night (With Roy Williams). I really like Late Night. I didn’t have any trouble fitting in.”
Regular pickup games also have helped toward that end. The players get together about several times a week for freewheeling, unsupervised play.
“We’re going to have a good team once everybody gets healthy,” Brown said. “Jen-nifer Jackson sprained her foot again, and Nikki White is still trying to get her knee together. We’ve got some minor bruises. But pickup’s gone well. We should be really strong in the post and outside, too, but we’ve got to work on our defense. I know I do. I just can’t wait to get started.”
