I was looking at our roster and noted that Michelle is in her fifth year with the program but besides Claudia who'll be in year three at Cal, every other player is in her first or second year as Golden Bear. Am I right about this or am I missing someone?. Seems impossible that there's been so much turnover.
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Roster turnover
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Last: 21 days ago by brevity
We had a few seasons with few or no freshies so we added a number of transfers.
When Michelle came to Cal as a freshman, she was joined by Dalayah Daniels, Fatou Samb, Ornela Muca, Alma Elsnitz and Sela Heide.
Ornela is now at Pepperdine.
Mia Mastrov, Jayda Curry and Jadyn Bush (grad transfer) arrived at Cal at the same time.
Ornela is now at Pepperdine.
Mia Mastrov, Jayda Curry and Jadyn Bush (grad transfer) arrived at Cal at the same time.
Finnish Oski said:
I was looking at our roster and noted that Michelle is in her fifth year with the program but besides Claudia who'll be in year three at Cal, every other player is in her first or second year as Golden Bear. Am I right about this or am I missing someone?. Seems impossible that there's been so much turnover.
That looks about right. Here's a breakdown of the roster.
Last year of eligibility
Michelle Onyiah, 6-3 forward (5th season at Cal; 19.1 mpg in 2023-2024)
Claudia Langarita, 6-4 forward (3rd season at Cal; 9.8 mpg)
Ioanna Krimili, 5-10 guard (2nd season at Cal; 29.6 mpg)
Marta Suarez, 6-3 forward (2nd season at Cal; 28.1 mpg)
Natalia Ackerman, 6-1 forward (1st season at Cal; 25.7 mpg at Cal Poly)
Jayda Noble, 5-11 guard (1st season at Cal; 20.3 mpg at Washington)
Kayla Williams, 5-7 guard (1st season at Cal; 10.9 mpg at USC)
2 years of eligibility
(None)
3 years of eligibility
Lulu Twidale, 5-9 guard (2nd season at Cal; 16.4 mpg)
Gisella Maul, 5-11 guard (1st season at Cal; 9.4 mpg at Texas)
4 years of eligibility
Gabrielle Abigor, 6-3 center
Sofia Bowes, 5-10 guard
Lola Donez, 5-11 guard
Anastasia Drosouni, 5-11 guard (redshirt; injured in 2023-2024)
Zahra King, 5-10 guard (ESPN #76 recruit)
Kamryn Mafua, 6-1 wing (ESPN #52 recruit)
Expect more turnover next season, with 7 of the 15 players out of eligibility.
Thanks ... this is a critical year. If Cal can't win with a veteran lineup, it will be hard to fill in the gaps in a young, unproven roster next season. I would say at least three of the younger group need to prove themselves as solid rotation players, and at least one as starting material.
Zahra King seems to me to have the most potential.
Zahra King seems to me to have the most potential.
So if she stays, next year Lulu will be our longest-serving player.
Finnish Oski said:
So if she stays, next year Lulu will be our longest-serving player.
Yes, on the court. Anastasia Drosouni will also be an academic junior at Cal next season.
Drosuni was a freshman last year. but she didn't play because she was injured. They have her listed as a soph. But she should be a redshirt freshman unless they didn't redshirt her.
wvitbear said:
Drosuni was a freshman last year. but she didn't play because she was injured. They have her listed as a soph. But she should be a redshirt freshman unless they didn't redshirt her.
Yes, that's why I listed the players above by their remaining years of eligibility rather than their academic or athletic class. This is going to be a weird year because both seniors and 5th years end their playing careers in the spring, and I didn't see a reason to distinguish between the two groups.
The way I figure it, Marta Suarez has a 5th year of Covid eligibility. She should be able to return next season.
Marta Surez - Women's Basketball - California Golden Bears Athletics (calbears.com)
Marta Surez - Women's Basketball - California Golden Bears Athletics (calbears.com)
You've convinced me. Her career is a bit like that of Connecticut star Paige Bueckers. Both played the 2020-2021 season as freshmen, but missed a subsequent year due to injury: 2021-2022 for Suarez, 2022-2023 for Bueckers.Schroeder71 said:
The way I figure it, Marta Suarez has a 5th year of Covid eligibility. She should be able to return next season.
Marta Surez - Women's Basketball - California Golden Bears Athletics (calbears.com)
Suarez's eligibility: (2020-2021),
Bueckers' eligibility: (2020-2021), 2021-2022,
Both are allowed to forfeit their eligibility for the 2025-2026 season and declare for the WNBA next spring, and Bueckers is likely to do just that.
People often misspeak or are mistaken on this subject, but to be clear, the COVID/5th year of eligibility is always the 2020-2021 season. The NCAA rule is that student-athletes are allowed 4 seasons outside of that year. A good illustration of this is Oregon State/Duke player Kennedy Brown, who was injured during the 2020-2021 season, and was therefore unable to benefit from it.
Brown's eligibility: 2019-2020,
Here's the roster breakdown again, now showing Suarez as having 2 more years of eligibility.
Last year of eligibility
Michelle Onyiah, 6-3 forward (5th season at Cal; 19.1 mpg in 2023-2024)
Claudia Langarita, 6-4 forward (3rd season at Cal; 9.8 mpg)
Ioanna Krimili, 5-10 guard (2nd season at Cal; 29.6 mpg)
Natalia Ackerman, 6-1 forward (1st season at Cal; 25.7 mpg at Cal Poly)
Jayda Noble, 5-11 guard (1st season at Cal; 20.3 mpg at Washington)
Kayla Williams, 5-7 guard (1st season at Cal; 10.9 mpg at USC)
2 years of eligibility
Marta Suarez, 6-3 forward (2nd season at Cal; 28.1 mpg)
3 years of eligibility
Lulu Twidale, 5-9 guard (2nd season at Cal; 16.4 mpg)
Gisella Maul, 5-11 guard (1st season at Cal; 9.4 mpg at Texas)
4 years of eligibility
Gabrielle Abigor, 6-3 center
Sofia Bowes, 5-10 guard
Lola Donez, 5-11 guard
Anastasia Drosouni, 5-11 guard (redshirt; injured in 2023-2024)
Zahra King, 5-10 guard (ESPN #76 recruit)
Kamryn Mafua, 6-1 wing (ESPN #52 recruit)
So, should Suarez and Twidale play at Cal in 2025-2026, each would start her 3rd season of experience on this team.
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