When I interviewed new coach Todd Starkey for the first time, he asked me who were the best Kent State players I’d seen in my time following the team.

I started following the team seriously in Bob Lindsay’s second season, so all of my selections are from his era. I’d be interested in what others think.

Four clearly stand out to me:

AMY SHERRY, who was twice MAC player of the year in her career from 1991 to 1996. She’s third in school history in scoring, third in scoring average, and first in steals. She’s the only KSU player to make any first-team All-America list.

Key career stats: 2014 total points (3rd), 16.6 points per game (3rd), .487 field goal percentage (5th), .357 3-point percentage (8th), 765 rebounds (6th), 333 steals (1st).

Key best season stats: 21.4 points per game (2nd best in KSU history in 94-95), 92 steals (4th, 95-96). 88 steals (6th, 1994-95).

Honors: Women’s Basketball News First Team All American in 1995 (honorable mention Basketball Times and Associated Press that year). Honorable mention AP 1996. MAC player of the year 1995 and 1996. Second team all-MAC 1993, first team 1995 and 1996. MAC all-freshman 1992.

Team achievements: 18-12 and fourth in MAC in 91-92. 20-9 and third in MAC in 92-93. Redshirted with injury in 93-94. 17-10 and third in 94-95. 24-7 and first in 95-96, MAC champs, MAC tournament runner-up, second round of NCAA tournament.

DAWN ZERMAN, three-time MAC defensive player of the year and the best point guard in school history. She played from 1996 to 2000.

Career stats: 1,665 points (6th). 14.0 points per game (10th). 150 three-points field goals (2nd). .362 three-point percentage (6th). 567 free throws (2nd). .845 free-throw percentage (tied for 1st). 467 assists (3rd). 320 steals (2nd).

Key best season stats: 548 points (6th in team history) in 1999-2000. .403 three-point percentage (9th in 1996-97). 190 free throws (1st in 1999-2000). .891 free throw percentage (4th in 1998-99). 147 assists (10th in 1999-2000). 108 steals (1st in 1999-2000).

Honors: Third-team All-American Women’s Basketball News in 2000. Honorable mention Kodak All-American in 1999 and 2000. Honorable mention Associated Press All-American 2000. MAC player of the year 2000. MAC defensive player of the years, 1998, 1999, 2000. All-MAC second team 1998, first team 1999 and 2000, MAC freshman of the year 1997. MAC all-tournament 1998, 1999, 2000 (MVP 1998).

Team achievements: 20-10 and second in MAC in 1996-97. 23-7 and undefeated in MAC 1997-98, MAC tournament champs, first round NCAA. 22-7 and first in MAC East in 1998-99, 25-6 and first in East in 1999-2000, MAC tournament champs, NCAA first round.

TRACY LYNN, who is second on the school’s all-time list in scoring and first in rebounding. She played from 1990 to 1994.

Career stats: 2,066 points (2nd in team history). 18.1 scoring average (1st). .499 field goal percentage (4th). 579 free throws (1st). 782 free throws attempted (1st). 990 rebounds (1st). 311 rebounds (3rd) in 1990-91).

Best season stats: 541 points (9th in 1992-93). 19.3 points per game in 1992-93 (6th) and 19.1 point per game in 1993-94 (7th). .529 field goal percentage in 1993-94 (7th). 187 free throws (2nd) in 1992-93 and 178 free throws (4th) in 1993-94), 246 free throws attempted (1st) in 1993-94 and 242 free throws attempted (2nd) in 1992-93.

Honors: All-MAC second team in 1991 and 1992, first team in 1993. MAC freshman of the year in 1991.

Team achievements: 17-12 and third in MAC in 1990-91. 18-12 and third in 1991-92. 20-9 and tied for third in 1992-93. 20-8 and fourth in 1993-94.

LINDSAY SHEARER, who was first team all-MAC in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and player of the year in 2006. She was national all-academic player of the year her senior year. She played from 2002 to 2006.

Career stats: 1,799 points (4th in team history). 15.2 points per game (5th). .483 field goal percentage (6th). .377 three-points percentage (4th). 498 free throws (3rd). .829 free throw percentage (4th). 822 rebounds (5th). 70 blocks (9th).

Best season stats: 623 points in 2005-06 (2nd). 20.8 points per game in 2005-06 (third). .422 field goal percentage in 2004-05 (6th). 184 free throws in 2005-06 (3rd). .872 free throw percentage in 2005-06 (7th). School-Record 44 points in a game in 2005.

Honors: Third-team Women’s Basketball News and honorable mention Kodak All-American in 2006. Academic All-American player of the year in 2006, third team in 2004, second team in 2005. MAC player of the year in 2006. First team all-MAC in 2004, 2005, 2006.

Team achievements: 16-13 and first in MAC East in 2002-03. 19-10 and second in MAC East in 2003-04. 21-9 and tied for first in MAC East in 2004-05. 21-9 and second in MAC East in 2005-06.

I’d rate them in that order, but it was hard because they were all so good in their own ways.

I put Sherry first because of the two-time MAC player of the year honors and the fact that she led KSU to its first MAC championship and only NCAA tournament win.

Zerman’s teams were the best in team history. Lynn had the flashiest statistics, but they were inflated by the high-octane game her teams played. (They averaged nearly 90 points a game.) Shearer was a terrific player, but her teams never could beat Bowling Green for a conference championship.

Behind those four would be forward Ann Forbes (1988-1992), forward Carrie Templin (1994-98), center Julie Studer (1997-2001), guard Michelle Burden (1990-94). (You can find their statistics in the Kent State Record Book.)

And after that group would be guard Billie Jean Smith-Goldman (1993-97), center Andrea Caesar (2001-04), guard Malika Willoughby (2003-06), wing Jamilah Humes (2006-2011).

Judi Dum (1983-87) and Mary Bukovac (1985-89) were before my time, but, from the record book, were clearly outstanding players. Bukovac was MAC player of the year in 1989.

The best player in KSU history is Bonnie Beachy, who scored the most points in school history (2,071) from 1979 to 1982. She’s the only player in school history to have her jersey retired.

It’s past time for another. But Sherry, Zerman, Lynn and Shearer are so close that it would be hard to say one is the clear choice.

Kent State has posted its non-conference schedule for 2016-17, and it looks like quite a challenge.

It’s far tougher than last year’s schedule, when KSU went 3-8, including a win over Division II Malone.

Not counting the murderous opposition in the Gulf Coast Showcase (more on that later), upcoming opponents had a 153-135 record last season. Average RPI of those schools was about 165.

KSU’s opponents last season had a total record of 121-158. Average RPI was 223.

The schedule starts with four games against mid-major teams (the first three at home). Then comes the Gulf Coast Showcase, then three more mid-majors, then two Big Ten teams on the road.

Overall, there are five home games, four on the road, and three at the tournament, including a possible game against the host team, Florida Gulf Coast

In my interview with new coach Todd Starkey last month, he said that some people in the athletic department had said it might be the toughest schedule in Kent State history. 

I’m not sure I can find the statistics that prove that, but consider the Gulf Coast tournament at Thanksgiving, when Kent State will play:

• Baylor, 36-2 last season with the second-best RPI in the nation.
• Then DePaul (27-9 with an RIP of 29) or Western Kentucky (27-7, RPI 38).
• Then Ohio State (26-8, RPI 6), Florida Gulf Coast (33-6, RPI 71), Syracuse (30-8, RPI 12) or George Washington (26-7, RPI 23). Syracuse was NCAA runner-up last season; Florida Gulf  Coast was WNIT runner-up.

The highest RPI team Kent State played last season was Ohio, which was 51. The Bobcats also had the best record of a KSU opponent — 26-7.

That certainly will be the toughest three days of basketball in Kent State history. (Here are the releases on the tournament from Kent State and the tournament itself. KSU’s men play in the parallel tournament a week earlier.)

Kent’s record last season was 6-23. Its RPI was 318 out of 349 Division I teams, according to RealTimeRPI.

Here is the the non-conference schedule outside of the tournament, with last season’s records and RPI):

• Bradley (9-22, 299 RPI 299), Friday, Nov. 11. The Flashes lost at Bradley last season, 68-60.)
• Eastern Kentucky (18-12, RPI 178), Monday, Nov. 14.
• Robert Morris (20-13, RPI 174) Saturday, Nov. 19.
• at Detroit (15-15, RPI 158), Monday, Nov. 21.

Then the Gulf Coast Showcase Nov. 25-27.

• Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (7-23, RPI 315) Wednesday, Nov. 30. KSU lost to IPFW 86-68 on the road last season.
• at Wright State (24-11, RPI 99) Wednesday, Dec. 7. KSU lost to Wright State 73-68 at home.
• Youngstown State (21-13, RPI 130) Saturday, Dec. 10. KSU lost at YSU 91-61.
• at Iowa (19-14, RPI 58) Tuesday, Dec. 20.
• at Minnesota (20-12, RPI 81) Thursday, Dec. 22. KSU lost 85-73 at Kent.

The MAC season opens the first week in January. The conference schedule hasn’t been announced yet.

Last year’s records are last year’s, of course, and some teams will be better, some worse. Wright State and Minnesota, for example, both graduated the leading scorer in school history. Kent State has everyone who played last year back, plus two newcomers and a player who missed most of the season with an injury.

Kent State’s best chances for wins appear to be its opener against Bradley at home and against IPFW at home. Kent lost to both on the road last season. Both teams, like Kent State, have new coaches.

Eastern Kentucky and Robert Morris look competitive, in part because they’re home games. Robert Morris, which is in Pittsburgh, had a decent record last season but the No. 320 schedule in the country. (Kent’s was 192.)

Here’s the link to the press release announcing the schedule. Here is KSU’s game-by-game record from last season.

Roster update

The latest roster on the KSU website has dropped Savannah Neace, a freshman last year who missed the entire season with illness. She was a 6-3 center from outside Cincinnati in Kentucky and wasn’t considered one of last season’s top recruits.

The leaves one scholarship open. It could go to Paige Salisbury, a walk-on guard who started 12 games last season. It’s possible but unlikely Starkey could bring in a player this late. Or the coach could leave it open for the fall 2017 class. Current rising seniors already leave him four openings.

Here’s the current roster.

Recruiting update

This weekend is the second in July with a ton of AAU tournaments, where a lot of evaluation is done and after which a lot of verbal offers are made.

Kent State has multiple offers out to rising high school seniors, and at least one prospect has visited campus. I’ve seen no verbal commitments, but it’s hard to final information on mid-majors this early. I found only three commits total to all MAC schools.

The point guard whom KSU had on campus earlier this summer, I’ve learned, has eight other offers, the most recent from Xavier. That means she’s far from a sure thing but also that she’s a very good prospect. Recruits are only allowed five official visits, so KSU is at least in her semifinals.

A strength coach for basketball

KSU has named Rhen Vail as strength coach specifically for men’s and women’s basketball, a job the university says is unique in the MAC.

The position is part of an initiative that emphasizes men’s basketball as a key place to develop Kent Sate sports. Women’s basketball gets the benefit. The sport was once the showcase of university women’s sports, but attendance has dropped below that of at volleyball and gymnastics over the last 10 years as the team’s record fell off.

Vail has been part of the strength and conditioning staff for five years, though he has never worked with eh basketball teams. (He oversaw strength and conditioning programs for baseball, soccer and track, and assisted with football.) The KSU press release announcing his job said he had expressed an interest in basketball for several years and showed a “passion for the opportunity” in the interview process.

Here’s the release on the position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I wrote earlier, new women’s coach Todd Starkey and I didn’t get a lot of time to talk about the team itself in my recent interview. I hope to talk to him further on that, probably in August after he returns from recruiting.

But here’s what I did learn:

Fifteen of the 16 players on the roster are on campus. The 16th, he said, was home for medical reasons. He wouldn’t identify her, but I’m sure it is Savannah Neace, a 6-3 freshman who didn’t play or practice significantly all season. Neace suffered near-disabling headaches. I’m not sure she’ll ever be healthy enough to play, but she’s still on scholarship and still active on social media with her teammates.

Former coach Danny O’Banion called Neace a “project.” She set high school records for shot blocking but was clearly not a player expected to make a contribution right away.

Redshirt freshman guard Megan Carter had been cleared to practice after surgery on her knee and shoulder. She hurt her knee in Kent State’s third game last season. After surgery on it, she later had surgery on a shoulder she dislocated in high school and reinjured in the Kent State weight room.

Carter was one of the top recruits of her class. She averaged 19 points a game in high school and had a reputation of being a very sure ball handler. She can play either point or shooting guard.

Starkey said the players had been receptive to the new coaching staff and seemed to have good chemistry. He said the team was made up of “high character” players. Their spring GPA was in the 3.30 range.

The coach said the team could use more “elite talent” (couldn’t any team?), but that did make me think about the high school records of team members.

Jordan Korinek, all-MAC honorable mention last season as a sophomore, was first-team  her senior year at St. Vincent-St. Mary and was called the best post player in Division II.

She’s the only first team all-stater on the roster.

Guard Alexa Golden was second team all-state in Pennsylvania and incoming freshman guard Ali Poole second team all-state in Ohio last season. Forward McKenna Stephens was third team all-Ohio, though her top sport was softball. Wing Tyra James was honorable mention in Ohio Division I, Carter “special mention” in Michigan’s top division (roughly equivalent to third team in Ohio). Junior Larissa Lurken was honorable mention all-state in Minnesota.

The rest of the team’s players were almost all all-league or all-district, but that’s definitely two steps below elite level.

In an interview with the Record-Courier, Starkey talked more about the current roster.

On the “very talented” Korinek: “I think we’re going to try to utilize her skill set maybe in a little bit different way then she’s been utilized before.”

That will be interesting to see develop. Korinek led KSU in scoring and rebounding and was used primarily in the post. She’s supposed to be solid shooter from all over the court – even three-point range – but that hasn’t really materialized so far. I would think Starkey would need to develop another force in the post in order to use Korinek a lot away from the basket. Stephens, who started at the other forward spot for most of the season, was at her best shooting from mid-range last season.

6-1 junior transfer Zenobia Bess (Illinois State and Gahanna Lincoln High School) is likely to get a look inside. It would be nice if 6-4 sophomore Merissa Barber-Smith developed into a rotation player. She averaged only four minutes a game in 17 games as a freshman. O’Banion said she was physically well beyond where former center Cici Shannon was at this point in her career.

On Lurken, who’s almost certain this season to become KSU’s first 1,000-point scorer since 2011, Starkey said: “Lurken can shoot the basketball. We’re going to try to put her in some situations to shoot a higher percentage from the 3-point line.”

Lurken has been KSU’s only major three-point threat in her three years on campus. But she’d go 6 for 11 some games and 1 for 14 others; some games she’d get fewer than five shots off as other teams focused on her. O’Banion tried to find plays to get her open. But that’s why Starkey is here instead of the former coach: to find new ways to get more out of players.

(An interesting statistic that I stumbled on: Lurken’s 200 three-point attempts in 2014-15 were the most in KSU history. Her 64 three-point baskets that season were third. Somehow neither of those numbers have made it into the KSU record book. Last season Lurken was 54 of 171, which is eighth and third all time at KSU. She has averaged about 32 percent over three seasons.)

In the Record-Courier interview, Starkey didn’t mention other players by name. Here’s what he said:

“I think there’s some talent, but a lot of the other pieces are kind of up in the air. There’s a lot of personnel returning, but how do you use them and what are the right combinations of players to use? A lot of it will depend on how they take to our system and our defensive mentality. Who are the players that are mentally tough enough to defend at the level we’re going to ask them to defend at?

“In that same context, who can help us score the ball? We’ve got to get our average points per game up and our points allowed down. Those are the two easiest statistics to work toward to get you closer to winning more games.”

A link to the R-C article is here, but it’s behind a paywall. You either need to be a subscriber or buy a day’s pass to the paper to see it.

One more interesting thing: Starkey said having the maximum 15 players on scholarships probably isn’t ideal. People can get frustrated and unhappy for lack of playing time, he said. Twelve plus two or three walk-ons might a more reasonable number, he said. “By conference season, you’re usually playing a seven, nine, ten player rotation.”

The full roster is unusual in the 25 years I’ve been following KSU basketball. It’s the only year O’Banion was at the maximum. Bob Lindsay sometimes had only 10; he might have had 14 or 15 in a few of his early years.

Coming up: a tough schedule

Starkey said KSU’s schedule should be released soon.

He said it may be the most challenging in school history. Already announced is a Thanksgiving visit to the Gulf Coast Showcase, where the Flashes will complete with seven teams that won at least 26 games last season. (KSU won six.) They’ll open with Baylor, which has won two national championships in 15 years.

Starkey said KSU will play two Big Ten teams on the road. One, I’d guess, is Minnesota, which visited the MACC last season.

A team learns by playing good opposition, the coach said.

“I’m not sure what our record will be,” he said. “But we certainly will have a better RPI.”

RPI – full name Ratings Percentage Index – is a way to rank teams based on their record and the quality of their competition.

Only a fourth of the ranking is based on a team’s own record. Another fourth is a team’s opponents’ record, and half is the record of opponents’ opponents.’ Some services add a bonus for wins on the road.

RPI tracks well with other top 25 rankings and success in the NCAA tournament. A weak conference RPI by the MAC last year may have cost Ohio University an at-large bid to the tournament. OU went 26-7 last season and 16-2 in the MAC but was upset by Buffalo in the conference tournament.

The league hasn’t had two tournament bids in 20 years. (Kent State and Toledo both made it in 1996.)

The MAC’s overall RPI last season was 11th and strength of schedule 13th of 32 Division I conferences. KSU’s RPI last season was 318th of 349 teams. Its schedule was ranked 192nd hardest. Three MAC teams had even lower schedule strengths. Only three MAC teams ranked in the top 100 in schedule, and the best of those was 95th (Ball State).

Top RPI in the conference was Ohio at 51. Second was Ball State at 64, third Central Michigan at 67, according to RealTimeRPI.

 

 

 

 

—

 

Schedule.

 

 

 

New Kent State coach Todd Starkey hit the recruiting trail before he had a permanent place to live and has already had at least one 2017 prospect on campus.

Starkey will have as many as four scholarships to give for the 2017 recruiting class. Four rising seniors — Larissa Lurken, Keziah Lewis, Chelsi Watson and Lacy Miller — finish their eligibility this year.

Lurken should be a starter for the fourth straight year. Lewis and Watson were junior college transfers last season. Watson started 10 games, mostly early in the season, and generally was the first post player off the bench. She averaged 4.6 points and 4.6 rebounds a game.  Lewis was a back-up wing who averaged 2 points and 9 minutes in 22 games. Miller was originally a walk-on who received a leftover scholarship last season. She got in three games and played just three minutes all season, but former coach Danny O’Banion considered her a valuable practice player and popular member of the team.

Last year’s team had no seniors, and all players are back, along with one incoming freshman recruited by O’Banion.

So Starkey had no scholarships to give when he arrived on campus in April. Coming on board so late would have made it difficult in any event, but he said in an interview last week that he might have been able to add a freshman or a graduate transfer had he had an  open spot.

But, he said, he knew the situation when he took the job.

Still he was off to an AAU tournament the weekend after he was announced as head coach, looking at played who would graduate from high school in 2017 and beyond.

“We’re really already late to the party for the 2017s,” he said. “We’re a year to a year-and-a-half behind in developing the relationships you try to build in recruiting these days.”

Next year’s high school seniors can sign letters of intent in October. Many of those players already have made verbal commitments to schools; two years ago O’Banion had locked up a six-person recruiting class by July.

Still Starkey said he had a line on some prospects and had already made offers to some rising seniors and even two members of the class of 2018. Some of his prospective freshman came off of what he called the “B list” from Indiana University, where he was an assistant last season. (MAC schools aren’t often in competition with Big Ten “A list” players.) New assistant Fran Recchia was recruiting coordinator at Redford University in Virginia (a title she now has at KSU) and assistant Pat Mashuda recruited heavily in Virginia and up the East Coach when he was head coach at Division II Chowan University in North Carolina.

One high school point guard was on campus last week and tweeted she had a “great time.” (I want to emphasize that I did not hear about the visit from Starkey, who’s not allowed to talk about players before they’ve signed letters of intent. I learned of her visit from the Internet.)

The prospective Flash averaged 20 points, 5 assists and 5 steals a game as a junior and was her hometown newspaper’s player of the year. Point guard is a position of need for the Flashes. Last season sophomore Naddiyah Cross and walk-on freshman Paige Salisbury split the starting job and averaged 6 points a game between them. Redshirt freshman Megan Carter, one of the team’s top recruits a year ago, can play point or shooting guard but was hurt in the team’s third game and had surgery on a knee and a shoulder.

Starkey said he planned to build his team with high school recruits, along with “strategic and efficient” recruiting of transfers and junior college players. Especially in the last few years, recruiting has been changed enormously by graduate transfers – students who have graduated from college but who still have a year of eligibility remaining. Unlike undergraduate transfers, those athletes can play immediately. Other MAC teams have already announced a half dozen players like that. Bowling Green’s 6-4 center last season, a third-team all-conference choice, was a transfer from Marquette, where she had played sparingly.

Ohio high schools have especially strong classes coming in 2018, 2019 and 2020, Starkey said. KSU will recruit them (“and so will a lot of other people”). Some, he said, may be players a mid-major like Kent State can get in a “soft landing” — players who go to a big name school elsewhere and transfer because they didn’t get the playing time they wanted or wanted to play closer to home.

But, he said, Kent State will recruit realistically. “It doesn’t do you any good to be the second or third choice” of outstanding players, he said.

Starkey said the critical freshman classes for his teams will be 2017 and 2018. The class of 2018 will be freshman during his third season. Coaches don’t get much more than four years to show progress toward a winning program. O’Banion’s contract wasn’t renewed after a 21-98 record over four seasons.