Deden in portal

[MSU01]

This will all make sense when Sophie Glancey announces her transfer to MSU later today.*







*I have no information to suggest that this will actually happen.

[HelenaCat]

Again, not sure what is happening with our womens team, but this one really hurts. Even if Lexi is nowhere near 100 percent, she should be on this team for her leadership. We may really miss her overall presence off the court more than on the court.

[imacat]

Thank you Lexi. I wish you all the best.

[Bobcat4Ever]

So — is Coach Bin going to unleash a whole new hockey line of five transfer players? That team of Dykstra, Picton, Robbins and Deden is a pretty strong group.

The way Lexi said it was with a “heavy heart” indicated that this wasn’t some new bright and shiny idea of hers. I suspect from the size of that brace that MSU may have reason to think that she won’t be able to play a lot of minutes across 35 games. Maybe some of this will be clarified when the limo with the “MINI-NIL” plates rolls up and we see who steps out. Personally, I hope they come in a beat-up Troy Andersen pickup rather than a limo …

[MSU01]

So — is Coach Bin going to unleash a whole new hockey line of five transfer players? That team of Dykstra, Picton, Robbins and Deden is a pretty strong group.

The way Lexi said it was with a “heavy heart” indicated that this wasn’t some new bright and shiny idea of hers. I suspect from the size of that brace that MSU may have reason to think that she won’t be able to play a lot of minutes across 35 games. Maybe some of this will be clarified when the limo with the “MINI-NIL” plates rolls up and we see who steps out. Personally, I hope they come in a beat-up Troy Andersen pickup rather than a limo …

Not quite a full line change...by my count 12 roster spots on next year's team are currently spoken for which would leave up to 3 open roster spots. Coach Binford has been known in the past to carry 14 players on the roster instead of the maximum of 15.

E. Johnson
D. Brumfield
I. Bunyan
B. Berry
T. Erickson
D. Philip
A. Harris
T. Chirrick
Plus the 4 incoming freshmen

We'll have to wait and see if there are any additional departures before the portal window closes next week...

[4KornerKat]

So — is Coach Bin going to unleash a whole new hockey line of five transfer players? That team of Dykstra, Picton, Robbins and Deden is a pretty strong group.

The way Lexi said it was with a “heavy heart” indicated that this wasn’t some new bright and shiny idea of hers. I suspect from the size of that brace that MSU may have reason to think that she won’t be able to play a lot of minutes across 35 games. Maybe some of this will be clarified when the limo with the “MINI-NIL” plates rolls up and we see who steps out. Personally, I hope they come in a beat-up Troy Andersen pickup rather than a limo …

Not quite a full line change...by my count 12 roster spots on next year's team are currently spoken for which would leave up to 3 open roster spots. Coach Binford has been known in the past to carry 14 players on the roster instead of the maximum of 15.

E. Johnson
D. Brumfield
I. Bunyan
B. Berry
T. Erickson
D. Philip
A. Harris
T. Chirrick
Plus the 4 incoming freshmen

We'll have to wait and see if there are any additional departures before the portal window closes next week...

Given the timing of the injury i wonder if Dylan will be available next year. Not sure how that works with roster numbers, but Brumfield was in a similar situation this year.

[MSU01]

So — is Coach Bin going to unleash a whole new hockey line of five transfer players? That team of Dykstra, Picton, Robbins and Deden is a pretty strong group.

The way Lexi said it was with a “heavy heart” indicated that this wasn’t some new bright and shiny idea of hers. I suspect from the size of that brace that MSU may have reason to think that she won’t be able to play a lot of minutes across 35 games. Maybe some of this will be clarified when the limo with the “MINI-NIL” plates rolls up and we see who steps out. Personally, I hope they come in a beat-up Troy Andersen pickup rather than a limo …

Not quite a full line change...by my count 12 roster spots on next year's team are currently spoken for which would leave up to 3 open roster spots. Coach Binford has been known in the past to carry 14 players on the roster instead of the maximum of 15.

E. Johnson
D. Brumfield
I. Bunyan
B. Berry
T. Erickson
D. Philip
A. Harris
T. Chirrick
Plus the 4 incoming freshmen

We'll have to wait and see if there are any additional departures before the portal window closes next week...

Given the timing of the injury i wonder if Dylan will be available next year. Not sure how that works with roster numbers, but Brumfield was in a similar situation this year.

Dylan would still count as a roster spot even if she isn't ready to go at the start of the season. The greatest impact of her injury might be how much playing time her sister gets coming in as a true freshman.

[tetoncat]

Tough coaching decisions now. Play freshman so they stay, play freshman and older kids leave for more playing time.

[CatRowdy]

The Ladies just had a record year. They beat western montana M (Griz) three times, they won the Big Sky Conference outright, they won the Big Sky Tournament and earned a 13 NCAA seed. Thirty and four.
Sure players want to play, but where they fit into the system, how they fit with the current team are Binford's decisions. Certainly she has earned the respect that she can recruit and put together winning teams.
Yes, the portal sucks, and young ladies will leave for a variety of reasons; Coaches want winning teams and if they see a way to assemble them that we don't fully understand, so be it.

[MSU01]

The Ladies just had a record year. They beat western montana M (Griz) three times, they won the Big Sky Conference outright, they won the Big Sky Tournament and earned a 13 NCAA seed. Thirty and four.
Sure players want to play, but where they fit into the system, how they fit with the current team are Binford's decisions. Certainly she has earned the respect that she can recruit and put together winning teams.
Yes, the portal sucks, and young ladies will leave for a variety of reasons; Coaches want winning teams and if they see a way to assemble them that we don't fully understand, so be it.

Agreed, I think it's important to remember that at least in some cases the decision to transfer may not rest 100% with the player. The coaching staff's job is to build the team each year that they think has the best chance of winning, and that will necessarily involve making some difficult decisions and having some difficult conversations along the way.

[BobcatDel]

The Ladies just had a record year. They beat western montana M (Griz) three times, they won the Big Sky Conference outright, they won the Big Sky Tournament and earned a 13 NCAA seed. Thirty and four.
Sure players want to play, but where they fit into the system, how they fit with the current team are Binford's decisions. Certainly she has earned the respect that she can recruit and put together winning teams.
Yes, the portal sucks, and young ladies will leave for a variety of reasons; Coaches want winning teams and if they see a way to assemble them that we don't fully understand, so be it.

Agreed, I think it's important to remember that at least in some cases the decision to transfer may not rest 100% with the player. The coaching staff's job is to build the team each year that they think has the best chance of winning, and that will necessarily involve making some difficult decisions and having some difficult conversations along the way.

Agree with both of you. Unless you are totally a non caring person, a coaching discussion with a person like that with Lexi would have to be some of the toughest part of your job. Lexi definitely performed well for you when healthy, was a leading scorer when healthy and tough competitor and defender on the inside, a leader on the team, and worked her backside off trying to get back to playing shape, represents MSU well in the community, a good student, wanted to stay a Bobcat rather than bolt elsewhere…..that’s a tough conversation to let someone like that go if that is what happened…..but that’s a coach’s job!

But it’s OK for fans to express their support for Lexi too. One of the things we sell as an attraction to MSU is the community and fan support… our local Bozeman support gets close to the kids, get to know the parents, gets interested in them as young adults and students, sees them in the community or schools or at our business, sees how they represent MSU…makes you proud they are Bobcats…..which is kinda important since most aren’t going on to professional careers.

Although MSU isn't there yet and if I take a more cynical perspective, as the transfer portal and NIL become a more dominant part of our team makeup….it will be a bit easier to read about a player leaving as just an afterthought or with minor interest…like “who cares” we didn’t know much about her anyway. More fans will be able to stay a little more remote/distant from the team personally and focus on the wins/losses rather than personal development of young adults…..and some maybe even get to the point of “who gives a rats behind” who is on the roster…it’s just win baby win and try to see whether Cats won or lost in the media outlets on Sunday.

Oh well……if you are like me and it’s an end of game situation with Cats leading….the dang clock can’t run fast enough!! Well I want the portal to close tonight (rather than the 24th) to see who we have left after the dust settles….and learn who we might have brought in to offset a couple of big losses.

[lutecat]

Lexi posted a picture from Pepperdine on her Instagram story today.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Hmm. Perhaps a trade for Drea Brumfield?

[nevadacat]

Hmm. Perhaps a trade for Drea Brumfield?

The “player to be named later?”

[Bobcat4Ever]

Hmm. Perhaps a trade for Drea Brumfield?

The “player to be named later?”

No, her name is Lexi.

[Joe Bobcat]

I was going to post that Pepperdine assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Joslyn Tinkle should know all about Lexi and maybe had a hand in Pepperdine looking at Lexi and visa versa. But boom, in an instant Joslyn has left for UNLV to be an assistant coach there. Hope Lexi finds a good home for school and play, she deserves the best of both. I think all of Bobcat Nation will miss her, I know I will.

[MSU01]

I was going to post that Pepperdine assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Joslyn Tinkle should know all about Lexi and maybe had a hand in Pepperdine looking at Lexi and visa versa. But boom, in an instant Joslyn has left for UNLV to be an assistant coach there. Hope Lexi finds a good home for school and play, she deserves the best of both. I think all of Bobcat Nation will miss her, I know I will.

Tinkle has moved on to UNLV but Pepperdine's head coach Katie (Baker) Faulkner is a former Lady Griz player. So there are still some Montana ties there.