Lindsay Casey Leaving OU.

[Texmex]

Lindsay Casey, 6'1" freshman post from Longview, TX., will not return to the Lady Sooners next season. According to my sources, Coach Coale wants to use that scholarship on someone else. Did not hear anything negative about Lindsay, from what I've heard she's a good kid. Best of luck to Lindsay, where ever she goes.

[labcoatguy]

But she had hustle and great potential! Our favorite four-syllabled bench warmer!

That's okay, i could kinda see it coming. What with an incoming Beky Preston, and the still-existing Caton Hill and Theresa Schuknecht, i couldnt really see Lindsey getting any more playing time next year than she did this year. Best of luck to her.

[35TangoTango]

Judging from the recent past, players with real potential at this level reveal it even as freshmen. In a year where OU was desparate for post players, Lindsay was still the last person off the bench. Like Lauren Selmon at Baylor, Lindsay will be much more succesful at a different level.

Also coming in is Casey Walker, a 6'3" freshman from Houston. We haven't heard near as much about her as Beky Preston. Has anyone heard what kind of year she had?

And finally if OU needs the scholarship, who for? Not hearing anything on spring recruiting (from any of the schoools) is driving me batty!

[metromaniac]

Heard OU had Maria Villareal in the previous weekend. Although a thread a month or so ago said she had chosen TCU over OU I guess she hasn't signed with TCU yet and OU is still after her. She played point guard for the same Juco as Rosalind Ross I heard. Also heard she was looking at Baylor and North Texas. Haven't heard any other names. I thought Dionnah Jackson was set to be the point guard of the future, maybe they are thinking she could also switch to a 2 or 3 as needed.

[This message has been edited by metromaniac (edited 04-21-2002).]

[This message has been edited by metromaniac (edited 04-21-2002).]

[carolann]

I do not think it is 'o.k.' for a coach to refuse to renew a player's scholarship for no other reason than because the coach decides the player is not talented enough. If a player decides to transfer, she has to sit out a year. The school can elect not to renew a scholarship for any or no reason and use the scholarship the very same year. This is another example of the unfairness of the NCAA.

I do not know exactly what happened in this case so I am not judging anyone. I am stating a general opinion.

[Jennifer]

I'm holding back my opinion until this is verified. No offense Texmex, but this is your first post here and you offer no source of your information, so I'm just a bit skeptical of your insinuation that Coale chose not renew her scholarship.

[carolann]

You are always cooler than some of us, Jennifer. The same subject is posted on the TexasHoops board. It is under the topic "3 OU players go in 1st round of WNBA draft". The story appears to originate from people in Longview who know Casey. Of course, the story is still rumor and conjecture. I don't know any of the posters. I suppose that coaches may on occassion suggest to players that 'you might be happier elsewhere' or 'you might play more in another program' or some such thing w/o actually saying 'I don't want you back next year'. Obviously, women's college bball is a lot more cut throat than some of us like to think about. The link:
http://www.texashoops.rivals.com/forum.asp?sid=948&fid=319&style=1

[swok34]

Good point, jen. Lindsay was at Laneisha's watch party for the draft on Friday...not necessarily meaning anything, just that she was there....

Both Stephanie Simon and Kate Scott were walk-on's the first two years and earned scholarships their junior years. If anyone were getting their scholies withdrawn, I would suspect Simon ahead of Casey.....Scott played really well (and I heard was doing a really good job at the beginning of the season).....though who know's, for these 2 young women to have stuck it out and paid their way the way they have, it almost seems unfortunate that they wouldn't get a scholie for their senior years.

The only person I've heard that OU is recruiting is a JUCO guard in Marie Villaroel from NEO and I last heard it was between OU and Baylor. I have a link to the SW Missouri State board at work and they mentioned another guard from a JUCO in Kansas....I'll post the link tomorrow....haven't heard of any frontcourt players....
though they have Caton and Schuchnect....and two freshmen...I don't know what kind of impact Preston can make, I've heard it will take a year for her to adapt. She's not exactly that "big" for being a 6'-2 player.....I've heard nothing about Casey Walker, though she is supposedly "bigger" than Preston.....
I would be surprised to see Coale pull a scholie after just a year, and a freshmen year at that, unless it goes deeper than just her playing.....i.e. attitude, academics...pretty sure she was on the academic list though.

[swok34]

thanks for the link, carolann.....wow, wonder who Coach TWA is....
pretty pissed.....I sincerely hope this is NOT the case. I've never heard a story from any recruit that Coale sugar-coats anything, one very good example was Preston's story....but I haven't heard them all either.

[swok34]

Here's the response I got from someone that I trust on an OU board, who does post here from time to time:

Sherri, after the end of each season sits down with each player and goes over what the player's future looks like. If it looks like the player will not get much playing time, they are told this. This allows the player to make a decision on what they want to do regarding transferring for more playing time. The player is given the option of staying at OU on scholarship if they so desire. It is the players decision. This is what happened with Casey. The people at Longview seem to be taking it personally and I can understand this. However, if I was a player or parent or coach, I would want to know the facts. Still the truth hurts sometimes.

[carolann]

The OU explanation certainly makes the most sense. The process described is the same followed at most schools.

[Texmex]

TWA on the Texas Hoops posts is, I believe, the Longview head coach, Tommy Aldridge. Known as TA by everyone here in the piney woods.
I wouldn't pass along news about Lindsay if I didn't have some sources. Coach TWA posted the info on Texas Hoops message board and my daughter talked to Casey over the weekend. They played on the same AAU team last summer in Dallas. Casey is a great kid and I hope nothing but the best for her. She'll land on her feet. In my opinion, what happened to Lindsay is big time DI basketball at its worst.

[schooner2]

It's always been Coach Coale's policy to never remove a scholarship unless team rules have been violated. That doesn't appear to be the case. So it is likely Lindsay has given up the scholarship herself. If you are saying this is D1 basketball at its worst, as bad as it may sound - that's the breaks. Because... all players coming in to the program have to realize how much playing time they are likely to get or not get. And what she got, in the least, is a full scholarship to a very good institution.

Coach Coale has always lauded players' efforts in practice and on the bench - not just on the court. She has always made an effort to explain that there is so much more a player can do besides provide minutes on the court each game. And Coale wouldn't have recruited her if she didn't feel there was something that Lindsay could have contributed.

I find it highly doubtful Coale said you are not getting much playing time in the coming 3 years so please reconsider if you want to be at OU. She's always shown herself to be much more classy than that.

No doubt Lindsay will land on her feet - she's quite smart. She was praised for her academic achievements at the end of the season banquet a couple weeks back. Apparently she is a chem/pre-med major. Best of luck to her.

[35TangoTango]

Originally posted by Texmex:
In my opinion, what happened to Lindsay is big time DI basketball at its worst.

I have no inside information, but I think we can pretty well discount the story of Lindsay's scholarship being removed. It has never worked that way before. Also the math doesn't add up. OU graduated 6 and has signed 5. So even if they are still going to sign another player, they wouldn't need Lindsay's scholarship.

I imagine that coach Coale's conversation with Lindsay was pretty much like coach Mulkey-Robertson's conversation with Lauren Selmon (who is from my home town). It's painful to have the hometown heroes not make it in the big time, but in no way is it Baylor's or KMR's fault.

Heck, I bet even TA at Longview High has a policy of playing his best players. If he had an honest conversation with one of his bench-sitters about her future, would that be Texas High School basketball at its worst?

After posting this, I remembered that this did happen to my son in high school (a long time ago). A conversation with the coach about the amount of playing time his talent would allow at that level. He accepted it a lot better than his parents did. Sometimes us grownups are the last to see the truth.



[This message has been edited by soonerman (edited 04-22-2002).]

[Jennifer]

Texmex, if you weren't a new poster (and welcome to Hoopscoop--I hope you're enough of a fan of wbb to want to stay--we always need more fans), I might be more inclined to trust what you had to say. Again, no offense, but I've learned not to take everything I read on any bulletin board as fact.

Anyhow, anything I could post here is pure speculation, so I'll just leave it at that.

Thanks for the info Swok, and Hoopscoop. You are both much clsoer to the program than I, so I appreciate your input.

And Carolann, what exactly is You are always cooler than some of us, Jennifer. supposed to mean?

[This message has been edited by Jennifer (edited 04-22-2002).]

[vickie1ok]

Well, Texmex, et al, Sherri has 6 schollies to give this year. She had Stacey, Neishea, Roz, Jamie, Shannon and Jen who graduated. So that is at least 6 scholarships. She signed 5 thus far this year. So where are the next two signees that would necessitate the "cutting" of another player? I'm also not so sure Casey would be the last person Sherri would "cut" from the team. Stephanie Simon might seem a more likely candidate, but I'm not an expert on that.

If Sherri "cut" a player from her team, I'd like to hear her answer, not something from a partisan Texas board, because frankly, I've heard all kinds of things from those boards. If it's true, she will have to answer to an OKC media that are not a bunch of OU flaks as is the Austin media to UTex. So, Texmex, email your "proof" to btramel@oklahoman.com and we shall see. Barry Tramel is as unbiased as they get in the Big 12 territory. He will lift you up as warranted or shoot you down as warranted. Those in the OKC area will support me. So email him, and if it is true, it will show up in the Daily Oklahoman, and hence, across national media.

[swok34]

Actually, there are a total of 3 scholarships to give for next season, and as vickie mentioned, Simon's I would suspect would be before Casey's.....

6 graduated + 2 walk-on's earned scholarships this season after having been with the team for 2 prior seasons.....Stephanie Simon and Kate Scott are both walk-ons who have been with the team since their freshmen years and only earned their scholarships this past season for their junior seasons.

I, very much, hope someone will email the Oklahoman and allow them to find out the "truth"......it is a very piss-poor rumor to be spreading, if there is no truth to her HS coach's words.

[This message has been edited by swok34 (edited 04-23-2002).]

[kate dawg]

Jennifer, I think CarolAnn just meant that you don't ever overreact whereas most of us do at one time or another.

[carolann]

Oops. Jennifer, definitely no offense intended. Thanks, KateDawg. Yes, you correctly interpreted my remark about being 'cooler than some of us'.

[horntooter]

Originally posted by vickie1ok:
If it's true, she will have to answer to an OKC media that are not a bunch of OU flaks as is the Austin media to UTex.

Vickie1ok - you must have access to different Austin media that I do.

[Jennifer]

OK Carolann--it's just hard to get 'tones' from text on messageboards!
Thanks katedawg, for pointing it out. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/biggrin.gif