This email went out to I believe STHs this afternoon from Whiz. Well, not from him directly like he clicked "send" but you know..
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Another exciting Monarchs basketball season is upon us and I think this year's training camp roster is as good as we have had from top to bottom since I have been involved with the Monarchs beginning in 2003.
Although we lost our veteran leader, Yolanda Griffith, we have DeMya Walker, Rebekkah Brunson and Adrian Williams-Strong returning as 6-3 and 6-4 post players. We also have Kara Lawson and Nicole Powell, who are two of the best shooters in the WNBA, and we have Ticha Penicheiro, the all-time WNBA assists leader, at point guard. To add to that nucleus, we drafted four players who we believe will fill in the voids very well.
Our first round pick was Laura Harper, a 6-4, forward/center from Maryland, where she was MVP of the Final Four when Maryland won the National Championship two years ago. Presently, Laura is with Kara playing with the U.S. Women's National Team, which is on an exhibition tour in China. To be selected for that team shows how highly thought of she is within USA basketball.
I felt we also needed a back-up point guard, so with that in mind, we drafted A'Quonesia Franklin from Texas A&M. As a leader of her college team, running the show on the floor and being point on their defensive efforts, A'Quonesia helped her team win the Big 12 Conference.
For additional post depth, we are excited to have 6-5 Izabela Piekarska, who I have seen several times during the season while she played at UTEP and helped her team post the best record in school history. Izabela was the top shot blocker and an outstanding rebounder at UTEP and, like most European players (i.e. Vlade Divac), she is a very good passer and perimeter shooter for a post player.
We were extremely surprised that Charel Allen from Notre Dame was left in this year's draft, and she joins four experienced returning guards in Ticha, Kara, Scholanda Robinson and Chelsea Newton. Charel was a First Team All-Big East guard and Notre Dame's leading scorer at 17+ points per game in a very tough conference.
With our returning players, draft picks and the free agents we invited to camp, we believe this year's overall talent is perhaps our best in some time.
If we can stay injury free, play team defense, rebound and share the ball on the offensive end, we will have a great opportunity to make the Playoffs again. We are looking forward to seeing you and hearing your very vocal support again for the 2008 WNBA season.
Sincerely,
John Whisenant
General Manager