A few weeks before @umichwbball kicks off the 2024-25 season, the team hosted a Media Day on Tuesday. Here are some key quotes from head coach Kim Barnes Arico on a squad with a lot of new faces, including the highest ranked class in program history:
The 2024-25 college basketball season tips off in a few weeks, and coming off their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Michigan Wolverines women’s basketball team prepares to start the season with a ton of new faces. While many key contributors from last season gone via transfer portal, there’s still plenty to be excited about with this squad, which includes the highest-ranked freshman recruiting class in program history.
Head coach Kim Barnes Arico spoke to the media at the team’s Media Day earlier this week. Here are some key quotes, with some context and analysis.
On losing several players to the transfer portal
“I was crushed, I was really hurt. And I think everybody in that position would be. I had a bunch of coaches reach out to me … they said, ‘We know it hurts, we’ve been through it already … you know you’re going to be okay.’ The landscape has certainly changed.”
This comes after Michigan lost several players to the transfer portal, including last year’s leading scorer in Laila Phelia, key post players in Cameron Williams and Chyra Evans and bench contributors Taylor Williams and Taylor Woodson. That’s the reality of the sport now; even on a team like Michigan that is an NCAA Tournament mainstay and has won at least 64 percent of its games every year since 2016-17.
The Wolverines have brought in a few transfer players of their own — Ally Van Timmeren from Boston College, Brooke Daniels from Oakland and Yulia Grabovskaia from Middle Tennessee State.
This onslaught of players leaving the program is new for Barnes Arico’s program. How she learns to adjust to it, as is the case with several other coaches in the sport, will teach us a lot about her adaptability.
On building a culture
“We consider ourselves program builders. What we do may be different than a lot of other programs. We’re not a program that’s based on the transfer portal. … That’s not the kind of culture of our university. It’s not the culture of our program. We really pride ourselves on building something.”
I’d say Barnes Arico has done a fine job practicing what she’s preached, considering this is really the first season where we’ve seen a mass exodus. While this team doesn’t have a ton of returning players, veterans like senior guards Jordan Hobbs and Greta Kampschroeder, who joined KBA at Big Ten’s Media Day , will be called upon to keep the ball rolling. Michigan is referring to the four returning players — Hobbs, Kampschroeder, junior Alyssa Crockett and sophomore Macy Brown — as the “quad squad”
On the new freshman class
“We have our freshman class, our most decorated recruiting class in program history. Headlined by two McDonald’s All-Americans and additional two top-100 players. And a fifth player who is a post player, Aaiyanna Dunbar, who is doing a great job for us. Who knows what our starting lineup is going to be. We still have a lot of time before that day. But we could potentially have three freshmen in our starting lineup, potentially, which would be one of the — I would probably guess to say — youngest lineups in all of college basketball will be our team this year.”
It’s not often that guards start right away as freshman in college basketball, but with all the turnover and the sheer talent of this class , that could be very well be the case for Michigan.
Ahead of seeing this group play together, I could easily see the two McDonald’s All-Americans starting. Syla Swords is coming off repping Team Canada at the Olympics at just 18 years old, and Olson, the 20th-ranked player in their class, complements her well .
The rest of the class includes guard Mila Holloway, and forwards Dunbar and Te’Yala Delfosse. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of those forwards starting with the two All-Americans, along with maybe Hobbs and Van Timmeren.
For more on Michigan’s highly touted 2024 class, I broke down their games back in April .
On playing a tough schedule
“Our schedule is a bear. It’s fun. But that is why players come here. We talk about the University of Michigan all the time, and when you sign up for the University of Michigan, you sign up for greatness. And that is greatness in every aspect. So when our players commit to this university, they want to compete against the best night in and night out. And obviously our conference, I thought it was the best in prior years. But I think the rest of the world probably thinks it’s the best this year because the teams that have been added are absolutely incredible.”
Even with the departure of one of the best players the sport has seen in Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the Big Ten is still as deep as ever, with six teams in the AP preseason top 25. That includes No. 3 USC, led by one of the best players in the country in Juju Watkins.
Much like Tom Izzo does with Michigan State on the men’s side, Barnes Arico is really testing her squad early in the season. Their non-conference schedule includes matchups with the reigning National Champions (No. 1 South Carolina) and No. 10 Oklahoma as part of the Jordan Brand Classic.
It may take the Wolverines a while to develop chemistry with all the fresh faces on this squad, but those tests early in the season will undoubtedly help them in the long run.
Michigan kicks off their season on TNT against the Gamecocks in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday, Nov. 4. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.