A trend upwards will require investment, or reinvestment or redirection of investment, to increase the young player's presence and the state's overall footprint to enable improved and new synergies to launch from new platforms.

Great work by all at pickandroll.com to put this together each year. Damian does a fantastic job!

great first up game from Jack White for Duke 9pts,11reb and 3 ast.

A number of old and new faces made a positive impression on the opening day of the 2018/19 NCAA Division I basketball season, with all eyes on Australian Jack White who stepped out as co-captain of one of the most famous college basketball programs in the US.

NCAA Men: Jack White is the perfect 'glue-guy' for the Blue Devils

Some great performances by the Aussie men!

Australian pair Alanna Smith and Tiana Mangakahia have been named to a 30-player selection consisting of the best in women's college basketball as the preseason Wooden Award watch list for the All-American team and national player of the year was unveiled this week.

NCAA Women: Smith and Mangakahia shortlisted for Wooden Award

A stacked Aussie freshman class has already shown its wares in the first two days of the women's college season. A number of players got their debut starts, and a couple are ensuring they will not be giving that starting spot up anytime soon, with outstanding debut performances. However, players like Courtney Woods and Funda Nakkasoglu showed that it’s not all about the newcomers this year, and displayed some outstanding scoring performances.

NCAA Women: Woods dominates, newcomers fire in season openers

Hay has had two good games now!

Syracuse's Tiana Mangakahia Has A WNBA Future, Whenever She Wants It

It's the kind of season that draws attention from WNBA talent evaluators. In consecutive games, Mangakahia went up against Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Chennedy Carter of Texas A&M. She held her own against Ionescu, and was clearly, to my eyes, the superior player to Carter in Westchester. Overall, she averaged 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and shot 55.6 percent from the field over those two showcase games.

Great share Luuuc.

NCAA Women: Nakkasoglu shines despite Florida's struggles

Funda Nakkasoglu currently leading scorer in the SEC and equal 20th in D1 overall. Very strong start to the season.

From anon ~834 above: "obviously has made her allegiance with turkey" My understanding is that the Turkish national team invited her train with them (which she did) but she has never played for them. If she received the same offer from the Opals to train with them then I would say she would be open to that. I wouldn't be assuming that she has more allegiance to Turkey than Aust, just that Turkey offered her a training/experience opportunity that she took. She is very focussed on her game and professional in her approach and is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Don't be getting over excited here, the competition isn’t that strong and neither Mangakahia or Nakkasoglu are in stand out teams

May not be in standout teams, but they are starring against standout players and teams.

Turkish delight as Funda Nakkasoglu switches allegiance

...does not completely close the door on future Australian selection for Nakkasoglu, as she is yet to play a competitive fixture for Turkey. However if the Victorian is selected for the Olympic squad or in any other competitive fixtures, it will mean that she could no longer represent Australia.

Thanks for this.

Wow, I didn't realise how many players we had over there! Especially the women. Would they all be on full scholarships? Even those at the div 2 colleges?

Will admit I don't know what the quality difference is like, but if there's so many players who've spent so much time playing basketball, shouldn't that be a good thing for the depth of our local pro leagues when they come back? You get 2-5 back each year and that's more than enough to fill up a couple more expansion teams.

A trio of Aussie men have been lighting up the box scores in US college basketball over the past week, with Jesse Hunt, Dejan Vasiljevic and Cameron Healy all compiling some big scoring games (not to mention Jacob Rigoni either).

NCAA Men: Hunt, Vasiljevic and Healy lighting it up

The Australian presence in NCAA Division I women's basketball looks set to continue to swell, with no less than 23 players signing with college programs during this week’s early signing period.

NCAA Women: Giant Aussie class makes it official during early signing period

Mangakahia wins ACC Player of the Week

(and could be considered unlucky not to win ESPNW POTW as well, considering the player who won it is also in the ACC)

With a number of teams playing in early season tournaments this week, there was plenty of opportunity for Aussies to rack up a number of outstanding performances in the one weekend, and players like Tiana Mangakahia, Alanna Smith, and Shannon Dufficy duly obliged on their trips away. Elsewhere, Northwestern freshman Jess Sancataldo popped up with an unexpected but welcome 20-point performance off the bench for the Wildcats.

NCAA Women: Mangakahia picks up ACC Player of the Week

39 points to Ahlise Hurst today in a Lobos win against Oklahoma!

TCU star Kouat Noi with a new career-high 27 points in a win.

Latest weekly recaps on PnR:

NCAA Women: Ahlise Hurst rewrites New Mexico's record books

NCAA Men: Cameron Healy and Jesse Hunt deliver scoring punch

Hope Perth are keeping an eye on Hunt. Wagstaff and Hire aren't getting any younger.

Yeah - terrible news for Woods. She was having a great start too.

Forward Jordan Hunter provided the spark that help power Saint Mary's to a fourth straight win, while Cameron Healy, Jesse Hunt and Kouat Noi also maintained their consistent output to open the college basketball season. However it was not all good news this week, with Deng Gak ruled out for the season with a serious knee injury.

NCAA Men: Jordan Hunter sparks Gaels to fourth straight win

There was plenty to be happy about given the performances of Australians this week, but that was tempered by the week’s biggest news - the loss of Northern Illinois senior Courtney Woods to an ACL injury, continuing what has been an unfortunate theme of the last couple of seasons among Australian players.

NCAA Women: Ortlepp fires, Woods out for season

Stanford's Alanna Smith is espnW's player of the week

Such great recognition! Beating Baylor surely helped too :)

Tiana Mangakahia's assists are down from last year, but she has improved — and so has Syracuse

Although Mangakahia is scoring fewer points and dishing out fewer assists this season, she is scoring more efficiently and committing fewer turnovers than a season ago. Through Syracuse’s first 11 games, she is making the same number of field goals per game as last season on one fewer shot attempt. She is scoring 1.14 points per scoring attempt this season, up from 1.08 last year, and shooting 4.7 percentage points better from the field. She has also cut her turnovers by over a third, from 5.7 per game last season (which ranked dead last in the NCAA) to 3.6 per game this season. As a result, her assist-to-turnover ratio has actually improved from 1.73 to 2.10 this season, which ranks in the top ten percent of players nationally. (It also probably makes her a better WNBA prospect.)

how do you think tiana will go at the next level luuuc?
Wnbl, possibly wnba.

All I meant was that it means something to WNBA scouts/GMs. For them it's another mark in the "cons" column.
Not that it's impossible to overcome, as Mitchell has proven, and Mo Jefferson, but you need to be that extra bit better to compensate for it.

For other leagues it's not an issue.

With a number of teams taking the week off for exams, this could have been a slow week in college basketball. But with Alanna Smith securing ESPN's National Player of the Week award after leading Stanford to victory over the previously undefeated Baylor, and a number of Aussies putting in outstanding efforts elsewhere, there was no shortage of excitement around the country.

NCAA Women: Alanna Smith named ESPN’s National Player of the Week

wait till they get back from college and actually start playing against women before you go planning their future prospects, so many look great at a college level depending on just who they have to play against, the college level is not filled with super strong teams in every conference from 1st to 10th, most have one or two at best who dominate, UConn is a classic example, yes they are a great team with a great coach, but they play in a crap conference , always have, they smash every team they play in that conference, yet come to the big dance, which again they get that initial easy ride through on rankings, they dont smash any, its a usually a good even comp. Same goes for every other conference, ACC,SEC etc, most only have a few strong teams, so putting any player on a 'wnba'radar simply because they rack numbers up in the team they are in is very premature, just how many players that come out of that college system ever make an impact at the WNBA level even when drafted high, Stewart is an exceptional and their have been a few others, but seriously Mangakahia is not even on the same page as Stewarts level, hell Smith as good as she is and has been an Opal will be lucky to get a run in WNBA her first few years if she takes that draft up.
As for WNBL, Mangakahia would not be walking into a starting WNBL spot on any team lol.

George Blagojevic is in a rich vein of career-best form for Hartford as he earned America East Player of the Week honours, while Jesse Hunt, Kouat Noi and Dejan Vasiljevic maintained their momentum across the past week in college basketball.

NCAA Men: George Blagojevic in career-best form

^ That's a hell of a stat line today in a team that scored 62

Fresh off winning ESPN's National Player of the Week, Alanna Smith showed no signs of slowing down leading into Christmas with a match-winning performance for Stanford against Buffalo.

NCAA Women: Smith, Johnson each explode for 30

Mason Peatling’s return from injury has helped power Eastern Washington to a positive start in 2019, while Cameron Healy and Adam Lulka continued their impressive freshman seasons for Albany as the Australian men in US College basketball entered the New Year in positive fashion.

NCAA Men: Mason Peatling powers Eagles into the New Year

Kouat Noi has had a big opening to 2019 with TCU, dropping a massive career-high against Oklahoma, while Jordan Heading helped the Cal Baptist Lancers maintain their impressive Division I debut season.

NCAA Men: Kouat Noi drops 30 against the Sooners

Alanna Smith and Tiana Mangakahia continue to blaze a trail through college basketball, with the pair playing some of the best basketball in the nation for their respective teams. This week, that outstanding play resulted in both players being awarded conference Player of the Week awards, whilst Tia Hay and Shannon Dufficy must have been in the conversation in their own respective conferences.

NCAA Women: Mangakahia and Smith earn conference Player of the Week awards

Chloe Bibby injured in today's game. Fingers crossed it's not the dreaded 3 letters.

Doesn't look good if she was screaming in pain, she’s a tough nut Bibby , be an absolute shame if it’s a season ending injury , she’s in great form right now

Most freshmen sit their first year, more so if they are not American if they are in a good Div1 team, fact is most imports take a back seat to USA born college kids until they work their way in, some never do.
Just had this conversation yesterday about the USA college system, it's not all it’s hyped up to be for many kids, but a few find their feet, mainly in the lower div or lower ranked colleges though.

As the number of Australians in women's college basketball continues to rise, so too does the number of players producing at a high level not only relative to their countrywomen, but on a national level.

Names such as Alanna Smith and Tiana Mangakahia immediately jump to mind with the pair both considered WNBA prospects, but the list of players in contention for All-Australian selection runs far deeper than the ten players selected. With non-conference play having now wrapped up, we take a look at the top 10 Australian players as well as the top first-year student-athlete.

NCAA Women: Midseason All-Australian Awards

A lazy 34 & 15 for Alanna today. 4/5 from the perimeter takes her season 3P% to a ridiculous 50%

She has been nothing short of amazing this season! A real contender for Pac-12 POY.

Crazy numbers!

While we were spoilt with a talent-laden class of 2017/18, this season a number of lesser-known Aussies have been making an impact across NCAA Division I ranks.

There may be no Jock Landale or Xavier Cooks, but we may well be unearthing a next generation of college stars from down under this season, with Cameron Healy the most impressive of the freshmen to date. Kouat Noi and Jack White are standing out on major programs, while a host of others have stepped up to experience career-best years. Subsequently we count down the Top 10 Aussies at the mid-point of the 2018/19 season.

NCAA Men: Midseason All-Australian Awards

More Aussies are playing college basketball than ever before it seems.

Correct - record numbers of Aussie men and women.

Anon^, that's a crock, are you just making stuff up as you go......?

Every player has a choice based on what they want to do and try for themselves, that hasn't changed and won't change.

Stanford and Opals forward Alanna Smith was once again among the leading Australians in women's college basketball this week, with the senior edging her way firmly into the conversation for Pac-12 Player of the Year after some outstanding efforts. Elsewhere, Jade Johnson broke a school record in St. Francis’ win over local rivals LIU-Brooklyn, and Emily Fisher enjoyed a breakout weekend for American University.

Visit W3Schools!

Whilst many of the usual suspects turned in some outstanding performances, a slightly unexpected name put everyone in the shade as Courtney Murphy continues to make up for lost time in her freshman season in Seattle. Murphy was one of a number of freshmen to shine this week, as Haylee Andrews continues to perform for Portland and Callie Bourne strengthens her grip on a starting spot for Idaho State.

NCAA Women: Murphy breaks Seattle's scoring record, leads team to first win

Great article on Alanna Smith from the Stanford website

Into the Dust

The stars shone brightly once again this week as Alanna Smith, Tiana Mangkahia, Jade Johnson and Shannon Dufficy all delivered as the season approaches crunch time. A number of freshmen also produced, with Sam Simons pouring in 28 points for a new career-high and Haylee Andrews tying her career-high for assists.

NCAA Women: Smith picks up a third Pac-12 Player of the Week award

Yup! Awesome isn't it?!

^
"I'm sure when tiana gets drafted, she will be called up to opals camp. Watched the last few syracuse games and she is so comfortable running the show.nreads the game very well."

Yes Dad ......

Tiana should have been selected to the Opals squad. Short-sighted omission.

Enormous game for Tiana today. 44 points (@ 80%!), 8 assists, 5 boards in their 94-88 win.

Boxscore

Enormous game for Tiana today. 44 points (@ 80%!), 8 assists, 5 boards in their 94-88 win.



She was also the only one shooting........I'd say Florida State lost the game, more than Syracuse won it, obviously no defence at all if they can’t shut down the only player shooting the ball lol

"I'm just really proud of this team," FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. "We did not have an answer for their point guard. We played her different ways off the ball screens and she made us pay in every way. It would have been nice to have more bodies to put on her and she played a tremendous game, but I thought we did too."

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford senior Alanna Smith has been named the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Smith is Stanford's fifth women's basketball awardee, joining Brittany McPhee (2017-18), Chiney Ogwumike (2013-14), Kayla Pedersen (2010-11) and Jayne Appel (2009-10).

Very odd given she has yet to be included in the Opals squad! (even though she should be in it)

Stanford upsets Oregon to win the Pac 12 tournament.
Alanna Smith named Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

She is really piling up the accolades this season.

The first half of Champ Week provided, as always, scintilliating performances, joyous memories, and utter heartbreak as conference crowns were decided, and seniors saw their careers either end with a tournament loss or continue on for another game. Among the Aussies, the stars once again shone brightest as Alanna Smith and Tiana Mangakahia picked up conference tournament awards, with Smith picking up the Pac-12 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player as Stanford upset Oregon in the decider.

NCAA Women: Smith leads Stanford to 13th Pac-12 Tournament title

^ good question, not sure how she's managed it, but it’s a valid point to reflect on who she plays against, be very interesting to see how she pulls up against ones her own age.

The most common mature age entry in NCAA stems from students who were on active military duty so were able to defer their eligibility. Another way is if you served as a missionary. Those are two avenues I've noticed watching NCAA sports.

Mangakahia is actually 23! Born 21 April 1995, so she is about to turn 24.

Selection Sunday finalised the NCAA Tournament field, with a total of 12 Australian men across 8 teams set to go 'dancing'. Seven of those teams won their conference tournaments to book direct entry into the event, while one (Virginia) were included in the field after a brilliant season and are currently ranked number two nationally entering this week.

NCAA Men: The Aussies in the 2019 NCAA Tournament

With the power conferences having completed their conference tournaments last weekend, the mid-majors took centre stage as the battle for a single bid in many leagues played out. With a number of Australians playing in the Big Sky, that was always one league that was a chance of sending an Aussie to the NCAA Tournament, and fans weren't disappointed. On the other side of the country, Buffalo secured the MAC Championship and an automatic bid of their own, with Courtney Wilkins playing a major role.

NCAA Women: Aussie stars light up the Big Sky

With Champ Week done and dusted, attention now turns to the 'Big Dance' - the NCAA Tournament. Four Aussies reached the tournament as conference champions, whilst seven more picked up at-large bids to see 11 Aussies split evenly across 11 teams enter the 64-team bracket.

NCAA Women: The Aussies in the 2019 NCAA Tournament

35 Aussies across 28 teams featured in the first weekend of the three postseason events, with 11 of those playing in the NCAA Tournament. All nine first round games featuring an Australian finished with an Aussie winner, with five of those making their way through to the Sweet 16. Elsewhere, three Aussies remain standing in the WNIT, whilst Nicola Mathews and Appalachian State have made their way through to the WBI semi-finals.

NCAA Women: Five Aussies remain in NCAA Tournament after solid first weekend

Mangakahia has opted to return to Syracuse for another year rather than nominating for the WNBA draft.
One More Year

Smith was today named to the All-America 2nd Team

Smith is joined on the second team by Kristine Anigwe (Cal), Kalani Brown (Baylor), Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame) and Bridget Carleton (Iowa State).
The first team consists of Megan Gustafson (Iowa), Napheesa Collier (Connecticut), Teaira McCowan (Mississippi State), Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon) and Asia Durr (Louisville).

She will be the oldest player at any college !

One Aussie male has advanced to the Final Four, while Koat Noi has led TCU to the final of the NIT.

NCAA Men: Stattmann headed to Final Four, Kouat making some noise

Moragn Yaeger is the last women standing in the NCAA Tournament, heading to the Final Four. But there are a host of others starring in the WNIT and WBI.

NCAA Women: Yaeger and Oregon dance into Final Four