Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Carey’s 2019-20 Mountaineers Long and Athletic
November 06, 2019 04:04 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Tomorrow night when Mike Carey looks down at his bench he's going to see players and not empty seats.
The veteran coach will have nine players available for Thursday night's season opener against Saint Francis, Pa., and he said all nine will play significant minutes against the Red Flash.
"All nine can play and all nine will see a lot of action throughout the year," he said before this afternoon's practice inside the WVU Coliseum. "They all can do things to help us win."
The lineup he used for last week's exhibition game victory over Salem was comprised of guards Madisen Smith, Lucky Rudd and Kysre Gondrezick, 6-foot-1 forward Kari Niblack and 6-foot-5 junior center Blessing Ejiofor from Ebonyi, Nigeria, by way of Chipola Community College.
Ejiofor (pronounced Oh-jah-FOUR) and 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman Rochelle Norris give the Mountaineers sorely needed size they were lacking last year. Niblack was forced to play center last year and gave up 5 or 6 inches to the Big 12 centers she had to guard.
The addition of those two has allowed Carey to move Niblack out to her more natural power forward position.
"It's going to be hard for a four to keep her off the boards," Carey said. "I think we're going to be long and athletic, and I think we will be a better rebounding team."
Gondrezick, a former Michigan prep star who missed most of last year for personal reasons, returned to the floor to score a team-best 18 points against Salem.
Arleighshya McElroy, a 5-foot-8 junior guard from Dallas, Texas, contributed 12 points in 20 minutes while Kirsten Deans, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard from Greensboro, North Carolina, scored six points and handed out three assists.
Carey is also excited about the addition of 6-foot-2 freshman forward Esmery Martinez from Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Martinez, originally from Hato Mayor Del Ray, Dominican Republic, attracted big-time interest during her junior season in 2018 when she averaged 18.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 5.9 blocks per game.
She entered her senior season as the nation's 49th-rated prospect before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Martinez originally signed with Mississippi State before asking out of her scholarship last summer.
Soon after she received her release, Martinez signed with West Virginia in August. According to Carey, she was just recently cleared for full-contact practices and has been very impressive going up against the current Mountaineer players so far.
"Esmery is going to be a big-time player," Carey predicted. "I'm saying it right here. She has a chance to be a big-time player for West Virginia University. We are really excited about her."
Overall, Carey said he's got many more options than he's had during the last two seasons when his teams have fallen just short of the NCAA Tournament.
WVU's last bid came in 2017 when it lost to Maryland in a second-round game over in College Park. West Virginia has made 10 NCAA trips in Carey's 18 seasons in Morgantown.
"We're excited to get it going. The players are excited, I'm excited, and it's about that time of the year when we need to start playing games," he concluded.
Briefly:
* Jada Wright, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward from Chicago, is still recovering from a knee injury she suffered while playing at Trinity Valley Community College last year and will be sidelined for an extended period of time. Carey said before today's practice that Penn State transfer De'Janae Boykin will not be available this year after recently undergoing season-ending foot surgery.
* Saint Francis opened its season on Tuesday night in Blacksburg, Virginia, with a 105-41 loss to Virginia Tech. Jenna Mastellone, a 5-foot-10 junior guard from New York City, led Saint Francis with eight points.
Long-time Marist assistant coach Keila Whittington is in her first season coaching the Red Flash. She replaces SFU Director of Athletics Susan Robinson Fruchtl, who was serving in an interim coaching capacity last year.
Robinson is a native of Doddridge County in West Virginia and was an All-American player at Penn State.
* Upcoming games against Presbyterian, Radford and Coppin State will precede the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, Nov. 28-29, when West Virginia will face Creighton and New Mexico.
Also on the horizon is a Dec. 8 game at Mississippi State as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge, as well as late-December games against Syracuse and Michigan State in the Florida Sunshine Classic in Orlando, Florida.
Carey said earlier this fall that a concerted effort was made to upgrade the Mountaineers' nonconference schedule after finishing tied with Kansas State for fourth in the league standings last year and not making the NCAA Tournament. WVU was recently predicted to finish third in the Big 12 this year behind Baylor and Texas.
The veteran coach will have nine players available for Thursday night's season opener against Saint Francis, Pa., and he said all nine will play significant minutes against the Red Flash.
"All nine can play and all nine will see a lot of action throughout the year," he said before this afternoon's practice inside the WVU Coliseum. "They all can do things to help us win."
The lineup he used for last week's exhibition game victory over Salem was comprised of guards Madisen Smith, Lucky Rudd and Kysre Gondrezick, 6-foot-1 forward Kari Niblack and 6-foot-5 junior center Blessing Ejiofor from Ebonyi, Nigeria, by way of Chipola Community College.
Ejiofor (pronounced Oh-jah-FOUR) and 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman Rochelle Norris give the Mountaineers sorely needed size they were lacking last year. Niblack was forced to play center last year and gave up 5 or 6 inches to the Big 12 centers she had to guard.
The addition of those two has allowed Carey to move Niblack out to her more natural power forward position.
"It's going to be hard for a four to keep her off the boards," Carey said. "I think we're going to be long and athletic, and I think we will be a better rebounding team."
Gondrezick, a former Michigan prep star who missed most of last year for personal reasons, returned to the floor to score a team-best 18 points against Salem.
Arleighshya McElroy, a 5-foot-8 junior guard from Dallas, Texas, contributed 12 points in 20 minutes while Kirsten Deans, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard from Greensboro, North Carolina, scored six points and handed out three assists.
Carey is also excited about the addition of 6-foot-2 freshman forward Esmery Martinez from Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Martinez, originally from Hato Mayor Del Ray, Dominican Republic, attracted big-time interest during her junior season in 2018 when she averaged 18.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 5.9 blocks per game.
She entered her senior season as the nation's 49th-rated prospect before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Martinez originally signed with Mississippi State before asking out of her scholarship last summer.
Soon after she received her release, Martinez signed with West Virginia in August. According to Carey, she was just recently cleared for full-contact practices and has been very impressive going up against the current Mountaineer players so far.
"Esmery is going to be a big-time player," Carey predicted. "I'm saying it right here. She has a chance to be a big-time player for West Virginia University. We are really excited about her."
Overall, Carey said he's got many more options than he's had during the last two seasons when his teams have fallen just short of the NCAA Tournament.
WVU's last bid came in 2017 when it lost to Maryland in a second-round game over in College Park. West Virginia has made 10 NCAA trips in Carey's 18 seasons in Morgantown.
"We're excited to get it going. The players are excited, I'm excited, and it's about that time of the year when we need to start playing games," he concluded.
Briefly:
* Jada Wright, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward from Chicago, is still recovering from a knee injury she suffered while playing at Trinity Valley Community College last year and will be sidelined for an extended period of time. Carey said before today's practice that Penn State transfer De'Janae Boykin will not be available this year after recently undergoing season-ending foot surgery.
* Saint Francis opened its season on Tuesday night in Blacksburg, Virginia, with a 105-41 loss to Virginia Tech. Jenna Mastellone, a 5-foot-10 junior guard from New York City, led Saint Francis with eight points.
Long-time Marist assistant coach Keila Whittington is in her first season coaching the Red Flash. She replaces SFU Director of Athletics Susan Robinson Fruchtl, who was serving in an interim coaching capacity last year.
Robinson is a native of Doddridge County in West Virginia and was an All-American player at Penn State.
* Upcoming games against Presbyterian, Radford and Coppin State will precede the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, Nov. 28-29, when West Virginia will face Creighton and New Mexico.
Also on the horizon is a Dec. 8 game at Mississippi State as part of the Big 12-SEC Challenge, as well as late-December games against Syracuse and Michigan State in the Florida Sunshine Classic in Orlando, Florida.
Carey said earlier this fall that a concerted effort was made to upgrade the Mountaineers' nonconference schedule after finishing tied with Kansas State for fourth in the league standings last year and not making the NCAA Tournament. WVU was recently predicted to finish third in the Big 12 this year behind Baylor and Texas.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballMark Kellogg | Purdue Fort Wayne
Monday, November 03
Kierra Wheeler and Jordan Thomas | Purdue Fort Wayne
Monday, November 03
Sydney Shaw | Oct. 30
Thursday, October 30
Loghan Johnson | Oct. 30
Thursday, October 30
