The Daily Gamecock

Stock up, stock down: 2016 SEC women's basketball preview

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Stock up

Diamond DeShields

DeShields came to Tennessee with a lot of expectations. In 2014, she was named an All-ACC player during her freshman year at the University of North Carolina, where she broke numerous ACC records and was the only underclassman to be a part of the John R. Wooden Top-15 list. Her first year at Tennessee wasn’t necessarily a disappointment, considering she was the team’s leading scorer, but she did not earn All-SEC honors. This year, however, she was one of the five players that media members selected to the Preseason All-SEC team. Per usual, expectations are high for DeShields and the Volunteers. The junior has a chance to prove that her freshman season wasn’t just an outlier and that she really is one of the best players in the country.

Caliya Robinson

Robinson is one of the players Georgia head coach Joni Taylor needs to step up if the Bulldogs hope to maintain success in the SEC. In her freshman season, the 6-foot-3 forward was third in the conference in blocks and was selected as a member of the SEC All-Freshman team. She will be a full-time starter this season, and with her size and skill, she has the potential to become a star in 2016.

Alaina Coates

A’ja Wilson is the Gamecock that gets most of the attention from the media, but Dawn Staley went out of her way to mention Coates during SEC Media Days. As Staley put it, “Don’t forget about our beast now … we’re expecting big things from her.” The senior center from Irmo received votes for Preseason SEC Player of the Year after coming off an impressive junior year where she led the conference in field goal percentage and rebounds on her way to an All-SEC first team season. Wilson and Coates are going to be the star players on the Gamecocks' highly-talented roster.

Competition in the SEC

The SEC is quickly becoming the premier conference for college women’s basketball. The conference is long removed from the days when it was Tennessee and everyone else. Now, South Carolina has emerged as one of the top programs in the country, and teams like Mississippi State, Kentucky and Texas A&M are consistently ranked in the top 20. This year, the SEC has six teams ranked in the preseason poll and had three other teams receive votes. Last year, five teams were ranked and three others were receiving votes. While this is not a dramatic increase, this is a trend that has steadily been moving more and more in the SEC’s favor. Texas A&M has won a national championship since joining the SEC and many feel that Staley’s Gamecocks have a chance to do the same this year. The more publicity and the more winning the conference experiences, the better the competition gets. This is a trend that is hard to see not continuing for years to come.

Stock Down

Georgia Bulldogs

The Bulldogs finished last year surprisingly well in Joni Taylor’s first season as the head coach. They finished sixth in the conference with a record of 21-10, while going 9-7 in SEC play. Things will be more difficult for the Bulldogs this year, as they are going to have to replace their top three scorers from last year. There is young talent mixed with some older, more experienced players, but the media is not confident in the Bulldogs this season. They were picked to finish 10th in the league this year.

Texas A&M

Much like the Bulldogs, the Texas A&M Aggies are going to be replacing several players from last year’s team. They have to find a way to replace Courtney Walker and Jordan Jones, who led the SEC in points per game and assists per game, respectively. Those two helped the Aggies finish third in the SEC with a 22-10 (11-5 in SEC) record. Head coach Gary Blair has long since established himself as one of the best coaches in women’s college basketball, but replacing five seniors, including two great players like Walker and Jones, is a tough task for any coach.

Jessica Jackson

Jackson had a spectacular junior season where she averaged 16.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game from the forward position. Her performance was good enough to warrant a first team All-SEC selection. This coming season may be difficult for Jackson and the rest of her Razorback teammates. Media members gave DeShields the nod over Jackson for the Preseason All-SEC team, which serves as a bit of a red flag. Arkansas was voted to finish 11th in the SEC, so Jackson may not be able to have the type of breakout season she is capable of having due to being surrounded by what many believe will be a below-average team.


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