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It's amazing. The DC tried to do a story about the new women's basketball transfers, and not only do we not learn anything about the new players, it might be that we know less than we did before. Some of the "highlights":

• The SMU women's basketball team already has a roster jam-packed with talent and experience, but add two transfers from an experienced Big 12 program and the Mustangs look significantly stronger for the 2009-10 season.
Nice, except the transfers can not play this year, so the influx of talent comes from the incoming freshmen ... who aren't mentioned anywhere in the story.

• With second-round appearances in both the Big 12 Championships and WNIT last season, both athletes know the skill it takes to advance to the post season - something the Mustangs had never done prior to Rompola becoming the team's head coach in 1991.
Interesting — two transfers who won't play this year are supposed to help a problem that isn't a problem at all. They're not joining the pre-Rompola Mustangs. They're joining the team that has made it to the postseason twice in the last two years (and will make it again this year) and what, eight times in Coach R's tenure?

• At least there are quotes in the story ... that were yanked from Josh over at scout! This is like when they wrote a story full of "so-and-so told the Dallas Morning News..."

• Previous Mustangs who have transferred to SMU include Heidi Brandenburg, Raquel Christian, both of whom are eligible to play this upcoming season after being redshirted during 2008-09.
Did the DC even cover any games? Heidi and Raquel were not redshirts. They both sat out because of NCAA transfer rules — which is not a redshirt — and Heidi played the second half of the season after became eligible in January. Seriously, do they cover ANY games in person?

The whole paper isn't bad, but this story embarrassing.

here is the article about the new hires: http://media.www.smudailycampus.com/med ... 9789.shtml

There you go — much better article. Can that guy cover both teams?

SMUguy wrote:
• Previous Mustangs who have transferred to SMU include Heidi Brandenburg, Raquel Christian, both of whom are eligible to play this upcoming season after being redshirted during 2008-09.
Did the DC even cover any games? Heidi and Raquel were not redshirts. They both sat out because of NCAA transfer rules — which is not a redshirt — and Heidi played the second half of the season after became eligible in January. Seriously, do they cover ANY games in person?

The whole paper isn't bad, but this story embarrassing.

Actually, Raquel did redshirt during the year that she sat out. Most transfers do. Heidi has a redshirt from the 07-08 year, because she never played a game while at Missouri.

It's a mistake to refer to them as "Previous Mustangs" though, because both are still on the team.

I'm not going to read the full article, because most of the DC coverage of the womens team just makes me cringe. They should let me do the writing, instead. I'd do it for free.

To answer your question about covering any of the games in person, the author of this article is at almost every home game.

Even though she didn't play at Mizzou, I was told Heidi Brandenburg had to sit out a year, per NCAA transfer rules, because the rule refers to enrollment in the university, not playing time, and she did enroll — albeit briefly — at Mizzou. Raquel Christian was able to redshirt because she had not burned a redshirt year, but even if she had, she still would have had to sit out.

For what it's worth, I've heard she has looked very good in practice and will be a major contributor to a talented, veteran team in 2009-10.

The DC is at every game? That's sad, considering the coverage. Most stories sound like they were written by someone who had never seen the team play, or maybe like someone who had never seen basketball.

SMUguy wrote:There you go — much better article. Can that guy cover both teams?

The article on the women's transfers was written by the editor-in-chief, who should know how to write. However, since the current editor-in-chief was brought aboard, I have found that the paper has declined in quality markedly. I think it's time for a new editor-in-chief.

PonyFan wrote:Even though she didn't play at Mizzou, I was told Heidi Brandenburg had to sit out a year, per NCAA transfer rules, because the rule refers to enrollment in the university, not playing time, and she did enroll — albeit briefly — at Mizzou. Raquel Christian was able to redshirt because she had not burned a redshirt year, but even if she had, she still would have had to sit out.

For what it's worth, I've heard she has looked very good in practice and will be a major contributor to a talented, veteran team in 2009-10.

The DC is at every game? That's sad, considering the coverage. Most stories sound like they were written by someone who had never seen the team play, or maybe like someone who had never seen basketball.

I think you misunderstand me, because I never said that either of them didnt sit out a year. They both did, but they also both redshirted. If you take a look at the roster, you'll see that Heidi is listed as an RS-SO, and Raquel as RS-JR (http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/w-ba ... l-mtt.html). I never said that not playing at Missouri meant that Brandenburg didnt have to sit out, and I dont know where you came up with that, it only meant that she didnt lose the year of eligibility. I am fully aware of the NCAA transfer rule, and have in fact explained it several times before on this site. Transferring and sitting out, though, does not prevent someone from redshirting, most transfer are able to sit out without it costing them a year of eligibility.

Yes, Nicole Jacobsen, the articles author, is at every home game. Most of the men's games, as well. It isnt that she doesnt watch the games, she just isnt a particularly good writer.

CalallenStang wrote:

SMUguy wrote:There you go — much better article. Can that guy cover both teams?

The article on the women's transfers was written by the editor-in-chief, who should know how to write. However, since the current editor-in-chief was brought aboard, I have found that the paper has declined in quality markedly. I think it's time for a new editor-in-chief.

I think its always sucked a little (I expect nothing less from a college paper), but was more palatable when a particular person was editing it (shout out MN).