To commit early, or not to commit early?

Sophomore's Andraya Carter's committment to Tennessee is no surprise; she was wearing head-to-toe orange at nine years old. I love those "visualize it til it comes true" stories.

Speaking of early commits, Michigan doesn't have a problem doing it. One ranked junior just verballed to North Carolina, despite still recovering from an ACL injury. She's now one of 19 on the ESPN Super 60 list who have verballed early.

Tough break for Loree Moore

This really bums me out: Loree Moore will have knee surgery for her torn meniscus, will be out 4-8 weeks and won't make the Storm's 11-player final roster. She could be re-signed in a couple months, but who's to say that Coach Brian Agler will have room? What a tough break.

But one news source says the Storm still have an improved bench.

Speaking of medical recovery, Seimone Augustus is tough as hell.

WNBA and college happenings

Hey WNBA: remember Sheryl Swoopes. I've said it too for the last couple years: she deserves a proper send off.

The holdovers from the Detroit Shock are making the best of it in Tulsa.

Oh my god, what horrible luck: Loree Moore has torn the meniscus in her knee.

Alexis Gray-Lawson was waived by Washington today. Awwwww. Another California, Jennifer Risper, was waived by Indiana.

On the college tip:

Jennifer Azzi has hired old buddy Katy Steding and Blair Hardiek as her assistants at USF.

Duke and UConn have renewed their series.

Pasadena's own Morghan Medlock will receive the Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award. It's given annually to athletes who "have overcome great personal, academic and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics." Medlock's mother was murdered during the 2008-2009 season, but she didn't miss a game that year. Amazing. Congratulations to her.

Van Chancellor couldn't get Joni Crenshaw as a player, but now he's got her as an assistant coach at LSU. Life is funny like that sometimes.

Is Shoni Schimmel going to sign somewhere?

Portland, Oregon native Shoni Schimmel has been one of the most sought-out recruits in the class of 2010 for a long time. Ranked eighth by ESPN, the 5-foot-9 point guard has considered Stanford, Louisville, UCLA, Oregon and Rutgers. But with only 13 days left in the late signing period, one wonders if she's going to sign anywhere - she's been strangely silent. And the athletic director at Franklin High School didn't return my call today.

Schimmel is, in fact, the only one in the top 100 of 2010 who hasn't committed to a school. It's unusual to wait this late in the signing season to make a decision if you're a top recruit. What could be going on?

A source told me that Schimmel dropped Stanford from consideration because she didn't have the grades to get in. I've also heard rumors that some members of her family want her to go to one school and other family wishes she'd go to another. I haven't heard anything on what Schimmel wants.

Maybe she'll surprise everyone and sign big by May 19. We'll see.

The return of DeMoss

Hmmm, I might smell another championship starting to heat up in the oven: Mickie DeMoss is back as assistant coach at Tennessee.

Dammit: Tulsa waived Vivian Frieson and Juanita Ward today.

The NCAA is proposing tougher penalties for the "excessive swinging of elbows." How do you determine what's excessive?

ESPN's Joy Hollingsworth provides good tips for avoiding basketball burnout. Very timely, as I know three girls who have told me recently that they're tired of basketball; not good.

Ups and downs in the news

Here are a couple heavy hard luck stories with silver linings: Atlanta Dream owner Kathy Betty reinvented herself after loss, and Seimone Augustus' recent surgery gives me the willies just to think about it.

Karina Figueroa will return to Saturday to Long Beach State, where she just finished her college career, to play for the Sparks. Will she make the roster?

More on the Ashley's takeover of Storm media day yesterday, and some media day photos.

The Tulsa Shock's Vivian Frieson, still holding it down for Seattle in training camp, speaks with Swish Appeal.

On the college tip, Anne Donovan is rounding out her staff at Seton Hall.

North Carolina State athletic director Lee Fowler has stepped down.

WNBA bus stops

Good news/bad news from Tulsa:

Coach Nolan Richardson is adapting fine to coaching women.......

At the same time, he does have to learn there are differences in the men's game and the women's game.

"It is different," said Christi Thomas, a five-year veteran out of Georgia. "Some things are the same. It is still basketball.

But the women's game is more about fundamentals. Our egos are less involved than in men's basketball.

"I think there is a difference in pace and in some aspects of the game. But we can play fast just like he wants, and I think our players have been very receptive to his style so far."

But the women's game is more about fundamentals. Our egos are less involved than in men's basketball.....

At a recent practice, when his players picked up a drill so quickly, Richardson praised his players saying "you are so much smarter than players I've coached."

That's no knock on men's players. What he was saying is that women are more receptive to learning and coaching.

"Coach Richardson has adapted to us real well," Pierson said. "We are learning from him, but he's learning from us, too. I think women are smart players, and he's learning that about us. We pick things up real fast. I think that is part of the process we're going through. He's learning to deal with us as players.

Bad news: Cheryl Ford won't be playing this season.

Seattle:

One blogger recounts her impressions of yesterday's pre-season game, in which the Storm handily defeated defending champs the Phoenix Mercury.

Ashley Robinson and Ashley Walker promised those in attendence at today's Media Day that they'd have a reality show called "The Ashleys."

Los Angeles:

The Sparks may move their practices from the lush facility in El Segundo that's also used by the Lakers to Pasadena City College. I don't see that as a plus like the team president does.

She's baaaaack! Well, almost. And I have a feeling that the resilient Candace Parker will be the "old" Candace this year. I want some more dunks.

Shyra Ely finds a world of support through blogging

When Shyra Ely suffered a torn patella tendon last month, the former Tennessee Lady Vol felt overwhelmed by all of the resulting thoughts and emotions.

"I just had so much stuff in my head,'' said Ely, who was preparing for her WNBA season with the Chicago Sky. "I couldn't think straight."

Rather than go to pieces, the 6-foot-2 women's basketball forward reached for a piece of paper and began writing everything down. Taking mental inventory inspired Ely to write a blog about her plight and discover, in turn, the therapeutic value of social networking. The ripple effect from her blog has reached Twitter, Ustream and e-mails.

Sounds like something worth blogging about.

Serve up our WNBA news, please

Clay Kallam REALLY hits a home run this morning with his commentary on the secrecy around the WNBA and its players, "why does the WNBA make it hard to care?"

But apparently there’s a sense that censorship is crucial to the league’s survival, and that bad news must be treated as if it doesn’t exist. Nolan doesn’t want to play in Tulsa – she doesn’t exist. Ford is in negotiations – news blackout.

Why not just write the story? Why not let the fans know what’s going on?

Which leads directly to Loree Moore, an integral piece for the Liberty for four years. Why was there no announcement anywhere that she had been released?

Of course, people might have been upset. Of course, there might have been some angry emails – but isn’t that part of the fun of being a sports fan? Isn’t that what gets leagues onto SportsCenter, and into newspapers?

Overall, I think Donna Orender has done a fine job as commissioner, but this whole atmosphere of secrecy and information control actively hurts the league. Fans should be able to still see Kristin Haynie’s career stats, and they should have known when she was added to Washington’s roster, and when she was taken off.

So very true, unfortunately.

I keep up on things very well, but when the Storm signed Loree Moore a few weeks ago, I was taken aback because I didn't even know she'd been cut from the Liberty's roster. I had to go to the WNBA transactions page to see the obscure one-line letting me know it was true. She's been with New York for so long; you'd think there would have been a major announcement.

The LA Sparks page today is another example of keeping fans in the dark. They had their first exhibition in San Diego yesterday, against the Chinese National team, but there's not even a box score on the web site.

So I'm going to break the silence code this morning and link a bunch of stories. Here goes:

Atlanta Dream Coach Marynell Meadors is coming home for an exhibition game.

Monica Wright is adjusting well to the WNBA (no surprises there).

Pauline Love is taking the hits in Sun training camp.

Tulsa has some Lady Vols on its roster, so not coincidentally, they expect to win.

Seattle local Lindsey Wilson is trying out for the Storm.

May Kotsolpoulus isn't just an intern for the Sun anymore - she's trying out for the team.

Candice Dupree is adjusting to the Mercury.

Lindsay Whalen is happy to be home with the Lynx.

Kerri Gardin is cool with her low-key role on the Sun's roster.

And one Sacramento Bee writer notes that it's strange not to have the Monarchs in training camp this year, after 12 seasons.

Catching up with Ariya Crook-Williams

Today, during a break between games at the May Madness 2010 tournament in Orange County, I sat down with Ariya Crook-Williams. The guard, ranked twentieth in the class of 2011 by ESPN, plays for nationally-ranked Long Beach Poly in the winter and the highly-esteemed Cal Sparks Gold team during the spring and summer. She has emerged from the winter season transformed and ready to attack new goals.

Ariya Crook-Williams has been turning heads on the club ball circuit so far this season with her sleek new physique. Many coaches at the Deep South Classic in North Carolina two weeks ago told Crook-Williams' coach that it was a whole new Ariya. She concurs.

"I've got a lot of comments that I look good, and I feel good as well," she said.

But Southern California hoop heads witnessed the transformation in motion this past winter, as Crook-Williams grew leaner and leaner as the season progressed. And to those who already knew the USA Basketball story from last summer, it wasn't a surprise: Crook-Williams was cut from the U16 squad because she was deemed unfit.

"They said I didn't make the team because I was out of shape and I needed to slim down," she said.

(Pictures from this story, previously linked on the They're Playing Basketball blog, show the former Crook-Williams).

She began working with a fitness trainer. Workouts have included hill running at a local park. And since last fall, Crook-Williams has shed 20 pounds - a lot for a 5'6" athlete with a small frame. She said that because of her improved fitness level, she's faster and plays better defense.

Crook-Williams has been through a lot in the last two years, including the death of her father, an injury and the USA Basketball disappointment. Then there was Long Beach Poly's loss in the state Division I championships last month, breaking a four-year streak. She said the Jackrabbits had expected to win, but they could have been more focused on the game, too.

A resilient type, Crook-Williams is going to try out for the USA Basketball team again this summer. She plans on helping Poly get back to state next year. And she has personal goals as well.

"I plan on working on my defense, and bringing my teams (both Poly and the Sparks) together," she said.

Crook-Williams will also be choosing a college within the next six months. She has a box full of letters, has been seen at every UCLA game this past season, and has had Division I coaches at every one of her games. But for now, she's undecided where she wants to go.

"I'm pretty much open to any school right now," she said.



Crook-Williams is a lean, mean fighting machine now, seen here bringing the ball up the court during Cal Sparks Gold's first game today.



She is faster than she was last year, as she says she is.



Crook-Williams shared point guard duties for Cal Sparks Gold last year; this year she's mostly it (seen here watching a free throw during Gold's second game today).