A class of five good freshmen is relatively uncommon for college basketball.
Getting them to not play like five freshmen? Now that’s pretty hard to come by.
It just so happens that ASU women’s basketball has done both, replacing their five graduated seniors from 2015-16 with five new freshman women who look nothing like freshmen on the court. Three in particular, all guards – Kiara Russell (6.2 ppg), Reili Richardson (7.6 ppg, 3.8 apg) and Robbi Ryan (8.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) – are already in the team’s top six not only in points, but also in minutes, each in the realm of 20 per game.
According to their head coach, Charli Turner Thorne, they’ve more than earned it, with their coachable attitude and strong play on the court.
“I think, for this level, they’re good freshmen, within a good program, playing high level competition,” Thorne said. “They’re special, they’re doing a lot of great things. They’re getting opportunities, everybody wants to play, I think they’re enjoying that. They came here knowing they would get opportunities, and they want them.”
Rounded out by guard Sophie Goodson and forward Jamie Ruden, this class has developed a family mentality from their first day on campus, and have only grown in that since.
“We’re all sisters,” Russell (featured below) said. “We all text, even though we’re around each other 24/7 we’re always on the phone. I don’t know, they’re my sisters, we just having fun together and stuff like that.”
Meet women's basketball freshman guard Kiara Russell from The State Press on Vimeo.
“Everywhere we go around campus, we’re always together,” added her roommate, Richardson. “Like when we go to study hall, we’re in a big pack of five. We just get along, from the first day we got here we all loved each other.”
That type of relationship within the freshman class has allowed them to develop a similar relationship on the court, as Russell would attest.
“I just know that they’re going to have my back,” she said. “I can trust them, we’re connected. I trust them a lot on the court.”
After two early blowout wins over Illinois State and San Jose State, ASU (3-2) experienced a pair of crushing losses – one by 16 at Marquette and one in blowout fashion, a 83-42 loss to No. 5 Maryland – before picking up another victory over St. John’s.
As a result, the teams as a whole – freshmen included – have had the chance to see the highs and lows of college basketball, and have learned a lot through the process.
“As tough as it is to take a loss, hopefully you can just learn from them,” Moos said. “I think that looking back now, there were a lot of things from the Marquette and the Maryland game that we have to take away, and I think the way that we turned around and came back on Saturday against St. John’s, we took a really good step forward.”
It also doesn’t hurt that these newcomers are able to work with four talented and experienced seniors forwards, Sophie Brunner, the team’s leading scorer this year and last; Quinn Dornstauder, the team’s tallest player at 6-foot-6; Kelsey Moos, one of the team’s top shooters; and Sara Hattis, a grad transfer from Texas.
Although those seniors may all be forwards, they certainly have an idea of how a guard in the ASU program should play, and therefore play an integral role in helping the freshmen assimilate into fabric of the team.
“All five of them are so unique in their own ways,” Moos said. “Regardless of the position we still know what is should look like, and that’s just one of the things we’re trying to help them with. They have to be our floor general out there and that’s one of the things we’re trying to help them with.”
In return for the leadership, the freshman class has developed a wealth of respect for their seniors. As a result, they’re that much more driven to do what it takes to win, if for no other reason than giving the next graduating class as good of a final season as possible.
And you can bet their coach has taken notice.
“These younger kids, these freshman love the seniors, and they will not want to (let them down),” Turner Thorne said. “All the more reason that they will do everything in their power to help our team have a great this year for them, for sure.”
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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