Living in Columbus, Ohio one hears some strange mumblings by Ohio State football fans during the week before the Michigan game. It typically comes across like this, “I don’t care if we go 1-10 every year as long as that one win is against Michigan.” During that week, a lot of crazy things are said and that comes from people that have never lived through a 1-10 season.

During the 2003-2004 season, the University of Dayton’s women’s basketball team beat Wright State University. Although no one will say it, WSU currently stands as the one game everybody wants to win, especially if they grew up in the Dayton area. That was a good day for the Flyers. The real problem is that there were very few good days for the Flyers last year. In fact, there were only two more. Their 3-25 record is not far from the 1-10 record that many OSU fans say they could live with.

Jim Jabir was hired to bring a winner to the University of Dayton. He will be the first to admit that he wasn’t very successful in doing that in his first year. He certainly isn’t going to say he was satisfied because one of those three wins came against UD’s cross-town rival. Jabir is a man that likes to talk. However, he was not going to sit around and just talk about bringing a winner to the University of Dayton. Although he had already recruited a top-notch class of freshmen for next year, he got on the road as soon as the NCAA would permit to make that class even better.

“I went after the kids that I want to coach. They are all smart kids. They are all hard working kids that you could label gym rats. I am more attracted to intelligent players than I am anything else and they fit the bill. They all know how to pass. They know where they need to be on the floor, where people should be and where we put passes. They have a real basketball sense,” Jabir related.

Because the women do not have the same restrictions as the men, Jabir was permitted to bring in more than the maximum five new players that limit the men. The women are also allowed to carry 15 scholarship players verses the 13 that the men are allowed. With that kind of flexibility, the 2004-2005 season will bring a very different team to the Arena floor.

For those of you without a calculator in hand, that’s 116 points, 51 rebounds and 32 assists per game. These are not wallflowers. Realizing that success in high school or club sports or even in a limited role in college does not necessarily project to success on the court, these stats still have to be considered impressive.

Of this group, Armstrong, Cloxton and Holterman led their high school teams to state titles while Cloxton, Holterman and Oakland were named MVP of their respective All-Star games. Lund was named the top player in the top league in Denmark while Ramsey led her team to the NJCAA Division II National Championship game winning the regional MVP award along the way.

Below is a short description of each of the new players and Jabir’s comments:

Ashley Armstrong- Armstrong is a 5′ 8″ guard out of West Branch High School in Beloit, Ohio. As a junior, she led her squad to a 22-3 record and to the Regional Finals and was named Conference Player of the Year after averaging 12.8 points, 8.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. She is a three-time All-Conference honoree and holds the school’s single-game and single-season assist marks. Ashley was also a standout in track and volleyball while at West Branch. She maintained a 4.0 grade point average during her stay.

“Ashley will be a combo guard with the ability to play both positions. She is a very smart, cerebral, very competitive kid. She passes very well and has an excellent sense of the game. She shoots the three well.”

Karah Cloxton- Cloxton is 5′ 8″ guard out of Winfield High School in West Virginia. While a junior, she averaged 22.8 points, 11.0 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 steals per game. Like Armstrong, Karah led her team to a state title as a senior.

“She has the ability to play both of the guard positions. Karah tends to be a little more fancy with her play. She needs to work on her strength and what she does on the defensive end. She shoots the three and passes very well. She really plays with flair”.

Brittany Holterman- Holterman is a 5′ 11″ guard from The Prairie School in Racine, Wisconsin. As a junior, she was Conference Player of the Year for the second time while averaging 15.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 2.9 assists per game for a team that had a 22-2 record. As a senior, she too, led her team to a state championship. An excellent athlete, Brittany was also an All-Conference selection in volleyball and soccer.

“Brittany is a very athletic player, hard worker, slasher. She has a very good medium range game and does a good job of getting to the rim. She needs to work on her outside shot, but she does some very good things around the basket and running the lane. I see her as a small forward.”

Kiki Lund- A 5′ 11″ guard, Lund played with the Aabyhoej club team in Denmark’s Elite Division where she led her team to a silver medal in the Danish Championships. After the season, she was named Dameligaen League Player of the Year, in the top women’s league in Denmark, after being named MVP of the Danish Championship for young women in 2002.

“Kiki can play the 1, 2 or 3. She is 21 years old so she should bring a certain level of maturity with her. She shoots the ball very, very well. She passes well off the dribble. She is a very smart, smooth player. We are very excited about her. We found out about her because the national coach for Denmark is a good friend of mine.”

Nikki Oakland- Oakland is a 6′ 1″ power forward and a four-year starter from El Camino High School in San Diego. As a junior, she averaged 13.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Oakland was recruited by big conference schools such as New Mexico State and Washington State. Oakland will be the first California player ever to suit up for UD.

“Nikki is the toughest, smartest kid that I have ever recruited. She is very physical, very strong and tough. She passes the ball very well, has great hands and, most importantly, makes everyone around her better players. I can see her leading the nation in rebounding before her career is over.”

Terri Ramsey- Terri as a 5′ 5″ point guard, led Scottsdale (AZ) Community College to a 25-10 record and to the NJCAA Division II National Championship game. She picked up her game considerably in the tournament and averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 assists earning her Regional Tournament MVP and All-Tournament team honors. Ramsey was a first-team All-Division II selection this past year after earning All-Region honors as a freshman.

“She has two years of college experience and will bring a hard working defensive attitude with her. She plays smart and distributes the ball well. She isn’t flashy, but very steady. She can run the offense and give our freshmen a chance to develop.”

Jen Tisza- Jen is a 6′ 3″ center graduate of Port Clinton High School. Tisza used her size advantage to average over 11 rebounds per game during her high school career. She is probably the closest of this group of recruits to being labeled a project. She has a wide range of shots that will help draw defenses out to help open up the middle.

“Jen is a very hard worker, but she really needs to get stronger. She has really been working hard at improving her strength. She is a great three-point shooter, but she needs to rebound better. She has a lot to learn, but I really see her helping us. I like her offensive skills very much.”

Cara Wright-Cara comes to UD as a transfer from one of the top programs in the country, Arkansas. Before enrolling at Arkansas, Wright posted 18.1 points and 11.5 rebounds per game as a senior at Lakota West in West Chester, the number one team in the Cincinnati region. Wright broke 13 school records and posted 17 double-doubles, including her personal highs of 34 points and 24 rebounds in the same game as a senior. She played summer ball with the Hardwood Heat which won the YBOA national title and was named MVP of the National Tournament. Wright is the daughter of Joby Wright, former player and assistant coach at Indiana and head coach at Miami of Ohio and Wyoming.

“She is a lot like Nikki. She is very tough, runs very well. She will be our enforcer. She is very physical, very aggressive. She will do the majority of her scoring inside, but has a fifteen-foot range. She is a good defender and will make a very big impact on our program.”

The train wreck that happened during last season will not happen again. Jabir has brought in players to play the game he wants to play. Several players left last season for various reasons, yet one has to wonder if they were not prepared for the level of involvement and dedication that Jabir brings to the table. Practice is a time of learning and extremely hard work. The group he has recruited and the holdovers know what to expect.

There was some good that came from last year’s difficult season. “The positive thing that we learned last year is that there is a standard, there is a bottom line that we won’t go below in intensity, focus and effort. We set that standard last year and we now have to build on that standard this year. We know how hard we have to work. Now we need to execute and do the things we need to do to win. That can be the toughest thing to teach.”

Next year’s team will be very different than Jabir’s first. This will be a team that is suited to his style and offensive strategy. “We will play fast because I think we will be able to pass the ball well. We should be able to run some more complicated offenses. I am looking for all of the new players to contribute next year. I would like to see a combination of the returning players and the new players in the season starting line-up. I would be disappointed if these new kids didn’t come in and help us.”

The group that is coming in is undoubtedly the best group of players ever recruited. They will have top players at every position. This group could very easily be compared to the group on the men’s side that was recruited 30 years ago which included Donald Smith and Mike Sylvester. That was a group that took apart the returning players. Only time will tell if they can reach the NCAA Tournament, but this will be an exciting group to watch.

“I’m excited about next year. I’m excited about the new group, but at the same time, I am sensitive to the returning players, too. I told all of the returning players that this is the most important summer in their basketball lives. If they want to be part of going to the NCAA tournament, they need to spend their summer accordingly. If we start five returnees and they help us win games, that’s great. I have a good feel for what each of the players’ strengths and weaknesses are. I’m very excited,” Jabir gushed just thinking about the combinations that he will throw at an unsuspecting A-10.