Ava Learn

[outis]

Ava Learn just posted her 10th double double of the season at Murray state. She had 18 points and 16 rebounds. I sure miss her as a member of our team.
How did we let her go??? She is probably not playing against the caliber that Stevenson is at Stanford, but she is playing very good basketball!

 

[Gesysp]

Love to know the real story on why she left.

 

[BoilerPride08]

I always assumed she wanted more PT and it didn't seem like KG was willing to guarantee her that. She transferred to a mid major (not close to home) - and not another P4 program - so 9 times out of 10 that would be the main reason why. I don't think there was any drama around it.

I thought she gave really good minutes as a sophomore and was looking forward to her potential growth with the program. But I never thought she had the potential that MA had so I wasn't extremely sad to see her transfer down.

She took some time getting acclimated to B10 play but she gave effort 100% of the time she was out there. She was a 'tweener' as a slightly built 6'1 F who didn't have (or was able to showcase) a perimeter game while she was with us - she went 0-8 during her 2 years.

As a senior this year - she is shooting a rather impressive 37% from 3 (a big jump up from her first 3 years) so it seems like she has really worked on her game - and possibly has been developed by a very good coaching staff at Murray. Playing along a really good experienced post player also helps.

I believe this is her last year of eligibility so I'm happy that she was truly able to develop and have a solid career. 14ppg 9rpg - 51% from 2. Very solid numbers albeit against mid major competition. I'm not sure she puts up nearly the numbers against the extremely tough competition Purdue has faced this year. I think she was always meant to be a good starting mid major, 25+ min per game player - but I see her as a bench/role player with any good P4 school. But we are not a good P4 school so I could see her average similar stats to what Bass is doing this year, if not slightly better as a starter for us.

Have to remember Bass averaged 16/9 last year against mid major competition. That has reduced significantly when you go against top 10-15-20 teams night in and night out. Bass is a very good mid major player - average P4 player.

 

[tomgloe]

I always assumed she wanted more PT and it didn't seem like KG was willing to guarantee her that. She transferred to a mid major (not close to home) - and not another P4 program - so 9 times out of 10 that would be the main reason why. I don't think there was any drama around it.

I thought she gave really good minutes as a sophomore and was looking forward to her potential growth with the program. But I never thought she had the potential that MA had so I wasn't extremely sad to see her transfer down.

She took some time getting acclimated to B10 play but she gave effort 100% of the time she was out there. She was a 'tweener' as a slightly built 6'1 F who didn't have (or was able to showcase) a perimeter game while she was with us - she went 0-8 during her 2 years.

As a senior this year - she is shooting a rather impressive 37% from 3 (a big jump up from her first 3 years) so it seems like she has really worked on her game - and possibly has been developed by a very good coaching staff at Murray. Playing along a really good experienced post player also helps.

I believe this is her last year of eligibility so I'm happy that she was truly able to develop and have a solid career. 14ppg 9rpg - 51% from 2. Very solid numbers albeit against mid major competition. I'm not sure she puts up nearly the numbers against the extremely tough competition Purdue has faced this year. I think she was always meant to be a good starting mid major, 25+ min per game player - but I see her as a bench/role player with any good P4 school. But we are not a good P4 school so I could see her average similar stats to what Bass is doing this year, if not slightly better as a starter for us.

Have to remember Bass averaged 16/9 last year against mid major competition. That has reduced significantly when you go against top 10-15-20 teams night in and night out. Bass is a very good mid major player - average P4 player.

This seems like a good comparison between Bass and Learn.

Both forwards 6'1 or 6'2 with success at mid majors. You could argue Bass is probably better than Learn.

As a junior on a bad team -
Bass 35 mpg - 16.4 ppg - 9.9 rebs - 1.1 ast - 2.9 TO - 48.2 FG%

Learn on a good team(18-7 currently), she is only the 4th leading scorerer on the team so she doesn't get the focus that Bass would have for opposing teams.

Learn - 27.3 mpg - 14.1 ppg - 9.7 reb - 1.1 ast - 1.8 TO - 51.7 FG%

I used to think we could of really used Learn as well, but diving into the numbers, I think she'd be another Reagan Bass 2.0, more or less.


Some people use this as a point to pile on Gearlds, but like you said, it probably doesn't move the needle enough one way or the other if Learn stayed.

 

[BoilerPride08]

This seems like a good comparison between Bass and Learn.

Both forwards 6'1 or 6'2 with success at mid majors. You could argue Bass is probably better than Learn.

As a junior on a bad team -
Bass 35 mpg - 16.4 ppg - 9.9 rebs - 1.1 ast - 2.9 TO - 48.2 FG%

Learn on a good team(18-7 currently), she is only the 4th leading scorerer on the team so she doesn't get the focus that Bass would have for opposing teams.

Learn - 27.3 mpg - 14.1 ppg - 9.7 reb - 1.1 ast - 1.8 TO - 51.7 FG%

I used to think we could of really used Learn as well, but diving into the numbers, I think she'd be another Reagan Bass 2.0, more or less.


Some people use this as a point to pile on Gearlds, but like you said, it probably doesn't move the needle enough one way or the other if Learn stayed.

I don't watch Murray State's games so I'm not super familiar with how she is used there but they do list her as a G and not a F. Her first 3 years she made ONE three pointer. That's not going to cut it at a P4 school. This year - she is 26 of 69 for 37%. Maybe she is being used more on the perimeter or maybe she really put in the work to fix her outside shot. But it took her 3 years to be able to do that. That's not going to cut it at a place like Purdue. We need more instant ready players. She wanted PT which she got last year and this year.

Bottom line - She's playing on a winning team and producing. I think it worked out the way it needed to. Now would I take a SR Learn over a FR/SO McCarthy/Layden - probably. But kids only get 4 years of eligibility. They want to go some place where they can capitalize on all of it and she did and she actually has a shot of making the tournament so GOOD FOR HER!

 

[MichaelRR]

Learn was initially listed here as a guard, but like McKenna was forced into the post because of lack of depth. McKenna is allowed to play on the wing on offense, while Learn was often stuck in the low post when she was in and not given many chances to shoot threes. Learn also has a higher motor, like McKenna, than Bass who really looks like a low effort performer who gets many of her points off of defensive breakdowns more than her working on offense.

 

[BoilerPride08]

Learn was initially listed here as a guard, but like McKenna was forced into the post because of lack of depth. McKenna is allowed to play on the wing on offense, while Learn was often stuck in the low post when she was in and not given many chances to shoot threes. Learn also has a higher motor, like McKenna, than Bass who really looks like a low effort performer who gets many of her points off of defensive breakdowns more than her working on offense.

I'm sorry - a "guard" that is supposedly power 4 material should not make a single 3 pointer her first 3 years. She never played as a guard for Purdue because she was never a threat from the outside. She was an undersized post player who occasionally was able to guard some people on the perimeter as needed. But now she seems to have finally developed a outside shot according to her stats as I have not seen any actual games. That's great for her. But it took her 3 out of 4 years to do so.

 

[outis]

She never got enough playing time to develop here. I don't think she was a coach favorite. At Murray state she is not a coach's favorite being 3rd or fourth down the list of time on the court. But she has developed very nicely. I am sure that if she had stayed here and been allowed to develop, she would have been a real contributor. Can you name one player that KG has developed from freshman to Senior??Anyone she has stuck with and gave a real chance to develop? I can think of several whose development she seemed to hinder. (Layden, Ellis)

 

[Gesysp]

I don't think anyone is saying Learn would have made us that much better, but I think when you look at who we currently have on our roster, who's getting the PT, and who starts....I think she's better than more than a few of them. Her effort alone would blow away the effort of some of our players.

 

[MichaelRR]

I don't think anyone is saying Learn would have made us that much better, but I think when you look at who we currently have on our roster, who's getting the PT, and who starts....I think she's better than more than a few of them. Her effort alone would blow away the effort of some of our players.

She would solidly be better than do nothing Collier, who CKG seems to have a complete blind spot for or sees Collier as miniKG.... but Learn would be better than Bass, Collier, and Petree I have no doubt WITH THE COACHING SHE HAS RECEIVED at Murray State. If she had stayed here, she would probably be sitting in her room during games like Smith and Harper.

 

[Gesysp]

Are Smith and Harper still with the team? Haven't seen a word about why they're no longer around.

 

[MichaelRR]

Are Smith and Harper still with the team? Haven't seen a word about why they're no longer around.

They are still listed on the stats on the Purdue site, and on the roster, but I believe they have both left the team for "mental health reasons". Which reading between the lines I think means they were fed up with the quality of coaching and favoritism on the team. That's just my take on the situation.

 

[BoilerPride08]

Smith is very much with the team and is at every game. Harper comes and goes but it generally with the team. Again - who knows what the actual reason is for them not playing. Smith was for "personal reasons" while Harper I believe was battling an injury of some sort but who really knows. The elder Reynolds is out with a wrist injury all season. I assume she is going to medically redshirt. I would also assume that Poole will medically redshirt as well and retain a year.

Coming into this year we were super super thin it the post with experienced post players. Harper/Reynolds/McCarthy/Puryear/Bass was pretty much it. Take two of the more experienced players out of the equation and it obviously spelled doom. We can't compete with the level of big ten talent with two true rookies and Bass. We probably couldn't with the other 2 either but those injuries made it impossible.

 

[tomgloe]

She never got enough playing time to develop here. I don't think she was a coach favorite. At Murray state she is not a coach's favorite being 3rd or fourth down the list of time on the court. But she has developed very nicely. I am sure that if she had stayed here and been allowed to develop, she would have been a real contributor. Can you name one player that KG has developed from freshman to Senior??Anyone she has stuck with and gave a real chance to develop? I can think of several whose development she seemed to hinder. (Layden, Ellis)

To be fair, Smith is the only player who has been with CKG frosh to senior year. Obviously her stats speak for itself.

Jones, Swanson, Layden would be better gauges imo.

Abbey raised her FG% after coming to Purdue. Her numbers did dip her final year, but some of that is due to higher usage rate, being on a bad team so she was more of a focal point for teams.

 

[MichaelRR]

To be fair, Smith is the only player who has been with CKG frosh to senior year. Obviously her stats speak for itself.

Jones, Swanson, Layden would be better gauges imo.

Abbey raised her FG% after coming to Purdue. Her numbers did dip her final year, but some of that is due to higher usage rate, being on a bad team so she was more of a focal point for teams.

AT BEST, some players have not regressed as much as others during their time under CKG's tutelage, but no one to date has shown what would be expected year over year improvements during her 4 years as head coach.

 

[tomgloe]

AT BEST, some players have not regressed as much as others during their time under CKG's tutelage, but no one to date has shown what would be expected year over year improvements during her 4 years as head coach.

I'd agree with that, I think Jones, Puryear, and Layden have shown decent growth but let's see how they look next season.