Just entered the portal, I heard she wants to play D-1 again, wonder if Purdue is an option? She played at IUN this past year and was player of the year in the conference, she averaged like 10 a game at Butler in her 1 season there a few years ago.
Jessica Carothers
- Thread starter purduedavie
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She averaged 31 ppg this past season with IUN. That's impressive no matter the level. I would take her... she has proven at Butler that she can produce against P4 teams. I believe she posted 18 points against Illinois her freshman campaign. At this point I'm not sure if we can get anyone that is better.
Her entering the portal tells me that maybe Purdue contacted her. She was happy at IUN, I know that for sure.
Her profile indicates she's a 5-7 guard averaging 31 ppg last year as you indicate. I believe what's incredibly unusual is that (as a guard) she only made ten 3 ptrs the entire year (about 1 every 3 games). Looks like she's nearly a 90% ft shooter that is able to draw a large number of fouls. Led her team (by far) in steals and assists.
No way she’s 5-7, maybe 5-6 tops. She can score, she led her CP team to a State Title her Jr year, was #2 in Miss Basketball her Sr season. She was on the All Frosh Big East team her first year than decided to transfer home to play hoops for fun. I look for her (very smart) to look at Purdue, DePaul, maybe Valpo I suppose. We’ll see where she ends up, Purdue has the room.
Can we get all the comments about her shooting form out of the way before the season starts, if she commits?
Kind of a shot put motion and she starts the shot low on her body. She might have trouble getting that off in Big Ten play, and she won't get to the rim that easily either. Better than someone from the Co-Rec though.
Notable games against D1 competition (as a college freshman):
Illinois: 18 pts (7-11 shooting)
Marquette: 14 pts (6/13 shooting)
Depaul: 13 pts (5/10 shooting)
Seton Hall: 13 pts, 5 ast (6/8 shooting)
As a true freshman at Butler - she shot 46.9% from the field so making shots is not her problem - even though it may look a little "weird".
I will say she is much more than a co-rec player. She would be a welcome addition to at least add some depth at the guard spot.
Illinois: 18 pts (7-11 shooting)
Marquette: 14 pts (6/13 shooting)
Depaul: 13 pts (5/10 shooting)
Seton Hall: 13 pts, 5 ast (6/8 shooting)
As a true freshman at Butler - she shot 46.9% from the field so making shots is not her problem - even though it may look a little "weird".
I will say she is much more than a co-rec player. She would be a welcome addition to at least add some depth at the guard spot.
lol, it’s weird for sure, she’s a really good player though, hope she ends up at Purdue. I know her father a little bit, nice guy.
She’s real quick, her problem is she’s small, it’s weird because her dad is like 6-5 lol. She was a top 50-60 player at CP, if she was 5-10 or so probably a top 25. I have no idea if Purdue is looking at her, found it strange though she announced for the portal, reason she left Butler was because she missed being home and wanted to play hoops more for the fun of the game. Purdue makes a ton of sense, she’d likely be a rotation player who maybe starts? This is much different than Collier. Jessica was a D-1 player that sort of lost the love for the game and wanted to be close to home by her family and friends, one was her best friend that started alongside her at IUN.
That was one funny post...still making me laugh! I don't believe anyone will be complaining about her form if she has a 50% FG and a FT percentage of nearly 90%. She appears to be a gamer and elevates the play of those around her as well.
Dont want to sound like Michael too much (sarcasm) but didnt Purdue go down the "good player from the naia" road last year? Didnt Collier have similar numbers?
I believe the context of the discussion was different. CKG made a comment the "good player from the naia" was the best shooter she's ever seen. Some posters considered the comment as hyperbole and perhaps an excuse to add a naia player to the team. I have no interest in continue to revisit old debates. I simply made the comment that it was a very funny post and IF she does have shooting prowess near the level she's demonstrated at the DII level, I doubt posters will be complaining about her shooting form. A poster who seems to be very familiar with her game is already indicated that she is a different type of player.
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No. Collier didn't average 31 ppg nor did she start out a D1 player at a high mid major school - and then lowered to NAIA for personal reasons - not productive reasons.
So. Completely different cases. Do your research please. The internet is free.
And with all of this said - Collier was still productive for us - so there's very little reason to not expect Carothers to be even more so for us, if we get her. I could easily see her averaging 10-12 ppg for us next year sharing PG duties with Feldman.
What was most impressive about Collier was her career numbers. She shot 50% or better 2 point field goals all 4 years, 40% or better 3 point field goals all 4 years, averaging 45.9 with a single aeason best of 50.8%! She shot 90% or better free throws all 4years, avaraging 94.2 % including 96% as a senior. Scored 2260 career points, avaraging 16.6 points including 19 points as a senior. She was honorable mention NAIA AA as freshman, second team AA as a sophomore and 1st team her last 2 years when she was Player of the Year back to back. That consistency did not translate 3 levels up to div 1, unfortunately. On the other hand, Carothers is jumping up 1 level with previous div1 experience. Not the same ( the eternal dreamer in me hopes).
There’s a difference though, Jessica played at Butler and averaged around 10 pts a game as a Freshman, she opted to leave because she missed home and wanted to play with her best friend.
And she had d1 guards trying to stop her, something Collier never had to face until last year.
At the end of the day, I believe that Collier was a nice addition to the team and had a positive influence on the team that may not have shown up on the floor. It was also reported that she was dealing with back issues which may adversely impacted her normal play.
IF she had back issues she should not have been playing so much. End of the day she was a great NAIA player that was out of place on a D1 roster and the comment about her being the greatest shooter Gearlds has ever seen proved to be horseshit.
Well Michael it wasn't at her level and her carreer numbers more than prove it. She was the only 50 40 90 four year player ever, men or women
While the number of times to the foul line during her time at Purdue didn't translate from the NAIA level, I believe his post referenced her career at Marian. During her career there, she was 359-381 (94.2%) from the FT line. I don't care what level you play, that is darn impressive during game situations.
By now, I believe everyone knows your opinion on her...no need to keep regurgitating the same comments.
At 359 free throws made in her 4 years, she was shooting a bit more than 12 per year… at a 94.2% clip
Collier was fine, not her fault that she was likely playing too many minutes, she was a specialty player that likely was asked to do to much by Coach. Not sure why Michael wants to constantly harp on her like she was the problem.
I’m talking about at Purdue. And I'll make a correction, she only shot 8 free throws all year.
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I have said repeatedly Collier wasn't the problem, she was a sign of ineptitude and terrible talent evaluation by our head coach. The rush to the portal by all but three players is in part because of that displayed incompetence IMHO.
Hell if I was a mediocre talent given the opportunity she was offered, I'd have taken it too.
