Nov. 11, 2005

In the past two seasons, the University of Houston women's basketball squad has tallied a 49-13 (.790) record featuring a 23-5 (.821) clip in Conference USA play. The squad has made two-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and won the C-USA regular season and tournament titles in 2003-04. This year, the Cougars look to replace some of the firepower that took them to the top while still maintaining their status as one of the top teams in C-USA.

UH returns just four letterwinners and one starter from last season's NCAA Tournament team, but there is still an apparent level of respect for the Cougars within the C-USA circles.

"I am excited about this year," eighth-year head coach Joe Curl said. "All of the changes we have undergone have really motivated our staff to work a little bit harder to get back to where we were." UH was picked second in the recent C-USA preseason poll, earning five of 12 first-place votes. Rice snagged the other seven first-place votes to take the top spot in the poll. Following the Cougars was SMU, Marshall, Tulsa, UCF, Southern Miss, Memphis, Tulane, UAB, UTEP and East Carolina.

"I am pleased from the respect standpoint," head coach Curl said. "Obviously it will be tough on us, losing four starters and seven letterwinners. I don't think any poll has ever ended as it was picked in the preseason. We still will have to work hard every night."

Sophomore transfer Tye Jackson and sophomore Jasmin Moore were named to the C-USA 'Players To Watch' list. Each of the 23 players on the list is expected to make significant contributions to their team this season.

"Being picked second is more a compliment to the type of kids we have brought in here," Curl said. "I think we have a ways to go before we are a quality team but it does not matter who you pick, it matters what you do on the court. You have to show up and play every night from January to March." Jackson, a Houston native from nearby Westfield HS, returned home after a semester at Purdue and enrolled at UH.

She will have two-and-a-half seasons of eligibility remaining, but will have to sit out the early part of the season due to NCAA transfer regulations.

Jackson is well known to the UH coaching staff and not just due to her local ties. Last season, when the Cougars played at Purdue (Nov. 30), Jackson poured in a team-high 20 points in the Boilermakers' 63-60 loss to UH.

The Cougars welcome back seniors Shannon Steele and Emily Fryters and sophomore Kadi Creel and Moore. All will play key roles this season.

Steele and Fryters are the team's lone seniors.

Steele will see time at the one and two-guard positions while Fryters provides the intangibles that every coach looks for in a student-athlete.

"Emily's role on this team is key," Curl said. "She's a leader in all the right ways. If she makes baskets, that's just the icing on the cake."

Creel is valuable because of her size and versatility while Moore provides speed and a deft shooting touch.

"Kadi can play the three, four and five spots," Curl said. "That's the kind of depth we are going to need with so many newcomers."

Curl also added three junior college transfers in Becky Gibson, Ryan Meyers and Sha'Quaylon McKinnney.

Gibson, a 5-5 transfer from Coffeyville CC, will shore up the point guard slot. "We expect and need her to step right in and help us," Curl said. "She's one of the only true point guards on the team. She's built for it and we will look for a lot from her immediately." Curl is looking to Meyers to be the team's defensive stalwart.

"Ryan's a great athlete," Curl said. "She's fairly new to the game, has a great track background. She's coachable and a team player who gives everything she has. We really hope she can developer into our stopper."

McKinney is a 6-3 post player whose development could be key to UH's inside success. "She's a little raw offensively," Curl said. "She's very important to us from a rebounding standpoint and being able to disrupt things inside. She will give us a lot of help on putbacks." Rounding out the seven newcomers is a pair of freshmen in combo guards in Nakazi Glover and Sha'Ratta Hawkins.

Glover, a 5-10 native of Brookshire, Texas, was heavily recruited out of Bellaire HS, but remained off the radar for some of the big schools.

"She was a tad bit under the radar," Curl said. "I think she's as good as any players we have seen in terms of potential. She's long, lean and can run like a deer. She's an unbelievable, great kid." In the head coach's eyes, Hawkins, a 6-0 Houston native, has the chance to be one of the next UH greats.

"I think Sha'Ratta can be an All-American someday," Curl said. "That all depends on if she learns how good she can be and how quickly she learns it. If she develops and keeps things in perspective, she could be something special."

The Cougars field their greenest squad in many years and with the lack of an established impact player like Jackson, may struggle mightily in the early season. UH will also play shorthanded using a nine-person rotation due to some early season roster changes.

"We are going to have our work cut out for us," Curl said. "We will have to depend on a lot of youngsters. We are going to throw them right in the fire. Even though we have a tough schedule, I am confident that with the type of kids we have, our schedule will challenge us and not break us. We know we will not win all of them, but it will make us a better team heading into conference play." UH may be facing a change in style as well. Gone is the inside presences of Sancho Lyttle, the 2004-05 NCAA Division I leader in rebounding (12.1 rpg). Lyttle, now with the Houston Comets of the WNBA, was UH's second-straight WNBA first-round pick, following in the footsteps of former Cougars' stalwart Chandi Jones, who now plies her trade with the Minnesota Lynx.

"You never replace players like Chandi and Sancho," Curl said. "Number one, it's impossible and number two, it's not fair to the kids that are coming in after them."

In Curl's eyes, Jackson has the kind of big-play potential to fill those shoes. "Tye Jackson is a different player than Chandi or Sancho," Curl said "They are all so unique in their own way. Tye is going to make a real name for herself here. She has next level potential. I think she may be our best player, point blank."

Playing without one of the potentially best players in the conference has its advantages as Curl's young charges will be forced to step up and battle early in the season as the Cougars face a challenging road slate.

"We are going to use those early-season games to really try and find out what the personality of this team is," Curl said. "Once we find that out, we can play to our strengths."

By necessity, UH will play a more outside-in style of basketball, relying on outside shooting and pressure defense to force fast breaks.

"We are a different basketball team this year," Curl said. "Two years ago, we were a slashing outside team, last year we were an inside out team. This season, we will be more guard oriented and really shoot the ball."

Curl went on to say that pace and execution will be two keys for his squad. "We are going to need to be up-tempo from an offensive standpoint, and even more so from a defensive view," Curl said. "We are going to press quite a bit, try to create some turnovers. We are not going to be a team that can walk it down, pass it around 10 times and pound it inside. We don't have that kind of personnel and a lot of teams don't. Things go in cycles and you have to make your adjustments.

COACHING STAFF
In addition to the seven newcomers, UH has added a new face in recruiting coordinator Danny Hughes. Hughes replaces longtime Curl assistant Todd Buchanan, who recently became the head coach at Houston Baptist University.

"We were blessed to have Todd Buchanan here and he worked his butt off to get our program to its current level," Curl said. "After he took the job at HBU, I made one phone call to Danny Hughes, and had the job filled. He is the best total coach I have ever hired."

Hughes comes to UH after serving the past five years as the associate head coach for the men's program at Trinity Valley Community College. He ran the day-to-day operations for legendary junior college head coach Leon Spencer. Spencer has won 799 games in 42 seasons as a head coach. "We have always had the same philosophy that coaching is coaching," Curl said. "He came on board as our top recruiter and we are already ahead of the game. He has been a tremendous addition."

SCHEDULE
Once again, the Cougars will test themselves against the best in the nation, facing off against two Big 10 schools, including national runner-up Michigan State, a possible matchup with Kansas State and numerous other tough contests.

When you add in the scope of the C-USA schedule, with the addition of four teams with 20+ win seasons and three league titles, the new-look Cougars have their work cut out for them. "I don't know of many teams that will play as many top-tier schools as we do," Curl said. "Our league schedule is tough, but when you start playing against teams like Creighton, Kansas State, Michigan State and Wisconsin, you realize that if you are not playing really good basketball, there are not a lot of wins on the schedule."

The addition of Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UCF and UTEP has strengthened the league despite the loss of teams like Cincinnati, DePaul and Marquette.

"I don't think Conference USA takes a backseat to anyone," Curl said. "If I go from here to cutting lawns, I will still say this is a darn good women's basketball conference. We have a heck of a league.

In Curl's eyes, the successes of the past are merely the foundation for the future.

"I think we are still capable of competing with the top teams in the conference," Curl said. "We are going to have to do it a different way this year with such a young team. We are going to have to find ourselves as a team and we may not be able to do that until league play starts. I hope we can go out on the road and sneak a couple of wins. We have a lot of challenges ahead of us this year, but our commitment, loyalty and work ethic to this program and the University of Houston will never wane.

"I hope that we turn this program into an LSU, Duke or North Carolina," Curl continued. "I hope we can get to the point where we just reload and don't have to rebuild. We have had four postseason tournament teams in the past five years and with the quality of student-athletes, and more importantly, quality of people, I don't see any reason why we cannot get back to the tournament.