Thank you, HailState! pic.twitter.com/evPvowflOQ

— муαнтαуℓσя (@myah_taylor) March 30, 2022

https://instagr.am/p/CbvNYOdpPaw

So many transfers.

aggiedrjdub said:

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So many transfers.

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So little time.

At what point should we expect to hear if any Aggies are transferring? I would hope the new coach has met with everyone extensively by now - any one hear anything?

Welcome to Carbondale, @coachbond‼️

🔗: https://t.co/Kqwel0Uz0U

It's a great day to be a #Saluki🐾 pic.twitter.com/ILn6L3SzeK

— Saluki Women's Hoops (@SIU_WBasketball) March 31, 2022

Our Chicago pipeline is no more!!! Congrats Coach KBW!!

Coach Taylor spoke with the team prior to her intro presser.
M, Green was there and reported being very impressed!
Joni checks every box. I think most of the players will return.

I think Joni will be able to recruit many of the best in Texas and we won't have to worry about Chicago, although she will recruit nationally too.

Kelly Bond-White Named Women's Basketball Head Coach

A Chicago native, Bond-White played point guard at the University of Illinois, where she was coached by Cindy Stein.


CARBONDALE, Ill. Southern Illinois University announced on Thursday that it has named Kelly Bond-White as the 11th women's basketball head coach in program history.

Bond-White comes to Carbondale after 19 seasons at Texas A&M, including 15 seasons as the Aggies' associate head coach. During her time in College Station, the Aggies made three Elite Eight appearances, won five conference titles and one National Championship (2011). All told, Bond-White coached 18 NCAA Tournament teams, as well as 18 All-American student-athletes.

At Southern Illinois, she succeeds Cindy Stein, who retired after a 2021-22 season in which the Salukis won their first Missouri Valley Conference championship since 2007 and advanced to the WNIT.

"We feel this hire demonstrates our commitment to sustaining a championship-caliber women's basketball program," said Matt Kupec, SIU's director of athletics. "Kelly understands what it takes to build and maintain a winning program at the highest level. She is highly regarded in the basketball community, is a great recruiter, and will be an outstanding leader for our student-athletes."

Bond-White's recruiting ties proved key for Texas A&M, as the Aggies signed recruiting classes that consistently ranked in the top-20 in the nation, including the No. 2-ranked class in 2012, and the No. 8-ranked class in 2017, which included national Freshman of the Year Chennedy Carter.

A Chicago native, who graduated from the University of Illinois, Bond-White will make her head-coaching debut at Southern Illinois.

"I'm excited to return home to the state of Illinois where my journey began," she said. "The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for me and my family. Chancellor (Austin) Lane and Matt flying to Texas to have breakfast in my home and discuss the future of SIU Basketball left an impression on my entire family. What I found in their relentless pursuit were details mirroring my own core values."

Bond-White played point guard at Illinois and helped the Illini achieve several milestones during her four-year career, including back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances. She also led the squad to the 1997 Big Ten Championship. During her junior and senior seasons, the Illini reached the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournaments and posted 20-win seasons. Notably, Stein was part of the coaching staff that recruited and coached Bond-White at Illinois during her freshman season.

"I look forward to engaging with my current student-athletes at SIU and listening to their wants and needs, and bringing my vision of toughness, empowerment, faith, accountability, and a pursuit of excellence in everything we do," she said. "The gift of the present is all we have and I couldn't be more excited to get in the gym with our young ladies and hit the ground running in recruiting."

Bond-White played high school basketball for the late, legendary Chicagoland coach Arthur Penny at Whitney Young High School. She and her husband, Christopher, are the proud parents of Lauryn Christina, born June 25, 2012.

I'm guessing we will see several players currently on our roster in the transfer portal. I'm predicting 4. Our roster was going to need serious turnover for next season regardless of who our head coach was.

We will probably see some of our signees not here in the Fall too.

I don't view this as a bad thing.

Very happy for Kelly!! Appreciate all her years serving our women's basketball program! She's a tremendous person and is so deserving of this opportunity! Wishing her great success in her new position!

Meanwhile….

Our first priority ☝🏾#GigEm pic.twitter.com/4rrIJPbWXi

— Joni Taylor (@CoachJoniTaylor) March 31, 2022

Congrats to Kelly! Wish you the best. Thanks for your years of sacrifice and service to A&M womens basketball!

So KBW is out; I have a feeling Vernette will follow. Coach Brown may be on the outs.

Anxious to see who coach Taylor brings in to complete her staff. I noticed one of the WBB athletic trainers is moving on to the Atlanta Dream. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Our entire staff needed to go, fresh start, unfortunately rebuilding unless we can get some studs in TP.

Since she deleted it, for the record: https://t.co/aFoU8D84c6 pic.twitter.com/JOlfwqDirs

— Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 1, 2022

She does this a lot. Posts controversial tweets and then deletes them…

Looks like Janiah Barker is committing tonight at 9:00.

Edit - as soon as South Carolina won she posted something that said "Postponed". Have a feeling she might be headed to South Carolina. Shoot.

Here's a name we'll all recognize. On the move yet again. Situations like this are why there should be a limit to the number of times a player can transfer imo. I wouldn't be surprised to see her reunite with Morris at LSU. They need guards and I'm sure KM would welcome her with open arms.

Zaay Green (6-0 SR guard, Duncanville, TX) has entered her name into the portal (again), out of Arkansas–Pine Bluff; 2021-22 stats: 15.8 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 4.8 APG; first-team All-SWAC and Newcomer of the Year; Tennessee → Texas A&M → UAPB → ?

— Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 2, 2022

What in the world? She was all conference at her current school.

939 on D-1 transfer list…wow

Currently at 939 on the D-I transfer list on WBB Blog; new school noted for 110 https://t.co/iGmwN8RSgR

— Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 3, 2022

Huge addition to the portal

❤️ pic.twitter.com/IdIpED7OYQ

— Ashley Owusu (@Ashleyyowusu15) April 5, 2022

Didn't see this one coming since she's from the DMV area. I figured she'd want to continue playing close to home but guess not. She better not go to SC. They are already stacked!

I'd take her in a heart beat! Looks like she's prioritizing a national championship though so, I have a feeling that birdie might be heading to South Carolina's nest.

Looks like her teammate, Angel Reese, is entering the portal as well.
https://instagr.am/p/Cb_UgDUMYPf

aggieFann said:

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Looks like her teammate, Angel Reese, is entering the portal as well.
https://instagr.am/p/Cb_UgDUMYPf

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Reese is an animal. Either of these two would be unbelievable pickups.

Good pickup for Georgia.

UCF WBB grad transfer Diamond Battles (5-8 SR point guard, Winter Haven, FL) has announced her commitment to Georgia, following head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson; 2021-22 stats: 13.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 64 steals; AAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year

— Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 6, 2022

Georgia Tech WBB grad transfer Kierra Fletcher (5-9 SR guard, Warren, MI) has announced her commitment to South Carolina; she redshirted the 2021-22 season following foot surgery; 13.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 2020-21

— Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 6, 2022

I'm getting a bit anxious; hoping we can pick up a few key transfers and I'm still hoping that somehow we land Janiah Barker...

Coach Taylor has not yet announced her staff but is coaching a USA team I think she and Darius have this in hand.

Over 1000 players in the portable….crazy!

More to be added, but the D-I transfer list on WBB Blog has passed the 1,000 mark.
—132 have their new school noted
—11 have gone from a non-P5 school to P5
—306 schools have had at least one player enter the portal
—77 schools have so far added a transferhttps://t.co/iGmwN8RSgR pic.twitter.com/SlTouetdSt

— Raoul (@Raoul_000) April 7, 2022

Bucketrunner said:

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Coach Taylor has not yet announced her staff but is coaching a USA team I think she and Darius have this in hand.

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She hired Darius as the top assistant?

Didn't say that at all, but I feel certain that the two of them communicate

Is coaching a USA team more important than completing your staff and recruiting?

mjschiller said:

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Is coaching a USA team more important than completing your staff and recruiting?

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Training Camp was only four practices and it ended on April 2nd