2014 Fall Exposure League Week 1 Recap

Week 1 was Fantastic! Earlier in the week, I sent a thank you message out through social media and I wanted to share it here for those who do not have social media accounts.

Special Shout out to my staff, the players, their parents and visitors for making the Fall Exposure League Week 1 an awesome success!!!!
— Patosha Jeffery (@patoshajeffery) September 6, 2014

Week 1 Top Scorers are available here. You can also find individual player's extended statistics (points, rebounds, steals, blocks) from Week 1 on the their profile page, along with my evaluation notes..

If I were handing out awards at the end of the league, I would start with the Most Improved award. UConn's 5'll forward Jerhonise Rollins (2016) had me doing double takes as I watched the game. Since last year's league, Jerhonise has grown from a passive player to a hyper active beast. She is all over the place now getting rebounds, steals and buckets. She's stronger and plays more physical. It was hard to not notice the UConn dynamic guard duo of Zaire Hicks (2017) and Emily Evans (2017). Zaire is a shake and bake type point guard who is hard to contain. She does just about whatever she wants to do whether it's getting to the basket, setting up teammates and dropping off the three.  Emily is aggressive and smart. She can operate as both a spot up shooter and as a distributor.

Don't let Maryland's 5'11 forward Erica Jones (2017) body frame fool you.  She is no push over. If the ball is in her area, she's going to get it. She uses her long arms to her advantage to stretch out and get rebounds. She also knows how to  look for her man to put a body on them to box out. She finished the game with 7 boards.

A player I have to keep an eye on during the league is Notre Dame's 5'10 post Julia Nicholson (2018). She quietly gets things done. She quietly accumulated 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

I was so happy to see Stanford's point guard Aliyah Herod (2016) back on the court. After the 2013 Fall Exposure League Week 1, Aliyah suffered a knee injury while at school. She's been back on the court since the summer and looks like she has not missed a beat. She looked great getting the ball to teammates in transition and in the half court. She loves to aggressively get to the basket and stop for the pull up jumper. Stanford's 5'10 forward Tamia Jones put on a show. If the game would have went a little longer, she would have had a triple double -- 11 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks.. On offense, she stays around the block to short corner and elbow to free throw areas. She can face up and make the short jumper. But the most impressive thing I saw was her ability to hit the block, get big and ask for the ball. And if nothing is there, she doesn't force it. She passes the ball back out and repositions herself.  On defense she found herself on the perimeter at times. No problem. She's agile and athletic enough to contain quick guards.

If Tennessee is down, you better get ready for a fight at the end. They were down by 7 points with 5 minutes left and received contributions from several players to come back and defeat Memphis. Tennessee's 5'8 forward Brittni Moore (2018) may be a player you will never be able to keep down. She is such an intense player and has a skill that I can't even teach players--heart. The only player to finish Week 1 with a double-double -- 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Another player that no one will stop from getting the job done is Memphis' 6'1 post Morgan Walton (2015). She is a huge presence on the floor. She is an experienced player so she knows how to use her body and power to move defenders out of her way and get buckets and to the line. By the way, she is also a lefty which is also hard for players to defend.  She finished the game with 7 points 5 rebounds and 1 block.