Women's Basketball: Talent gap is quickly closing in deep Big 12

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas hasn't won a conference title in 12 years, hasn't won more than six Big 12 games in coach Bonnie Henrickson's five seasons, yet was picked to finish second by the league's coaches.

Recognition of how far the Jayhawks have come? Certainly. Kansas is more talented and deeper than it has been in years and has one of the country's best players in Danielle McCray.

But it's also a nod to the parity that's come to the conference. No longer just Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas and the rest, the Big 12 is as deep and talented as it has ever been.

“The league has always had great parity, but I think this year, more than any other year since I've been here, the parity in this league is amazing,” Texas coach Gail Goestenkors said Wednesday at Big 12 media day.

Some of it comes from the players who left.

Oklahoma lost Ashley and Courtney Paris. Marlies Gipson and Shalee Lehning are gone at Kansas State. Texas A&M lost Takia Starks and Danielle Grant. Baylor is down four starters from a team that won 29 games last season.

The losses haven't necessarily weakened the conference. The Big 12 is consistently one of the strongest conferences in the country and is always going to have good players rotating in.

The talent's still there. It's just spread out a bit more.

“There's going to be a lot of new faces, new players,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “That's the way this league is. Great players leave, and great players come in.”

One of those players is Baylor's Brittney Griner.

Considered by most recruiting services as the No. 1 prospect in the country, the 6-foot-8 freshman — along with the rest of a stellar recruiting class — was a big reason Baylor was picked to win the conference, even after losing 60 percent of its scoring and more than 50 percent of its rebounding from a year ago.

Referring to Griner, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said: “She's going to be known as a very good basketball player.''

Not everyone will be new.

Kansas has most of its nucleus coming back from a team that reached the WNIT finals last season, including McCray, the Big 12 preseason player of the year, and 6-5 center Krysten Boogaard.

Oklahoma State returns guard Andrea Riley, who's vying to become the first player in Big 12 history to lead the conference in scoring three straight years. Colorado has its starting lineup intact, Missouri returns four, while Nebraska claims six, with senior Kelsey Griffin back from an ankle injury.

Ashley Sweat returns to Kansas State after averaging 16.5 points last season. Texas has nearly 25 points back with the return of Brittainey Raven and Kathleen Nash.

Talent? There's still plenty of it.

“The bar is high. It's higher and it should be high,” Henrickson said. “Our players are excited about the challenge. Year in and year out, it's a great league.”

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