Iowa OF joining softball team

[TD1 246]

https://x.com/ga_less07/status/1814777639787504099

She's originally from Enterprise 

[WDE1976 22]

We’re going to be the worst team in the SEC. Using roster spots for a player who couldn’t even get playing time at Iowa. What a joke!!

[Golden Eagle 463]

I read an article around the time Clint Myers was fired in which many players expressed appreciation for him and the job he did in turning the team around and getting them to the finals of the WCWS.  (Too bad he hired and then covered up for his sleazy son, Corey.)  Kasey Cooper and Tiffany Howard were both quoted in the article.  Kasey commented that when Myers came in he told the team he was going to take them to the WCWS...and the team all laughed and thought he was delusional.  Kasey herself had wanted to play for Alabama (I believe her mother went to Alabama) but Patrick Murphy told her she wasn't good enough and she ended up at Auburn.  Myers, indeed, took the team to the WCWS and Kasey Cooper, Tiffany Howard, and Emily Carasone all earned All American honors..  Kasey Cooper still holds the SEC record for career RBIs at 270 (She's #11 on the NCAA list) and played professionally and on the US National team for a year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_softball_career_200_RBIs_list

Emily Carasone still holds the AU record for career hits at 285; her batting averages during her four years were .388, .392, .438, and .399; and she had 216 career RBIs.  She played professionally and on the Italian Olympic team.

I could go on, but you get the point.  Jump off a cliff in despair if you choose...but I'm going to give this coaching staff a chance to see what they can do with the talent they have.  Excited for next season...War Eagle!!!

 

[Jad0003 475]

On 7/20/2024 at 9:44 PM, WDE1976 said:

We’re going to be the worst team in the SEC. Using roster spots for a player who couldn’t even get playing time at Iowa. What a joke!!

We will see if Lessman makes an impact at Auburn, but there could be a number of reasons she did not have played at Iowa.

One interesting note, Tatianna Roman, an upcoming senior on Iowa’s softball team who played sparingly this past year, made the All World Team for the Sotball World Cup as a CF during her time as part of the Puerto Rican National Team this past week. 

[slot canyon 1,368]

Golden Eagle, I also recall the article about Cooper, Carosone and Howard and we all hold them in high regard.  Like JD0003, I suspect there are good reasons why someone may not have gotten playing time at previous school. What counts is what they can do going forward.   I also hope for the best for these players, team and coaches.  However, one major factor stands out to me....prior to coaching at AU, Myers had coached 8 seasons at Arizona State where he made 8 trips to the WCWS and won 2 of them.  Then took AU to 2 appearances and one runner up effort.  I feel it is going to take a very skilled coaching effort by a staff with limited HC experience to approach anywhere near that kind of achievement.  I will be cheering for them and would be very happy if we could finish in the top half of the conference which may be asking a lot, considering the added strength in membership this next season.  Look forward to fall ball for some early impressions. 

[WarTiger 4,011]

On 7/20/2024 at 8:44 PM, WDE1976 said:

We’re going to be the worst team in the SEC. Using roster spots for a player who couldn’t even get playing time at Iowa. What a joke!!

This player was a FRESHMAN last year.  Not all freshman go to the college level and start their first day.  The Malveaux's didn't take this girl just because a spot was available.  They looked at her high school film and decided that she could help this team.    Why not pump the brakes on all this "what a joke" garbage and let's actually see what they do first?    It's pretty clear you don't like the coaching hire and are writing them off before even a practice.   I prefer to wait and see how they develop the players and if they make them better.   If you choose to give up on the team and program now, go for it, but stop with the doom and gloom posts before these girls even take the field under this new leadership.   

I love this hire and can't wait to see the program they put together.  There's evidence out there that they are really good coaches.  Let's let them actually do their job before we go into meltdown mode.

[AuburnNTexas 7,300]

So far I have not been overwhelmed by the talent they have brought in so far. I think it is a good hire. Two things must be taken into consideration. One how much NIL they have to work with and two how they develop the talent they have. 

If they do well in their first year it will be a bonus. I believe in patience year 3 should give us a clue in what type hire we have.

[OlderWhiskey 997]

WDE1976 joined this board only a month ago.  His/her postings make one suspect a uat troll or someone with a negative agenda.  I recall similar postings attacking Dean shortly after he was hired.

[WDE1976 22]

Comparing the Malveaux’s to Clint Myers, one of the greatest coaches of all time, is laughable…just like our transfer portal class. The Malveaux’s have passed on talent just because of the amount of eligibility they have left. But if you all believe that the RS Freshman outfielder from Iowa who held zero other P5 offers is going to help Auburn compete in the SEC…y’all are worse off than I thought. 
 

I do believe Auburn is the worst team in the SEC right now. Look at all of the other teams’ roster! You cannot tell me that Auburn’s is better. 
 

This lackluster transfer class puts even more pressure on the Malveaux’s 2026 class. I’m allowed to voice my concerns over these moves. They said they were looking for “experience” in the portal and went out and got the exact OPPOSITE. 

4 players with a combined 28 innings played among them. I’ll come back to this thread when Auburn is picked at the bottom of the SEC poll and when Auburn finishes at the bottom next season. 

[WarTiger 4,011]

2 hours ago, WDE1976 said:

I’ll come back to this thread when Auburn is picked at the bottom of the SEC poll and when Auburn finishes at the bottom next season. 

As long as you stay gone UNTIL that happens and don't return at all if it doesn't.   

The rest of us here will support the Malveaux's and the program and see where this ride takes us and not villify every aspect of the program before they even have a practice.   @OlderWhiskey starting to think you were right, either someone that likes to piss all over everything or just a troll.  

[mickeyb 2]

Clint was a good coach, but remember he inherited the number 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 best hitters for career batting average for Auburn. 

[slot canyon 1,368]

4 hours ago, mickeyb said:

Clint was a good coach, but remember he inherited the number 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 best hitters for career batting average for Auburn. 

I understand your point (good research) but he did not actually inherit them when they were at that level.  They achieved those levels during his tenure.  When Myers took the position I doubt anyone was saying that we were going to reach the heights we did and have those types of hitters.  I was  impressed with how he used his pitching staff and brought in some very good pitchers.

[Jad0003 475]

8 hours ago, WDE1976 said:

Comparing the Malveaux’s to Clint Myers, one of the greatest coaches of all time, is laughable…just like our transfer portal class. The Malveaux’s have passed on talent just because of the amount of eligibility they have left. But if you all believe that the RS Freshman outfielder from Iowa who held zero other P5 offers is going to help Auburn compete in the SEC…y’all are worse off than I thought. 
 

I do believe Auburn is the worst team in the SEC right now. Look at all of the other teams’ roster! You cannot tell me that Auburn’s is better. 
 

This lackluster transfer class puts even more pressure on the Malveaux’s 2026 class. I’m allowed to voice my concerns over these moves. They said they were looking for “experience” in the portal and went out and got the exact OPPOSITE. 

4 players with a combined 28 innings played among them. I’ll come back to this thread when Auburn is picked at the bottom of the SEC poll and when Auburn finishes at the bottom next season. 

I don’t think we are the worst team in the SEC. Are we the best ? No, we are far from it, but we are also far from the worst. Kentucky will be the worst team in the conference. I see us finishing around 10th place, which is where we finished this past year with Penta and Lowe.

We return every position player except Packer, and I think Malveaux will get more production out of the hitters than Lenti. Ryker will have his work cut out for him, but every team lost a lot of position players this past year except Florida and Texas.

 

[AUDude2 2]

How many players did the Malveauxs bring with them from Tennessee?  Zero?  Doesn't say much for their recruiting, in my opinion.  And with the loss of Penta, we have no reliable pitching at this point so anyone who  expects this team's record to be as good as last year is being unrealistic.  We all know the Malveauxs were not Cohen's first choice.  That deal fell apart for some reason and the Mals were somewhere further down the list.  I hope they are successful but fear that they will be in over their heads in the toughest league in the country.  We'll be mediocre because Cohen failed to hire an experienced big name coach.

[WDE1976 22]

On 7/24/2024 at 10:20 PM, AUDude2 said:

How many players did the Malveauxs bring with them from Tennessee?  Zero?  Doesn't say much for their recruiting, in my opinion.  And with the loss of Penta, we have no reliable pitching at this point so anyone who  expects this team's record to be as good as last year is being unrealistic.  We all know the Malveauxs were not Cohen's first choice.  That deal fell apart for some reason and the Mals were somewhere further down the list.  I hope they are successful but fear that they will be in over their heads in the toughest league in the country.  We'll be mediocre because Cohen failed to hire an experienced big name coach.

Exactiy. From the looks of it, we should have hired Gerry Glasco. Not hiring a big name, experienced coach who can recruit out of the portal is going to kill us this year, anybody who says otherwise is naive or delusional. I’m all for supporting a new HC (and I will support the Malveaux’s this szn) but their transfer portal gets and staff hires have been beyond ridiculous. Not to mention, they aren’t MIRACLE WORKERS. Tennessee’s bats were much better than ours last year (whose wasn’t), but they weren’t extraordinary. To think they are going to come in to Auburn and suddenly turn one of the worst SEC teams into a competent offense worthy of competing in this league…is again naive or delusional. 
 

I understand it’s the Malveaux’s first year doing this, but damn a trained seal could have done a better job recruiting in the portal. I’m more frustrated with John Cohen for waiting a day before the college softball season ended to announce a mediocre hire.  

Everyone defending the coaches’ decisions thus far are the same ones who defended Bryan Harsin in the beginning, and look how that turned out. 

we have 8 seniors this year…all on offense. The Malveaux’s recruiting four unproven players through the portal with 3+ years of eligibility left implies that they don’t think they are capable of turning this team into a competitive one for the upcoming season, so if they don’t have faith in themselves..why should I trust in them?

 

[WarTiger 4,011]

On 7/26/2024 at 6:18 PM, WDE1976 said:

Exactiy. From the looks of it, we should have hired Gerry Glasco. Not hiring a big name, experienced coach who can recruit out of the portal is going to kill us this year, anybody who says otherwise is naive or delusional. I’m all for supporting a new HC (and I will support the Malveaux’s this szn) but their transfer portal gets and staff hires have been beyond ridiculous. Not to mention, they aren’t MIRACLE WORKERS. Tennessee’s bats were much better than ours last year (whose wasn’t), but they weren’t extraordinary. To think they are going to come in to Auburn and suddenly turn one of the worst SEC teams into a competent offense worthy of competing in this league…is again naive or delusional. 
 

I understand it’s the Malveaux’s first year doing this, but damn a trained seal could have done a better job recruiting in the portal. I’m more frustrated with John Cohen for waiting a day before the college softball season ended to announce a mediocre hire.  

Everyone defending the coaches’ decisions thus far are the same ones who defended Bryan Harsin in the beginning, and look how that turned out. 

we have 8 seniors this year…all on offense. The Malveaux’s recruiting four unproven players through the portal with 3+ years of eligibility left implies that they don’t think they are capable of turning this team into a competitive one for the upcoming season, so if they don’t have faith in themselves..why should I trust in them?

 

  You joined here barely a month ago.   That means you weren't even here when Harsin was hired.   Besides,  it's really easy to come here and spout off after a coach is removed.  Why is it so wrong to suppot the coach we have UNTIL they've proven otherwise?   THEY HAVEN'T EVEN PRACTICED YET.   Staff hires have been ridiculous?   Really?  Either you are completely clueless, don't know who we hired, or both. Do you have any idea who we hired as pitching coach.  Ryker Chason is his name.  He's widely regarded as one of the best pitching coaches in the country.   I just don't understand the constant negativity before they even have a practice together.  Not one person here expects them to be miracle workers or an overnight rebuild.    You are making a lot of assumptions and conclusions on things you know nothing about.   We know we need to upgrade the roster (particularly at pitching with Penta gone) but we also know there is talent there that hasn't been developed.   Perhaps the Malveaux's can and will develop that talent to their full potential.  They are going to be given every opportunity to make that happen.  I see no reason at this stage to write them off because you didn't like who they picked up in the transfer portal.   

If you are that unhappy with the program, go find another team to cheer for, and just stop posting your garbage here.   I have my doubts that's you've ever actually watched a softball game.  The rest of us here are supporting the Malveaux's  and are looking forward to the season and what they can do for the program.  We KNOW a rebuild won't happen overnight, but the rest of us are willing to give them the time they need to build this program and not automatically assume they will fail like you are doing.  

 

@slot canyon @OlderWhiskey  @Jad0003  sorry for the response.  I know we aren't supposed to feed the troll, but sometimes I just can't help myself but respond.

[WarTiger 4,011]

On 7/24/2024 at 10:20 PM, AUDude2 said:

How many players did the Malveauxs bring with them from Tennessee?  Zero?  Doesn't say much for their recruiting, in my opinion. Not even remotely close to a measuring stick on how they will recruit.   And with the loss of Penta, we have no reliable pitching at this point so anyone who  expects this team's record to be as good as last year is being unrealistic. So there's no hope at all at developing the players we have and they have zero chance to improve individually?   Damn, we should just shut the program down then.  Go tell those players you see no hope in them at all and you don't believe any of them will improve from the previous year.  What a joke.  We all know the Malveauxs were not Cohen's first choice.  That deal fell apart for some reason and the Mals were somewhere further down the list.  Things happen behind the scenes nobody can control.  It happens with every coaching search at every school in the country.   I hope they are successful but fear that they will be in over their heads in the toughest league in the country.  We'll be mediocre because Cohen failed to hire an experienced big name coach.  Making assumptions before the new staff even has a practice is patently stupid.  Again you don't believe any of thse players can improve from year to year which is completely ridiculous.   Based on posts like these, I don't believe for one second you "hope they are successful".  I believe you are hoping they will fail so you can come back here and say you were right.  

 

[WDE1976 22]

3 hours ago, WarTiger said:

  You joined here barely a month ago.   That means you weren't even here when Harsin was hired.   Besides,  it's really easy to come here and spout off after a coach is removed.  Why is it so wrong to suppot the coach we have UNTIL they've proven otherwise?   THEY HAVEN'T EVEN PRACTICED YET.   Staff hires have been ridiculous?   Really?  Either you are completely clueless, don't know who we hired, or both. Do you have any idea who we hired as pitching coach.  Ryker Chason is his name.  He's widely regarded as one of the best pitching coaches in the country.   I just don't understand the constant negativity before they even have a practice together.  Not one person here expects them to be miracle workers or an overnight rebuild.    You are making a lot of assumptions and conclusions on things you know nothing about.   We know we need to upgrade the roster (particularly at pitching with Penta gone) but we also know there is talent there that hasn't been developed.   Perhaps the Malveaux's can and will develop that talent to their full potential.  They are going to be given every opportunity to make that happen.  I see no reason at this stage to write them off because you didn't like who they picked up in the transfer portal.   

If you are that unhappy with the program, go find another team to cheer for, and just stop posting your garbage here.   I have my doubts that's you've ever actually watched a softball game.  The rest of us here are supporting the Malveaux's  and are looking forward to the season and what they can do for the program.  We KNOW a rebuild won't happen overnight, but the rest of us are willing to give them the time they need to build this program and not automatically assume they will fail like you are doing.  

 

@slot canyon @OlderWhiskey  @Jad0003  sorry for the response.  I know we aren't supposed to feed the troll, but sometimes I just can't help myself but respond.

1. Ryker is not regarded as one of the best pitching coaches in the country. The only person who has ever said that is Chris Malveaux (because what else is he supposed to say?) But I was mostly referring to the DJ Sanders hire. 
 

2. I’m going to support the Malveaux’s but they are making it very difficult too early on with 2 decommitments in the 2025 class and the less-than pickups in the portal. Every team around us in the SEC (outside of maybe MSST/UGA, but they have much better incoming freshman classes) did a better job recruiting through the portal. 
 

i guess we are just going to have to agree to disagree and check back here in 6 months. Y’all can remain optimistic about this team, but we’re going to be lucky to make it to the NCAA tournament. Those 8 seniors may go to waste this season because the Malveaux’s decided to pick up 4 inexperienced and unproven underclassmen instead of reliable bats. I don’t care if they’re new, it makes no sense and it shouldn’t give them a pass for it. Glasco got Canady and Alana Johnson (and even Katie Lott) his first year. Kumar brought in Parisien and Bewick from Miami-OH. I’m just not one to act excited about picking up pinch runners from the portal while Lair Beautae goes to Ole Miss, Salen Hawkins goes to Bama, Kenleigh Cahalan goes to UF, McKenzie Bump goes to UK, Jalia Lassiter goes to LSU, Kinsey Fiedler goes to Tenn, Quincee Lilio goes to South Car, Taylor Ebbs goes to Mizzou and Kailey Wyckoff goes to Arkansas. 
 

[AUDude2 2]

So, War Tiger, what is your measuring stick on how the Malveauxs are going to recruit?  Players follow coaches to new schools all the time, but none followed them.  I said nothing about player development so I don't know why you assumed that I thought improvement of players wasn't possible.  What I did say is we lost Penta, who was an all time great.  You can wish all you want about player development but you aren't going to find another Penta on this roster.  I don't care how great a coach might be, players make the difference.  Ask Saban.  This roster is going to need significant improvement just to avoid the cellar of the SEC.  What were we last year?  9 & 15?  With Pants.  We won't win 8 games next year in the SEC.

[AUDude2 2]

Oops.  Dang spell checker.  With ' PENTA' is what I meant, not Pants.