Oct. 3—The college basketball season is inching closer with the Cowgirls holding their first practice Monday.
Oklahoma State opens its season Oct. 29 against South Nazarene at Gallagher-Iba Arena and plays its next 10 of 12 nonconference games at home.
Coach Jacie Hoyt enters her third season with a 35-28 record, an NCAA tournament appearance in her first season and a below .500 record in her second. Big 12 coaches voted the Cowgirls as the 11th best team (or sixth worst for the glass-half-empty crowd).
No OSU player was selected for the Preseason All-Big 12, but Hoyt is optimistic for her team.
“I feel better today than I’ve ever felt on a first practice in terms of just having continuity first and foremost with our staff, having a core nucleus of kids coming back that we’re really excited about and then, of course, the additions from the portal and our freshmen,” Hoyt said. “So I’ve got really high expectations for this season already moving forward.”
High expectations for freshman trioPredicting the impact of a freshman is difficult — each player develops at her own pace. But freshmen stars grabbed the spotlight from the first day last season, including USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.
Hoyt mentioned the three OSU freshmen at her Monday press conference and said last season’s frosh inspired them. The Cowgirls will need their newcomers to find their roles and grow in them quickly if they are to make a jump in the Big 12 standings.
“I was not happy with where we finished last season,” Hoyt said. “That sort of season doesn’t sit well with me, and so we were really intentional in the offseason about getting the right kids.”
Point guard Jadyn Wooten headlines the class as the 2024 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and a two-time Eastern Kansas League MVP. She finished her high school career with 1,680 points, 448 assists, 222 steals (all school records) and 514 rebounds.
“We’ve got really high expectations for her, and she wants those expectations, which is sometimes maybe more important,” Hoyt said. “She doesn’t back down from anything. She does not carry herself like a freshman.”
Shooting guard Kennedy Evans “is coming along really well” after completing her high school career at Legion Prep Academy, where she was named the Texas Christian Athletic League Player of the Year and helped lead the team to the TCAL state title.
Power forward Maria Rodriguez didn’t get to spend the summer with her college teammates and coaches because she helped the Spain national team win the silver medal at the FIBA U18 Women’s Eurobasket competition.
“She’s been a really pleasant surprise for us because sometimes, recruiting internationally, you really don’t know what you’re getting. You’re relying a lot on film and word of mouth, but she has adapted really quickly.”
Hoyt expecting baby in late DecemberHoyt announced July 11 that she and her husband — Daniel Heflin, associate athletic director of development — are expecting their first child together.
She addressed her pregnancy Monday and what that means for OSU.
“If things stay according to (my due date), I really shouldn’t have to miss that much because the baby would be here around Christmas time, so in my mind, I’m only missing a couple of games,” Hoyt said.
Her doctors won’t let her fly at the end of November for the Daytona Beach Classic against Arkansas and Richmond, and she thinks she’ll only miss the Iowa State home game on Dec. 21.
“Our staff is prepared,” Hoyt said. “We started talking about it literally from the time that we knew the baby was coming and what that would look like, and I’ve worked really hard to give them as much confidence as I can in themselves and put them in positions where they can prepare to lead in my absence.”
