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Riordan's first female mentor

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colhenrylives

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In a historic hire, Riordan, via Twitter, has announced its first-ever women's hoops coach: Will Watkins. He has been the Crusaders' boys' JV coach. Riordan, formerly all-male, will become a coed Catholic school in the fall. It has made the move in concert with the June closure of nearby all-female Mercy HS in SF. It is not expected that Riordan's females will be part of the powerhouse WCAL, at least for now. The Mercy program was a member of the lower (less competitive) level of the WBAL last season. Two other WCAL schools in SF, SI and SHC, compete in all sports, male and female, in that league.
 
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colhenrylives said:
In a historic hire, Riordan, via Twitter, has announced its first-ever women's hoops coach: Will Watkins. He has been the Crusaders' boys' JV coach. Riordan, formerly all-male, will become a coed Catholic school in the fall. It has made the move in concert with the June closure of nearby all-female Mercy HS in SF. It is not expected that Riordan's females will be part of the powerhouse WCAL, at least for now. The Mercy program was a member of the lower (less competitive) level of the WBAL last season. Two other WCAL schools in SF, SI and SHC, compete in all sports, male and female, in that league.
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Coach Watkins is also the Director of the Girls Basketball Program for the Bay City AAU program since 2013 and is well regarded in the Area.
 
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colhenrylives said:
In a historic hire, Riordan, via Twitter, has announced its first-ever women's hoops coach: Will Watkins. He has been the Crusaders' boys' JV coach. Riordan, formerly all-male, will become a coed Catholic school in the fall. It has made the move in concert with the June closure of nearby all-female Mercy HS in SF. It is not expected that Riordan's females will be part of the powerhouse WCAL, at least for now. The Mercy program was a member of the lower (less competitive) level of the WBAL last season. Two other WCAL schools in SF, SI and SHC, compete in all sports, male and female, in that league.
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Coach Watkins was the Crusader Boys Frosh A coach that finished an undefeated season at 21-0.
 
seems like the guy has paid his dues and has an AAU program to go with it? Sounds like a good hire...although kinda bummed that it wasn't a girls coach who go the job. But I wish him luck!
 
Norcal_Fan said:
seems like the guy has paid his dues and has an AAU program to go with it? Sounds like a good hire...although kinda bummed that it wasn't a girls coach who go the job. But I wish him luck!
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he is the director of bay city girls side... does that count?
 
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colhenrylives said:
... It is not expected that Riordan's females will be part of the powerhouse WCAL, at least for now. ...
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Instagram interview with Coach Will Watkins stated that the Lady Crusaders will be playing as an independent next season.
 
Smart move. He is the director of a girls program that is solid. He has a legit feeder program.
 
colhenrylives said:
In a historic hire, Riordan, via Twitter, has announced its first-ever women's hoops coach: Will Watkins. He has been the Crusaders' boys' JV coach. Riordan, formerly all-male, will become a coed Catholic school in the fall. It has made the move in concert with the June closure of nearby all-female Mercy HS in SF. It is not expected that Riordan's females will be part of the powerhouse WCAL, at least for now. The Mercy program was a member of the lower (less competitive) level of the WBAL last season. Two other WCAL schools in SF, SI and SHC, compete in all sports, male and female, in that league.
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Riordan’s Lady Crusaders will be debuting in the WCAL this season.
 
Oh, my. Talk about a tough assignment. These are pretty much the same girls who were a lower-division (weak) entrant in the WBAL last season at Mercy-SF. This could get very ugly very quickly.
 
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Might have been better to ease the girls' overall athletic program into the WCAL over several years. Throwing them to the lions right off the bat is a disservice. You can make a solid argument that the WCAL is the strongest girls' sports league in NorCal. Just ask the folks at Sacred Heart Prep and Notre Dame-Belmont. They tried to compete on the WCAL girls' side and it did not go well. They saw the light and said adios. And their programs are at a much higher level than the former Mercy (now Riordan) effort.
 
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colhenrylives said:
Might have been better to ease the girls' overall athletic program into the WCAL over several years. Throwing them to the lions right off the bat is a disservice. You can make a strong argument that the WCAL is the strongest girls' sports league in NorCal. Just ask the folks at Sacred Heart Prep and Notre Dame-Belmont. They tried to compete on the WCAL girls' side and it did not go well. They saw the light and said adios.
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I believe creating an independent schedule this year was problematic with lots of dropped games due to our current health crisis. WCAL was happy to let Riordan in. I understand this team is not just the Mercy varsity brought over. 90+ girls from other schools in the area have also transferred, many of them following their siblings. I'm sure Coach Watkins' reputation and success in the local girls basketball club arena has also helped. Nice that there will be Girls/Boys Varsity doubleheaders when playing the co-ed schools. Should be fun!
 
We will see how this hire affects some particular schools in the city. How many of those girls that would normally go to SH or SI for hoops will choose a very likable Watkins and his program. If any one has insight how many girls are enrolled at Riordan for this coming school year, please share.
 
ArmchairGOAT said:
I believe creating an independent schedule this year was problematic with lots of dropped games due to our current health crisis. WCAL was happy to let Riordan in. I understand this team is not just the Mercy varsity brought over. 90+ girls from other schools in the area have also transferred, many of them following their siblings. I'm sure Coach Watkins' reputation and success in the local girls basketball club arena has also helped. Nice that there will be Girls/Boys Varsity doubleheaders when playing the co-ed schools. Should be fun!
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I not too familiar with Coach Watkins. What is his reputation and success record? Just curious as I don't know much about the guy. thanks in advance.
 
Sorry. It's going to be a very rude and ugly baptism into the WCAL for the Crusaderettes in all sports, not just hoops.
 
colhenrylives said:
Might have been better to ease the girls' overall athletic program into the WCAL over several years. Throwing them to the lions right off the bat is a disservice. You can make a solid argument that the WCAL is the strongest girls' sports league in NorCal. Just ask the folks at Sacred Heart Prep and Notre Dame-Belmont. They tried to compete on the WCAL girls' side and it did not go well. They saw the light and said adios. And their programs are at a much higher level than the former Mercy (now Riordan) effort.
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That’s a great discussion. Which league do you’ll consider the best in Northern California? Next year St Joes and San Leandro move into a league with Berkeley, Bishop O’Dowd, Alameda and Piedmont. That a good representation from every level.
 
The WCAL female side of the equation, top to bottom in every sport combined (not just hoops), is something else. Name your girls' sport and the WCAL has college-level talent, depth and coaching. And it's not a year-to-year deal. The league, in its consistent totality, is terrific every year. There's a reason why the CCS public schools want no part of these schools in their leagues. The WCAL is essentially a CCS (and NorCal) quarantine situation to isolate those mostly papal outfits as deep into the various seasons as possible. It's akin to the Trinity League in SoCal. Riordan is in for a very rough ride.
 
colhenrylives said:
The WCAL female side of the equation, top to bottom in every sport combined (not just hoops), is something else. Name your girls' sport and the WCAL has college-level talent, depth and coaching. And it's not a year-to-year deal. The league, in its consistent totality, is terrific every year. There's a reason why the CCS public schools want no part of these schools in their leagues. The WCAL is essentially a CCS (and NorCal) quarantine situation to isolate those mostly papal outfits as deep into the various seasons as possible. It's akin to the Trinity League in SoCal. Riordan is in for a very rough ride.
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Coach Watkins most likely putting up your posts in the locker room! Lol! Pretty harsh on this team before ever tipping off. He adds a former 1st round WNBA player to his staff, so definitely not lacking in good coaches. Riordan's young women will be just fine.
 
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OK, time for a little rant: Why is it Crusaderettes? Or Lady Crusaders? Why not just the "Crusaders"? Is the boys' team now the Gentlemen Crusaders?

Don't both teams represent the school? Why is one gender-signified and the other not?

I've annoyed some announcers at the WCJ when I hear them use "Lady Bulldogs" or whatever and feel compelled to tell them to stop using the word "Lady" -- unless of course when he does the boys' teams, he calls them the "Gentlemen Bulldogs."
 
jordan24 said:
Coach Watkins most likely putting up your posts in the locker room! Lol! Pretty harsh on this team before ever tipping off. He adds a former 1st round WNBA player to his staff, so definitely not lacking in good coaches. Riordan's young women will be just fine.
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good coaching can only get you so far if the talent is that far in levels.... ask coach kerr....
 
I think Riordan will have some tough early years, but also think they have the right guy leading the staff in Will to eventually be successful in the WCAL.

Both points can be true
 
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iamgearyblvd said:
We will see how this hire affects some particular schools in the city. How many of those girls that would normally go to SH or SI for hoops will choose a very likable Watkins and his program. If any one has insight how many girls are enrolled at Riordan for this coming school year, please share.
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Riordan accepted 90 female transfer students from 10 different high schools.
 
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That's still a small group ... like a 180-student school. And you have to fill out rosters in all girls' sports from those 90. (Presumably they have incoming freshmen, but that's probably not more than 100 -- give them 200 girls in the school total.)

The pressure then falls on the girls to play multiple sports, which is great, but if you don't have kids devoted to your sport, it's hard to succeed in any league, much less the WCAL.
 
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I never heard anyone on Frida Kahlo Way saying the Crusader women's teams were going to be storming out of the gate with tons of wins and being compared to Mitty. But, the excitement is there on being on the ground floor, with what appears to be a good coaching foundation and student participation, but moreover great support and excitement from the Administration, students, family and friends. The mens/women student population ratio will only be 80/20 this Fall and expanding over time. There is buy-in trusting the process. Should be fun to see how this develops.
 
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Norcal_Fan said:
I not too familiar with Coach Watkins. What is his reputation and success record? Just curious as I don't know much about the guy. thanks in advance.
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From a previous post: Coach Watkins is the Director of the Girls Basketball Program for the Bay City AAU program since 2013. He's also coached the Riordan boys JVs and last season coached the boys Frosh A's to an undefeated season. Current players on the Bay City team are Pinewood's Elle Ladine and Una Jovanovic. https://norcalpreps.rivals.com/news/norcal-notes-bay-city-basketball-2023-offers-and-more
 
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