Welcome to the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tipoff for the 2019-20 Season. Today, we feature the Richmond Spiders.
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Welcome to the Aaron Roussell era at Richmond.
The former Bucknell coach, who led the Bison to six straight winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances, will look to resuscitate a Spiders program that last put together a winning season in 2014-15 and ended 2018-19 at 9-21 (1-13 on the road).
That win-loss record doesn’t figure to faze Roussell, though, as he inherited a 5-25 squad upon taking over at Bucknell. The Bison tripled that win total in Roussell’s first season, and the coach closed his seven-year stint at the school with four straight 20-win seasons.
“I always tell every first-year coach, ‘Don’t worry about how many games you win. It’s all about establishing the culture,’ ” he said. “Now that I’m the one in it, I want to win games. We want to go grab things.
The key to a similar turnaround at Richmond will be how well the Spiders, who ranked 13th among the 14 Atlantic 10 teams in scoring, adapt to Roussell’s read-and-react, less set-driven offense. Admittedly it’s a complex system and turnovers could pile up during the learning curve, but it has a payoff, he said.
“If we were all about winning games early, we probably would not establish this offense,” he said. “Even when you have experience and kids who fit well, it’s not the easiest offense to figure out early in the season.”
The Spiders return all but one player from last year’s cast and will be led by junior guard Alex Parson and senior forward Jaide Hinds-Clarke; each averaged 10.2 points per game last season.
“They’re both proven scorers, but we’re going to be asking them to do a few different things now,” Roussell said.
A trio of sophomores, forward Emma Squires and guards Aniyah Carpenter and Claire Holt, figures to benefit from all the minutes they logged as freshmen. A healthy Kailyn Fee returns after the junior guard was limited to just 20 games last year.
Ironically, the Spider Roussell comes in knowing best is one who has yet to officially suit up - junior forward Kaila Clark, who transferred to Richmond after spending two seasons at Navy battling Roussell’s Bucknell teams as Patriot League rivals.
“I’ve probably watched more film on her than anybody else on our roster,” Roussell said. “She brings a toughness to our style. She’s someone, especially on the defensive end, who can be a good solid player for us.”
Expect freshman Elaina Chapman, a 6-3 forward and the only recruit among Atlantic 10 schools to crack the ESPNw Hoopgurlz Top 100 list, to also play a role early. The Richmond Times-Dispatch Player of the Year from nearby Trinity Episcopal High was on Roussell’s radar at Bucknell. He’s thrilled she chose to stay close to home.
“She’s already had success and that’s important to us,” he said. “She fits our style. She’s a very capable player. She can score the basketball around the basket; we’re working on her perimeter game. She’s someone, I think, who can be a very, very good A-10 player.”
Chapman will have the luxury of playing alongside her best friend, guard Angel Burgos, also her high school teammate. While Chapman amassed more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds at Trinity Episcopal, Burgos finished with more than 1,500 points, 500 assists and 200 steals in her four years.
Growing pains will be part of the building process, but Roussell lacks too much patience. Look for his Spiders to adopt a similar attitude.
“I’m not worried about throwing too much at these kids. They have a burning desire to excel and succeed.”
A look at the Spiders:
Coach: Aaron Roussell, 1st year at Richmond, 16th season overall, 312-122 overall
Last year: 9-21, 6-10 Atlantic 10 (Lost to Saint Louis 58-49 in the first round of the A-10 Championship)
They’ll miss: Graduate student Daijia Ruffin started 10 games in her lone season as a Spider, averaging 7 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. The Spiders return the rest of their roster.
Impact returners: The only player to start every game last season was Parson, and Richmond’s engine returns for a junior season. Hinds-Clarke ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in double-doubles, paced the Spiders in rebounding (7.3 rpg); with 752 career points, she could surpass 1,000.
Newbies of note: Redshirt junior Clark was second for career blocked shots at Navy in just two seasons. Watch for her swats on defense. The agile Chapman, one of two freshmen on the roster, loves the fast break but will face a learning curve adjusting to the college game. Freshmen Celia Satter is a perimeter threat.
Reasons to be optimistic: Roussell enjoyed unprecedented success at Bucknell and Division III University of Chicago, both elite academic institutions like Richmond. He returns a roster hungry for success and should benefit from one of the jewels of the A-10 freshmen class in 6-3 forward Chapman.
Circle the date: Nov. 24 at Drexel is a familiar opponent for Roussell; the Dragons and Bucknell played frequently in his tenure. He also noted playing at Old Dominion in the inaugural Anne Donovan Classic. “To go play Old Dominion, a team on the rise, is a good experience for us.”
Bottom line: Roussell has the pedigree to elevate this program back into the top half of the Atlantic 10.