At this point, Marlene Stollings can afford to be indecisive. "Every day I walk in here, I keep adjusting my lineup," the Gophers coach said after a recent practice. "They're battling it out every day at pretty much every position."
While much of the focus has been on what Stollings has lost, she is gleeful about what she has gained. Saturday, the third-year coach will begin a season for the first time without guard Rachel Banham, the program's all-time leading scorer. But her roster is fortified with nine new players who fit Stollings' vision of a swift, skilled and high-scoring team, one she hopes will make its way back to the NCAA tournament.
Banham leaves a daunting void to fill, beginning with the season opener against Harvard at Williams Arena. Junior guard Carlie Wagner — the only player assured of a place in the starting lineup — promises to take on part of the load. The rest, Stollings hopes, will be spread equitably among a group she declared the speediest of her tenure.
High-scoring guard Kenisha Bell, fifth-year transfer Whitney Tinjum and versatile freshmen Taiye Bello and Gadiva Hubbard are among those competing fiercely for the other four starting spots. And Stollings is likely to continue experimenting with her lineup throughout the nonconference season.
"We've taken a huge step in the direction we want to take our program with these nine newcomers," said Stollings, who led the Gophers to a 20-12 record and the second round of the Women's NIT last season. "We're much quicker and more athletic.
"[The new players] are stepping onto the floor for the first time at this level, and they're going to have to log some minutes and get comfortable playing at this elite level. But their potential is really high."
Last year, Banham — chosen by Connecticut with the No. 4 pick in the WNBA draft — accounted for 34 percent of the Gophers' scoring. She finished her career with 3,093 points and will have her jersey retired Jan. 1 at the Gophers' Big Ten home opener against Maryland.
Behind Banham's 28.6 points per game, the Gophers averaged 83.6 points last season, breaking a school record that had stood since 1982. Stollings will look to maintain that output, though with more balanced scoring. Wagner, second on the team with 18.9 points per game, is the only returnee among the Gophers' top four scorers last season.