Following a 27 win season ending with a phenomenal WNIT Final Four run, the Arkansas State women’s basketball team looks to start anew and reach greater heights in the upcoming year.

This year’s roster is full of fresh faces: nine to be exact. Many familiar members from last season’s WNIT team and the season prior’s NCAA tournament team have graduated, leaving gaps in the roster for these new players to fill.

While approaching the new season of unknowns, head coach Destinee Rogers plans to keep her same mentality while staying aware of the new changes that may come.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just going into this year with an open mind, knowing that we have a brand new team, and continuing to instill the discipline (and) accountability that has worked for us the last two years,” Rogers said.

Her recruitment philosophy in the transfer portal for this year and prior years relies more on individual additions into a system rather than a team changer, opting to fit players into her coaching style.

“It’s just plug and play. It’s the same thing, just different faces,” Rogers said. “We did a really good job this year of making sure we brought the right personalities in. I wanted a tougher group, and I think we definitely knocked the ball out of the port with this group.”

Rogers described her process of selecting in a detailed step-by-step program. Before prospects reach Jonesboro, she contacts former coaches, whether that be high school coaches, Amateur Athletic Union coaches or other college coaches.

“I want all the information before they even step foot on campus because we can’t swing and miss,” Rogers said. “We want to make sure we’re bringing the right type of players and people to Arkansas State.”

She also tests her group of potential newcomers to make sure they are fully fit for the program outside of their basketball skill set.

“I’m really big on personalities. It just helps me understand how to serve and lead these young women,” Rogers said. “And then once we know all that information, I then decide whether I want to bring them on campus or not.”

One of the nine new players is a sophomore transfer from Texas State: Angela Carroll. In her freshman season as a Bobcat, she started in 25 out of all 30 games she played. She averaged a double double: 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Carroll said Rogers’ recruiting strategies worked on her within their introductory conversations.

“As soon as that first phone call happened, I was already clinging towards the coaches. Everything sounded great,” Carroll said. “(I) felt really loved, and I think when coaches show you that they really want you and how they can use you and also make you grow as a player, but as a woman too, that’s important.”

When it comes to game-time action, the acquisition of Angela Carroll remedies a major issue in last year’s squad: rebounding. A-State struggled on the boards last season due to their small-ball style of play; they were lightning quick on the perimeter but were quick to be out-muscled in the paint. Carroll along with the eight other girls recruited with her seek to fix this problem from the previous season.

With all the new additions and changes to the roster, the leadership still remains. Guard Crislyn Rose, a fourth year at A-State, returns to helm the head of the ship.

Averaging 11 points, five assists and three rebounds per game, Rose was named Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year. She aims to improve specific aspects of her game to become an even bigger threat on the court. She pinpointed multiple areas of improvement she worked towards this offseason.

“(I’m) being more consistent at the three-point line and spacing the floor out a little bit more in different areas besides just attacking the basket,” Rose said.

Alongside her own skills, she wants to leave a major impact on the younger girls in the locker room.

“(I want them) to know that as long as you’re around the right people in the right setting, you can be the person that you want to be,” Rose said.

With all of the fresh faces mixing with the veterans, chemistry is a bit of a concern. However, assistant coach Liz Nessling aimed to bring this new team together and form strong bonds between the old and the new. She saw a weaker chemistry with the team than she would have preferred last season, so this year she took action from the jump, organizing a plethora of events for the team.

“We did a LEGO night, movie night, which was kinda cool. We did a ‘speed dating’ type of thing, and basically they had to ask each other questions for 30 seconds,” Nessling said.

All of these events and activities they did in the offseason increased the chemistry sevenfold, but a new addition to the mix has been content creation and social media.

Nessling is an active influencer on social media and is using this platform to grow the team’s popularity in the city of Jonesboro and the surrounding areas. She posts humor-driven shorts with players, coaching staff, and more to reach a broad audience and show them all what the behind the scenes are really like.

Hoping to showcase the mix of old and new put together by Rogers, Nessling, Rose and the rest of the roster, the Red Wolves take a trip up to the Midwest to take on the Ball State Cardinals on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. However, in their home opener on Nov. 17 against Jackson State, Rogers made it plain and simple about what she expects from the crowd: pack the stands to support the Red Wolves.

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