Preferred Walk ons in women's college Bball?

[Keyser Soze]

Just curious if they have preferred walk ons in women's college basketball?

I know they do in Football but it seems like you don't hear much about it in basketball.

I know there are walk ons but is it like football where they commit and it's understood that they have a spot on the team, or is there just an open tryout and a more traditional walk on type deal?

 

[Volfan2012]

I don't think in women's basketball you have preferred walkons mainly because there is so many scholarships available 15 per team and players that are under the radar or slightly below the talent level of the bigger schools can still play division two or three or at a place where recruiting is more difficult.
I think what you have in women's basketball is just regular walkons and they are not very common. Kentucky has two this year because of the huge loss of many recruits to transfer. Pat Summit always in the early years had a walkon or two mainly so that they could experience being on a team where they were going to school.
They sometimes would get to play as Tennessee would run up 40 point leads and empty the bench.
I think the difference is in football preferred walkons have been promised the chance for a scholarship in the future based on their play. Walkons in womens basketball never get that option.

A lot of times walkons are favors to big boosters or other influential people who have a daughter who wants to be on the team.

 

[Amb3096]

I think the difference is in football preferred walkons have been promised the chance for a scholarship in the future based on their play. Walkons in womens basketball never get that option.

There was a walk-on at Vandy a few years ago who not only got a scholarship, but was the team captain as a senior and I think she led the SEC in 3-pt accuracy either her junior or senior year. I may be wrong, but I thought UConn had a walk-on or two who ended up getting a scholarship (the original Rally Monkey?)

 

[AndyCT]

I may be wrong, but I thought UConn had a walk-on or two who ended up getting a scholarship (the original Rally Monkey?)

You're correct; almost all (if not all) UConn walk-ons eventually get a scholarship, though it is certainly not guaranteed and generally doesn't seem to happen during the first year or two. The current walk-on, Tierney Lawlor, is on scholarship; her partner, Brianna Pulido was already on scholarship for track (which by NCAA rules had to be converted to a basketball scholarship.) I don't know when the practice of granting scholarships to the walk-ons started at Connecticut but it goes back to at least the early 2000's if not earlier.

As to the original question, at Connecticut the walk-ons have come from try-outs though not necessarily open try-outs (Pulido and Lawlor responded to a campus-wide tweet from Breanna Stewart during her sophomore season).

 

[Keyser Soze]

That makes sense.... thanks for the replies. I didn't realize that women programs got 15 for basketball. Men only get 12 correct?