Whitney Bays
Whitney Bays (23) is fouled by Abby Slocumb of Georgia Elite.
In recent years, at least, West Virginia has been such a barren provider of women's college-basketball talent that the state's most prominent program, the Mountaineers, had a total of zero players from its own backyard on last season's roster.
While it's not a lock that coach Mike Carey will change that in, say, his 2010 signing class, the fortunes of his state's high-school talent is on the upswing at least with the presence of one enticing young prospect, Whitney Bays of Huntington, W.Va.
Whitney Bays (23) evades Georgia's
Kavonne Towns on a baseline drive.
Bays is so overwhelmingly the best player in West Viriginia, she already has led her hometown high school to a state 3A championship as a freshman, then a return to the state title game as a sophomore. She has been selected first-team, all-state both seasons and this past season earned state Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
At a relatively slim 6 feet 2, Bays is a smooth athlete who does things - mainly, handle and pass the ball - girls her size didn't even dream of doing some five years ago. During a game against Georgia Elite at the Deep South Classic in Raleigh, N.C., Bays blocked a shot, retrieved the ball and immediately tossed a halfcourt pass, on the money, to a streaking West Virginia Thunder teammate for a layup. Thrilling stuff for a young player her size.
For all her physical gifts, time (she is a 2010 prospect) is Bays' greatest asset at this point in her career. Although largely absent as recently as five years ago, as previously indicated, the ranks of 6-1 or 6-2 athletes who can run the court and dribble the basketball has swelled considerably. Some more attention to detail is required for Bays to rise above the crowd.
Though likely a mobile forward at the next level, Bays tries too hard to be a perimeter player, ignoring some of the things at which a player her size should excel. She often does not even pretend to block out on shot attempts and does not "work" the glass the way she obviously can. Though she does challenge penetrators on defensive, she tends not to use her hands much, holding them to his sides while in defensive stance. She also tends to drag her pivot foot on takeoff.
In the end, these may be mere nits to have picked. Bays has a strong left hand on the bounce, hits the mid-range jumper and is strong in transition. At 6-2, those things make her a revelation in West Virginia, and the beginnings of an elite-level prospect nationally.
