Hoops, Hopes, and High Spirits: Watching the 2024 Marshall Women's Basketball Team

My 4.5 fouls per game during my High School Basketball career is hardly enough to qualify me to make any authoritative takes on a college basketball coach. But, it’s the internet, so when did that stop anybody?

My wife, who is a much more rabid sports fan than me, has been on the Kim Caldwell bandwagon since she was introduced as the coach of the Marshall University Women’s Basketball team this past year. Because of that, we’ve been to several games this season, followed them online, and watched them enough to where Isaac has a favorite player (#1 - Breanna Campbell).

Here’s what I know about the 2024 version of the Women’s Thundering Herd:

• Coach Caldwell will often sub 4 or 5 players in and out at a time, often in quick succession. The team rarely misses a beat.
• The team is well coached. They are consistent. They do the little things well. The play great defense, make the extra pass, and box out (even when they give up several inches in the paint).
• They are deep. In one game, the Herd was up by 30+ points. I was wondering why so many good players were still in the game. I looked down their bench and realized all their players had played and all of them were pretty dang good.
• They hustle like crazy. Even on the one off night when we watched them play (they couldn’t buy a bucket that game), every one of the young women go all out for the whole time they are in the game.
• They can put up points from anywhere on the offensive end in a hurry. I felt sorry for the guys running from the student section to put the “3” signs up a couple of the games!
• Coach Caldwell seems like a really calming, positive presence. I don’t know Coach, but, in watching her several games this season, she never seems to get too high or too low. But, you can tell the women respect her. Plus, her shoe game is on point.
• Coach Caldwell and her team are all very positive and respectful to Herd Nation. She seems like she’s excited to be here and excited for what her team brings to the table. The big crowds seem to agree with her.

So, in a nutshell, Coach Caldwell has put a fun-to-watch, scrappy, hustling, championship caliber team on the court while showing love and appreciation to the fanbase. What more can you ask for as a fan? Anything else beyond that (like a Sun Belt Regular Season Title) is just icing on the cake!

Here’s hoping the cherry on top is a Sun Belt Tournament Championship and NCAA Tourney berth.