The Las Positas Women’s Basketball team only has one starter returning from last season. Along with the player departures, the team’s head coach from last season, Caleb Theodore, also finds himself packing his bags after getting an opportunity to coach at Sacramento City College — leaving the Hawks scrambling to find their footing.
The Hawks will have a new look this season under newly promoted assistant coach Tracey Walker. With most of the previous season’s roster leaving, the Hawks are searching for a new identity — one that was made more difficult with a late start to recruiting.
Due to Walker being named coach in the middle of summer, many of the potential recruits had already found a home elsewhere before the start of the fall semester. The shortage of players pushed Walker into a corner, causing her to rush the process to fill out her roster while simultaneously holding summer conditioning with the few returning players.
But in early August, when Walker was on vacation, the Hawks made some breakthroughs.
“It was all just like last-minute texts,” Walker said. “I just got all these cool emails and excitement, and now we have 11 girls. When we started in summer, we had five on a good day.”
With the majority of the new recruits being guards, Walker is getting the change in team identity she was hoping for. From having two dominating bigs in Monique Cavness and Joyce Mulumba protecting the paint and grabbing every loose rebound, to going small ball, looking to take advantage of their speed and agility.
“I like to play fast-paced basketball,” Walker said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting. And so if I can get my girls to be in shape, it’ll be a lot better for us.”
The new members of the team have breathed new life into the Hawks. During the summer, with their small roster, hopes were limited. But now Walker is excited for the potential of the season.
“The discipline is there,” Walker said. “They want to succeed. They want to get better. They’re going 110% in practice. So I think it’s good for the other girls to see that they are putting in a lot of effort and a lot of hard work, because it’s going to transition to the team and just make that culture better.”
The Hawks recruiting class is headlined by sophomore Amaya Jiao, whose freshman season was in Division III at the University of La Verne, where she spent most of the time out with an injury. Alongside her are Tayondee Kelley, Destinee Flores and pre-summer commitment Kalani Soriano, along with a few others to help fill out the depth of the roster.
“Now we have a completely different team,” said Ashley Hart, the Hawks’ new assistant coach and former player. “I think a big part is going back to the drawing board, not treating them like the team that was going to be there, treating them for who they are.”
Top photo: Hawks team huddling at the end of their practice on Aug. 26, 2024. The team is preparing for their third season since the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined them for two years. (Photo by Jakob Arnarsson/ The Express)
Jakob Arnarsson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @JakobA2004
