How culture, genuineness sold transfer guard Caia Elisaldez on Wisconsin
· Yahoo Sports
MADISON – Caia Elisaldez brings a confidence to the Wisconsin women’s basketball program that comes with experience.
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The 5-foot-5 point guard has played 95 games and almost 2,900 minutes in college while scoring 1,099 points. She helped Chattanooga win 68% of its games the past three seasons and owns a positive assist/turnover ratio in the past two.
The Southern Conference player of the year was the final player Badgers women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton added for the upcoming season and perhaps the missing piece to a roster rebuild that lacked a veteran floor general.
How does Elisaldez think she can help the Badgers? UW’s latest addition spoke to the Journal Sentinel about a number of topics including her potential impact, her recruitment and the development of her game.
Here is what we learned.
Travel issues turn out to be blessing
The recruiting process is accelerated for players in the transfer portal. An official visit that typically lasts two days for a high school recruit is often done in one, so any delay can greatly alter plans.
That is why Elisaldez was especially concerned when her flight to Madison was delayed for about 2 1/2 hours. She thought it spoiled the plans the UW coaches made for her that evening.
It didn’t.
The entire coaching staff welcomed her at the airport despite the hours-long delay. It was the start of an evening of dining and conversation that went past 11 at night. What she could do for the team and vice versa was not a front-burner topic.
"They talked to me about the culture. They talked to me about their team," she said. "They asked me questions about who I was, trying to get to know me and my family. The care they had for things that weren’t about shooting a basketball and dribbling like that skills-wise was something that was amazing. That was ... the best part of my visit."
That evening was the start of an approximately 24-hour run in Madison that was spent in the company of the entire coaching staff except for her time at the hotel and a visit with rising seniors Shay Bollin and Laci Steele.
"It was just me and them and I was able to genuinely ask them questions, and I think the girls had the same genuineness," Elisaldez said about her visit with the players. "You could tell by the way they talked about the coaches how much they genuinely feel safe, how much they’re genuinely a family and how much they look up to their people each and every day.
Pingeton pitched the culture of the program. It reminded Elisaldez of what she experienced growing up and what she sought in a new team. She bought in. Quickly.
Elisaldez committed during the visit even though she had two visits scheduled immediately after her trip to UW. She said about 25 programs showed interest before she began trimming her list.
“I think the all the coaches were deep-rooted into their faith. I think that is something that led me to them, too," Elisaldez said. "I feel lile they have a light that shines through each and every one one of them.”
Caia Elisaldez is ready for new challenge
Even though this is the era of positionless basketball, there is still value in a floor general. Before adding Elisaldez, UW doesn’t have one.
The other point guard with experience on the roster is rising sophomore Nikki Kerstein. Kerstein played in 23 of 34 games and averaged 7.7 minutes per game.
Elisaldez, meanwhile, improved her point, rebound and assist averages each season. Her assist/turnover ratio also improved each season.
This past season Elisaldez averaged 17 points, 5.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game for Chattanooga, which went 20-11 and shared the Southern Conference title with a 10-4 record.
She begin her career as a defensive sparkplug for a team that won 28 games and reached the NCAA Tournament. The next year she emerged as the team’s leading scorer and playmaker. She continued in those roles as a junior in addition to being a veteran leader.
Carrying over those skills to the Big Ten is the next challenge.
"First off I prayed on it," she said. "I’m real big in my faith and I just felt like God was telling me it was my time to go. (Chattanooga) was amazing and all, but it was also my time to bet on myself ... I want to be able to learn and grow and challenge myself in different ways and I feel like that is exactly what I was able to do."
UW might help Elisaldez unlock 3-point shooting
One aspect of Elisaldez’s game that is untapped is her 3-point shooting. She hit 53.3% on just 30 attempts as a freshman but connected on 25.7% (19 of 74) as a sophomore and 29.6% (16 of 54) as a junior.
In addition to creating 3-point chances for the team with her ability to get into the lane and find shooters, Elisaldez sees the potential to become a more productive 3-point shooters in the Badgers’ 3-point friendly offense.
Elisaldez is also excited to work with assistant Ariel Massengale, who was a standout point guard at Tennessee.
“Coach P is a great coach, but I think Coach Massengale as a point guard coming from Tennessee would be a great person to have as a position-type coach and just a great role model,” Elisaldez said. “I think she played at the highest level, too. She knows what it takes, so honestly to feed off of her and pick her brain a little bit, that thonestly was something that intrigued me, too.”
The Caia Elisaldez-Addie Deal connection
One bonus of Elisaldez’s commitment to Wisconsin is that it reunites her with Iowa transfer Addie Deal.
The two were teammates Elisaldez’s senior year at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. They also played with and against each other growing up.
Before her visit to UW, Elisaldez spoke to Deal about UW and told her she was going to commit if the visit was as good in person as it had been over the phone.
“She was the first person I texted after I did it,” Elisaldez said. I said, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to commit,’ and she was like, ‘Do it’. As soon as I did it, I texted her and was like, 'I did it' and she was freaking out, too. And we were both like ‘Oh my gosh, we’re back!’”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's basketball team culture enticed guard Caia Elisaldez