The better SU freshman - Uche Izoje or Kamilla Cardoso? | Syracusefan.com

The better SU freshman - Uche Izoje or Kamilla Cardoso?

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gosufan63

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I’m sure everyone here remembers that we had Kamilla Cardoso on the SU women’s basketball team as a freshman in the 2020-2021 season before she transferred to South Carolina and later became the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.

I was interested in how Cardoso compares to Uche Izoje as a freshman so I looked up her stats and this is what I found.

Kamilla Cardoso freshman year

  • 5 double doubles
  • 13.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.7 BPG
  • ACC freshman of the week 3 times
  • Never selected as national player of the week
  • Never named to National Naismith defensive player of the year watch list as a freshman
  • (She was named to the watch list her senior year)
Uche Izoje freshman year - so far this season

  • 10 double doubles
  • 14.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.7 BPG
  • ACC freshman of the week 6 times
  • National player of the week once
  • Named to National Naismith defensive player of the year watch list
Using these criteria Uche beats Cardoso in every category and ties in 1, so Uche is my pick.

I don’t think enough people really understand just how incredible a talent SU has with Uche Izoje and how important it is to get the message out.

I think the more exposure we can get on the SU women’s basketball team the better. The additional coverage will hopefully help increase attendance as well as help with raising NIL money. It would be great for SU, the program, the fans and the community to keep her and all our players here for all the years of their college careers.
 
Uche is a little older than Camilla was as a freshman.
At the same time, Camilla is about four inches taller than Uche so that seems to negate at least some of the impact of age.

SU needs to really push hard to get her paid so that she doesn't want to transfer.
 
orangeinohio said:
Uche is a little older than Camilla was as a freshman.
At the same time, Camilla is about four inches taller than Uche so that seems to negate at least some of the impact of age.

SU needs to really push hard to get her paid so that she doesn't want to transfer.
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Uche on an off night is still putting up NUMBERS
 
We will have some big holes to fill losing Dominique, Laila, Journey and Ouindaamola. We have a talented core hopefully returning but also special players that will be difficult to replace. This team has been focused, determined and very unselfish. I hope this culture continues through not just this season but throughout the future. At Uche’s age would she already be eligible for the WNBA draft? I hope another year or two at SU will maximize her value and expand her potential for the WNBA especially since her height might require her to play a guard/forward position on the next level. She’s a unique talent at her height and gaining better ball handling skills, passing skills, a 3 point shot etc here would really help her bright future. She’s has a great mentor in Coach Jack.

​

 
Cuse99&01 said:
Camilla also had Tianna passing her the ball
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As much as i love Uche, I wuld have to say Kamilla was a better freshman. Uche has more post moves and a better mid range jumper and turnaround...but, Kamilla, because of her size, was unstopable in the low block and on defense...Now, If Uche continues to develop her post game including her jump shot, she has the potential to be a better player than Kamilla.
 
Cheriehoop said:
We will have some big holes to fill losing Dominique, Laila, Journey and Ouindaamola. We have a talented core hopefully returning but also special players that will be difficult to replace. This team has been focused, determined and very unselfish. I hope this culture continues through not just this season but throughout the future. At Uche’s age would she already be eligible for the WNBA draft? I hope another year or two at SU will maximize her value and expand her potential for the WNBA especially since her height might require her to play a guard/forward position on the next level. She’s a unique talent at her height and gaining better ball handling skills, passing skills, a 3 point shot etc here would really help her bright future. She’s has a great mentor in Coach Jack.

​

Expand...
We will lose a lot in terms of Dom and Laila! They will be difficult to replace. They are unique talents who can play tough defense as well as get their own shots on the offensive end. We only have one HS recruit coming in next yesr, so I guess Coach Jack is depending on hitting Portal Gold as she did this year. As far as Uche at the next level. I don't see her playing guard. If she continues to develop her outside shot, she will make a good 3 or 4 player at the next level. I like her mobility and her midrange fade away could be her calling card one day!!
 
Can't say which is better but I think Uche is more athletic. Watched the highlights of tonights game and she had some nice catch and shoots without coming down. I really hope she doesn't move on.
 
IraSez said:
Can't say which is better but I think Uche is more athletic. Watched the highlights of tonights game and she had some nice catch and shoots without coming down. I really hope she doesn't move on.
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What impressed me about Cardosa as a freshman was her speed at her height and her athleticism. She used to rocket down the court often beating the defense. However to me, she seemed much slower at South Carolina, more powerful, deliberate, making me wonder if weight training and additional weight slowed her down. I imagine her strength really increased though there. She started at SU her freshman year but never started till her senior year at South Carolina sitting behind the talented Aliyah Boston till after she graduated.

Uche is a better shooter even displaying a mid range game from the free throw line in with a nice touch. She’s also has much better athletic jumping skills often corralling and saving errant passes with her athleticism. Uche who is 6 inches shorter than Kamilla averaged a tiny bit more as a rebounder for 40 minutes of play their freshman year, which is pretty amazing. (13.8 rebounds vs 13.7 rebounds freshman year for 40 minute stats). Both special talents. Cardosa being 6’7” tall was destined to be an impact player. Glad we have had both of these players and hope we keep Uche and watch her even develop more.
 
Cheriehoop said:
What impressed me about Cardosa as a freshman was her speed at her height and her athleticism. She used to rocket down the court often beating the defense. However to me, she seemed much slower at South Carolina, more powerful, deliberate, making me wonder if weight training and additional weight slowed her down. I imagine her strength really increased though there. She started at SU her freshman year but never started till her senior year at South Carolina sitting behind the talented Aliyah Boston till after she graduated.

Uche is a better shooter even displaying a mid range game from the free throw line in with a nice touch. She’s also has much better athletic jumping skills often corralling and saving errant passes with her athleticism. Uche who is 6 inches shorter than Kamilla averaged a tiny bit more as a rebounder for 40 minutes of play their freshman year, which is pretty amazing. (13.8 rebounds vs 13.7 rebounds freshman year for 40 minute stats). Both special talents. Cardosa being 6’7” tall was destined to be an impact player. Glad we have had both of these players and hope we keep Oche and watch her even develop more.
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With the. money that is out there for Portal Stars, you know that SEC schools are working back door probably already filling her or someone close to her's head with big dollars. It may take all the Team's NIL money going just to Uche, to keep her Orange! I do think that the relationship Coach Jack has with her, will make a huge difference in retaining her. Think about what this team would look like if the young lady who transferred to Tennessee after her Fr. year at the Cuse, had stayed!!! Going to Tennessee was a big mistake, maybe not from a financial standpoint...but certainly from a basketball development standpoint.
 
gosufan63 said:
I’m sure everyone here remembers that we had Kamilla Cardoso on the SU women’s basketball team as a freshman in the 2020-2021 season before she transferred to South Carolina and later became the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.

I was interested in how Cardoso compares to Uche Izoje as a freshman so I looked up her stats and this is what I found.

Kamilla Cardoso freshman year

  • 5 double doubles
  • 13.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.7 BPG
  • ACC freshman of the week 3 times
  • Never selected as national player of the week
  • Never named to National Naismith defensive player of the year watch list as a freshman
  • (She was named to the watch list her senior year)
Uche Izoje freshman year - so far this season

  • 10 double doubles
  • 14.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.7 BPG
  • ACC freshman of the week 6 times
  • National player of the week once
  • Named to National Naismith defensive player of the year watch list
Using these criteria Uche beats Cardoso in every category and ties in 1, so Uche is my pick.

I don’t think enough people really understand just how incredible a talent SU has with Uche Izoje and how important it is to get the message out.

I think the more exposure we can get on the SU women’s basketball team the better. The additional coverage will hopefully help increase attendance as well as help with raising NIL money. It would be great for SU, the program, the fans and the community to keep her and all our players here for all the years of their college careers.
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Great post! FLJ has her wearing #44 enough said - she is the real deal. Hopefully FLJ can keep bringing talent like hers to SU if we are going to compete with the best, we must do that!
 
Cheriehoop said:
We will have some big holes to fill losing Dominique, Laila, Journey and Ouindaamola. We have a talented core hopefully returning but also special players that will be difficult to replace. This team has been focused, determined and very unselfish. I hope this culture continues through not just this season but throughout the future. At Uche’s age would she already be eligible for the WNBA draft? I hope another year or two at SU will maximize her value and expand her potential for the WNBA especially since her height might require her to play a guard/forward position on the next level. She’s a unique talent at her height and gaining better ball handling skills, passing skills, a 3 point shot etc here would really help her bright future. She’s has a great mentor in Coach Jack.

​

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I believe she is one year away from being eligible for the WNBA draft under current rules. She seems to be very appreciative of the opportunity she was given here and humbled by her success. Seemed to be genuinely shocked when she was named ACC Rookie of the Year despite being rookie of the week eight times! It’s not out of the quest that she would accept a smaller financial package to stay at Syracuse. Dyaisha absolutely did that.
In terms of comparisons to Cardoso I agree with your assessment. I think Uche is the more skilled overall player but Kamilla is a physical freak combining athleticism and height. And she is performing at a high level already in the WNBA. Having played two years of professional ball put Uche ahead developmentally coming into her freshman year and gives her the slight nod when comparing the first collegiate season between the two of them.
 
I hope she stays another year. A little bit of $$$ may help.
She's very good friends with Camdyn Nelson.
 
If SU doesn’t do a huge media campaign on her next year they are clueless. She’s the real deal. She could be a preseason All American. She’s does things you just don’t see post players doing and she’s just scratching the service. We will see her dunk in a game before she leaves. She’s so skilled. Her only drawback is when her teammates forget she’s on the court and forget to get her the ball. They need to screen more for her instead of wasting her twenty feet from the basket. They also need to be drilled on how to feed the post and from the proper angles. At least 2-3 times a game they make God awful entry passes. I’ve made the effort to make it to a few of their games this year. They play hard, but their turnovers are mind boggling at times. They did it again yesterday with 21 turnovers. They badly need a point guard. Schmidt tries, but she’s too small. Darius should play off the ball. She could be a good scorer by just attacking the basket. She also has an excellent pull up mid range game. If coach Jack can find a couple of pieces in the portal, they could be very good next year.
 

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