The youthful Idaho women’s basketball team added depth to the point guard position with the signing of Chemeketa Community College transfer Janelle Weiss.
Weiss spent two years at Chemeketa in Salem, Ore., before signing with Idaho coach Jon Newlee earlier this week. Newlee said the to-be-junior brings exceptional ball handling and perimeter shooting to a Vandal team that lost three senior starters from last season.
“She has great court-vision and makes good decisions with the basketball,” Newlee said. “She’s an excellent 3-point shooter, and I like our point guard to be able to knock down the 3. More than anything though, I like the energy she plays with on the floor. She’s taking charges, diving on the floor for loose balls, she’s encouraging her teammates, she’s very vocal on the floor and just a real energy player, and that’s something that we need in our program.”
During her sophomore year at Chemeketa, Weiss led the Storm with 14.4 points and 3.7 assists per game. The Salem native was 32 percent from 3-point range and had 60 3-point makes on the season.
Chemeketa coach Jesse Ailstock said the team relied heavily on Weiss as a scorer and he thinks her skills will translate to the Division I level.
Weiss, according to Ailstock, “put the team on her back” and helped Chemeketa to a 21-8 record last season. The year before Ailstock and Weiss arrived at Chemeketa, the Storm won just four games.
“A lot of that is a direct result of Janelle’s performance and making players around her better,” Ailstock said. “Janelle’s both a vocal leader and a leader by example. I think nobody works harder, nobody competes more. The kid is all about basketball.”
Weiss’ talents weren’t a secret in Oregon though, and during her senior at West Salem High School she had offers from Oregon State and multiple Division II and III schools.
Despite other offers, Weiss opted for Chemeketa because she had yet to find the right fit, Ailstock said. With Newlee and Idaho though, the 5-foot-5-inch guard struck gold.
“She had a great time at the visit, she was impressed with the coaching staff, she liked Jon, really liked Jordan and she felt really comfortable that this would be the place for her after her visit,” Ailstock said.
Newlee, who describes Weiss as a “pure point guard,” is enthusiastic about Weiss especially because freshman Krissy Karr was the team’s sole “pure point guard” last season. In addition, her ball handling skills may benefit the Vandals, who lost two of their better ball handlers in seniors Keri Arendse and Ganeaya Rogers.
“Right now Krissy would have been going into next year as our only pure point guard, and both of them are pure point guards,” Newlee said. “You need to have at least two in your program who can get in and run the offense and be my extension on the floor, and I look for Janelle to get into that role. We’ve solidified our point guard position with this signing.”
The signing is the team’s fourth of the academic year but first of the spring signing period. Guards Christine Salvatore and Connie Ballestero, in addition to posts Ali Forde and Abi Quinnett signed with Idaho in the fall.
Theo Lawson can be reached at [email protected]