1. Stanford– The Cardinal will be young in the backcourt, dominant in the frontcourt and the biggest question will be how long does it take the freshmen to play at a Stanford-like level? Stanford might not get through the Pac-12 unbeaten this season.
   

   USC's Briana Gilbreath - USC athletics photo

2. USC – The Trojans have considerable experience and talent and right now they look like a team that belongs in the NCAA Tournament. But USC can’t afford bad late-season losses. And in the last few years, they haven’t been able to avoid them.
3. Cal. The Bears get a fresh start under head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and have experience all over the court, and some great young talent coming in. If this team underachieved last season – and they did – they are setting themselves up to be a potential spoiler in the Pac-12 race.
4. Gonzaga. Time to move on without Courtney Vandersloot. The Zags still look like the class of the WCC. The Nov. 13 game at Stanford will be telling for Kelly Graves’ team.
5. Arizona State. The Sun Devils, playing this season under Joseph Anders, needs offense to keep up with the best teams in the Pac-12. You probably can’t stop Stanford or USC from scoring, so you better keep up.
6. UCLA. Jasmine Dixon’s injury, paired with a head coaching change (from Nikki Caldwell to Cory Close) threatens to break the momentum that’s been gained in the past few seasons.
7. Arizona. How to replace the post presence of Ify Ibekwe? Niya Butts’ team has the backcourt covered with Davellyn Whyte and Shanita Arnold, but questions inside.
8. Utah. The Utes return four starters from a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last season and they are young with only one senior. They will be in the mix in the top half of the conference standings.
9. San Diego State. The Aztecs are back to playing “95 feet” of basketball says coach Beth Burns. Not a lot of size, but a lot of quickness and athleticism in the backcourt.
10.  Cal Poly. Kristina Santiago, out last season with an ACL injury, is back.

Close to the 10…

UC Santa Barbara

St. Mary’s

Picked to win by the coaches

The Pac-12 –Stanford

The WCC – Not released yet

The MWC – TCU

The Big West – Cal Poly

The WAC – Louisiana Tech

How do we like West Coast basketball now? 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and that even takes into account the fact that one team from the left coast was forced to knock off the other.

Want to be even more impressed, consider that the victories came at the expense of two ACC teams and one from the Big 12. No knocking off the cupcakes here.

San Diego State vs. Texas. San Diego State didn’t always play this season like a team that belonged in the NCAA Tournament. But the Aztecs are in the second round and looking very dangerous after dropping No. 6 Texas on Sunday on the ‘Horns home court in Austin. It was a great draw for SDSU, to face a team that they had beaten last season. Big 12 pedigree or no, Beth Burns’ team was no intimidated by the Longhorns. And they didn’t play like it.

Next up: vs. No. 3 West Virginia in Austin, Tuesday.

Gonzaga vs. North Carolina. OK, so the Tar Heels are an NCAA staple, and maybe that made some people think that despite the No. 10 seed next to their name they were actually the favorite in this game. But the Zags are a talented team with a great point guard in Courtney Vandersloot, lots of experience and confidence built over a season of success. Gonzaga next moves on to Texas A&M and considering that these two teams played to an 80-76 result in Vegas in December, a game won by the Aggies, this is setting up to be one of the best second-round matchups of the tourney. It’s nice to get an opportunity to play a team you’ve already seen. Just ask San Diego State.

Next up: vs. No. 2 Texas A&M in Seattle, Monday.

UCLA vs North Carolina State. The battle of the Pat Summitt proteges went to Nikki Caldwell, whose best move as a coach so far was convincing Jasmine Dixon to come to Westwood after she left Rutgers. Dixon is the difference-maker for this program, the kind of player who other young talents will want to play with, the kind who will make it OK for all those SoCal recruits to stay close to home to play.

Next up: vs. No. 1 Nebraska in Minneapolis, Tuesday.

Stanford vs. UC Riverside. OK, this one was fairly much a no-brainer, so much so that Highlanders head coach John Margaritis wished Tara VanDerveer luck on the rest of the tournament before the game. He said it wasn’t a concession, but a nod to the reality of the disparity between the two programs. Next up is a much tougher matchup against the hot Hawkeyes and the final Maples Pavilion appearance for Jayne Appel and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude.

Next up: vs. No. 8 Iowa at Stanford, Tuesday.

And not to forget the folks in the WNIT. Cal wins its first game. Arizona State wins its first game. Oregon wins its first game.

Off to a very good start.

Stanford senior center Jayne Appel reported that her sprained right ankle is healing well and she “doesn’t expect it to be a factor” when the Cardinal take the floor Saturday night against UC Riverside at Maples Pavilion.

“My ankle has been feeling good each day since the Pac-10, it has made improvements,” Appel said. “Marcella our trainer has been working extra hard with me to help to get the swelling out. It’s been feeling good.”

Appel said she is focusing on the task at hand, so much so that she hasn’t looked at the full bracket to see what comes next for the Cardinal after this opening weekend of NCAA play.

“I’ve only seen the four teams that are at Stanford this weekend,” Appel said. “I’m going in stages and I’m really not looking past tomorrow night.”

Brotherly love: Appel said her parents will be watching her younger brother Nate play for De La Salle High in the CIF state championship game on Saturday night, skipping her NCAA game.

“The whole family is going. It’s OK, I told them to,” Appel said. “My parents called me and said ‘What do you think?’ and I told them to go to Nate’s game. They’ve been to so many of my games over the years. They are going out to support the Spartans.”

Planting No. 1 seeds: Tara VanDerveer brought it up first. The Stanford coach talked about Stanford’s last appearance as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the infamous loss to No. 16 Harvard.

Asked whether her team might be looking past Riverside, VanDerveer responded.

“We have been in a situation before where, not that we have ever overlooked anyone or ever made that mistake, but you know that we were the only No. 1 seed ever lost,” the coach said. “There were extreme extenuating circumstances, but having said that, I still went through it. And we have been in situations where we have been a higher seed and haven’t achieved what we wanted. We focus on the four teams in our bracket. We try to plan ahead without looking ahead.”

Never happy: “This has been finals week for us and this is the first day this week I feel like we have their full attention,” VanDerveer said. “There’s always something, in a good way, that gets under my skin. This week, we had finals, Jayne with her ankle has not practiced. I think we are a bit edgy, actually, in a good way.”

VanDerveer said her team has stayed steady throughout the season.

“We’ve got to come out and tend to business or else people will be tending next to me and they know that,” VanDerveer said.

Fearless underdogs: UC Riverside coach John Margaritis might have been sand-bagging just a little bit when asked about the challenge of facing the top-seeded Cardinal.

“I’ve run out of ideas, to be honest,” Margaritis said. “I’ve watched a lot of tape. The more I see of them, the more I want to call in sick on Sunday. They’re good. They really, truly good.”

Margaritis said he has not shown his team any film of the Cardinal so as not to intimidate them.

“I think we are very proud to be representing ourselves, representing the university,” Margaritis said. “I told the team earlier today in a meeting that we all aspire to get better.  Now you’re in a situation where you get to see what better looks like.  The way we act and the way we compete may be a step towards that.”

Location, location: VanDerveer said she is appreciative of all the West Coast sites that are hosting games. And she hopes they get more support.

“I’d like to credit Cal and ASU and Washington for being host sites, for saying we are going to host women’s basketball,” VanDerveer said. “And then we have to figure out ways to bring in teams that will help really draw. Maybe UCLA or USC could have played there and helped their draw.”

“So thank you to those schools for hosting, but now let’s help them get the crowds that will help women’s basketball because empty arenas aren’t good for TV, they are not good for the lack of atmosphere.”

VanDerveer said the women’s game still has a long way to go. She watched a full house at San Jose in the men’s tournament yesterday, supporting a slew of out-of-town teams.

“It was very well-attended,” VanDerveer said. “We have a lot of work to do to increase our crowds, to increase our visibility and get fans out there and make it an event.”

Randoms: Joslyn Tinkle’s father Wayne, whose Montana team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament Thursday night in San Jose, was at Stanford’s afternoon practice session on Friday…

Guard Melanie Murphy reports that her troublesome knee is still feeling good after her strong performance in the Pac-10 Tournament last weekend. Maybe it’s the good weather.

Marissa Rivera’s friends have moved on. Some to grad school. Others have jobs. One of her old friends from high school has done pretty well for herself in international relations.

Rivera talked with former high school teammate Candice Wiggins on the phone earlier this week. Wiggins is in Greece, preparing to play in EuroCup women’s finals in Russia.

Rivera is finishing her college basketball career two years after her high school classmate ended hers with a run to the NCAA title game.

Rivera’s college basketball resume doesn’t look like that of many other people. She is a 24-year-old, sixth-year senior who has played with three different programs in her college career.

She is expending her sixth and final year of eligibility playing for UC Riverside, which will take on Wiggins’ old team Stanford Saturday in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament.

UC Riverside (17-15) is a No. 16 seed facing a top-seeded Cardinal team (31-1) that many see as a national title game finalist.

“Everybody has been watching Stanford for years and years. We know what kind of guard game they have, what kind of post game, which is incredible with the big three inside,” Rivera said. “We are just going to take it to them and not back down.”

Wiggins still offered words of encouragement to her old friend. They played together at La Jolla Country Day in San Diego.

“She is just excited for us,” Rivera said. “She said take it to them, don’t be afraid and show everybody what kind of game you have.”

This is Rivera’s fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament. Rivera began her college career at TCU in 2004. She stayed for three seasons, experiencing three NCAA Tournament appearances. But she was injured throughout her time there, an ACL injury ending her freshman season and knocking her down to a reserve role.

After her junior season, Rivera decided to transfer, but didn’t want to sit out a year, so she headed to Vanguard, a NAIA school.

But after two games, she sustained another knee injury, a microfracture of her left knee. The team went on to win the NAIA national championship without her on the floor.

Then came the decision to transfer to Riverside, a decision that meant she would have to sit out a season and obtain a sixth-year of eligibility.

Rivera has played one and only season at Riverside, sharing the roster with girls who are six years younger than she is. They started calling her “grandma”.

“It’s been hard looking at my friends who’ve gone on in professional sports or with their careers and sometimes I’ve felt like I was stuck,” Rivera said. “Especially when you are working out and practice and you’re thinking, ‘Wow, I really want to give up here. This is the day’. But I’ve always had it instilled to me never to give up and it’s really worked out.”

Rivera, a team captain, has started 28 games, averaging 10.0 points and 5.1 rebounds.

“Last year when our season was over, I looked at her and said, ‘Next time we play, you are playing’,” said Riverside coach John Margaritis.  “She hadn’t played for so long. We were on the track running in the spring and she would try to win every race. And she did most of them. Being older, having all those experiences, good and bad, she’s the type of person that’s shared that with everyone.

“She’s been a great leader for us. Her experience has helped our team progress and she’s done it in different ways.”

Rivera is not done with injuries. She is currently playing through plantar fasciitis. She had a concussion earlier in the season.

Rivera has earned her degree in economics. She will earn a second degree in political science in the spring. And there’s more school in her future. She plans to earn her Masters in Sports Management.

“It’s been one thing after another, but I think I’ve had a stick-to-it attitude the whole time,” Rivera said. “You have to play with what you have. We call it being comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s been our motto all season.”

Jayne Appel is the Cardinal’s player of the year candidate, Nneka Ogwumike is its breakout talent, but it’s junior Kayla Pedersen who is the Cardinal’s leading scorer headed into what is likely the Cardinal’s most telling stretch of the season.

Headed into Sunday’s game against Gonzaga, a team that’s gaining votes in the national polls, Pedersen is coming off an 18-point, 12-rebound game against Utah on Friday, a performance that’s starting to look typically impressive.

Kayla Pedersen - Stanford athletics

The junior from Arizona has been the Cardinal’s top scorer in three of five games and is averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 rebounds and is tied for the team-high with 13 3-pointers.

“Kayla is the difference for us, if you want to know,” Tara VanDerveer said. “She’s our leading scorer, she’s on the glass, fighting Jayne and Nneka for rebounds, she’s playing the most minutes for us, she stays out of foul trouble. She’s a huge key to our team.”

Pedersen showed up at Stanford poised, hard-working, and low-maintenance. VanDerveer turned Pedersen into a wing player because she knew Pedersen would put in the work to make the change.

The fact that the Cardinal have gone to the Final Four in each of the first two years of her college career might seem like her good fortune, but it’s really Stanford’s.

VanDerveer said her assistant coaches have accused her of taking Pedersen for granted.

“No, I don’t,” VanDerveer said. “I appreciate what she does for our team. She’s a facilitator. She makes everyone around her look good.”…

BEST OF THE WEST: Sunday’s meeting between second-ranked Stanford and Gonzaga is the first-ever meeting between the two programs and let’s hope it turns into a continuing series, one that could shine a very positive light on West Coast women’s basketball.

It will be the Zags third game against a Pac-10 team in 11 games. Gonzaga has already beaten USC and Washington…

USC’S BIG WIN: USC became the first Pac-10 team other than Stanford to beat a ranked team, upending No. 13 Texas at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. The Women of Troy have shown flashes of the kind of the team they could be, one that could wreak a more than a little havoc on the Pac-10 standings once the conference season begins…

AZTECS LEARN THE HARD WAY: The Paradise Jam tournament has been a rough-go for San Diego State, the Aztecs learning how much more they need to grow. SDSU gave No. 5 Notre Dame a great game, pulling to within two points before falling 84-79 in its first game and then fell hard against No. 20 Oklahoma on Friday, losing 87-48…

GAUCHOS NEED A WIN: UC Santa Barbara takes on San Diego on Sunday, still looking for its first win. The Gauchos are 0-4 for the first time since 2005-06 and have lost three consecutive games by double-digit margins for the first since 1989-90.

The offense would appear to be the biggest problem. UCSB is averaging just 53.2 points a game and is 7 of 54 from beyond the 3-point arc as a team…

CAL’S BOUNCE-BACK: Cal waited all week for its bounce-back after the 20-point loss to Baylor. It should come Saturday morning against Southern at the Buckeye Classic and that should earn the Bears a Sunday date against No. 3 Ohio State, another barometer game.

Despite six freshmen in the lineup, it’s a little hard to see the Bears as a young team with three seniors in the backcourt – all of whom have been in the starting lineup since their own freshmen seasons.

These three players – Alexis Gray-Lawson, Lauren Greif and Natasha Vital – need to give their team more than their joint 5-for-22 effort against Baylor to propel their team forward….

DUCKS LIGHT UP SCOREBOARD: It will be interesting to see what happens when Oregon actually plays somebody. The Ducks put up 117 points in defeating Cal State Fullerton. The 117 points were the second-highest total in school history.

From the Oregon notebook. The last time Oregon won four in a row as Nov. 25-Dec. 14, 2006 – a five-game win streak…Oregon has not started 4-0 since the 2004-05 season when they started 7-0 and went to the NCAA Tournament.

Stanford Athletics

Months of preparation, week of practice and here were are.  The season is here.

Here’s a look at the marquee matchups of the opening weekend of the 2009-2010 season.

Friday, Nov. 13

Stanford at Old Dominion. The second-ranked Cardinal make the trek east to take on the Monarchs for only the second time since Ticha Penichero and Clarisse Machanguana knocked Stanford out of the 1997 Final Four.

ODU saw its run of 17 straight CAA titles end last season and has been picked to finish third in the Colonial Athletic Association behind Drexel and James Madison. Coach Wendy Larry’s team returns two starters in senior forward Jessica Canady (12.6 ppg/9.6 rpg) and junior guard Shadasia Green (9.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg).

Road or not, this one shouldn’t be a problem for the Cardinal. Just get the ball inside.

Xavier at USC. The Women of Troy, playing their first game under new head coach Michael Cooper, open at home with a substantial challenge – the 11th-ranked Musketeers. Xavier, which opens the season with its highest ranking ever, is built around the supremely talented duo of Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips.

Phillips was the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, averaging 13.9 points and 12.1 rebounds a game. Harris is back after missing last season with a knee injury. Harris was named Miss Indiana Basketball in 2006.

Xavier posted a 25-7 record last year and won the Atlantic 10 regular season title. The Musketeers led the nation in field-goal percentage defense.

Gonzaga at South Dakota State. The Bulldogs head to the home court of last year’s most impressive newcomers on the national scene. SDSU is coming off its record-breaking 32-2 season that ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Baylor.

The Jackrabbits have been picked to repeat as Summitt League champions.

Gonzaga, the pick to win the West Coast Conference title, is led by junior guard Courtney Vandersloot and senior forward Heather Bowman.

UC Davis at Seattle. Former Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini, hired in August to take over the Redhawks program, makes her debut at Seattle against UC Davis. The Aggies have been picked to finish second in the Big West Conference, behind perennial champion UC Santa Barbara. Davis returns 11 players from last year’s 11-18 team.

Sunday. Nov. 15

Stanford at Rutgers. Stanford’s difficult trip continues in Piscataway against the No. 25 Scarlet Knights, who will find out what kind of team they are without Epiphanny Price or Kia Vaughn. The Cardinal’s last trip to Rutgers was a productive one, Candice Wiggins hitting a pair of free throws to lead the Cardinal to a win over the then-No. 3 ranked Scarlet Knights.

Idaho State at Cal. The 18^th-ranked Bears open the season at home and mark the debut of their heralded freshman class with a game they should win. In Cal’s lone exhibition, first-year post DeNesha Stallworth got off to a good start with 21 points and Breanna Heater pulled down 17 rebounds.

UCLA vs. Iowa/Santa Clara. Even without knowing the opponent, it will be interesting to see how the Bruins fare in the first weekend at the Hawkeye Challenge. Particularly if Doreena Campbell and company have to face the home team.

The West is very well-represented in the Lowe’s Senior Class preseason top 30.

The list, which was released on Wednesday, includes:

• Stanford’s Jayne Appel
• Pepperdine’s Miranda Ayim
• New Mexico’s Amy Beggin
• Portland State’s Claire Faucher
• UC Santa Barbara’s Jordan Franey
• Cal’s Alexis Gray-Lawson
• Loyola Marymount’s Lisa Helmers
• San Diego State’s Jene’ Morris
• Long Beach State’s Lauren Sims

Santa Barbara coach Lindsey Gottlieb doesn’t want to call this a rebuilding year for her Gauchos.

“I like to call it more of a reinvention,” Gottlieb said.

Following her first season as the head coach – one in which UCSB again won the Big West title and reached the NCAA field, Gottlieb saw the graduation of four starters and another key senior who had helped to make her debut such a success.

More than 60 percent of the team’s scoring went with them.

Mekia Valentine - photo by Connor Artigue

“They represent a ton of minutes and a ton of points for us,” Gottlieb said. “But we started talking last spring about who would step up and keep up the tradition here.”

Change has come in many ways, except one. UCSB is picked to win its third straight conference title.

Gottlieb said this year’s team – in addition to being young and a little inexperienced — is faster, more athletic and more versatile.

“But it’s definitely a work in progress,” Gottlieb said.

Senior guard/forward Jordan Franey is the team’s leading returning scorer and rebounder (8.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg).

Franey has “that senior look in her eye that says ‘I get it and I’m not going to waste one second’,” Gottlieb said.

The most exciting newcomer may be transfer Mekia Valentine, who came to Santa Barbara from Wake Forest, where she was a member of the ACC All-Rookie team. Valentine collected 94 blocks in two seasons with the Demon Deacons.

“She is an ACC-level athlete,” Gottlieb said. “She is one of the things that is really going to make us different. She can run, she’s mobile.”

Sophomore Emily Johnson takes over a point guard, making that bit lead from freshman to sophomore.

Freshman forward Sweets Underwood from Compton could play an early role, as could guard Bree Richardson, the daughter of former NBA player Pooh Richardson.

“We have far more depth than we had last year,” Gottlieb said. “It’s such a fun group to coach because we are really different. It feels fresh and new. These kids are really invested in upholding the tradition here, but they want to earn it themselves.”

As for the head coach, also making her jump from the freshman to sophomore year of her coaching career, Gottlieb said she is feeling settled.

“Over the summer, I was in 12 cities in 22 days recruiting and when the plane landed in Santa Barbara, I thought, ‘I’m home.’ It felt like home,” Gottlieb said. “Finally the whirlwind has slowed down. I can’t believe how much more we can breathe than last year.”

By Rhiannon Potkey, LCH Correspondent

Jody Wynn first fell in love with basketball while attending Long Beach State women’s games as a young girl.

Wynn sat in the stands watching players like LaTaunya Pollard, Cindy Brown and Penny Toler lead the 49ers to multiple conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances.

Wynn became immersed in their success and inspired to play in college.

Last April, things came full circle for Wynn.

Following a successful playing career and 13 years as a college assistant, Wynn received her first head coaching opportunity when Long Beach State hired her to replace Mary Hegarty.

Wynn, 35, would love nothing more than to return the program to the level it was in the 1980s when she watched Joan Bonvicini guide Long Beach State to 10 Big West Conference titles and two Final Four appearances.

“We have great fan support within the community and I think they are as hungry as anybody to get back to winning,” Wynn said. “There have been fans here since Long Beach State was going to Final Fours, but many of the kids don’t know about that. They weren’t even born during those days, so if we start winning and doing great things maybe we will be able to keep some great players here in our backyard.”

Born and raised in Brea, Calif., Wynn led Brea Olinda High School to three state championships and received a scholarship to USC. The starting guard was four-year letter-winner and helped the Trojans reach the NCAA Tournament three times.

Wynn entered coaching in 1996, and spent 13 years as an assistant to Mark Trakh at Pepperdine and USC. Wynn’s husband, Derek, has been alongside nearly every step of the way as a fellow assistant and will continue that role at Long Beach State. The couple has two young daughters, Jada and Kaeli.

Trakh coached Wynn at Brea Olinda, and has been equally influential in her professional life. He resigned from USC after five seasons just one day after Wynn was named the head coach at Long Beach.

“Mark allowed me to grow and develop and coach and pretty much have my hands in every part of the program,” Wynn said. “I have been pretty fortunate to have a mentor like him who allowed me to be behind the scenes, in the middle of it and up front and center, so I don’t feel like this is a huge step. I feel like I have been preparing for this my entire assistant coaching career.”

Although Long Beach State has won 21 conference titles, made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached two Final Fours, the last decade hasn’t been nearly as successful.

The 49ers shared the Big West Conference title with perennial powerhouse UC Santa Barbara three years ago, but haven’t made an NCAA appearance since 1992. The program last reached the postseason in 2000, when the 49ers lost in the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Long Beach State finished last in the Big West last season, and were 8-21 overall.

This year’s team returns eight seniors, including leading scorer and rebounder Whitney Fields, all-Big West guard Karina Figueroa, who redshirted last season, and forward Sahfiya Brown, who returns from a knee injury.

“Right away we have a wealth of experience and we are very fortunate that they all bought in beautifully,” Wynn said. “They were just ready and excited and we really connected well with them. Sometimes that can be the other way around, so it has really been a blessing.”

Wynn has earned a reputation as a strong recruiter, and knows the Southern California recruiting landscape well. Her connections with local club and high school programs should benefit in building for the future.

Wynn and her staff don’t plan to put any limits on the prospects they seek.

“We understand we have a long way to go, but if you don’t recruit a kid because she is better than you how do you know unless you go after her,” Wynn said. “What if a young lady wants to attend Long Beach or be a part of our Beach family or wants to stay local. This is a really great location and I think it has a lot to offer. I could see myself going to school here, so it is easy for me to sell the program.”

Long Beach State plans to employ the read-and-react offense that Wynn implemented at USC last season. The Trojans were the second-leading scoring team in the Pac-10 playing the up-and-down style that spreads the floor and allows guards to create off ball screens and with dribble penetration.

“We want to play 94 feet and try to feature an exciting brand of basketball,” Wynn said. “We want a brand that generates crowd support and excitement for the university and our program.”

As she begins molding her own program for the first time, Wynn is preaching effort, attitude and toughness.

“When people come to watch us play, I want them to say they left everything out on the court,” she said. “I want people to walk away thinking those girls are together and truly enjoy each other and have a lot of fun.”

Wynn said she knows success might not happen instantly, but she doesn’t shy away from discussing conference titles and NCAA aspirations.

“We want to turn this program around and have it be a place where it’s an alternative to USC and UCLA in Southern California,” Wynn said. “There are a lot of great programs in Southern California, and we just want to be one of them.”