The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

After struggling with it all summer, I finally have a blog post on KSU's three new freshmen.

They could be one of the top three classes in school history.

The three — wing Katie Shumate, guard Clare Kelly and forward Nila Blackford — combined to score almost a third of KSU's points on the team's Vancouver trip earlier this month. All outscored senior Megan Carter, KSU's leading scorer last year, and sophomore Lindsay Thall, who led the MAC in 30-point percentage last season. (To be fair, neither Carter nor Thall had a particular good trip statistically.)

In high school, the freshmen scored a total of exactly 4,500 points. They made a combined eight all-state teams.

Shumate had 10 points and 12 rebounds in one game. Blackford led the team in rebounding. Kelly made 9 of 18 three-point shots.

If I had to guess the starting lineup right now, it would include Blackford and Shumate, along with Carter, Thall and sophomore Asiah Dingle.

There is a saying that two good recruiting classes back to back leads to a championship team. When 6-4 transfer Linsey Marchese is eligible next season, they'll be even better.

Whether they win the MAC in the next three years depends on how well Buffalo, Ohio, Central Michigan and Toledo recruit. Buffalo seems to have a very good freshman class, too.

The other two top recruiting classes?

-- Last year's freshmen, who scored 44% of Kent's points on a team that went 20-13.

-- Bob Lindsay's first class in 1990, which included Tracey Lynn and Kathy Carroll, both of whom went on to be 1,000-point scorers, and Michelle Burden, still KSU's leader in game, season and career assists.

Details on the freshmen are on the blog at http://wbbflashes.com.