ESPN Women's Basketball

I haven't figured out all the potential disasters that could come from it, but if the infamous Monkey's Paw somehow landed in my hands ...

Well, first I'd say, "I want to take out the $&#&$@& who hurt that poor little animal.''

But you don't DARE wish for that ... the monkey maimer/murderer surely would be in the car right in front of your best friend's car on a bridge that collapsed. Similarly, don't even think of wishing for money, success or love ... it's guaranteed they all would lead to somebody croaking.

So if I just used it for basketball stuff ... nope. You can't ever get these wish things right. If I wished no one ever got another knee injury of any kind, Achilles' tendons suddenly would pop everywhere. If I wished there were no injuries ever, players all would become mentally unbalanced.

If I wished nothing bad happened to players, nobody would lose and then we couldn't even have the sport.

So I would just bury the paw really deep and forget the wishes ... including wishing that players would get six years in college instead of four.

OK, I confess I've thought about this ... too often ... it's stupid ... and yet it would be very tempting. I'm not certain of the exact horrific way it would backfire, although it would.

However, I resent how quickly some of these darn kids become seniors. I'm usually not ready for them to leave. Look at this class of 2004, and there are so many impact players. Surely I'm not the only one saying, "Couldn't we give them a little longer? Let's have an online contest for what to call the added years.''

Now some fans and opposing coaches might be saying, "You're crazier than I thought. Diana Taurasi and Alana Beard already have been in college eight years, haven't they?''

And we all know the WNBA needs them and their fellow seniors; it's a talent infusion we're looking forward to.

"This is one of the best senior classes,'' Colorado coach Ceal Barry said. "They need to start about five new franchises in the WNBA for them.''

Most coaches knew back when this bunch was in high school that it was going to be a bumper crop. They said the same thing for the Class of 2001, which had Tamika Catchings, Ruth Riley, Katie Douglas, Svetlana Abrosimova, Semeka Randall, Georgia Schweitzer, Jackie Stiles and the Miller twins, Kelly and Coco.

Is the 2004 group even better? Guess we'll see. All of the above players made at least one trip to the Final Four. Some of the 2004 superstars haven't done that ... yet.

The one who has been the most successful in that regard, of course, is Connecticut's Taurasi, who has won two national championships with the Huskies. Duke's Beard has been to the Final Four twice.

There are passionate -- OK, maniacal -- beliefs in both camps that one is better than the other. Entering that scuffle is ... well, more dangerous than the Monkey's Paw.

Without getting the United Nations involved and excluding both sides' psychos, agreement probably could be reached that Taurasi is the better shooter/passer and Beard the better slasher/defender. And that both are awesome.

Taurasi played with Beard on a USA Basketball team and says the two have a lot in common.

"We hate to lose more than we like to win,'' Taurasi said. "Playing with her, knowing how she is every day in practice -- she's one of the hardest-working individuals. And she's one of those players who likes feedback.

"When we played on the (USA Basketball) team ... I'd say something to her, she'd say something to me and it was that common respect we had for each other. Whether it was, 'You've got to rotate a little quicker on defense,' or 'On offense, look for the post a little longer,' it was that communication that a lot of players don't want to have because they think they know everything. And we know we need that to be better.''

As for Beard's senior teammate Iciss Tillis, she's very funny, very bright and a good player, integral to Duke's success. But she averaged 14.5 points and 7.4 rebounds last season, which I don't think translated into Kodak All-America honors considering some of the players who were left off. (Then again, that wasn't the only questionable thing about that team.)

Now, let's go to the Big Ten, where you can find another senior debate: Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen vs. Penn State's Kelly Mazzante. They both made the 2003 Kodak squad, but their respective fans like to joust.

Last season Mazzante had the scoring-average edge, 23.9 to 20.6. But Mazzante also took 262 more shots and her shooting percentage was 43.3 to Whalen's 54.6. Mazzante played 35 games to Whalen's 31. Whalen had a better rebounding average, 5.0 to 4.6, and more assists, 192 to 76.

Purdue fans, though, likely would cast their "best senior'' vote to a group: Boilermakers Shereka Wright, Beth Jones, Lindsey Hicks and Erika Valek.

But enough with the debate stuff; at least for the purpose of this story we can appreciate everybody. Mazzante is a dazzling pure shooter, Whalen is just fun to watch do everything and the Purdue kids are talented and great teammates -- don't underestimate their chances of going to New Orleans.

Top Big 12 teams' hopes for that trip ride a lot on seniors, too. I don't think I'm traveling out on a limb to say Kansas State center Nicole Ohlde likely will be the first of the Jumbo Dozen seniors to be drafted next April.

But although she will not vocalize it this way, Ohlde has something to prove in March. She played uncharacteristically timid in the Wildcats' NCAA losses of the past two years. That's not at all the player she really is.

Texas center Stacy Stephens and point guard Jamie Carey led the Longhorns to the Final Four last season and are still furious over how that ended, in a semifinal loss to UConn. Texas Tech shooting guard Jia Perkins has been an enigma. When she's got the stroke, it's ludicrous. Other times, she's been the invisible woman.

Colorado is expected to start four seniors, led by center Tera Bjorklund, who seems to cause matchup trouble for most everybody else in the league.

The SEC, kind of surprisingly, doesn't seem as much a senior league -- maybe because the top player is expected to be a sophomore, LSU's Seimone Augustus.

The league does have senior talent, obviously, but it's more players who've previously been overshadowed by teammates, just plain overlooked, are late bloomers or haven't really bloomed as expected.

Among them are Vanderbilt's Jenni Benningfield, Georgia's Christi Thomas and Arkansas' Shameka Christon, all of whom are physical, get-it-done post players. Then there's the pint-sized terror, 5-3 point guard Temeka Johnson of LSU.

Auburn has forward Le'Coe Willingham, but this program has had too many vanilla nonconference schedules, which has hurt its visibility. Auburn is playing in tournaments at Colorado and at Duke this season, which should help.

Four years ago, most people predicted big stardom for Tennessee post Ashley Robinson, but she didn't develop at the expected rate following an ACL injury the summer after her freshman year. Florida center Vanessa Hayden made a good leap from freshman year to sophomore season, but was slowed as a junior by a broken left fibula and a sprained ankle.

Out west, we have the Nicole Powell saga. Injuries have affected her career: both her own aches, which got her off to a late start last season, and those of others, which have forced her to play out of position a lot. You could say, though, that everything that has happened has contributed to Powell becoming so versatile. But, like Ohlde, she wants to make a real statement in March.

On the Pac-10 preseason team with Powell are two other seniors, Washington's Giuliana Mendiola and Southern Cal's Ebony Hoffman. Mendiola has had recent family troubles out of her control that she'll have to overcome to focus on hoops this season. Hoffman has sometimes been her own worst enemy but seems ready to be the rock for USC.

What about the seniors whose names you might not know -- especially if you aren't on the east coast -- but are worth keeping an eye on? Harvard's Hana Peljto, George Washington's Cathy Joens and Ugo Oha, Georgetown's Rebekkah Brunson and Virginia Tech's Ieva Kublina.

Last, we have perhaps the best senior who has been the seen the least by a national audience. That's Houston guard/forward Chandi Jones, who led the country in scoring last season at 27.5 points per game and has recovered just fine after a knee injury cut short her freshman year.

In men's or women's hoops, it's hard for players to get much attention if their teams don't, but it's especially difficult for women. Houston was 15-13 and didn't make the postseason in 2003 after WNIT trips the previous two seasons. The spotlight might not find Jones until the WNBA -- unless Houston makes an NCAA Tournament appearance this year.

And maybe that will happen. Sometimes wishes do come true -- without anybody having to fall off a cliff.

So enjoy the class of 2004 for the next six months. But if they show up again next fall, really ... I might have thought about it, but it wasn't me.

Mechelle Voepel is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage. She can be reached at mvoepel@kcstar.com.