April 2020 UConn Recruiting Thread

[JS]

>>REFERENCE LINK TO MARCH 2020 RECRUITING THREAD<<

 

[MilfordHusky]

Ok, no April Fools Day jokes, please.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

New Paige Bueckers highlight package from Hopkins' 2019 sectional final win:

 

[MilfordHusky]

New month, new commit! Caroline, with my girl, Saylor. Welcome!!

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Kiki Iriafen the LA Daily News player of the year:


If dominating doesn’t describe her game, unstoppable does.

Iriafen is an elite finisher around the basket and exudes remarkable mental toughness when finishing through contact. She might miss the first shot attempt, but it’s likely she’ll get it back. Iriafen averaged seven offensive rebounds per game this season and shot 228 free throws — the most on the team by 104 attempts.

Slapped, hit, scratched and clawed, the standout junior was unfazed and continued to work — she shot 56 percent from the field.

...

Several top NCAA women’s basketball programs are recruiting Iriafen, including local power UCLA and national power Connecticut, which tops a list of high-level programs.

Harvard-Westlake’s Kiki Iriafen spearheads 2020 Daily News All-Area girls basketball team

Harvard-Westlake’s Kiki Iriafen is the 2020 Daily News girls basketball player of the year. See which local standouts were selected to the All-Area team.

www.dailynews.com

 

[MilfordHusky]

7 O boards per game! Impressive!

And 228 FTAs! She must feel as if she's in a pinball machine.

 

[BobbyJ]

Kiki Iriafen the LA Daily News player of the year:


If dominating doesn’t describe her game, unstoppable does.

Iriafen is an elite finisher around the basket and exudes remarkable mental toughness when finishing through contact. She might miss the first shot attempt, but it’s likely she’ll get it back. Iriafen averaged seven offensive rebounds per game this season and shot 228 free throws — the most on the team by 104 attempts.

Slapped, hit, scratched and clawed, the standout junior was unfazed and continued to work — she shot 56 percent from the field.

...

Several top NCAA women’s basketball programs are recruiting Iriafen, including local power UCLA and national power Connecticut, which tops a list of high-level programs.

Harvard-Westlake’s Kiki Iriafen spearheads 2020 Daily News All-Area girls basketball team

Harvard-Westlake’s Kiki Iriafen is the 2020 Daily News girls basketball player of the year. See which local standouts were selected to the All-Area team.

www.dailynews.com

Not seeing Stanford listed keeps me somewhat hopeful but I just got a bad feeling about this. BTW, how seriously can we take the rankings that have Reese #2 and this kid #9?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Amari DeBerry named the All-Bee player of the year:


“She’s a dominant player and can make a lot happen on the floor,” Dolan said. “Besides scoring and rebounding, she’s an exceptional passer. She draws a lot of attention, is able to recognize the double and triple teams, and loves feeding her teammates.”

...

“She is not only a hard worker, but an outstanding leader,” Dolan said. “I saw her really mature into a player who was great with the younger girls coming up through the program. She was very kind, understanding, positive, and always wanted to include them. She would be available to them on and off the court. It was like having another coach out on the floor.”

South’s DeBerry wins second Player of the Year honor - Amherst Bee

It’s not every day that a legendary college basketball coach visits Western New York to watch someone compete, but Williamsville South’s Amari DeBerry is not an ordinary player. University of Connecticut women’s head coach Geno Auriemma was in attendance to watch DeBerry in the Lady Billies’...

www.amherstbee.com

 

[RockyMTblue2]

@Sluconn Husky thanks for the article. This really caught my eye:

"The Hamburg game was the first time Auriemma attended one of DeBerry’s high school contests, but he had attended many of her AAU contests.

“I was a little nervous, but it all worked out well,” De- Berry said.

“They have a cool relationship,” Dolan said. “He is always staying up with how she is doing and continues to give her advice and encouragement.”

We hear this quite often don't we. He says he doesn't need an 18 year old friends, but he really knows how to relate to these young athletes. Way back when recruit Rebecca Lobo said she found him genuine and easy to talk to. That's still going strong.

So I'm thanking Geno for this commit from Caroline.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Meanwhile, a Nika report:

 

[MilfordHusky]

Meanwhile, a Nika report:

Droppin' dimes! Droppin' dimes!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Meanwhile, a Nika report:

So wonder if you could fill me in on what kind of league Muhl is playing in. She's not getting paid, so retaining amateur status. Is this like a "B" league in soccer? Is there an age cut-off, so that these are younger players? Or is she in the Big Time with her team?

Curious. Sorry for not having a clue...

 

[HuskylnSC]

So wonder if you could fill me in on what kind of league Muhl is playing in. She's not getting paid, so retaining amateur status. Is this like a "B" league in soccer? Is there an age cut-off, so that these are younger players? Or is she in the Big Time with her team?

Curious. Sorry for not having a clue...

from wiki;
WABA League, commonly known as the Adriatic League also known as the BTravel WABA League for name sponsorship reasons, is a top-level regional basketball league, featuring female teams from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia. Clubs from Austria, Turkey, Hungary, Italy and Macedonia had their representatives in WABA League in past seasons.

BTravel is a corporate travel agency that sponsors the league.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

So wonder if you could fill me in on what kind of league Muhl is playing in. She's not getting paid, so retaining amateur status. Is this like a "B" league in soccer? Is there an age cut-off, so that these are younger players? Or is she in the Big Time with her team?

Curious. Sorry for not having a clue...

I'm not all that up on it either. She actually plays on two teams. One is an age cut off league team for her area and the other you might think of as an invitational elite team - like the better AAU teams here.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Nika Muhl is FUN! We are going to love her personality and her game. Like Anna, Nika speaks very good English.

 

[From France]

It's pro, she's an amateur in a pro-league. But, here, in Europe, we care about Euroleague & EuroCup, others are B leagues, mostly regional

 

[bluedevil]

If she didn't speak very good English how could she take college courses at a major University?

 

[NEforceUConn]

If she didn't speak very good English how could she take college courses at a major University?

Just use the Alabama football model

 

[Boreifs]

Just use the Alabama football model

Don’t I recall correctly that when Nick Zorich was at ND under Holz, he couldn’t read? Perhaps that story was exaggerated, but he was definitely not qualified academically.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

coachimpact

Can you handle the ball like a Team Canada player?

Aaliyah Edwards (@aaliyahedwards_24) of the UCONN Women’s Basketball program (@uconnwbb) was able to go behind her back 33 times in 30 seconds.

https://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t50.2886-16/92411227_1259530997579875_8975489888379897670_n.mp4?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=107&_nc_ohc=AD9PjlgJuKQAX9NWSlh&oe=5E8CB3B5&oh=993c2107f4c1e2948f31b6fbab9dbecd

 

[BobbyJ]

Don’t I recall correctly that when Nick Zorich was at ND under Holz, he couldn’t read? Perhaps that story was exaggerated, but he was definitely not qualified academically.

His name is Chris Zorich and he reads well enough to hold 2 degrees from ND including a Juris Doctor degree.

 

[UConnCat]

Not sure if she will be a UConn recruit but I didn't want to create a separate thread. This is Aaliyah's high school.

 

[Plebe]

Not sure if she will be a UConn recruit but I didn't want to create a separate thread. This is Aaliyah's high school.

I've heard a ton of buzz about this kid. But 2024 is a long ways away.

 

[SVCBeercats]

7 O boards per game! Impressive!

And 228 FTAs! She must feel as if she's in a pinball machine.

Apparently she misses a lot layups. Remember Geno saying this is why Tina had so many offensive rebounds?

 

[Sluconn Husky]