Berube's Recruiting Class

[HuskyNan]

Carla Berube has done a phenomenal job at Princeton & can clearly coach basketball at a high level, no doubt.

Having said that & taking nothing away from her, I think Carla's recruiting there benefits from the school's elite/high Ivy educational pedigree.

There are a finite number of quality recruits every year that value education as paramount while still playing D1 ball. The Stanford advantage East, so to speak, albeit non-rarified competition.

No disrespect to our beloved Uconn, but it doesn't hold the same appeal in this regard as Princeton, Stanford, Duke, etc.-- though obviously the platinum standard in pure basketball education, achievement, & development.

Carla Berube took over Div III Tufts after their 12-13 season in 2001-2002. Her first year as a head coach, Tufts was 17-7 and after that never had another losing season with her at the helm. She took Tufts to the Div III Final Four 4 times and to the championship game twice. She was the Div III National Coach of the Year in 2015. She recruited some very nice talent and was able to draw these players with no scholarships to offer. Tufts is a Baby Ivy, true, but some of the players could probably have gone to a better school or gotten a scholly at a Div II school.

Carla’s win-loss record at Tufts was 384-96 (80%) and is 43-5 at Princeton (89.6%). Sounds like a pretty good coach to me.

 

[Dillon77]

Although Ivies don't have athletic scholarships per se, virtually no kids who meet their academic standards get turned away for financial reasons. And thanks to huge endowments, most graduate with little or no college debt. I doubt that you'll find any of Carla's kids working in the dining hall to pay their board

If you have the mind to make it academically at Princeton and Princeton wants you they will take care of you money wise. This no scholarship thing is basically a myth.

Undergrad-wise, this is straight from the Princeton website:

"Since 2001, grants have replaced student loans in the Princeton financial aid package for all aid recipients. As a Princeton student, you are not required or expected to borrow to meet your demonstrated financial need."

A number of other Ivies are right there with the Tigers.

BTW, regarding Carla's recruiting and that of Princeton:

• Carla was perfectly primed for this at Tufts, a school with high academic standards. Like many DIII schools that wanted to achieve lofty sports standards (for a variety of reasons), Tufts has an excellent sports program and Carla was certainly part of it. She knew where to find kids who could play for the Jumbos. A lot of them were close to D-1 quality.
• Courtney Banghart had done a bravura job at Princeton. Bella Alarie (now with Dallas Wings) is the obvious car ornament, but Carlie Littlefield was good enough to follow Banghart to UNC. BTW, ND's Olivia Miles seriously consdiered Banghart and Princeton.

Banghart didn't leave the locker room barren: Besides Abby Meyers, Julia Cunningham (NJ) and Grace Stone (LI Lutheran) could play a lot of places.

- Carla has a really dynamic presence in Madison St. Rose, a 5'9" combo guard who is out of the Jersey Shore conference. Draws fouls, physical, smart. She spent a summer with Miles and Sonia Citron....

 

[ucbart]

I think that's it in a nutshell.

If UCONN throws enough money at her, Shea will be back.

 

[Dillon77]

She recruited some very nice talent and was able to draw these players with no scholarships to offer. Tufts is a Baby Ivy, true, but some of the players could probably have gone to a better school or gotten a scholly at a Div II school.

Nan:
I didnt' see your post until I'd finished mine -- we both reverted to Tufts.
While DIII doesn't have scholarships, they do have incentives to make a high-level, academic education feasible and attractictive.

"Tufts meets 100% of the full demonstrated need of all admitted students. More information can be found on Tufts Student Services' Financial Aid page."

And Tufts is apparently good at it:
"Tufts ranked 12th most generous to students with financial need in a list of private 958 colleges published at the end of January by the Chronicle of Higher Education, based on 2017–18 data of private nonprofit colleges in the United States."

So, how would athletes benefit?

• Competitive Grant – Based on the Merits. ...
• Formula Grant – Based on Predetermined Award. ...
• Continuation – Renewal Grants (of comptetive, formula, etc.)

A lot of students won't need any, or much, because of their families, but for some, this approach helps....big time. (My daughter went to Conn College, another NESCEC school, and knows lots of athletes who went to or were recruited by Tufts.)

 

[HopJim]

I think timing will be one of many variables relative to future UConn coaches. Carla came into Princeton with connections into the recruiting base and took over an above average team by Ivy standards. While I expected her to have a winning record immediately, she has exceeded expectations. Opinions will vary how recruiting and coaching at Princeton in a relatively poor basketball league compares versus SC, Stanford, etc.
I get the SEC channel on my local cable provider and watch Vandy most weeks. In my opinion, Shea took over a horrid team - short, somewhat slow, and relatively poor shooters. Tough league. Relative to the talent she took over and competing against some of the top teams in the country, Shea has done a solid job. Will take Shea longer to get Vanderbilt into the national rankings.
Hopefully we have Geno around for many years and will have more data to base this decision on when he retires.

 

[Waquoit]

Since when is recruiting at an Ivy a big advantage? Must have missed that.

 

[sun]

Since when is recruiting at an Ivy a big advantage? Must have missed that.

In think the point is that it's not much of a disadvantage that the Ivies do not offer "athletic scholarships" because they offer grants and other incentives.
Perhaps they offer admission to some athletes who wouldn't be admitted otherwise.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Carla has obviously had great success so far in her career, but let's remember
that she inherited a very good team at Princeton. Four years into her tenure at
Princeton her team will be all her recruits and will give a better indication of
what to expect going forward.

 

[nomdoux]

Since when is recruiting at an Ivy a big advantage? Must have missed that.

Again, for a particular recruit paradigm that has elite basketball talent but also is an exceptional student who places a premium on academics, top institutions like Princeton & Stanford with proven coaches that win in their league hold significant sway.

As Bella Alarie recently proved, you don't have to play for the likes of UConn, South Carolina, or any other perennial powerhouse-- or even nationally ranked-- program to get to the W.

More games are broadcast or streamed than ever before. More schools are investing in their women's teams. More coaches are building legit programs. It's a brave new world & a much more level playing field.

 

[Dillon77]

Speaking of Carla Berube recruits, one of her star prospects, Madison St. Rose, is in a marquee H.S. match this Sunday. Her St. John Vianney (top team in NJ and #3 nationally) is playing #1 Sidwell Friends, with Kiki Rice, and the double D's (Jadyn Donvan and Kendall Dudley). It will be played in Holmdel Arena, the mecca of Jersey Shore Women's Hoops. Wonder if ND's Michaela Mabrey, who leads recruiting efforts for Niele Ivey, will be present? ND's got the weekend off and Mike was a star in the Jersey Shore when she attended Manasquan High School. In any case, there will be tons of fans there....

St. John-Vianney vs Sidwell Friends | Girls Basketball | 2/20/2022

View pregame, in-game and post-game details from the St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, NJ) vs. Sidwell Friends (Washington, DC) non-conference girls basketball game on Sun, 2/20/2022.

www.maxpreps.com

 

[JellyBean]

What happened to all the Shea fans?

We still here...just chilling.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Speaking of Carla Berube recruits, one of her star prospects, Madison St. Rose, is in a marquee H.S. match this Sunday. Her St. John Vianney (top team in NJ and #3 nationally) is playing #1 Sidwell Friends, with Kiki Rice, and the double D's (Jadyn Donvan and Kendall Dudley). It will be played in Holmdel Arena, the mecca of Jersey Shore Women's Hoops. Wonder if ND's Michaela Mabrey, who leads recruiting efforts for Niele Ivey, will be present? ND's got the weekend off and Mike was a star in the Jersey Shore when she attended Manasquan High School. In any case, there will be tons of fans there....

St. John-Vianney vs Sidwell Friends | Girls Basketball | 2/20/2022

View pregame, in-game and post-game details from the St. John-Vianney (Holmdel, NJ) vs. Sidwell Friends (Washington, DC) non-conference girls basketball game on Sun, 2/20/2022.

www.maxpreps.com

It says the game is a home game for Sidwell.

 

[sun]

I hope that UConn gets to play a game against Princeton someday.
UConn has never played them before.
Maybe Geno & Carla can work it out like when UConn used to regularly play games against UHartford.

University of Connecticut Athletics Women's Basketball History vs University of Hartford

The official University of Connecticut Huskies Women's Basketball History vs University of Hartford

uconnhuskies.com

 

[HopJim]

Since when is recruiting at an Ivy a big advantage? Must have missed that.

I think the point is that if a recruit is interested in attending an Ivy and playing basketball, the main choice is Princeton. Penn and others have good years, but Princeton is the standard and has been for several years. Smart move by Berube to take this job - took a good program and has made even better.

 

[Waquoit]

I think the point is that if a recruit is interested in attending an Ivy and playing basketball, the main choice is Princeton.

The point was to throw some shade at Berube, actually.

 

[Dillon77]

It says the game is a home game for Sidwell.

I went to St. John Vianney's website. This game was originally supposed to be played at the Gaucho Gym in the Bronx in January but was postponed. The Lancer's have it listed as being played at The Ursuline Academy in New Rochelle, NY, which is most certainly a neutral site. So, yes, Sidwell Friends seems to be the home team.

BTW, The Ursuline Academy is where one Sonia Citron played her HS ball.

 

[NY Fan]

I hope that UConn gets to play a game against Princeton someday.
UConn has never played them before.
Maybe Geno & Carla can work it out like when UConn used to regularly play games against UHartford.

University of Connecticut Athletics Women's Basketball History vs University of Hartford

The official University of Connecticut Huskies Women's Basketball History vs University of Hartford

uconnhuskies.com

I'd love to see that as well as against Vandy (Shea) and Wisconsin (Marisa). Have I left anyone out? BTW - Against a well coached Princeton team there's always the risk of another Villanova result. Princeton actually beat Villanova 59 - 42 in both teams season opener.

 

[nomdoux]

I hope that UConn gets to play a game against Princeton someday.
UConn has never played them before.
Maybe Geno & Carla can work it out like when UConn used to regularly play games against UHartford.

University of Connecticut Athletics Women's Basketball History vs University of Hartford

The official University of Connecticut Huskies Women's Basketball History vs University of Hartford

uconnhuskies.com

Concur. Also wouldn’t hurt Abby Meyers grad transfer prospect, if even viable, if they ended up in same Tourney pod next month.

 

[nomdoux]

The Athletic's Vanderbilt beat writer's opening comment from its recent piece on Shea Ralph's hire from both programs' perspectives:

"Rexrode: ... I was told an interesting story this week by a Vanderbilt source in reference to a recent recruiting battle involving Stanford and UConn. Stanford won, and Stanford winning any recruiting battle in this sport should be no surprise. But apparently, the decisive factor for this particular recruit was academics. This came up in Ralph’s interview, the point being, maybe that’s the kind of battle she wins in the future at Vanderbilt..."

I wonder the recruit in question: Haley Jones, Lauren Betts?

Shea has a chance to carve out another rarified academic option for top recruits with high priority academic aside from Stanford & Notre Dame, to a lesser extent. I expect her to lock horns with Kara Lawson for such kids in future years, especially those with regional ties of 3/4 star HS ranking caliber.

… underscoring my point vis-a-vis elite academic institution recruiting advantage for such qualifying, prioritizing talents.

 

[mudcat]

I think the point is that if a recruit is interested in attending an Ivy and playing basketball, the main choice is Princeton. Penn and others have good years, but Princeton is the standard and has been for several years. Smart move by Berube to take this job - took a good program and has made even better.

Berube as of today is 25-0 in the Ivy League. Can't do any better than 100%. She has talent coming back from this year's team and two good recruits coming in: maybe in time Princeton will be the Stanford of the East Coast.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Berube as of today is 25-0 in the Ivy League. Can't do any better than 100%. She has talent coming back from this year's team and two good recruits coming in: maybe in time Princeton will be the Stanford of the East Coast.

Hmmm. Going undefeated in the conference. Must be a UConn thing.

 

[Bonpland]

If you have the mind to make it academically at Princeton and Princeton wants you they will take care of you money wise. This no scholarship thing is basically a myth. Yes, some of it will be loans; but, at a post Princeton Degree income loans get paid off pretty quickly. (Full disclosure - my son went to Princeton. He wasn’t good enough to make the varsity soccer team but did play four years on the Princeton Club Soccer Team against the Rutgers Club, the Qunantico Marines Club and several others; had a great time and still found time for a job at school and Summers).

I have to agree with ex-N. I've commented here before when the topic of the expense of the Ivies comes up that Ivy League schools meet the financial needs of all students so that no one leaves owing much if any money after achieving their undergraduate degree.

My daughter was recruited to an Ivy and chose to go there and we were asked to pay what we could afford (which in the end was less than what it cost per year than what we had to spend on a state school for my youngest). Although other schools offered her a full scholarship we felt happy to contribute to her getting the education that she did.

My other children also played college sports and none received full scholarships but they attended schools that set them on the path to careers that they have enjoyed. Berube is looking for those kids. You can be sure that there will be some girls who will weigh the opportunity to go to Princeton against what might be more attractive financial offers and join her. Many others won't. Princeton won't be a national power but Carla can make them competitive and relevant against most of the teams that her girls will face.

Stanford will always be stiff competition for any Ivy hoping to snag a top recruit but Carla is hoping that a percentage of the qualified HS athletes out there will take the challenge of playing for her and building her program.

 

[Waquoit]

I didn't want to start a new thread and this one seemed to fit. You know how every conference has a commercial they show during televised games? I just caught the new Ivy League one while watching the hockey game and there was Carla! You know you're doing OK when they use you for marketing purposes.