2014 Gabby Williams commits...[ merged thread]

[Wonkster]

I'll take Wilson, Drummer, and Westbeld as my bigs and then add Calhoun and Rooks to make probably the single greatest recruiting class ever. As unrealistic as an 8 player class is it is nice to dream.

It's not only unrealistic, it's just a plain bad idea. When was the last time a class bigger than 5 worked out well?

Anywhere.

 

[jdubct]

It's not only unrealistic, it's just a plain bad idea. When was the last time a class bigger than 5 worked out well?

Anywhere.

I agree. The Uconn coaching staff recruiting goal per one of the newspaper blogs was for a class of 5: 3 guards and 2 forwards/bigs.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think Calhoun is fairly likely but not guaranteed.

We have a good shot at Wilson, especially if Dawn goes to OSU.

I think we are in play with Westbeld.

Not sure about Drummer, Rooks, or the kid from Michigan's UP.

We need height more than Calhoun at this point, but I still want Sierra. We need to add more and not stop at 3. This could be a very, very good class. And a very, very important one.

 

[hoopsdiva]

It's not only unrealistic, it's just a plain bad idea. When was the last time a class bigger than 5 worked out well?

Anywhere.

True enough, but when you're dreaming you don't have to be realistic.

 

[EricSD]

I think Calhoun is fairly likely but not guaranteed.

We have a good shot at Wilson, especially if Dawn goes to OSU.

I think we are in play with Westbeld.

Not sure about Drummer, Rooks, or the kid from Michigan's UP.

We need height more than Calhoun at this point, but I still want Sierra. We need to add more and not stop at 3. This could be a very, very good class. And a very, very important one.

Totally agree. One thing that really concerned me is the lack of a center after Kiah graduates, but i've noticed against most teams we've played, when Stef is out, Stewie is the 5. You can see that she's gotten stronger during the year and of course she will need to still work on that over the summer, but she certainly can play the 5 on defense when needed against most teams out there.

I think players like Stewie and Wilson could certainly give us enough "size". I'd rather have a strong 5 like Stokes and Dolson on the roster, but maybe we will have to wait till 2015 to add that. If you think about it, there really aren't that many elite 5's out there in WCBB.

One other thing I find interesting is how often people comment that "so and so plays guard/wing/whatever so we probably won't get the other so and so". Teams have to rely on the roster they have. KML can play the 2,3 or 4. Faris has played the 1-4 spots. I could pretty much go over the entire team and point out that each one can "play" at least 2 positions. So I have zero concerns that we have landed 3 guard types as to whether Calhoun would fit in or not. She most certainly would. IMHO the perfect class would include adding Calhoun, Westbeld/Drummer and Wilson.

Lastly, IF Geno were to go after 7 or even 8 (or however many schollies are available), I see no problem with that either. Injuries always have an unfortunate effect of paring down a roster for a season, and historically, the kids who have transferred out weren't ones who were going to get a ton of PT (Sadiq, Phillips, Johnson, Engeln). The lone exception is Walker. She woulda earned a ton of PT if she's stayed...

 

[Mattydog]

IDK about you guys, but im just very excited.. Gabby Williams commitment gurantees Uconn's back court as one of the best, if not arguably the best back court until 2018!! With Moriah in there and Brianna banks, sanya chong, and edwards, this gives us the opportuniity to recruit and get amazing post players. I mean, what post player right now wouldn't want to be in the same sqaud as moriah jefferson, saniya chong, sadie edwards, and now gabby williams( sorry for bad spelling...blame it on the wine) ? I'm calling it, watch Aja wilson be the next to commit, along with katie lou samuelson ..

I hope you are correct.

 

[rocky rococo]

Why is a Samuelson even getting mentioned? Might as well predict the youngest Ogwumike sister to UConn, too. There's no apparent shortage of scholarships to Stanford that would keep Samuelson from matriculating there.

Wilson, Drummer and Calhoun, or even two of the three, would make for an incredible class of players UConn has a realistic shot of recruiting.

 

[jdubct]

Why is a Samuelson even getting mentioned? Might as well predict the youngest Ogwumike sister to UConn, too. There's no apparent shortage of scholarships to Stanford that would keep Samuelson from matriculating there.

Wilson, Drummer and Calhoun, or even two of the three, would make for an incredible class of players UConn has a realistic shot of recruiting.

Samuelson has expressed the desire to go a route different from her sisters and create her own basketball identity. Among the schools reportedly in the mix are Notre Dame and Uconn.

 

[Vowelguy]

It's not only unrealistic, it's just a plain bad idea. When was the last time a class bigger than 5 worked out well?

Anywhere.

The Tn 6-pack won 2 NCs.

 

[Vowelguy]

Not to say I'm a fan of 6+.

Nor do I think it's likely. I don't think Geno's heart could handle more than 5 dumb frosh at once.

 

[Wonkster]

The Tn 6-pack won 2 NCs.

Were there still 6 players at Tennessee? I remember some defections.

 

[Vowelguy]

Were there still 6 players at Tennessee? I remember some defections.

Yes there were defections, but it was still that class that won 2 NCs.

 

[hoopsdiva]

Why is a Samuelson even getting mentioned? Might as well predict the youngest Ogwumike sister to UConn, too. There's no apparent shortage of scholarships to Stanford that would keep Samuelson from matriculating there.

Wilson, Drummer and Calhoun, or even two of the three, would make for an incredible class of players UConn has a realistic shot of recruiting.

Agreed, Samuelson or Ogwumike would be long shots.

As for the rest, don't forget Westbeld.

 

[UcMiami]

The problem with too big classes is that the 'balance' of the team gets thrown off. The first year, the coaching and experienced players are spread too thin trying to mentor the newbies and someone usually gets left behind. And then the following years recruiting gets tougher as you have such a roadblock of returning players. Finally when they graduate you are left replacing all of them with new players so you have a very young team. Five players is tough, more than five is even tougher and most 5+ player classes end up with defections which is never good.
All that being said, it would be hard to turn away some of the players being mentioned.