2016 UConn commitment: Molly Bent [merged thread]

[Sky ball]

I foresee Geno's turning to CD for a sub in the middle of the game and saying, wait for it, wait for it, "Get Bent."

Get Bent IPA is very good. Produced by the Parkway Brewery in Salem, VA

 

[CocoHusky]

I was looking for info on Molly's commitment when I found out today and I came across this message board. My daughter has played against Molly in AAU, in high school (when she played at Barnstable High), and even back to the grade school small AAU and travel tournaments. I've talked to her a few times in passing and actually talked to a coach in her AAU organization a couple weeks back at a tournament they hosted. From talking to her I've taken away that she is one of the most humble kids out there, she never wants to talk about herself and always changes the subject to talk about or to compliment my daughter instead. This probably explains her lack of tweets about her recruitment and commitment that someone mentioned. As for her on the court, she is one of the best players I've seen on the AAU circuit. She is always pushing the ball, attacking the rim and dishing the ball to teammates. On the defensive side her motor is outstanding and she rarely if ever takes a play off. She battled a few injuries and played for some club soccer team and didn't stick to just basketball in the spring and summer until last year or the year before I believe. As for the conversation with the coach in the program a couple weeks ago, he said that the Deep South in April was big for her, he told me she had been offered by Kentucky and Vanderbilt and got some interest from some more of the "bigger name" schools. I've loved watching her play all the way back to when my daughter was in the 5th or 6th grade. I think all of you will love the way she plays when you get her in a couple years.

Thanks for posting. The offers to Molly from Kentucky & Vandy is a major new piece of information IMO. Thus far my working assumption-(Which I posted) was that Molly's best basketball offer was from Princeton. A Kentucky offer would be more basketball prestigious than an offer from Princeton. Plain and simple: Molly killed it at Deep South! Enough to get offers from UCONN & Kentucky. Molly has accepted the UCONN offer. Where/what Molly was ranked before simply does not matter.

 

[johnnyc]

Couple of evaluations from ESPN.....

Northeast Elite Showcase-April 2015: Cerebral combo-guard handles, attacks, distributes in uptempo; decision-maker with court awareness complemented by solid midrange game creativity; leader, playmaker. (Olson)

Northeast Elite Showcase-April 2014: Fundamental off-guard with quick 1st-step attack, slasher; mid range game creator, stationary threat at the arc. (Olson)

http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/198237/molly-bent

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I was looking for info on Molly's commitment when I found out today and I came across this message board. My daughter has played against Molly in AAU, in high school (when she played at Barnstable High), and even back to the grade school small AAU and travel tournaments. I've talked to her a few times in passing and actually talked to a coach in her AAU organization a couple weeks back at a tournament they hosted. From talking to her I've taken away that she is one of the most humble kids out there, she never wants to talk about herself and always changes the subject to talk about or to compliment my daughter instead. This probably explains her lack of tweets about her recruitment and commitment that someone mentioned. As for her on the court, she is one of the best players I've seen on the AAU circuit. She is always pushing the ball, attacking the rim and dishing the ball to teammates. On the defensive side her motor is outstanding and she rarely if ever takes a play off. She battled a few injuries and played for some club soccer team and didn't stick to just basketball in the spring and summer until last year or the year before I believe. As for the conversation with the coach in the program a couple weeks ago, he said that the Deep South in April was big for her, he told me she had been offered by Kentucky and Vanderbilt and got some interest from some more of the "bigger name" schools. I've loved watching her play all the way back to when my daughter was in the 5th or 6th grade. I think all of you will love the way she plays when you get her in a couple years.

Super report masshusk...thanks. Now in future reports could you include still photography, opposing coach's comments, full game stats....just kidding!

 

[CocoHusky]

Super report masshusk...thanks. Now in future reports could you include still photography, opposing coach's comments, full game stats....just kidding!

Good idea Rocky- stick with still photos-video was how this controversy started.

 

[connboy77]

thats a pretty bold statement

No, a very realistic one!

 

[johnnyc]

Who is Molly Bent????

It may be that as more info becomes available the follow up question from some coaching staffs might be 'and how the heck did UConn get the jump on us again?'

 

[cohenzone]

I get some of the comments in this thread, but then again, I kinda don't. Speculating about what role a kid will play when she arrives at UConn based on pretty much no information is maybe fun, but pretty pointless. So she is a bit of a mystery. She'll either be a contributor or she won't. Maybe she'll never see the floor like Engeln, or she'll always be on the floor like Hayes. Shea Ralph saw something and it seems GA bought in

Is she as talented as some of the others who sort of play her position that they are recruiting? Did they go after her because she is sloppy seconds because they know they aren't getting any of the kids some think are better (based on what degree of comparable evidence I have no clue). Who knows.

That being said, the only recruit I've seen any of that I think I'd love to see them get regardless of how Molly turns out is Ionescu. I haven't seen any of the other guard types, but that kid can play, and whether she is a "role" player or the star of stars, she would fit in and maybe challenge Molly for starter's minutes.

 

[UConnCat]

I didn't question (or applaud) the move, but in this thread (LINK) I pointed out how obscure Molly Bent was. She had not been ranked highly by any of the recruiting services. In fact she only appeared as the 16th ranked SG on Hoopgurlz, which placed her out of the top 60 (the extent of their rankings for the 2016 class thus far). Her 90 grade would place her out of the top 100 in any of the past several years (since 2008). She was not listed in the top 177 by Blue Star (which is as far as they have ranked in 2016), was not ranked by ASGR, and was not even listed as a recruit from Massachusetts by Prospect's Nation. That's pretty obscure for a recruit from the top WCBB school in the nation. And the horde seemed out of the loop as well. This was a stealthy acquisition by the UConn staff. Obviously Geno and company saw something they liked. Of course Geno doesn't bat 1.000. No one does. We will see what they saw in the next few years.

A couple of points. First, the Horde was out of the loop because they've had little to no interaction with Geno and his staff since the season ended. If Bent's visit were during the season I suspect we would have heard about it. Second, I don't really understand your reference to Geno's batting average in this context. Molly strikes me as the type of kid who will be a "hit" and an asset to the team whether she plays 5 minutes a game or 20 minutes a game. Do you consider Whitney Holloway, who unlike Bent was ranked in HS, to be a recruiting miss by Muffet? I don't.

 

[EricLA]

was that before or after the verbal... and the recruiting by Maya Moore?

I'm not sure about that, but I do recall her recruitment went VERY fast. IIRC, UCONN fans had a chance to see her play on TV and I think it was against Maya. Fans went bananas over how good Tiff was and within about 3-4 weeks, she verbaled to UCONN. I'm not sure if that was the first time the staff saw her too, but her verbal came very quickly.

Also I don't know what her ranking was at that time, and if it skyrocketed as people became aware of who she was and how good she was...

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm not sure about that, but I do recall her recruitment went VERY fast. IIRC, UCONN fans had a chance to see her play on TV and I think it was against Maya. Fans went bananas over how good Tiff was and within about 3-4 weeks, she verbaled to UCONN. I'm not sure if that was the first time the staff saw her too, but her verbal came very quickly.

Also I don't know what her ranking was at that time, and if it skyrocketed as people became aware of who she was and how good she was...

Kalana's verbal came as a surprise to me. I had no idea who she was.

Re Tiffany, her Winter Haven team played Maya's Collins Hill team tough in a Christmas tourney in Seattle. At the time, I didn't know that we had interest in Tiffany or vice versa. Geno went to see her later, when UConn was at USF. I think Tiff may have been a rare one to commit before visiting campus.

As to how good she was, Tiffany was the best player in the country during AAU play in the summer before her senior year. She was unstoppable.

 

[CocoHusky]

Second, I don't really understand your reference to Geno's batting average in this context. Do you consider Whitney Holloway, who unlike Bent was ranked in HS, to be a recruiting miss by Muffet? I don't.

UConnCat your defense of Geno batting average in recruiting seems unnecessary since the original post was followed by these words: No one does- meaning no one including Geno bats 100% in recruiting. If Geno doesn't bat 100% then Muffet damn sure doesn't either.

 

[UConnCat]

UConnCat your defense of Geno batting average in recruiting seems unnecessary since the original post was followed by these words: No one does- meaning no one including Geno bats 100% in recruiting. If Geno doesn't bat 100% then Muffet damn sure doesn't either.

You completely missed my point.

 

[hoophuskee]

I was looking for info on Molly's commitment when I found out today and I came across this message board. My daughter has played against Molly in AAU, in high school (when she played at Barnstable High), and even back to the grade school small AAU and travel tournaments. I've talked to her a few times in passing and actually talked to a coach in her AAU organization a couple weeks back at a tournament they hosted. From talking to her I've taken away that she is one of the most humble kids out there, she never wants to talk about herself and always changes the subject to talk about or to compliment my daughter instead. This probably explains her lack of tweets about her recruitment and commitment that someone mentioned. As for her on the court, she is one of the best players I've seen on the AAU circuit. She is always pushing the ball, attacking the rim and dishing the ball to teammates. On the defensive side her motor is outstanding and she rarely if ever takes a play off. She battled a few injuries and played for some club soccer team and didn't stick to just basketball in the spring and summer until last year or the year before I believe. As for the conversation with the coach in the program a couple weeks ago, he said that the Deep South in April was big for her, he told me she had been offered by Kentucky and Vanderbilt and got some interest from some more of the "bigger name" schools. I've loved watching her play all the way back to when my daughter was in the 5th or 6th grade. I think all of you will love the way she plays when you get her in a couple years.

wow.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I was looking for info on Molly's commitment when I found out today and I came across this message board. My daughter has played against Molly in AAU, in high school (when she played at Barnstable High), and even back to the grade school small AAU and travel tournaments. I've talked to her a few times in passing and actually talked to a coach in her AAU organization a couple weeks back at a tournament they hosted. From talking to her I've taken away that she is one of the most humble kids out there, she never wants to talk about herself and always changes the subject to talk about or to compliment my daughter instead. This probably explains her lack of tweets about her recruitment and commitment that someone mentioned. As for her on the court, she is one of the best players I've seen on the AAU circuit. She is always pushing the ball, attacking the rim and dishing the ball to teammates. On the defensive side her motor is outstanding and she rarely if ever takes a play off. She battled a few injuries and played for some club soccer team and didn't stick to just basketball in the spring and summer until last year or the year before I believe. As for the conversation with the coach in the program a couple weeks ago, he said that the Deep South in April was big for her, he told me she had been offered by Kentucky and Vanderbilt and got some interest from some more of the "bigger name" schools. I've loved watching her play all the way back to when my daughter was in the 5th or 6th grade. I think all of you will love the way she plays when you get her in a couple years.

Sounds like a "Bent"ley to me!

 

[DogWarden]

Another story about Molly:

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20150606/molly-bent-latest-recruit-to-commit-to-uconn-women

 

[HuskyNan]

Couple of evaluations from ESPN.....

http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/198237/molly-bent

I love the refernces to Molly's mid-range game. IMO, too many kids - or coaches -are passing up the opportunity to develop a strong mid-range game. I've seen way too many kids in AAU either want to specialize as a slasher or a long distance shooter. Adding a mid-range shot to their offensive repertoire makes shooters far more dangerous but it's almost a lost art. just think of how deadly Sue Bird was, and later, Bria was when she pulled up for a mid-range jumper.

I'm liking what I'm hearing about this kid.

 

[hoophuskee]

I love the refernces to Molly's mid-range game. IMO, too many kids - or coaches -are passing up the opportunity to develop a strong mid-range game. I've seen way too many AAU games where guards heave the ball down the court in an often unsucessful attempt to score on the fast break. In the half court, too many kids either want to specialize as a slasher or a long distance shooter. Adding a mid-range shot to their offensive repertoire makes shooters far more dangerous but it's almost a lost art. just think of how deadly Sue Bird was, and later, Bria was when she pulled up for a mid-range jumper.

I'm liking what I'm hearing about this kid.

So am I. I love "skill." Love to hear she played soccer. Love to hear at 5'9 she loves to pass but can score. I love to hear of "rising" recruits UCONN picks up.

 

[hoophuskee]

I get some of the comments in this thread, but then again, I kinda don't. Speculating about what role a kid will play when she arrives at UConn based on pretty much no information is maybe fun, but pretty pointless. So she is a bit of a mystery. She'll either be a contributor or she won't. Maybe she'll never see the floor like Engeln, or she'll always be on the floor like Hayes. Shea Ralph saw something and it seems GA bought in

Is she as talented as some of the others who sort of play her position that they are recruiting? Did they go after her because she is sloppy seconds because they know they aren't getting any of the kids some think are better (based on what degree of comparable evidence I have no clue). Who knows.

That being said, the only recruit I've seen any of that I think I'd love to see them get regardless of how Molly turns out is Ionescu. I haven't seen any of the other guard types, but that kid can play, and whether she is a "role" player or the star of stars, she would fit in and maybe challenge Molly for starter's minutes.

When you speculate - isn't it always "pointless?"

Your post could be said of every single recruit UCONN gets.

Can't your speculation of Ionescu be considered "pointless" by some?

For me- I see Molly Bent as backup pg her frosh year. From there - can't wait to see and as you say "who knows.?"
The next player I'd like UCONN to get is Cox. OFC she is the number 1 recruit. Not going too much out on the limb there, am I?

 

[cohenzone]

When you speculate - isn't it always "pointless?"

Your post could be said of every single recruit UCONN gets.

Can't your speculation of Ionescu be considered "pointless" by some?

For me- I see Molly Bent as backup pg her frosh year. From there - can't wait to see and as you say "who knows.?"
The next player I'd like UCONN to get is Cox. OFC she is the number 1 recruit. Not going too much out on the limb there, am I?

Actually, following recruiting is pointless. But the speculation about a kid nobody has seen based essentially on rankings is as pointless as it gets v

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Actually, following recruiting is pointless. But the speculation about a kid nobody has seen based essentially on rankings is as pointless as it gets v

Well, hobbies are "pointless" but where would we be without them - indeed it is the lack of a point that makes them enjoyable for many of us.

 

[cohenzone]

Well, hobbies are "pointless" but where would we be without them - indeed it is the lack of a point that makes them enjoyable for many of us.

Oh, I follow recruiting too, as pointless as it is. I just thought speculating about the qualities of a player nobody on the board has seen is at the tippety top of the pointless scale. I have seen several tapes of Ionesco and she has skills impressive beyond her shooting Thats how I felt after seeing Mo's hs tapes. Who knows how a kid will actually turn out in college.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Bent met with UConn coach and U.S. Olympics coach Geno Auriemma and other members of the Huskies staff while playing for the AAU’s Rhode Island Breakers at the Deep South Classic in April. Shortly after being back home, the school contacted her to set up the visit to the campus.

....


Princeton and Brown were at the top of her list of college choices before UConn came calling.“They have a certain type of kids that love basketball,” Bent said. “I was really into the Ivy schools before I went to visit. It’s a great basketball school but they are also focused on academics.”Bent will make an official visit to UConn in the fall, when the NCAA early signing period is.


http://capecodtimes.com/article/20150606/SPORTS/150609538

 

[chrissaran]

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bent

 

[Kmoney]

This just proves that Geno only wins because he signs the best unranked players.....LoL