2020/21 UConn Recruiting

[Sven23]

We can't look at the outcome and retroactively decide if the investment was worth it. If you say Boston was not worth the investment then I would argue that Rebecca Lobo, DT, Shea Ralph, Tina Charles & Stewie were. These are all players where the investment by the staff in recruiting was questioned BEFORE the investment was made.

Pot calling kettle.... You're retroactively saying the investment by the staff was questioned. Proof of questioning recruiting any of the players listed. Please break it down individually. This should be hilarious.

 

[cohenzone]

Let me see if I get this right: Mikayla is playing garbage time because "Geno's trust level is shallow"?
I don't believe that! Mikayla is playing garbage time (sometimes not at all) because she has not shown the ability to impact the game in a positive manner. This is the same standard that has been applied to every player to wear a UCONN uniform while Geno has been the coach. Why should Geno make an exception for Mikayla?

Why do I bother. He had been playing her a good bit more lately not in garbage time. When push came to shove he didn’t use her in a game where her defensive skill might have helped and he had a player in Dangerfield who had become a defensive liability because she was playing carefully due to foul trouble. Geno’s trust level has always been shallow. He wins, but it rarely varies that out of 13-15 kids, the deepest he will go is 7 and occasionally 8.

 

[cohenzone]

DT is from the NE?

You have major comprehension issues. When was DT recruited, last year?

 

[CocoHusky]

Why do I bother. He had been playing her a good bit more atelier not in garbage time. When push came to shove he didn’t use her in a game where her defensive skill might have helped and he had a player in Angerfield who had become a defensive liability because she was playing carefully due to foul trouble. Ends trust level has always been shallow. He wins, but it rarely varies that out of 13-15 kids, the deepest he will go is 7 and occasionally 8.

Pot calling kettle.... You're retroactively saying the investment by the staff was questioned. Proof of questioning recruiting any of the players listed. Please break it down individually. This should be hilarious.

Rebecca Lobo's mother (an educator) did not consider UCONN a good enough academic school for her Daughter compared to Stanford.
Shea Ralph's mother was All-American basketball player at UNC.
DT's mother was not comfortable with her daughter leaving the state.
Tina Charles was pitched anti-UCONN very heavily by Brenda Freeze, Jeff waltz and CVS that UCONN would never emerge from the post "DT" "dark ages".
Stewie was always thought to be a Duke lean, so much so that on one of her visits to UCONN when UCONN was curb stomping Duke Geno said to Stewie they (Duke) could have really used you tonight.

 

[CocoHusky]

You have major comprehension issues. When was DT recruited, last year?

DT was recruited in 2000.

 

[Sven23]

The simple fact is Geno doesn't stock pile players. He has stated over the years many times the ideal is about 7 to 8 core players that he can trust & mesh as a 1st unit interchageably, for the most part. That number keeps good cohesion, flow, chemistry. Players out of the top 8 are ancillary, role players, that number is maybe 2 or 3. then possibly have some hard working walk on fill a spot for a roster of 12. UConn/Geno is not going to be a place with 15 recruited scholarhip players on the roster. That's not how Geno roles. He's not going to be like some other schools with 15 recruited players, gives an offer to every kid under thesun, then says the actal try out is when you get here. Kids leave once they realize they aren't getting time when they are recruited like this. Kids now know they can go more places, build a profile at a non top 10 school, etc...and play from day one or at last 3 years of starting. Bball is becoming more how fball has become, since they reduced schiolarships, it's not easy to stock pile players like before in fball and even big time recruits leave if they aren't gettig the time they want. In the old days they would wait their turn and maybe only get 1 or 2 years of being a starter/star of the team at fball power like Bama, That's not how kids role and while the top schools are still thebest, the 2nd level has become deeper. There is a strong argument if NCAA really wanted to improve the depth of WCBB, they would reduce scholarships down to 12(like men) from 15. Give the 3 scholarship spots to other womens sports to keep Title IV compliance.

 

[cohenzone]

Rebecca Lobo's mother (an educator) did not consider UCONN a good enough academic school for her Daughter compared to Stanford.
Shea Ralph's mother was All-American basketball player at UNC.
DT's mother was not comfortable with her daughter leaving the state.
Tina Charles was pitched anti-UCONN very heavily by Brenda Freeze, Jeff waltz and CVS that UCONN would never emerge from the post "DT" "dark ages".
Stewie was always thought to be a Duke lean, so much so that on one of her visits to UCONN when UCONN was curb stomping Duke Geno said to Stewie they (Duke) could have really used you tonight.

Last try. What is it that you can’t get your mind around that solid choices close to home abound in 2019 compared to 1994 and 2000. Rebecca Lobo in fact picked close to home even back then. I don’t know about you, but my wife and I were social friends of Rebecca’s parents. I have a good idea of their considerations. Stewie is a Northeast kid. Tina Charles is a northeast kid.

 

[cohenzone]

DT was recruited in 2000.

Exactly. In a totally different recruiting era.

 

[donalddoowop]

Let me see if I get this right: Mikayla is playing garbage time because "Geno's trust level is shallow"?
I don't believe that! Mikayla is playing garbage time (sometimes not at all) because she has not shown the ability to impact the game in a positive manner. This is the same standard that has been applied to every player to wear a UCONN uniform while Geno has been the coach. Why should Geno make an exception for Mikayla?

Coombs has played good defense, made steals, gotten rebounds and shown excellent quickness and athleticism and given the starters a rest without hurting the team. That is impacting to me. She does not need to score. UConn has four other players on the floor who can score. Just as KLS was not expected to rebound when she first got to UConn because there were other rebounders, Coombs' job is mainly to play defense and she has done that as well as the starters.

 

[Sven23]

Rebecca Lobo's mother (an educator) did not consider UCONN a good enough academic school for her Daughter compared to Stanford.
Shea Ralph's mother was All-American basketball player at UNC.
DT's mother was not comfortable with her daughter leaving the state.
Tina Charles was pitched anti-UCONN very heavily by Brenda Freeze, Jeff waltz and CVS that UCONN would never emerge from the post "DT" "dark ages".
Stewie was always thought to be a Duke lean, so much so that on one of her visits to UCONN when UCONN was curb stomping Duke Geno said to Stewie they (Duke) could have really used you tonight.

None of those prove at all anyone other than you retroactively thought it was a waste of time. Your great proof(not proof), is essentilly anti UConn talk from other people/schools. That happens recruiting every kid. Scarolina throws anti TN stuff if they are recruiting someone, etc.... Geno making a classic Geno sarcastic comment ....LOL. Yes, and I bet Geno also said look at who has come out of UConn? I know how to develop talent. Duke sit in a zone and play no defense(something he has said publicly regarding Azura adjusting to UConn). As expected it was a laughable attempt. The only known long shot which is documented is Lobo b/c UConn had crap facilities, hadn't really done anything and Geno/Chris were not well known upstarts. 1 out of 5..that's 20%. That's a F, unless you're at a SEC school, there it's a B

 

[CocoHusky]

Last try. What is it that you can’t get your mind around that solid choices close to home abound in 2019 compared to 1994 and 2000. Rebecca Lobo in fact picked close to home even back then. I don’t know about you, but my wife and I were social friends of Rebecca’s parents. I have a good idea of their considerations. Stewie is a Northeast kid. Tina Charles is a northeast kid.

I disagree and would argue the opposite.

None of those prove at all anyone other than you retroactively thought it was a waste of time. Your great proof(not proof), is essentilly anti UConn talk from other people/schools. That happens recruiting every kid. Scarolina throws anti TN stuff if they are recruiting someone, etc.... Geno making a classic Geno sarcastic comment ....LOL. Yes, and I bet Geno also said look at who has come out of UConn? I know how to develop talent. Duke sit in a zone and play no defense(something he has said publicly regarding Azura adjusting to UConn). As expected it was a laughable attempt. The only known long shot which is documented is Lobo b/c UConn had crap facilities, hadn't really done anything and Geno/Chris were not well known upstarts. 1 out of 5..that's 20%. That's a F, unless you're at a SEC school, there it's a B

 

[cohenzone]

I disagree and would argue the opposite.

Yup you argue the opposite except the facts are against you. Ta Ta.

 

[CocoHusky]

Coombs has played good defense, made steals, gotten rebounds and shown excellent quickness and athleticism and given the starters a rest without hurting the team. That is impacting to me. She does not need to score. UConn has four other players on the floor who can score. Just as KLS was not expected to rebound when she first got to UConn because there were other rebounders, Coombs' job is mainly to play defense and she has done that as well as the starters.

The overall impact to the other 4 starters is a negative one when Mikayla is in the game. @ OneTrickPony
captures it best with this sentence in bold below, copied from a different thread.

Crystal has a huge workload when we face a perimeter scorer like Dillard. She was tired and she started reaching instead of moving. It would be perfect if Mikayla could spell her. I see it as a trade off, though. Crystal runs the offense and keeps the floor spaced so that Pheesa can perform her magic inside. With double teams coming off Mikayla, our inside game gets bogged down. If we were hitting well from the perimeter, Geno may have risked it, but Meghan was off and Lou and Crystal got worn down by the half.
The great thing about Meghan’s game was she kept shooting and working, so Buffalo kept respecting her. That allowed us room to maneuver in the paint.

 

[BobbyJ]

The list is definitely wider than usual because we are only 2 weeks away from the start of official visits.
Getting none of them is and has always been a possibility. You point about it being wider in terms of depth (50-100) is correct. Every year there will be kids that perform above their HS rank. Megan Gustafson is just the latest. In 2015 UCONN offered two post players Kalani Brown and Batouly Camara. Batouly was ranked #53 in the class. UCONN is evaluating players in the range you are suggesting and some are actually offered. Let's be practical though, the UCONN program is not going to be sustained by players ranked in the range you are suggesting. I can't think of a single player in the range who has made a significant contribution to the UCONN program=starter. Now let's flip that around to the recruits perspective. Why would a recruit ranked in that range pick UCONN when they can go to Kentucky or Iowa play as a freshmen, average 35 minutes per game playing instead of praying for garbage time to get in 5 mins per game?

Your last sentence illustrates my belief that family and friends are more involved than ever in the recruiting process, especially for this level of talent. The reasoning would be, why go all the way to UConn to average 5 minutes of mop up time for your career when if you stay somewhat local you'll get plenty of PT plus we can get to most of your games. And they're not really wrong. That's why IMO UConn has to keep pushing for those top kids that really want and have the ability to get the national attention and competition.

 

[CocoHusky]

I agree with everything you said but here is the thing - against Buffalo we had the height advantage, the home court advantage, the better coach advantage, and higher ranked recruits advantage and the game was competitive. So just maybe we could figure out how Buffalo does so well with lower ranked players.

We run into this sentiment every year it seems like at tournament time when a mid major play UCONN closer than expected. A few years ago it was BYU, then it was Dayton, then it was Duquesne, then it was UCLA, then it was Quinnipiac, and this year it is Buffalo. I'm all for it-learn from what these programs are doing in recruiting and everywhere else. At the end of the day I think you'll find those coach have found a way to maximize the talent on the roster-Just like our coach does EVERY YEAR.

 

[Argonaut]

To add to the conversation about the geographical distribution of recruits who sign with UConn (and to supplement the fact I don't want to start a new work project before lunch)...

Looking back ten years (to the HS class of 2008), Geno has recruited 31 players.

• 29% from New England, NY, or PA
• 16% from NY (and this is the largest percentage from a single state)

After that, things are best looked at by region:

• 19% from the Midwest (IL, IN, OH, IA, MO)
• 32% from the South (FL, GA, VA, TN, AK, TX)
• 16% from the West (AZ, NV, CA)
• And then we have Kia Nurse representing the entire foreign delegation.
• 77% (Kia included) have come to UConn from east of the Mississippi River

Not trying to make any particular point, just thought it was an interesting breakdown...

 

[CocoHusky]

To add to the conversation about the geographical distribution of recruits who sign with UConn (and to supplement the fact I don't want to start a new work project before lunch)...

Looking back ten years (to the HS class of 2008), Geno has recruited 31 players.

• 29% from New England, NY, or PA
• 16% from NY (and this is the largest percentage from a single state)

After that, things are best looked at by region:

• 19% from the Midwest (IL, IN, OH, IA, MO)
• 32% from the South (FL, GA, VA, TN, AK, TX)
• 16% from the West (AZ, NV, CA)
• And then we have Kia Nurse representing the entire foreign delegation.
• 77% (Kia included) have come to UConn from east of the Mississippi River

Not trying to make any particular point, just thought it was an interesting breakdown...

The goal post have been shifted. If I understand correctly the argument is not about where the recruits are coming from but an assumption that says more are staying home because they have better programs (more choices) available to them at home.
Just don't think you can generate enough data to prove it because other than UCONN, ND, Baylor and Stanford the mix of top teams today is very different from even a decade ago. South Carolina, Oregon and Mississippi State were irrelevant in WCBB a decade ago. How do you account for TN which was winning championships a little more than a decade ago and is still pulling in top recruits from the NW but playing garbage basketball. JPM has made Duke a former perennial contender into an irrelevant. Purdue won a championship and lost in a championship game not too long ago. OK? The Big East wasn't just was UCONN and ND, come tournament time there was usually one or two other BE teams to contend with. The data will probably tell you can do it either way. You can build a program from scratch as dawn has at South Carolina most from home grow kids. You can build a program like Oregon with kids from Cali, Alaska, Germany and Kentucky. Still think the UCONN model of global recruiting is the most sustainable.

 

[Charliebball]

I hope UConn is there too;

 

[MTC]

Don't think that's a fair critique then. Top 75-100 kids aren't going ANYWHERE to play garbage time. 10-30 kids aren't going ANYWHERE where they have to sit- have you seen the transfer rates lately. Why pin that on Geno?

Top 10-30 kids do go to colleges where they have to sit. (ex. Baylor,ND,South Carolina, and Stanford). Hopefully they will transfer.

 

[Sven23]

Q: Does Geno wait to announce all his commitments at one time usually?
A: Geno is required to wait until a NLI is signed before he can comment on any specific recruit. At the end of the recruiting period UCONN WBB generally issues a statement saying who the members of each recruiting class are (is).
Q: How many of our recruits actually have offers?
A: For the class of 2020 UCONN has 3 offers that have been reported in the press-NOT REPORTED BY UCONN. Van Lith, Gusters, & Brueckers. There is an unconfirmed report that Reese has a UCONN offer.

I would put Muhl in the unconfirmed offer category. Home visits guarantee an offer. Muhl already narrowed her list to 5 and Geno flew 4300 miles.

 

[Sven23]

I hope UConn is there too;

Will Muhl be able to visit schools? I believe right after the tourney till mid April is a mandatory dead period. Since USF is right there I bet she at least goes to campus even if USF can't have contact.

 

[BleedBlue72]

All the continued talk about Sam Brunelle. Maybe she was a UCONN lean at the time and once she visited Notre Dame she decided it was a better fit for her. It happens. And if Geno never offered such a high profile player he must of saw something in her we didn’t see and thought she wouldn’t be a fit for UCONN. We will never know. I would find it hard to believe the issues with depth he would pass on a number 1 player at the time .. a 6’2 player on the wing that can shoot and play inside if needed .. to me makes absolutely baffeled if he passed on Sam Brunelle unless he was so confident he was going to land Jones and Boston. Either way we could have used Sam big time next year if indeed Geno did offer her. So I believe she chose ND as her second choice to UCONN but what do I know.

 

[Charliebball]

All the continued talk about Sam Brunelle. Maybe she was a UCONN lean at the time and once she visited Notre Dame she decided it was a better fit for her. It happens. And if Geno never offered such a high profile player he must of saw something in her we didn’t see and thought she wouldn’t be a fit for UCONN. We will never know. I would find it hard to believe the issues with depth he would pass on a number 1 player at the time .. a 6’2 player on the wing that can shoot and play inside if needed .. to me makes absolutely baffeled if he passed on Sam Brunelle unless he was so confident he was going to land Jones and Boston. Either way we could have used Sam big time next year if indeed Geno did offer her. So I believe she chose ND as her second choice to UCONN but what do I know.

according to the experts here, she just wasn't good enough for Geno..................

 

[Sven23]

according to the experts here, she just wasn't good enough for Geno...

UConn stopped recruiting Brunelle. No contact after December.

 

[CocoHusky]

I would put Muhl in the unconfirmed offer category. Home visits guarantee an offer. Muhl already narrowed her list to 5 and Geno flew 4300 miles.

I agree with your 1st and last sentence. The middle sentence is demonstrable false. In the last couple of years Geno has had in home visits with Sharika Austin, Tori McCoy and Ladazhia Williams without extending an offer.