#4 prospect 2021 interested in any top school but UConn...

[SCGamecock]

Rivers has been on the scene down south for a minute. Special talent. Confident. You need those kinds of players if you want to roll with the big boys. I also think she’s the best player in that class not named Azzi Fudd.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I don't hear anyone say they are going to a certain school because they want to beat Notre Dame, Stanford, Baylor, or South Carolina. That's strictly a UConn phenomenon and I think the media invented it years ago complaining when UConn was steamrolling everyone.

 

[SCGamecock]

You known, I know, ALL of our knowledgeable posters & certainly @SCspur knows that Olivia Cochran is not going to be sitting on nobody's bench and that includes UCONN !

Lol don’t get your hopes up. Cochran is coming to Columbia pal.

 

[CocoHusky]

Rivers has been on the scene down south for a minute. Special talent. Confident. You need those kinds of players if you want to roll with the big boys. I also think she’s the best player in that class not named Azzi Fudd.

Up north Miles has been blowing up though. Can't wait to watch her work at U16.

 

[DaBball]

I wish more of the top 2021s got to compete at the U16 trials. Saniya Rivers, Talia Von Oelhoffen, Rayah Marshall, and Brook Demetre were all not there (I’m guessing due to age?). I think Azzi is also too old also, but obviously she was out with an ACL and may have just played U19

 

[JordyG]

If I remember, Destiny Slocum was a little like that too, though her explanation was she wanted to make a name for herself and lead a program to new heights, not beat UConn.

Yeah. Wonder how that's workin' out.

 

[meyers7]

Easier to make up a story than believe that some people don't want to play for UConn.

Eh, but she said she had wanted to, now she doesn't. Easier to believe something changed her mind. And not only that she just didn't want to play for UCONN now, but she wants to beat them now. Not the same as not being interested in UCONN.

 

[JordyG]

Up north Miles has been blowing up though. Can't wait to watch her work at U16.

I'll take Miles over her everyday and twice after breakfast.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Fudd was never going to compete for U16, no. She'd have made U19.

 

[Orangutan]

Eh, but she said she had wanted to, now she doesn't. Easier to believe something changed her mind. And not only that she just didn't want to play for UCONN now, but she wants to beat them now. Not the same as not being interested in UCONN.

She said she used to be a UConn fan. Not surprising, as kids tend to be a fan of whoever is winning. Then as she got older, her perspective changed.

I rooted for the Lakers early in the Kobe-Shaq days but eventually grew to hate them. It wasn't because Phil Jackson didn't want me on the team!

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Last year (July 2018), after Tamari Key committed to Tennessee, I gave an update on the Carolina Flames AAU program, which has a good number of Top 25/50/100 kids from NC across multiple recruiting classes.

Here are how things stand with the Flames players:

• Tamari Key (2019) -- signed with Tennessee
• Kennedy Todd-Williams (2020) -- verbal commitment to UNC
• Anya Poole (2020) -- verbal commitment to UNC
• Saniya Rivers (2021)
• Teonni Key (2021) (Tamari Key's sister)

Notable Carolina Flames alumni include Duke's Mikayla Boykin (2017; top 20 recruit; NC POY).

I have not seen any public comments from either Todd-Williams or Poole about opening their respective recruitments after UNC made a change at the helm of the program.

Getting recruits from the same AAU program -- especially Top 25/50/100 kids -- establishes a program as a force in the recruiting area, as well as having built-in chemistry among players once they set foot on campus for their college careers.

 

[Plebe]

I'm confident Geno sees this as nothing but a compliment, and I bet he relishes the challenge a few years down the road. And I'm guessing Bueckers will be happy to lead the "come at me" squad starting in 2020. I think this kind of competitiveness is nothing but healthy for WCBB as long as everyone keeps it on the court.

Agreed. Can we imagine something like this being said about any other program by a high school sophomore? Once again, UConn is the big bad top dog, and all the others are yapping heel-nippers.

 

[SCspur]

You known, I know, ALL of our knowledgeable posters & certainly @SCspur knows that Olivia Cochran is not going to be sitting on nobody's bench and that includes UCONN !

That’s a fact! She’s killing it in Mongolia as we speak. She definitely won’t be a bench bump on anyone’s team! That said I hope Geno stays far away from Columbus .... Bad enough Jeff Walz has made a diner his new home there!

 

[WestCoastPup]

If I remember, Destiny Slocum was a little like that too, though her explanation was she wanted to make a name for herself and lead a program to new heights, not beat UConn.

I believe Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon said same thing, and it's working out nicely for her!
Had Destiny stayed at Maryland, she (and the program) may have been in similar positions...

 

[Plebe]

Another observation: Has there ever been a high school player who has gone out of her way to announce the school she wants to *beat* before she's announced which schools she's considering playing for?

Pretty odd. Doesn't strike me as a particularly healthy mental attitude. There's probably a good reason UConn hasn't shown any interest in this kid.

 

[CocoHusky]

I'll take Miles over her everyday and twice after breakfast.

As you already know I'm kind of a defensive bigot. I like Miles, but Rivers has a set of defensive tools that if placed in the hands of a master craftsman could be Moriah Jefferson (NDPOY) special. There is only one established craftsman/woman in the southern US. Grasshopper might have to venture north to fulfill her true destiny.

 

[DaBball]

I believe Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon said same thing, and it's working out nicely for her!
Had Destiny stayed at Maryland, she (and the program) may have been in similar positions...

"I wanted to be the piece, not a piece in a program," she told The Oregonian. "Both Oregon and Washington help me with that goal. At other schools, I was just 'a piece,' and they would be fine if I didn't go there, because they would have enough tools to still be able to win. Both of those schools make me feel like I'm really needed."

Yeah UConn wasn’t right for her.

 

[Mdoggie]

I believe Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon said same thing, and it's working out nicely for her!
Had Destiny stayed at Maryland, she (and the program) may have been in similar positions...

True star players always make a name for themselves wherever the go. Even if it's Delaware. SI is a super talent.

 

[CocoHusky]

I believe Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon said same thing, and it's working out nicely for her!
Had Destiny stayed at Maryland, she (and the program) may have been in similar positions...

Uhm....
Both Sabrina and Destiny played UCONN. I wouldn't exactly say "it worked out nicely" for either.
One case was tournament beat down. They both have eligibility left so you can keep hope alive!

 

[JordyG]

As you already know I'm kind of a defensive bigot. I like Miles but, Rivers has a set of defensive tools that if placed in the hands of a master craftsman could be Moriah Jefferson (NDPOY) special. There is only one established craftsman/woman in the southern US. Grasshopper might have to venture north to fulfill her true destiny.

Nothin' wrong with that.

 

[Vowelguy]

From ESPNW:

"As for college, Rivers wants to choose a school by next summer. She seems open to just about any top program -- except for the 11-time national champions.

"I used to be a UConn fan," said Rivers, who lists biology as her favorite class. "But now all I can think of is that I want to beat UConn.""

Geno, 10-15 yrs ago, to a recruit who said she wanted to help build something new at Texas and beat UConn.
"I can appreciate that. I can understand that.

It's not going to happen, but I get it."

 

[Vowelguy]

From ESPNW:

"As for college, Rivers wants to choose a school by next summer. She seems open to just about any top program -- except for the 11-time national champions.

"I used to be a UConn fan," said Rivers, who lists biology as her favorite class. "But now all I can think of is that I want to beat UConn.""

 

[Crossover2]

Ho hum ...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

There always has to be one, I guess.

Easier to make up a story than believe that some people don't want to play for UConn.

It comes with the territory of being top dogs. They're either dying to play for you or dying to beat you. As we found out from Paige, Ania, Nika, and Evina, there are still plenty in the "dying to play for you" category.

Yet Orange Long Armed Slow Moving Tree dweller it is an odd remark to throw out there. So, you may have to put me in the wild speculator group of 2. Might be a spurned lover. Or it might be a kid who can count and she sees a lot of talent in front of her at UConn. But my guess is with:

 

[baggerbob]

True star players always make a name for themselves wherever the go. Even if it's Delaware. SI is a super talent.

Stewie wanted to be the biggest winner 24-0 when it counted.