All five 2020 recruits have signed, and Geno has comments.

[EricLA]

Nice article in the Courant. If you can't work the link, just do a search of "Here’s what Geno Auriemma had to say about UConn’s No. 2 ranked 2020 recruiting class" and you can access the article that way.

BTW UCONN fans who were worried that they all didn't sign at the same time (or on the first day) can now step away from the ledge.

And keep his comments in perspective. It's the honeymoon period. Once they get to campus, they will become the "worst ______ (post/guard/wing) player in the nation"...

2020 class signs

Lots of good comments by Geno on each one. But on the core group...

"I think we’ve got a good mix of inside, outside, middle,” coach Geno Auriemma said in a statement. “When you look at our team now, we’re young in some ways. We’re inexperienced in some ways. We don’t have the kind of size that we’ve had in the past. Even though we’re going to be young next year, I think the depth and the experience that we have this year plus the youth next year. ... I like how we’ve been able to package a lot of different things into five different players. Not one of them is remotely like the other one, and that’s a really neat thing."

 

[Alydar]

WBB Announces 2020 Signing Class - University of Connecticut Athletics

The UConn women's basketball team has signed five members to the Class of 2024 as head coach Geno Auriemma announced the incoming freshmen Wednesday.

uconnhuskies.com

Who did Geno describe in much the same way?

PIATH GABRIEL
F, 6-5, Manchester, N.H.
Auriemma on Gabriel
"The first time I saw Piath play, I was impressed by how hard she works. How hard she runs the floor. How willing she is to mix it up in the lane. There's some things offensively that she needs to work on that I think we can help her with. Of all the big kids that I saw this season, she really impressed me with her work ethic. I think Piath is probably going to be the biggest surprise of all the kids coming into college next year."

 

[Centerstream]

WBB Announces 2020 Signing Class - University of Connecticut Athletics

The UConn women's basketball team has signed five members to the Class of 2024 as head coach Geno Auriemma announced the incoming freshmen Wednesday.

uconnhuskies.com

Who did Geno describe in much the same way?

PIATH GABRIEL
F, 6-5, Manchester, N.H.
Auriemma on Gabriel
"The first time I saw Piath play, I was impressed by how hard she works. How hard she runs the floor. How willing she is to mix it up in the lane. There's some things offensively that she needs to work on that I think we can help her with. Of all the big kids that I saw this season, she really impressed me with her work ethic. I think Piath is probably going to be the biggest surprise of all the kids coming into college next year."

I give up, who?

 

[CL82]

Man, that is a pretty special class. It has size, speed, passing and athleticism.

 

[Alydar]

I give up, who?

It's not that hard if your memory goes back a ways. Focus on Geno's comments, not her ranking.

 

[Huskie02]

great class I hope Geno can find enough playing time to keep them all happy. Now let’s get greedy and focus on the class of 2021 and 2022. With 2 of the 2021 class already committed, lets get Fudd on board to complete another great class.

 

[eebmg]

I made some points about this on the general NLI thread

Nice Geno blurbs describing the incoming class but I found the blurb on Paige quite understated compared to some of the other blurbs. I think Geno is already laying the groundwork to make her fight for important freshman minutes.

Paige Bueckers, 5-foot-11 guard, Eden Prairie, Minn. — "The thing that is impressive to me about Paige is how unselfish she is and her ability to get everyone involved in the game and her knack of getting to the basket. She's going to add, to us, a bigger guard that can impact the game, whether she's shooting it or passing it. It's important for us to get kids that are talented and unselfish and can score, and Paige has been able to do all those things.

 

[eebmg]

Nice article in the Courant. If you can't work the link, just do a search of "Here’s what Geno Auriemma had to say about UConn’s No. 2 ranked 2020 recruiting class" and you can access the article that way.

2020 class signs

Lots of good comments by Geno on each one. But on the core group...

"I think we’ve got a good mix of inside, outside, middle,” coach Geno Auriemma said in a statement. “When you look at our team now, we’re young in some ways. We’re inexperienced in some ways. We don’t have the kind of size that we’ve had in the past. Even though we’re going to be young next year, I think the depth and the experience that we have this year plus the youth next year. ... I like how we’ve been able to package a lot of different things into five different players. Not one of them is remotely like the other one, and that’s a really neat thing."

It seems to me there is alot of overlap with Paige and Nika and I am not sure Nika will break into the starting rotation.

 

[EricLA]

It seems to me there is alot of overlap with Paige and Nika and I am not sure Nika will break into the starting rotation.

Maybe not her 1st or 2nd year, but she's the only player on the roster including the class behind her who is a pure PG. It remains to be seen how they all will coexist. Geno certainly doesn't know at this time, but it's going to be a great mix and match.

We will be able to throw TONS of looks at opposing teams when we bring subs off the bench. I expect to see a lot of full court press and a lot of very active defenders. McLean gets all the publicity (rightfully so) for her Gabby/Aubrey elite athleticism, but Piath and Aaliyah are also very athletic. And Paige and Nika are no slouches.

UCONN worry worts (not you) can now officially go from "we don't have enough" to "how will he keep them all happy??"...

 

[JonathanXIV]

It's not that hard if your memory goes back a ways. Focus on Geno's comments, not her ranking.

Stef.

 

[Alydar]

Stef.

Ding Ding Ding

My memory is that the 2 things he said about Dolson was that she had good footwork and that the thing that sold him was that every time she fell she got up and hustled down the court. A hard worker with no quit.

 

[mhshuskies]

WBB Announces 2020 Signing Class - University of Connecticut Athletics

The UConn women's basketball team has signed five members to the Class of 2024 as head coach Geno Auriemma announced the incoming freshmen Wednesday.

uconnhuskies.com

Who did Geno describe in much the same way?

PIATH GABRIEL
F, 6-5, Manchester, N.H.
Auriemma on Gabriel
"The first time I saw Piath play, I was impressed by how hard she works. How hard she runs the floor. How willing she is to mix it up in the lane. There's some things offensively that she needs to work on that I think we can help her with. Of all the big kids that I saw this season, she really impressed me with her work ethic. I think Piath is probably going to be the biggest surprise of all the kids coming into college next year."

Steph

 

[Teacherdeb]

I recall how high everyone was on Megan’s class- but hey. We can enjoy all this innocent speculation for a while!
I also remember the Swin, Tamika, Ashja, Keirsten and Sue class- that worked out pretty well.

 

[Alydar]

I thought his comments on Bueckers were astutely and intentionally understated.

 

[JoePgh]

Let's not forget that Evina Westbrook will now be a de facto sixth member of next year's incoming class. I wonder how Geno will handle the back court congestion next year. Certainly Christyn will be Numero Uno. My guess is that at the beginning of the year, Evina will be her back court partner; Paige will be the 3rd guard (first off the bench, just as MoJeff was as a freshman), and Nika will get whatever minutes remain available.

I know some people here think that Evina will play on the wing, and I guess at 6-0 she could do that. But honestly I doubt that she would do that as a starter, with a returning front court of ONO / Megan / AubreyAnna. It makes more sense for Evina to remain in the back court (which doesn't mean that on certain occasions she couldn't be on the court with Christyn, Paige, and AubreyAnna).

For those of you who may be wondering, "AubreyAnna" should be correctly pronounced as "Aw, Breanna".

Another reason why Evina won't play on the wing is that Aaliyah will need to get her minutes, and they shouldn't come at Megan's expense.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

So just how many 5'11" guards will we have on the team next year? Is it my imagination, or will we have about ten kids all competing for the backcourt?

 

[Bigboote]

In the article: UConn’s 2020 recruiting haul is ranked No. 2 in the country, behind Oregon’s, according to espnW. . .

Is that a joke? The best recruit in a few years, a player on her national team, a player who will have two years in the pros and, I think, leading her pro league in assists, plus McLean and Gabriel (not sure how to describe them other than great athletes) is the SECOND BEST recruiting class? Oregon has three in the top 20, not sure how that's better. (Just found that Gabriel and Muhl are not ranked at all, but still. . .)

 

[eebmg]

Let's not forget that Evina Westbrook will now be a de facto sixth member of next year's incoming class. I wonder how Geno will handle the back court congestion next year. Certainly Christyn will be Numero Uno. My guess is that at the beginning of the year, Evina will be her back court partner; Paige will be the 3rd guard (first off the bench, just as MoJeff was as a freshman), and Nika will get whatever minutes remain available.

I know some people here think that Evina will play on the wing, and I guess at 6-0 she could do that. But honestly I doubt that she would do that as a starter, with a returning front court of ONO / Megan / AubreyAnna. It makes more sense for Evina to remain in the back court (which doesn't mean that on certain occasions she couldn't be on the court with Christyn, Paige, and AubreyAnna).

For those of you who may be wondering, "AubreyAnna" should be correctly pronounced as "Aw, Breanna".

Another reason why Evina won't play on the wing is that Aaliyah will need to get her minutes, and they shouldn't come at Megan's expense.

The Evina / Paige situation is pretty complicated and made more 'personal' by a desire I am sure Geno has to help Evina reach her goal for the WNBA after all her transfer setbacks.

I agree that the best solution is for Evina to start and play well enough so she makes the jump to the WNBA. Paige will get important 3rd guard minutes and Nika will be 4th guard with limited minutes.

I hope Evina has an opportunity this year to learn our system well so she does not have any severe learning curves.

 

[BobbyJ]

In the article: UConn’s 2020 recruiting haul is ranked No. 2 in the country, behind Oregon’s, according to espnW. . .

Is that a joke? The best recruit in a few years, a player on her national team, a player who will have two years in the pros and, I think, leading her pro league in assists, plus McLean and Gabriel (not sure how to describe them other than great athletes) is the SECOND BEST recruiting class? Oregon has three in the top 20, not sure how that's better. (Just found that Gabriel and Muhl are not ranked at all, but still. . .)

Who's the kid with 2 years in the pros? Not Muhl.

 

[EricLA]

Let's not forget that Evina Westbrook will now be a de facto sixth member of next year's incoming class. I wonder how Geno will handle the back court congestion next year. Certainly Christyn will be Numero Uno. My guess is that at the beginning of the year, Evina will be her back court partner; Paige will be the 3rd guard (first off the bench, just as MoJeff was as a freshman), and Nika will get whatever minutes remain available.

I know some people here think that Evina will play on the wing, and I guess at 6-0 she could do that. But honestly I doubt that she would do that as a starter, with a returning front court of ONO / Megan / AubreyAnna. It makes more sense for Evina to remain in the back court (which doesn't mean that on certain occasions she couldn't be on the court with Christyn, Paige, and AubreyAnna).

For those of you who may be wondering, "AubreyAnna" should be correctly pronounced as "Aw, Breanna".

Another reason why Evina won't play on the wing is that Aaliyah will need to get her minutes, and they shouldn't come at Megan's expense.

Agree. IMHO starters will be Westbrook, Williams, Makurat, Walker and ONO. No matter how great, no freshman has ever started for UCONN unless forced into the role by injuries, or forced to play because literally no one else played their position (Dolson)...

Numbers won't be an issue next year on a team with 11 players...

 

[Argonaut]

The Evina / Paige situation is pretty complicated and made more 'personal' by a desire I am sure Geno has to help Evina reach her goal for the WNBA after all her transfer setbacks.

I agree that the best solution is for Evina to start and play well enough so she makes the jump to the WNBA. Paige will get important 3rd guard minutes and Nika will be 4th guard with limited minutes.

I hope Evina has an opportunity this year to learn our system well so she does not have any severe learning curves.

I know we had intense discussions about who would be the fifth starter this year, but to me, the question for next year is most intriguing.

There will be one starting spot open and two people primed to take it: Evina and Paige.

Does Makurat, after likely starting most of this year, get benched in order to make room for both of them?

Does Paige, after being touted as one of the best recruits in the past few years, get relegated to sixth man duties?

Does Evina, after being forced to sit out a year, miss out on a starting opportunity because Anna has earned hers and Paige is Paige?

I. HAVE. SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.

 

[Bigboote]

Who's the kid with 2 years in the pros? Not Muhl.

Muhl will have two years by the time she's at UConn.

 

[EricLA]

Let the height debate begin. If Gabriel is 6'5" then... _____________ is __________ tall!! (fill in the blanks LOL)

 

[Argonaut]

As the recent and upcoming great recruiting classes mature, this problem will be repeated - probably more than 1 version/year. Gonna get crowded

If Fudd signs, that means that at least one person in this incoming class will likely never start (injuries and senior night aside).



With that being said, I'm excited to see the PT battle unfold. Show us your best, ladies.

 

[j66kicker]

Let the height debate begin. If Gabriel is 6'5" then... _____________ is __________ tall!! (fill in the blanks LOL)

View attachment 48329

If Gabriel is 6’5” then how come she’s 3” shorter than 6’2” Edwards, and only 2” taller than 5’11” Bueckers?