April Recruiting Thread

[nomdoux]

Re: SC boards dominance last night, as Rebecca Lobo highlighted, aside from their size/physicality/commitment, it’s even harder to battle for rebounds when you’re fronting the post to prevent catch— the only way to even have a shot at limiting Boston— & thereby relinquishing box-out positioning in process.

I would have like to see more digs from our guards, even/esp after Boston reposts. Have to triage the hemorrhaging wound over the others.

 

[cancontent]

I hope/trust Geno is doubling down on his Toomey commitment amidst her knee injury.

Recall that Gabby Williams blew her knee in HS & Dawn Staley just mentioned in pregame presser responsive to TSN (Canada) media question that she believed in Letitia Amihere even after her HS knee injury.

Injuries actually. She unfortunately suffered two over the course of her final two HS seasons. The second ACL occurred in December of 2018. It prompted her early enrolment as they wanted to get her on campus and working with their training staff on the recovery process.

 

[LarryLegend]

Confirmed ACL injury cost her a PA state championship run. She is still holding a UCONN offer. Last visit was to UNC(?) and there might be other schools in the mix.
ACL surgery in mid-March might mean she is back in time for her senior HS season in November & just in time for her commit to UCONN during the early signing period.

couple comments:
1. her IG has some pictures of her in full North Carolina uni. Not encouraging
2. was there ever any concrete definitive announcement that she did in fact have a torn ACL (beyond some anonymous poster on this board), Google search yields nothing

 

[hoophuskee]

The father of an all-state HS player in Wisconsin:

What''s your view on Patterson and Brady in terms of post?


***
and anyone else please chime in. coco, Bobby, Milford - anyone else?

To me it looks like Brady is not even 6'2. Though can get low post position on offense but she seems small in height. And ofc beautiful shot.

And Patterson- I thought she looks like 6'4. You think 6'4? -- Though listed at 6'2.

 

[CocoHusky]

couple comments:
1. her IG has some pictures of her in full North Carolina uni. Not encouraging
2. was there ever any concrete definitive announcement that she did in fact have a torn ACL (beyond some anonymous poster on this board), Google search yields nothing

I believe there was confirmation from a different poster- not the anonymous- a few days later.
I can't get too worked up about her being in a UNC uniform. Courtney is doing a great job down there but I don't see that program being on UCONN's level even with her. Besides a few short months ago someone gave me anxiety talking about Shade taking multiple visits to Lady Vols .

 

[sweetspot]

Some UNC fans I know have pointed out that her parents have faved a lot of UNC tweets. If Connecticut's not the favorite, I think the Heels would have to be considered it.

 

[BobbyJ]

What''s your view on Patterson and Brady in terms of post?


***
and anyone else please chime in. coco, Bobby, Milford - anyone else?

To me it looks like Brady is not even 6'2. Though can get low post position on offense but she seems small in height. And ofc beautiful shot.

And Patterson- I thought she looks like 6'4. You think 6'4? -- Though listed at 6'2.

I believe that Brady is a legit 6-3, she was nose to nose height wise to Barker at the McD's AA game. And Patterson is maybe just under that but her hair adds a couple inches. In terms of post play, they both COULD play it but I think Patterson could be more useful as more of a wing. She's very quick, mobile, and athletic but will need to learn a lot about playing in the open floor, passing and getting her shot since she was mostly stuck inside with her back to the hoop because of playing with a small HS team. Brady OTOH can give a tutorial on post footwork, angles, passing, and using both hands for shots. Where she needs work is conditioning, quickness, and learning to play faster. Not necessarily up and down the court faster, although that would be nice, but just her reaction time to the faster college pace of the game. But I do believe that she is perfect for the offensive position that ONO played this year. She will not pass up those 17 footers out to the 3 ball line.

 

[BobbyJ]

I believe there was confirmation from a different poster- not the anonymous- a few days later.
I can't get too worked up about her being in a UNC uniform. Courtney is doing a great job down there but I don't see that program being on UCONN's level even with her. Besides a few short months ago someone gave me anxiety talking about Shade taking multiple visits to Lady Vols .

I could always be wrong but I tend to think that Toomey's view of UConn is pretty similar to Shade's. But as with Boston, you never know what happens in these kid's heads from one month to another.

 

[hoophuskee]

I believe that Brady is a legit 6-3, she was nose to nose height wise to Barker at the McD's AA game. And Patterson is maybe just under that but her hair adds a couple inches. In terms of post play, they both COULD play it but I think Patterson could be more useful as more of a wing. She's very quick, mobile, and athletic but will need to learn a lot about playing in the open floor, passing and getting her shot since she was mostly stuck inside with her back to the hoop because of playing with small HS team. Brady OTOH can give a tutorial on post footwork, angles, passing, and using both hands for shots. Where she needs work is conditioning, quickness, and learning to play faster. Not necessarily up and down the court faster, although that would be nice, but just her reaction time to the faster college pace of the game.

Thank you- we'll see. From what I recall in McD game Patterson didn't have as much of the hair and when she stood next to Brady she looked more than an inch taller than Brady. I guess I'm looking at it wrong.

And I thought when one time Patterson and Oldacre crossed each other - excluding the hair, Patterson just lookedjust very little shorter. Not much. And Oldacre is 6'5 supposedly. But again with angles etc I'm probably wrong.

I see Patterson on offense playing inside and on defense able to defend anyone quick (within reason) on the outside; imo her lateral movement I feel is outstanding. And depending how tall she is - she can guard posts. If she were 6'4 which appears she isn't then she can possibly guard 6'7. To me Patterson looks awfully strong. As a result, she'll be a terrific rebounder on both offense and defense.

Similar with Brady- the taller she is- the more lethal. Doesn't have the hops but seems to have long arms and great feet. And has that power bulk.

 

[dcheng021]

It is not entirely about shot making. The biggest hallmarks of a UCONN post is consistency, playing to your strengths, and growth.
Consistency would mean that when Geno puts you on the floor he knows what to expect- that is not saying you are going to be a world beater it is just saying there is a predictability to the performance and you are not having days where you look like an AA and other where you fail to impact the game and are almost invisible. The playing to your strength part should be obvious and the expectation is you were recruited because you do X. Y and Z well-keep doing those at a high level but grow your game.
The growth part has been the most frustrating for this senior class IMO. CW, ONO, and Evina are graduating as pretty much the same players they were in their first year at UCONN=no growth. For example Christyn Williams best statistical year was her freshman season & ONO blocked more shots as a part-time player in her freshman season than she did as a fulltime starter in both her junior and senior campaigns. It is very rare for a UCONN player to not improve, even more so for an entire class.

Curious what you think the lack of growth might be attributable to. Would add that it wasn't just that statistically, there wasn't a ton of improvement but the consistency from game to game was still not quite there either. All three had their moments and stretches where they played great but on the flip side, all three also had games where they would just disappear.

 

[Geesworld]

Guess we have no chance.
Janiah Barker seems to really dislike UCONN.

 

[CocoHusky]

Curious what you think the lack of growth might be attributable to. Would add that it wasn't just that statistically, there wasn't a ton of improvement but the consistency from game to game was still not quite there either. All three had their moments and stretches where they played great but on the flip side, all three also had games where they would just disappear.

I honestly don't know. If I had to venture a guess I would say this is personality driven- meaning that true improvement only comes with hard work once you internalize the need for improvement . CW and ONO are definitely hard workers but that internalization may not have kicked in. The flip side of that explanation is that Geno who is a master button pusher and may simply never have found the right buttons to push to drive the required growth and consistent play. God knows Geno has tried, both privately& publicly.

 

[Geew1992]

Guess we have no chance.
Janiah Barker seems to really dislike UCONN.

Never had one

 

[eebmg]

What''s your view on Patterson and Brady in terms of post?


***
and anyone else please chime in. coco, Bobby, Milford - anyone else?

To me it looks like Brady is not even 6'2. Though can get low post position on offense but she seems small in height. And ofc beautiful shot.

And Patterson- I thought she looks like 6'4. You think 6'4? -- Though listed at 6'2.

The Fro adds inches.

 

[Notyetready]

Guess we have no chance.
Janiah Barker seems to really dislike UCONN.

Bad judgement on her part to post that kind of comment. Clearly, she does not possess the quality of character that Geno considers a prerequisite for UConn.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Sounds like Staley's gonna get the chance to reign in Barker's self-aggrandizing behavior.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

2. was there ever any concrete definitive announcement that she did in fact have a torn ACL (beyond some anonymous poster on this board), Google search yields nothing

The only mention in local media is that she has a knee injury that will keep her out of early AAU play. However, her mom posted a tweet to Ciera saying she has her back and referring to a comeback, so I think it's a significant injury.

 

[hoophuskee]

The Fro adds inches.

I know I saw the Fro but I thought I could also see head-to-head.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Geno appears to be fully aware of the need as he recruited 2 bigs who fit the profile and at least have potential to help. I can see Ayanna becoming a strong rebounding forward and I can see Ice being strong offensively in Geno’s offense. We need AE to be more like Charles Barkley in his prime. What we really need frankly is a generational post talent like Boston or maybe Betts will become.Those don’t become available every year and if you lose those prospects it’s tough to build a top team when you are losing the rebounding battle by 24 rebounds a game. It took everything we had to restrain Boston and we gambled that the open 3’s would be missed but all they did was rebound over and over. The game is all about shooting the 3, rebounding and defending. South Carolina has 2 of those strengths in abundance. And I don’t consider player prospect ratings to be the key any more or if ever. South Carolina brings extremely athletic kids into their program and even if their kid like Cooper are rated around # 15 it’s only because they don’t have as good a press agent. South Carolina is winning the recruitment wars right now in my opinion.

 

[MilfordHusky]

What''s your view on Patterson and Brady in terms of post?


***
and anyone else please chime in. coco, Bobby, Milford - anyone else?

To me it looks like Brady is not even 6'2. Though can get low post position on offense but she seems small in height. And ofc beautiful shot.

And Patterson- I thought she looks like 6'4. You think 6'4? -- Though listed at 6'2.

@EricLA and a couple of other BYers have met Ice and been on the floor next to her. My understanding is that she is a legit 6'3".

 

[hoophuskee]

@EricLA and a couple of other BYers have met Ice and been on the floor next to her. My understanding is that she is a legit 6'3".

Thank you!!

 

[TeamFirst!]

I don’t see any uncommitted recruits who could even potentially change the competitive balance for us out there besides maybe Mikaylah Williams. Some who could don’t fit the profile.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

What we really need frankly is a generational post talent like Boston or maybe Betts will become.Those don’t become available every year and if you lose those prospects it’s tough to build a top team when you are losing the rebounding battle by 24 rebounds a game.

Even without Boston, UConn was -8 on the boards. Will you please stop bringing Betts up every second and proclaiming UConn needs to get her?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

@EricLA and a couple of other BYers have met Ice and been on the floor next to her. My understanding is that she is a legit 6'3".

Well, if that's the case then Betts is more 6-9 than 6-7 if you saw the two standing next to each other last week.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Even without Boston, UConn was -8 on the boards. Will you please stop bringing Betts up every second and proclaiming UConn needs to get her?

Can we please talk about real basketball issues and stop complaining about the word Betts every time her name comes up? 90% of the time when I discuss her someone else brought her up first. You guys act like a spurned lover every time her name comes up. She’s a real player and a real issue going forward and all you guys can do is COMPLAIN rather than deal with the problem. What is it, a mass trauma event for you people? If we are going to win the national championship we need to rebound better and defend the post better. It couldn’t be a more clear issue going forward.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Can we please talk about real basketball issues and stop complaining about the word Betts every time her name comes up? 90% of the time when I discuss her someone else brought her up first. You guys act like a spurned lover every time her name comes up. She’s a real player and a real issue going forward and all you guys can do is COMPLAIN rather than deal with the problem. What is it, a mass trauma event for you people? If we are going to win the national championship we need to rebound better and defend the post better. It couldn’t be a more clear issue going forward.

She is no longer a UConn target and she's been discussed to death. Lauren Betts has nothing to do with UConn's rebounding and frontcourt issues.

 

[TeamFirst!]

In 38 minutes with everything riding on it, AE got 2 rebounds in the NC when it was priority one. No one else besides maybe Paige rebounded well. It was a game changer the first time we faced SC and also yesterday. It’s our new reality going forward and it’s not just SC probably. Geno gets it and recruited 2 bigs. I’m just saying it’s not enough probably. A generational big appears to be the game changer along with more athletic players. Dawn recruits very fast, athletic players for the most part. We recruit shooters.

 

[TeamFirst!]

She is no longer a UConn target and she's been discussed to death. Lauren Betts has nothing to do with UConn's rebounding and frontcourt issues.

We do play them right? Are we supposed to make believe she doesn’t exist. We could use the next best post prospect but ideally we should recruit someone even better. Maybe she’s not the next generational post talent but I don’t see any 19 year old in the world any better. The issue isn’t your personal aversion to the name Betts. The issue is who is going to beat her and Boston any time soon.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think I’ve is a legit 6’ 3” and she will help but she’s not going to even slow Boston down.

 

[ABCDFE]

It is not entirely about shot making. The biggest hallmarks of a UCONN post is consistency, playing to your strengths, and growth.
Consistency would mean that when Geno puts you on the floor he knows what to expect- that is not saying you are going to be a world beater it is just saying there is a predictability to the performance and you are not having days where you look like an AA and other where you fail to impact the game and are almost invisible. The playing to your strength part should be obvious and the expectation is you were recruited because you do X. Y and Z well-keep doing those at a high level but grow your game.
The growth part has been the most frustrating for this senior class IMO. CW, ONO, and Evina are graduating as pretty much the same players they were in their first year at UCONN=no growth. For example Christyn Williams best statistical year was her freshman season & ONO blocked more shots as a part-time player in her freshman season than she did as a fulltime starter in both her junior and senior campaigns. It is very rare for a UCONN player to not improve, even more so for an entire class.

I agree. When Liv was a freshman I thought she would develop a potent offense post presence to her very good defense at the time. CW has all the physical gifts, what I see now is that her confidence or dawg mentality and bb iq didn’t quite meet expectations for a #1 overall recruit. To me she was consistently inconsistent. We as fans fell into the trap that because she was rated #1 we expected her to be in the long lines of other great top recruits and at times freshman year she showed us wow moments. I think if she was ranked 10 or 15 she would’ve probably been more fairly ranked.