Blanca Quiñonez Commits to UConn

[Zarathustra]

Speaking of correct spelling, here is a quick and dirty lesson in Spanish orthography.

Her name is pronounced Key NYOWN ace. The ñ is like the ny in canyon. Because her last name ends with a “z”, the next to last syllable, the penultimate, requires an acute accent: Blanca Quiñónez.

If it were to end with an “s”, it wouldn't need the accent, and the pronunciation would remain the same. That's because Spanish words ending in a vowel or the letters “n” and “s” have the penultimate syllable accented in speech. Words ending in consonants have the emphasis on the final syllable, unless another syllable has a written accent.

The article posted by @Zarathustra, and originally by @From Canada above, has it written correctly in the headline, but screws it up in the translated text.

“Blanca Quiñónez, la basquetbolista de Milagro que juega en Italia”

So, to answer @donalddoowop's question, her first name is
Blanca. Her last name, with two diacritics, is Quiñónez.

Feel free to copy and paste. ñ ó

I looked up the translation of "Blanquita" used in the article from "Primicias" (an Ecuadorean
"digital media outlet "). The best translation is (to my way of thinking) is " Little Blanca " i.e.
a diminutive form of Blanca.
One should be careful however to use the term as Blanca is no longer "Little" and there was
a note of a slang usage of the term in Ecuador, i.e.. "little white" meaning cocaine. The article also
refers to Blanca as "the Guayasian " which refers to her because she is from the city of
Milagro which is in the province/district/canton of Guayas (I think that I spelled that
correctly). Milagro is about 5 hours, 232 miles South Southwest of Quito. Blanca's next game in
Italy is on Sunday.

 

[UcMiami]

Both.

Plus a light-bulb finally clicked with him that a vast reservoir of international talent is uniquely available to him.

• Geno and players who played for him at UConn are very well respected internationally and by US players that play FIBA basketball on international teams;
• So, if Geno reciprocates interest in a presumably great international recruit — which U.S. recruiting services typically ignore — who want to be trained by the best, Geno has a great shot at getting them;
• Gandy, Blanca, hopefully Lara, hopefully Olivia are arguably recent Geno recruiting predilections;
• we should thank Morgan Valley for the focused recruiting work she has done;
• we should also thank Nika, Lou, Aaliyah and Dorka for the recent deep impressions they left with Geno.

It takes a special player to appreciate being part of a deep roster that focuses on practice-driven development. Geno is finding enough recruits he really wants by also tapping internationally. (Hopefully, there will be no more reprise of departures from recent classes).

I think the main driver of the expanding roster is the transfer portal, with the secondary being the rash of injuries. I think every coach is aware of what a mess the transfer portal makes of their long term planning and has had to adapt. Geno also isn't likely to do a deep dive into the portal like some have - so far the transfers he has taken are grad transfers - Dorka was unusual in that she graduated in three years so he had her for two years.

As far as 25/26 classes - I suspect he has a good idea of who is leaving when and there may be more scholarships opening up. But two 4 player classes in a row would by necessity shrink following classes, if every one stays.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

I think the main driver of the expanding roster is the transfer portal, with the secondary being the rash of injuries. I think every coach is aware of what a mess the transfer portal makes of their long term planning and has had to adapt. Geno also isn't likely to do a deep dive into the portal like some have - so far the transfers he has taken are grad transfers - Dorka was unusual in that she graduated in three years so he had her for two years.

As far as 25/26 classes - I suspect he has a good idea of who is leaving when and there may be more scholarships opening up. But two 4 player classes in a row would by necessity shrink following classes, if every one stays.

True, the portal and NIL was the paradigm shift;

• The plague and dipping in the international pool spurred Geno’s innovations in recruiting to deal with it.

I think the past few years’ plague revealed:

• Geno’s previous roster limit (11-12), to avoid chemistry issues, is untenable;
• Geno doesn’t much care for emergency portal shopping;
• Geno would rather have earlier recruited a player for contingencies;
• He would avoid chemistry issues by filling his roster with the player that he wants, when he wants such a player, and such a player who is really enthused with the four-year practice culture driven development program.

As Dawn is finding out, and Geno avoided being bitten, there will be down U.S. recruiting years for major programs;

• 2025 could have been such a year with Geno;
• but he got Gandy when he wanted an agile post at this time, when posts seem to gravitate to other programs;
• Geno probably looked at 2025 and 2026 wings, decided he wants one wing in 2025, and had quality plans A, B, C, etc. until he got Blanca from the international pool;
• Geno could have settled on Brynn McGaughy but he is holding out for Lara.

Having a deeper pool by proactively harnessing the international pool which he has unique access to, Geno is better able to deal with the portal/NIL — getting recruits he wants, when he wants them, who will be less likely to avail of the portal.

The portal is still available to him for non-emergency team-enhancing transfers that fit his program.

 

[Forego]

Is it way to early to ask if her homecoming game will be held in Ecuador or Italy?

 

[hoophuskee]

Am really excited about Blanca whom Geno really wanted.

• As many have opined, Blanca’s skills (other than 3 point shooting which she is working on) and attributes are remarkable;
• She’s comparable to Jana to me in immediate team impact — a big fish in a small pond (Ecuador’s national teams) who then played in a European professional league where she learned fundamental physical basketball for her base development playing with more advanced players;
• A poster remarked that Agot Makeer has poor fundamentals, which shouldn’t be the case for Blanca.

Doggedly pursuing a wing (Blanca) and a forward (Lara) this year — both of whom he seemingly really wants — is a window into his seeming preference for developing recruits rather than relying on the portal.

There are three remaining slots for all of 2025 (recruits and transfers) and 2026 recruits:

• Geno seems to really want Olivia Vukosa for 2026;
• Geno hasn’t had a 1-player class in a while;
• this seems to point to him pursuing at least a 2-player 2026 class, say with Jerzy Robinson, a versatile scoring point guard;
• one 2025 slot seems reserved for Lara Somfai (whom he visited at their school with Kellis) if she wants it;
• I doubt, given what he currently has and what he wants for 2026, that he will pursue a generic 2025 transfer;
• Geno seems to be increasingly comfortable with 13-15 player rosters. And his practice-driven development culture and usual type of recruits with goals on making it the next level, make it work.

Who said Agot has poor fundamentals? I don't see how a top 5 player in her class that's a Wing can have poor fundamentals. For me Agot is now the next priority then followed by Somfai. OFC would like both. UCONN has Jana, Ice, Ayanna, Gandy and Sarah in the forntcourt for next season excluding possiblities of smaller "PF's." Right now UCONN would have 3 Centers ahead of Somfai for next season. And frankly, next season over 90% if not 95% or more Sarah can play center after she gets one year under her belt. Blanca looks scary good at a variety of spots. Morgan is also scary good and can probably play a smaller PF.

As we saw with Iowa beating SOCar once and giving them trouble the 2nd time, UONN has more talent than what they had for this year and the next few..

 

[Sifaka]

Milagro is about 5 hours, 232 miles South Southwest of Quito

Correct. It's also just a bit over 20 miles from Guayaquil,the biggest city in Ecuador.

 

[Cuango]

Who said Agot has poor fundamentals? I don't see how a top 5 player in her class that's a Wing can have poor fundamentals. For me Agot is now the next priority then followed by Somfai. OFC would like both. UCONN has Jana, Ice, Ayanna, Gandy and Sarah in the forntcourt for next season excluding possiblities of smaller "PF's." Right now UCONN would have 3 Centers ahead of Somfai for next season. And frankly, next season over 90% if not 95% or more Sarah can play center after she gets one year under her belt. Blanca looks scary good at a variety of spots. Morgan is also scary good and can probably play a smaller PF.

As we saw with Iowa beating SOCar once and giving them trouble the 2nd time, UONN has more talent than what they had for this year and the next few..

I have to disagree! Somfai is definitely a higher priority than Agot! We have a surfeit of 6’1”& 6’2” players! Somfai at 6’4” is the more important recruit, especially in light of Blanca’s committment!