Boston to South Carolina

[MoJeff FAN]

While I, too, wish we nabbed a few bigtime 2019 recruits, we DO have this skinny, raw 6'4" freshman kid from Georgia, the #1 recruit in the nation before she missed major time with a brutally "gruesome" fractured kneecap and torn medial patellar ligament.
She isn't nearly back yet, but as she gets stronger, smarter and UConn tough, look out all you naysayers. She will be a star. Aliyah who?

 

[Charliebball]

I'm holding my thoughts on UConn recruiting unti after Ms Jones announces her decision...............hoping against hope that she comes to the rescue of some of us depressed BYer's..............

 

[hoopsfan22]

I'm holding my thoughts on UConn recruiting unti after Ms Jones announces her decision.....hoping against hope that she comes to the rescue of some of us depressed BYer's....

Even if she doesn't, there are others on the radar for the next class. It might mean a couple of lean years like after DT left town, but people are acting like Geno just got hit by a sniper and Storrs was leveled by a nuke.

 

[Charliebball]

Even if she doesn't, there are others on the radar for the next class. It might mean a couple of lean years like after DT left town, but people are acting like Geno just got hit by a sniper and Storrs was leveled by a nuke.

yes that's right.................................2020 is the make or break year with so much talent out there...........I guess the good news is that South Carolina is one more team that doesn't need a center..............

 

[Charliebball]

Now we need to suffer through a year of gloom and doom proclamations until the next recruiting class. Ugh.

if Jones goes elsewhere it's going to be a hell of a year on the recruiting front................Geno might as well charter his own plane because if he doesn't bring home the bacon in 2020 the team may very well be viewed as in decline..............

 

[UConnLen]

Right, but UConn isn't the only school to put kids into the WNBA. IIRC only 3 Huskies went to the WNBA last year, so the rest of the draft must have come from somewhere else.

Wow-that has to be one of the dumbest posts I’ve ever read/or you are posting in jest? 3 pics in the draft is totally impressive in that there are hundreds of teams playing WCBB! I think 3 was all that graduated too...

 

[HopJim]

Couple of points I have posted previously:
-About a year ago, all the focus of the Board was on the Ausi, Magbegor. Tone was basically that if UConn recruited Magbegor, Geno would have to figure out a secondary position for Boston. Did Boston read the Boneyard? Could be coincidence but during the Magegor recruiting period, appeared Boston began to consider other schools.
-The UConn Assistant Coaches were in a bit of disarray the past year due to transitions to Boston U, pregnancy, etc. While Geno has proven to be the master recruiter, most coaches give significant credit to their assistants being able to gain mind share with recruits. Geno likely got less help than normally the past 12 months.
-Geno has appeared to be very rigid about recruiting ONLY the top rated players. With his coaching schools, would think he could locate upside players and coach them up to top level. We will never know.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I’m shocked and puzzled. Wilson developed nicely at S.C., but Coates didn’t.

This makes Jones and Griffin all the more important. It also means Liv really needs to get fast tracked.

Aliyah’s team is in the V. I. and she snubbed a coach who is also there. This is poor form on her part. She should have announced last week if it wasn’t going to be UConn.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Wow-that has to be one of the dumbest posts I’ve ever read/or you are posting in jest? 3 pics in the draft is totally impressive in that there are hundreds of teams playing WCBB! I think 3 was all that graduated too...

Get real there aren't hundreds of teams in WCBB that are relevant. There are maybe 20 or 30 that anyone has heard of.

 

[HopJim]

It's quite possible that Boston wanted to go away for college, and South Carolina geographically puts her closer to home. I mean we'll never know, but that's one way to look at her decision.

It's quite possible that Boston wanted to go away for college, and South Carolina geographically puts her closer to home. I mean we'll never know, but that's one way to look at her decision.

Man, this is a poor comment. Folks go to S. Carolina to retire but not to play basketball unless you are convinced its the top bball destination (ie. you are outrecruited if a UConn fan).

 

[MilfordHusky]

Some good news in this situation: S.C. may dominate Tennessee for 4 years.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Man, this is a poor comment. Folks go to S. Carolina to retire but not to play basketball unless you are convinced its the top bball destination (ie. you are outrecruited if a UConn fan).

I'm proposing a simple theory why a kid would choose one place over another. One that has in the past been cited by recruits for seemingly inexplicable decisions. You know that whole Occam's Razor thing and all. You are free to throw your ideas out there.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Some good news in this situation: S.C. may dominate Tennessee for 4 years.

Was thinking the same thing. Certainly Vol fans are celebrating this decision, but at the same time must realize they are going to get smoked for the next several years by Dawn's teams. At least if Boston came to UConn they'd likely never have to face her. I guess this is the proverbial double edged sword.

 

[UConnLen]

yes that's right........2020 is the make or break year with so much talent out there......I guess the good news is that South Carolina is one more team that doesn't need a center....

Get real there aren't hundreds of teams in WCBB that are relevant. There are maybe 20 or 30 that anyone has heard of.

You need to get real because UConn had 3 players picked in the first 10 picks, and BTW only 36 women were picked in the draft! How many other teams had 3 picked smart one???

 

[BostonFan]

Boston is a generational type player. She has the size & skill-set that UConn needed. I could have cared less about the other recruits. Boston was the 1 recruit that Geno needed to keep the program running. Devastating. The ones who are belittling this loss is just trying to keep things positive, but anyone who knows WCBB knows this is a loss you dont recover from quickly.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Sure sure UConn never recovers from the loss of a generational type player. You remember a woman named Diana Taurasi? She left town in 2004, and all UConn did was hang another six natty banners since her departure.

 

[cohenzone]

It’s hard not to follow recruiting, even though I thinks it’s kinda pointless. UConn has some very clear issues after this year. They lose a great shooter and a talented interior player. There isn’t a single player left who comes anywhere near KLS as a shooter and now all around player. Dangerfield can shoot, but without a KLS to get attention away from her they will need players like Walker to shoot more consistently. Then she will have a big rebounding burden against many teams. If Griffin is a good shooter, she might have a bigger role to fill as a frosh than most. Williams is terrific and ONO will have to progress mightily.

Who knows why kids decide to go to whatever school. UConn has more competition than even 5 years ago, a situation their own success helped to create. Many talented kids with many choices. Still, only UConn has shown the ability to stay at or near the top over a crazy long time. Other programs like SC, Miss State and Oregon have a way to go to show longevity. ND has longevity, and yet only two widely spaced NC. Baylor is in the conversation. Tennessee is different from the others. Holly has no success to point to. Most conferences are pretty top heavy. Only the female recruits can tell anyone if P5 makes as much of a difference to them as it does in men’s hoops and football. UConn still gets a big chunk of national TV exposure and regularly beats the best P5 teams. But nothing is forever. UConn’s recent failure to go unbeaten by losing 2 buzzer games in the national semis is showing recruits that UConn isn’t all that.

 

[Go/huskies]

I still think Jones will head to Uconn, if not the legend will have to show the world what she’s got, even though she will have more talent around her then DT had going into her Jr and Sr year.

 

[BostonFan]

Sure sure UConn never recovers from the loss of a generational type player. You remember a woman named Diana Taurasi? She left town in 2004, and all UConn did was hang another six natty banners since her departure.

When DT left, it was 3 years of pretty poor basketball. UConn had little chance of winning a title with those teams. We're trending in that direction.

 

[hoopsfan22]

It’s hard not to follow recruiting, even though I thinks it’s kinda pointless. UConn has some very clear issues after this year. They lose a great shooter and a talented interior player. There isn’t a single player left who comes anywhere near KLS as a shooter and now all around player. Dangerfield can shoot, but without a KLS to get attention away from her they will need players like Walker to shoot more consistently. Then she will have a big rebounding burden against many teams. If Griffin is a good shooter, she might have a bigger role to fill as a frosh than most. Williams is terrific and ONO will have to progress mightily.

Who knows why kids decide to go to whatever school. UConn has more competition than even 5 years ago, a situation their own success helped to create. Many talented kids with many choices. Still, only UConn has shown the ability to stay at or near the top over a crazy long time. Other programs like SC, Miss State and Oregon have a way to go to show longevity. ND has longevity, and yet only two widely spaced NC. Baylor is in the conversation. Tennessee is different from the others. Holly has no success to point to. Most conferences are pretty top heavy. Only the female recruits can tell anyone if P5 makes as much of a difference to them as it does in men’s hoops and football. UConn still gets a big chunk of national TV exposure and regularly beats the best P5 teams. But nothing is forever. UConn’s recent failure to go unbeaten by losing 2 buzzer games in the national semis is showing recruits that UConn isn’t all that.

Yep. Once Morgan William sank that buzzer beater, UConn's mystique was gone.

 

[hoopsfan22]

What is puzzling about this whole Boston thing is the frequent attendance of UConn games and planning to attend the UConn games at this Paradise Jam. Like, what is the point of all that if you weren't going to UConn? Did Boston just really want to watch Miss, St John's, and Purdue?

 

[Gus Mahler]

This is devastating. Profoundly disappointing. Boston was the player UConn really needed for next year.

Toully presumably graduates this spring. We don't know her plans, obviously, but if she left, right now we're looking at Liv and Kyla as being the only players of size next year. There will be no Lou or Pheesa. Part of the wonder of Lou is that she does what she does at 6'3".

Regarding Geno falling short somehow. If you count Liv and Mikayla as being players six and seven, this is how this year's team pans out regarding rankings:

1 - Lou
1 - Megan
1 - Christyn
3 - Crystal, and top guard
5 (?) - Liv, and former #1
5, 6 (?) - Napheesa
14 (?) - Mikayla, and former #4

Has there ever been a team with more top 5-6 players? (2002?)

So I don't buy that Geno is slipping. He had a one-player class in HS '09 (?) in Faris, and a one-player class in Chong. Faris turned out pretty good, and UConn wouldn't have had the year it did two years ago without Saniya.

And I agree with @HopJim, this was not a good year for continuity regarding recruiting.

Someone mentioned a graduate transfer for next year. That sounds good to me.

 

[CocoHusky]

Boston is a generational type player. She has the size & skill-set that UConn needed. I could have cared less about the other recruits. Boston was the 1 recruit that Geno needed to keep the program running. Devastating. The ones who are belittling this loss is just trying to keep things positive, but anyone who knows WCBB knows this is a loss you dont recover from quickly.

Though we had successfully disputed this notion. Boston is and will be a very good player, she is not a generational type player. Generational type players reach consensus #1 in the class.

 

[CocoHusky]

What is puzzling about this whole Boston thing is the frequent attendance of UConn games and planning to attend the UConn games at this Paradise Jam. Like, what is the point of all that if you weren't going to UConn? Did Boston just really want to watch Miss, St John's, and Purdue?

Were those Aliyah's plans or Our plans for her?

 

[hoopsfan22]

Were those Aliyah's plans or Our plans for her?

Good question. It was reported here that was her intention. Perhaps that was as false as her being a UConn lock?