Changing Landscape in WCBB?.......Not really!!

[jsloanjr]

Changing landscape?
Although UConn remains ahead of the pack right now in recruiting, Pittsburgh’s Berenato looks to the past to see why it might not always be that way in the future.
“Do you remember when, in the men’s game, UCLA was winning all of those championships?” said Berenato, referring to the Bruins’ 10 national championships between 1964 and 1975. “That’s where we are right now with Connecticut. But it always hasn’t been that way. First it was Louisiana Tech, then it was Old Dominion, then Tennessee, then Connecticut. Now, Baylor’s starting to take them on.”

The difference between UCONN and all the rest of WCBB is they had the best player or 2 for a few years and once that player left they went down hill. Geno has been able to reload his gun every year to compete with any top 5 team and then go on a 90 game win streak and win 3 NC's

I remember when Geno made a comment that teams who want to beat UCONN get them in 2011/2012 or you will need to wait for 5 or 6 years.......WOW!!.........He might be right.......

We will see a ddifferent UCONN team next month on the 27th against ND at the XL and in the BE Tournament..

 

[EricLA]

i agree. there is a huge difference between the top 2-3 players, and the next group. i don't always agree with HG's rankings (it seems they miss the boat as often on UCONN recruits as not), but they don't just rank them 1-100, they also assign an individual rating up to 100 for each player. since 2006...

98 - Tina Charles
98 - Maya Moore
97 - Bjorkland (TN), Bauhg(TN), Lavender(OSU), Pedersen(STAN), Lucas(UNC), Thomas(Duke), Thomas(Duke), Strickland (MD)
97 - EDD
99 - Griner(Baylor)
98 - Bone(aTm)
97 - Diggins(ND), Walker (UCLA), Reed(TX), Oliver (RU), Smith (SJU)
98 - Ogwumike (Stan)
97 - Howard(FSU), Simms(Baylor), Gray(Duke), Horn(Alabama), Jackson(Duke)
98 - KML, Williams (Duke)
98 - Stewart, Jefferson
97 - Jones(Duke), Tuck, Loyd (ND), Graves(TN), Adams(USC), Hollivay (RU), Howard (MD)

So how many kids rated 97-98 have the top schools gotten?

UCONN - 7
Duke - 6
Tennessee - 3
ND, Baylor, RU, MD and Stan - 2

teams like Baylor, aTm, UCONN, Duke, Tennessee, Stanford, Maryland, Rutgers, etc. all also have landed more than 1 top 10 kid who was rated 95 or 96, but when you consider the likelihood that kids like Charles, Moore, Griner, Diggins, Ogwumike, Simms, KML, Williams, Stewart and Jefferson are substantially better than kids rated even only a few spots below them, it's easy to see why UCONN's future looks so bright.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Great stats. You can't even contemplate winning at a high level without the folks to do it with.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Frankly, I disagree with Hoopgurlz as to the numbering system.

This is what Hoopgurlz has:

96-100:Five-star prospect
Player demonstrates rare abilities and intangibles. She should have an immediate impact at a national program and be a potential Olympian with All-Conference and All-American potential. Tina Charles, Jayne Appel, Brittainey Raven, Maya Moore, Candace Parker and Angel McCoughtry are all examples of prospects in this range.

91-95: Four-star prospect
Player has the potential to significantly contribute as a freshman for most national programs and should make an immediate impact. Player could start multiple years for a NCAA tournament-caliber team and should contribute as a freshman. Players in this range could also be big-time feature players in most mid-major programs.

This is what ESPN has on the men's side:

97-100: High-major plus prospect
Player demonstrates rare abilities. He should have an immediate impact at a national program with the potential for early entry into the NBA.

94-96: High-major prospect
Player is the centerpiece to a high-major program who starts three to four years.

92-93: High-major minus prospect
Player has the potential to significantly contribute to a high-major program over four years.

89-91: Mid-major plus prospect
Player is a fringe high-major recruit who contributes or a standout mid-level recruit.

The latter is more specific and gives you more information and analysis.

 

[UcMiami]

Whenever this discussion comes up I also like to point out that in the women's game when you land one of those top players you land them for four years, so you have three more years to surround them with other top players and/or complementary players - that is HUGE in terms of team building and leads to more consistency in the top programs that land these kids. In the men's game because those 97-100 ranked players are gone after one or at most two years, getting them has less long term affect on a program and the #1 team this year may easily drop out of the top 10 next year.

 

[CompSci87]

98 - Ogwumike (Stan)

Which Ogwumike was that? Shouldn't they both be on your list? (I can't find historic hoopgurlz rankings, so can't check.)