Chasing Kiki Rice -A waste of UConn's time?

[Centerstream]

I understand that in addition to a full scholarship, Duke is offering KiKi an NIL deal of a lifetime supply of donuts from Carolina Glazed Donuts in Durham

It’ll be hard to turn that down……

Or maybe Krispy Kremes????

 

[Sifaka]

if I've missed something, or there's error in my logic, no doubt BYers will let me know.

Thank you for the invitation to point out a gaping hole in your…ermmmm…logic.

Ms. Rice, like other young ladies Geno recruits, is highly intelligent. Her lineage and interest in selective schools offer confirmation.

Ms. Rice recently attended UConn's First Night.

If she were not giving UConn very serious consideration, why would a highly intelligent young woman expend the time and effort to pay UConn a visit?

I suspect she is still gathering and processing information in the course of coming to a final decision.

You write as if you live in her head, and have intimate knowledge of how she weighs basketball, academics, and all the other factors that will guide her decision.

Newsflash! You don't; she does.

 

[oldhusky]

I will try a theory that has me thinking Stanford isn't quite the favorite like so many want to conclude. My reason for that is Duke being in the mix. Kiki said she wants to go to a school were she competes for a national championship every year. Duke may achieve that status in a few years, but is not there yet. If it has to be one of the best schools in the country and a consistent contender for a championship, Stanford would appear to be the only school that could meet both requirements.

I have not heard anything from Kiki saying it has to absolutely be a very top level school academically, although we have every reason to believe that is important to her as well. But maybe a good but not great school is enough. Based on what has been expressed, it appears that being a contender is the more important criteria of the two. If so, good for us.

So why does Duke being in the mix make me think something is a negative for Stanford? Because if the academics and contender are both required, why do you need to look past Stanford. Perhaps Kiki might prefer a younger coach, but otherwise her interest in Duke has me thinking she doesn't want to go that far away from home, and if she doesn't want to do that Stanford could be a long shot instead of a favorite.

If it is between Duke and us, Kiki would have to decide does she want great academics and a good basketball program in Duke, but not really a championship contender, or a great annual contender that is also a pretty good school. Who knows I am just speculating but the apparent serious interest in Duke has me thinking she doesn't want the west coast, and that Stanford is not our biggest contender for her services.

.

 

[NY Fan]

Thank you for the invitation to point out a gaping hole in your…ermmmm…logic.

Ms. Rice, like other young ladies Geno recruits, is highly intelligent. Her lineage and interest in selective schools offer confirmation.

Ms. Rice recently attended UConn's First Night.

If she were not giving UConn very serious consideration, why would a highly intelligent young woman expend the time and effort to pay UConn a visit?

I suspect she is still gathering and processing information in the course of coming to a final decision.

You write as if you live in her head, and have intimate knowledge of how she weighs basketball, academics, and all the other factors that will guide her decision.

Newsflash! You don't; she does.

At the outset I categorically hope my"emmmm" logic turns out to be wrong and Kiki comes to UConn. You are of course correct with the newsflash that I don't live in her head, but respectfully, Sir/Madam, the points you made are all answerable with that same emmmm logic and don't refute the conclusion I reached.

We agree she is intelligent, and her attendance at UConn First Night could be attributed to tourism as has been said about other recruited high schoolers. Also, she would be heightening the excitement for her brand and final choice. Without being in her head, it would be utter foolishness for her to ignore a visit to UConn and throwing away the (in my opinion) advantages to doing so. Of course her visit and not declaring thus far might indicate her real choice is UConn, I truly hope so! I give it low probability, that's all I've ever said and still think so. It's an opinion, my own, but it seems to have strayed from some people on the BY's orthodoxy!

 

[DEpup]

It is likely that Christyn & Evina will be on to the W next year. If KiKi Rice doesn’t believe she can compete for PT and/or a starting spot next season at UConn, she’s not the competitor we all believe her to be.

At first, I thought getting Kiki was fools gold just because of our depth at guard. But since she is a PG combo guard, I think its possible.

Next year I see a Nika, Azzi, and Paige starting guard line up and Kiki could easily get good minutes subbing in for Nika.

 

[DEpup]

My previous post being said, I still think the betting money is on Kiki just flirting with us like Boston and Jones did but end up going to Stanford or Duke..

 

[MilfordHusky]

In the latest U.S. News rankings, Stanford is #6 (tied), Duke is #9 (tied), and UCLA is #20. UConn is #63 (tied) and Arizona is #103 (tied). The major outlier appears to be Arizona. I think their strength is Adia Barnes and their recent success.

Don't count out UCLA based on their academics. They are now the #1 public university in the nation. There is not much difference between UCLA, Stanford, and Duke.

UConn, of course, has Geno and the status as the #1 program. It also has former players who have GOAT status and others who are the best player in the world (Stewie), a Naismith Hall of Famer (Rebecca), and the current best player in WCBB (Paige). If Kiki wants to go to Yale or Oxford, she can still do that at the graduate level.

I think it comes down to Duke and UConn. Yes, Kara Lawson played HS hoops in the DMV, but so did Jamelle--plus Saylor, Mir, and Azzi.

 

[Bigboote]

FWIW there’s no discernable dropoff between Sidwell Friends and St John’s College, where Azzi went. So citing Rice’s attending Sidwell as a possible reason she won’t attend UConn doesn’t hold much water.

 

[Oracle9]

In the latest U.S. News rankings, Stanford is #6 (tied), Duke is #9 (tied), and UCLA is #20. UConn is #63 (tied) and Arizona is #103 (tied). The major outlier appears to be Arizona. I think their strength is Adia Barnes and their recent success.

Don't count out UCLA based on their academics. They are now the #1 public university in the nation. There is not much difference between UCLA, Stanford, and Duke.

UConn, of course, has Geno and the status as the #1 program. It also has former players who have GOAT status and others who are the best player in the world (Stewie), a Naismith Hall of Famer (Rebecca), and the current best player in WCBB (Paige). If Kiki wants to go to Yale or Oxford, she can still do that at the graduate level.

I think it comes down to Duke and UConn. Yes, Kara Lawson played HS hoops in the DMV, but so did Jamelle--plus Saylor, Mir, and Azzi.

UCONN is in the top #25 in public universities #23 (tie with Rutgers and Penn State. It's also a tier 1 research university right in there with other top Universities. The Business School has the prestigious AACSB accreditation like Duke and Stanford Yale too-it has maintained accreditation since 1957. An athlete interviewed on another huskies team said recently this ranking was one of the deciding factors to attend UCONN. I think in the end it depends on what the recruit is looking for and that we won't know.

 

[jchusky]

with all due respect to Connecticut and North Carolina, California just has endless opportunities that the other 2 just don't offer. Also I hear people saying location will play a factor, really? From what I saw 2 of her top 5 were Arizona Ucla + Stanford. Why would someone that doesn't want to leave close to home consider those 3? Also I found it interesting out of all the visits, in her IG she put her in a UCLA jersey. Don't count them out at all because I really think we are seeing Cori Close become one of the best closers in recruiting, follow that up with her recent success in the U 19.

 

[visitingcock]

 

[CocoHusky]

with all due respect to Connecticut and North Carolina, California just has endless opportunities that the other 2 just don't offer. Also I hear people saying location will play a factor, really? From what I saw 2 of her top 5 were Arizona Ucla + Stanford. Why would someone that doesn't want to leave close to home consider those 3? Also I found it interesting out of all the visits, in her IG she put her in a UCLA jersey. Don't count them out at all because I really think we are seeing Cori Close become one of the best closers in recruiting, follow that up with her recent success in the U 19.

No saying it (Kiki to UCLA) might not happen but hopefully Kiki and her family are smart enough to figure that Cori is not going to be the coach to get her to a situation of competing for national championships or even a conference championship for that matter. Holly Warlick has accomplished more with less talent than Cori Close has in her tenure as UCLA coach which is approaching a decade now. BTW that U19 wasn't especially well coached either.

 

[Oracle9]

with all due respect to Connecticut and North Carolina, California just has endless opportunities that the other 2 just don't offer. Also I hear people saying location will play a factor, really? From what I saw 2 of her top 5 were Arizona Ucla + Stanford. Why would someone that doesn't want to leave close to home consider those 3? Also I found it interesting out of all the visits, in her IG she put her in a UCLA jersey. Don't count them out at all because I really think we are seeing Cori Close become one of the best closers in recruiting, follow that up with her recent success in the U 19.

Good point. I thought the same thing with the UCLA post myself. In one of my previous post I said that Uconn has an outside chance (can't discount that BB pedigree) and that Kiki will make an obvious pick or one that we never saw coming. She's playing it close to vest- intentionally. We just have to wait and see- just how she wants it.

 

[Tonyc]

It come down to what she wants. If its basketball UConn is the place. She will be a star at UConn with all that goes along with a star. Playing beside Paige and Azzi will only help her development. UConn is the dream school if your a female BB player looking to get to the next level and to become better. The attention to detail that Geno instills along with the discipline only reinforces the skills needed for the next level and beyond. Most importantly Geno takes care of his girls after they graduate.

 

[Oracle9]

I say all this speculating is moot as I stated in an earlier post on the recruiting thread the top list was a smokescreen- she knows where she's going already-the visits were for formality and feel out her choice. She probably finds all the speculating amusing. Just saying.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I never joke about donuts.

Do they make a bamboo donut?

 

[MilfordHusky]

FWIW there’s no discernable dropoff between Sidwell Friends and St John’s College, where Azzi went. So citing Rice’s attending Sidwell as a possible reason she won’t attend UConn doesn’t hold much water.

I'm not sure about the source, but this list has Sidwell at #2 and SJC at #36.

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-private-high-schools/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

 

[ABCDFE]

It come down to what she wants. If its basketball UConn is the place. She will be a star at UConn with all that goes along with a star. Playing beside Paige and Azzi will only help her development. UConn is the dream school if your a female BB player looking to get to the next level and to become better. The attention to detail that Geno instills along with the discipline only reinforces the skills needed for the next level and beyond. Most importantly Geno takes care of his girls after they graduate.

Didn’t Diana say something like if you’re good at basketball you go to UCONN and if you’re smart you go to Harvard. Sounds good to me

I will tell you that school/alumni network is important but if basketball is important to you then when you get a chance to play for THE premier WBB program with the greatest women’s basketball coach of all time, you have to take it.

 

[Purchase1]

Just off of social medias sake (I’m young enough to not be a creep lol) seems as though she’s leaning towards Duke just by following alone but who knows.

 

[Plebe]

It personally strikes me as belittling and borderline hostile to have a thread title that implies that a highly sought recruit is "fool's gold."

How would Kiki or the people around her feel if they read that?

 

[jchusky]

Just off of social medias sake (I’m young enough to not be a creep lol) seems as though she’s leaning towards Duke just by following alone but who knows.

I get the feeling as well she made up her decision 90% on a certain school. The Uconn first night attendance I wouldn't say was out of courtesy, it was more like a bucket list thing. You know to say you experienced it since Uconn first night when done correctly (unfortunately not this season) is one of the best in the country to be a part off. Not saying it's a bad thing, but I feel a lot of top recruits want to play now for a female hc and I think it's great to see that. I don't hold any grudge or bad will towards someone that wants to play for a female head coach, I think that empowerment has been shown by coaches like Dawn Staley and now Kara Lawson who when you hear her talk, you can definitely see why recruits want to play for her.

 

[Zanzman]

Glad you don’t hold a grudge

 

[triaddukefan]

It personally strikes me as belittling and borderline hostile to have a thread title that implies that a highly sought recruit is "fool's gold."

How would Kiki or the people around her feel if they read that?

No such thread titles on the Duke message boards. I'm just saying.

 

[UConnCat]

It personally strikes me as belittling and borderline hostile to have a thread title that implies that a highly sought recruit is "fool's gold."

How would Kiki or the people around her feel if they read that?

Well yes. I think the OP used the wrong metaphor. Ill-advised thread, ill-advised thread title.

 

[Bigboote]

I'm not sure about the source, but this list has Sidwell at #2 and SJC at #36.

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-private-high-schools/m/washington-dc-metro-area/

I stand corrected. Although I take issue with some of the rankings, I was obviously way off.