Dan Olson: "The Best Recruits I've Seen"

[j66kicker]

Hint: #1 & #2 are Huskies

Women's basketball recruits who turned into WNBA stars - and some who missed the mark

Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart are among the highly touted high school prospects who turned into WNBA stars.

www.espn.com

 

[Kaizen]

Am surprised DT is not in his list. But you cannot have all 3 UConn players in his top 3 list.

 

[CocoHusky]

Am surprised DT is not in his list. But you cannot have all 3 UConn players in his top 3 list.

Dan has only been evaluating HS girls basketball since about 2004. He would not have evaluated DT in HS.

Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Basketball Report

 

[eebmg]

I would be curious to see how he views Paige and Azzi in comparison to each other and historically at the guard position??

 

[Blueberries]

There's a little DeShields named Denim?! Whoa.....

 

[reno tony]

Deshields......really?

 

[pacific 44]

Hoop gurlz had Ms. Griner at a rating of 99,so i am surprised that she wasn't number 3.

 

[CocoHusky]

Hoop gurlz had Ms. Griner at a rating of 99,so i am surprised that she wasn't number 3.

Glen Nelson Hoopgurlz founder and Chris Hansen now at ProspectsNation were the ones mainly doing ESPN evaluations back in 2007-09 when Griner was still in HS. Dan is telling you about the top prospects "He personally saw" and quite possible Griner was not among them.

 

[bluedevil]

There's a little DeShields named Denim?! Whoa.....

Watch out for her cousin blue Jean....

 

[Orangutan]

Deshields......really?

Deshields has always had unlimited potential. Even now as a WNBA all-star, I feel she is just scratching the surface of her potential.

Unfortunately she went to schools where she was immediately hailed as a savior and expected to carry the team. Now that she's on a team with veteran leadership where she is not expected to do everything, she is flourishing.

If she had gone to a well-run program that developed her talent, such as UConn, she would have been an NPOY caliber player.

 

[Alydar]

Deshields has always had unlimited potential. Even now as a WNBA all-star, I feel she is just scratching the surface of her potential.

Unfortunately she went to schools where she was immediately hailed as a savior and expected to carry the team. Now that she's on a team with veteran leadership where she is not expected to do everything, she is flourishing.

If she had gone to a well-run program that developed her talent, such as UConn, she would gave been an NPOY caliber player.

DeShields has always been judged on her talent more than what she produced on the court. Blaming her coaching? Not me. My problem with her has always been her sense of entitlement, lack of defense and her lack of an elite 3 pt shot. From her first year at UNC to her last year at Tenn she never hesitated at taking 20 shots a game and making 6.
A legend in her own mind.

 

[Go/huskies]

A senior Deshields could have helped UConn add a championship in 2017.

 

[CocoHusky]

A senior Deshields could have helped UConn add a championship in 2017.

Yea. Dangerfield, Butler and DeShields willingly coming off the bench would have been marvelous.
I would have gladly traded all three of them for Morgan Tuck though.

 

[Mdoggie]

DeShields has always been judged on her talent more than what she produced on the court. Blaming her coaching? Not me. My problem with her has always been her sense of entitlement, lack of defense and her lack of an elite 3 pt shot. From her first year at UNC to her last year at Tenn she never hesitated at taking 20 shots a game and making 6.
A legend in her own mind.

Exactly and coaching is to blame. A real coach would not have let that behavior go. So yes blame coaching.

 

[Orangutan]

DeShields has always been judged on her talent more than what she produced on the court. Blaming her coaching? Not me. My problem with her has always been her sense of entitlement, lack of defense and her lack of an elite 3 pt shot. From her first year at UNC to her last year at Tenn she never hesitated at taking 20 shots a game and making 6.
A legend in her own mind.

The post is about best recruits, not best college careers, so yeah it's about talent moreso than production.

Even still, she is a legit WNBA all-star right now in her second year. So we're not talking about someone who is all hype.

As soon as she got to Chicago, she fell in line behind Vanderquigs and there has been no trace of this "entitlement".

It leaves me to conclude that she just needed a little guidance and structure.

Her defense is pretty good as a pro. Of Chicago's rotation players, she was 2nd behind Cheyenne Parker in defensive rating and defensive win shares.

That leaves 3 point shooting as your remaining complaint and that's an area where she could still stand to improve.

Not saying she is faultless but I think a lot of the flaws she displayed in college are correctable.

Anyhow, she was certainly an excellent recruit. Let's not forget she led a very young UNC team to the Elite Eight as a true freshman.

 

[Go/huskies]

Yea. Dangerfield, Butler and DeShields willingly coming off the bench would have been marvelous.
I would have gladly traded all three of them for Morgan Tuck though.

If DeShields would have landed at UConn, I can’t see her coming off the bench her senior year.

 

[eebmg]

I have equated Aubrey to DD in the past in terms of her physical gifts. Guessing we will see how the master craftsmen molds Aubrey into a multiple AA/DPOY perhaps

 

[Alydar]

Exactly and coaching is to blame. A real coach would not have let that behavior go. So yes blame coaching.

You may be right or maybe "real coaches" succeed because they avoid some very talented players. Not saying Geno wouldn't have taken her out of HS but sometimes even great talent can create more problems than they are worth.

 

[Dawson]

If I had to select 3 in recent memory, it would be Stewie, Maya and Candace Parker. CP was just dominant and a national celebrity as a high schooler.

 

[Kaizen]

DeShields' father is a big mouth I don't think Geno will like him..

 

[Mdoggie]

You may be right or maybe "real coaches" succeed because they avoid some very talented players. Not saying Geno wouldn't have taken her out of HS but sometimes even great talent can create more problems than they are worth.

True.

 

[Mdoggie]

DeShields' father is a big mouth I don't think Geno will like him..

Maybe Daddy Deshields would’ve met his match lol

 

[pvdoggy]

You may be right or maybe "real coaches" succeed because they avoid some very talented players. Not saying Geno wouldn't have taken her out of HS but sometimes even great talent can create more problems than they are worth.

I thought for sure Geno recruited Deshields in high school.

 

[DaBball]

Jeff Jacobs: Bring On UConn Says Tennesee’s Diamond DeShields

BRISTOL — She wants Tennessee to be the best. Diamond DeShields wants to be the best. “Help get to the [national] championship,” DeShields said when asked her goals for this seaso…

www.courant.com

 

[eebmg]

So these blurbs are relevant to UConn's interest in Deshields

"There was never any doubt she was the kind of talent coming out of high school that could have kind of a Maya [Moore] impact on a program," Auriemma said. "It was managing all the other stuff that went along with it that was going to be an issue for wherever she went. Now that she's at a place that's used to that, they know how to do that somewhat.

Asked how hard UConn recruited her, she said, "I would assume it was pretty hard. [Auriemma] would come to games. Sometimes he was there and I'd have no idea. He would sit up at the top and nobody knew it was him. He'd call me and say he was there. I thoroughly enjoyed the recruiting process with UConn. I really did. It was just kind of far."

So, I guess Geno window shopped but did not really pull the trigger.