December UConn recruiting thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

December UConn recruiting thread

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Sluconn Husky said:
Gabriel's a project and DeBerry's more Azura Stevens than Kalani Brown. Wouldn't hurt to have another interior player.
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No, it certainly wouldn't hurt, but I think that is going to be a tough sell with Gabriel, DeBerry, Edwards, and Brady all vying for minutes in the frontcourt for the foreseeable future.
 
soxfan23 said:
No, it certainly wouldn't hurt, but I think that is going to be a tough sell with Gabriel, DeBerry, Edwards, and Brady all vying for minutes in the frontcourt for the foreseeable future.
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It could be a tough sell, but I suspect even more so for a frontcourt player that is mostly a PF. Edwards and Brady could consume the minutes there, and someone in the 22 class would have Aubrey to deal with for one year as well. The path to playing time appears much easier if you are a pure C or alternatively could play some SF.

I don't think a player ranked as high as Betts worries about losing minutes to Gabriel. DeBerry is another matter, who knows who emerges as a starter there, but backup minutes seems assured. Problem is Betts can go to plenty of top programs and be more assured of starting early in her career.

Many seem to expect Gabriel to get a taste of garbage time in a development year, and then possibly have a more important role in later years. I think the more realistic scenario is if she doesn't get meaningfull minutes this year, it probably won't happen for her.

This year Gabriel is the fourth big (considering Aubrey a big this year) in what could be a three big rotation. Next year on paper she looks like the 5th big with Amari onboard, and the year after she is probably 5th as well with Liv leaving but Ice coming. If anything she moves down one more spot if anyone from the Betts, Patterson, Barker group joins Ice in 22.

Anyway I want as many top players as we can get, but with a stacked roster most of the players remaining on the 22 wish list face potential playing time concerns here, regardless of their high ranking. That is a recruiting disadvantage, offset partially by the expectations that if you do compete and earn a spot in the rotation, your team will be in the national spotlight competing for a championship every year.
 
oldhuskie said:
It could be a tough sell, but I suspect even more so for a frontcourt player that is mostly a PF. Edwards and Brady could consume the minutes there, and someone in the 22 class would have Aubrey to deal with for one year as well. The path to playing time appears much easier if you are a pure C or alternatively could play some SF.

I don't think a player ranked as high as Betts worries about losing minutes to Gabriel. DeBerry is another matter, who knows who emerges as a starter there, but backup minutes seems assured. Problem is Betts can go to plenty of top programs and be more assured of starting early in her career.

Many seem to expect Gabriel to get a taste of garbage time in a development year, and then possibly have a more important role in later years. I think the more realistic scenario is if she doesn't get meaningfull minutes this year, it probably won't happen for her.

This year Gabriel is the fourth big (considering Aubrey a big this year) in what could be a three big rotation. Next year on paper she looks like the 5th big with Amari onboard, and the year after she is probably 5th as well with Liv leaving but Ice coming. If anything she moves down one more spot if anyone from the Betts, Patterson, Barker group joins Ice in 22.

Anyway I want as many top players as we can get, but with a stacked roster most of the players remaining on the 22 wish list face potential playing time concerns here, regardless of their high ranking. That is a recruiting disadvantage, offset partially by the expectations that if you do compete and earn a spot in the rotation, your team will be in the national spotlight competing for a championship every year.
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You must not expect Gabriel to improve at all and that would be on the coaching staff. With the coaching she will get and her eagerness and willingness to learn, I think she will contribute a lot more than you think. All projects don't remain projects, especially if they have good coaching and if they have the kind of potential Gabriel is said to have.
 
donalddoowop said:
You must not expect Gabriel to improve at all and that would be on the coaching staff. With the coaching she will get and her eagerness and willingness to learn, I think she will contribute a lot more than you think. All projects don't remain projects, especially if they have good coaching and if they have the kind of potential Gabriel is said to have.
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No I expect her to improve quite a bit, and the coaching staff to be largely responsible for that. It's just a numbers game. She was not as highly recruited, and could in fact do as well or exceed expectations and still not get much playing time.

This year she is the fourth big whether she does well or not. If she succeeds early she will get some playing time. Next year on paper she is the fifth big, and normally the fifth big on any team does not get significant minutes, no matter how good they are, or how much they have improved.

Not this year, but next she needs to improve enough to be better than Liv, Amari, Aaliyah or Aubrey to get regular minutes. She might even show remarkable improvement and still fall short of passing any of those four. That is a pretty tall hurdle to overcome.

I know it sounds strange to say a player viewed as a long range project has more opportunity for playing time in her first year, but with existing and incoming players, short of injuries or transfers above her, the path to playing time is much easier this year than the next few years. Not a reflection on if she will improve, but rather is it realistic to expect her to improve enough to pass one of those four players.
 
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JordyG said:
As a long time Brooklyn born boy I say no achievement is greater than winning any championship in that gloomy place.
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Brooklyn was arguably the best high school hoops in the country when my high school, Brooklyn Tech, competed against storied Boys High [Connie Hawkins], Erasmus Hall [Billy Cunningham] and Wingate High [Roger Brown]. At the time, circa 1960, the CHSAA [led by Molloy's Billy Lawrence] was considered the top high school boys' basketball conference - top-to-bottom - in the country, and still is today!
The high school girls' program at that "gloomy place" - Christ the King HS - has been designated by USA Today as the best in the land, eh?
 
oldhuskie said:
No I expect her to improve quite a bit, and the coaching staff to be largely responsible for that. It's just a numbers game. She was not as highly recruited, and could in fact do as well or exceed expectations and still not get much playing time.

This year she is the fourth big whether she does well or not. If she succeeds early she will get some playing time. Next year on paper she is the fifth big, and normally the fifth big on any team does not get significant minutes, no matter how good they are, or how much they have improved.

Not this year, but next she needs to improve enough to be better than Liv, Amari, Aaliyah or Aubrey to get regular minutes. She might even show remarkable improvement and still fall short of passing any of those four. That is a pretty tall hurdle to overcome.

I know it sounds strange to say a player viewed as a long range project has more opportunity for playing time in her first year, but with existing and incoming players, short of injuries or transfers above her, the path to playing time is much easier this year than the next few years. Not a reflection on if she will improve, but rather is it realistic to expect her to improve enough to pass one of those four players.
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One of those four has not played a minute of D1 basketball.
 
New potential target: 2024 PG Athena Tomlinson from Clovis, California. Currently #21 at Blue Star.

*

Athena Tomlinson may be a little small in the height category, but this 2024 West Coast lightning bolt looks like she could throw up plenty of reps at the NFL Combine. The lefty shot creator from the Cal Sparks organization came off as very coachable, and seemed to learn a lot about her shot selection and playing her position even better during the event.


www.bluestarmedia.org

Blue Star 30s shine in Tampa - Bluestar Media

TAMPA, FL – The 5th Annual Blue Star 30 Camp invaded sunny Tampa, Florida last week, bringing together over 70 young women from all over the United States to compete, learn, and carry on the legacy of the 30 sisterhood. Even in a year of COVID changes that saw the camp pushed back to the […]
www.bluestarmedia.org www.bluestarmedia.org



Tomlinson is only in the 2024 class and she might display the quickest ball-handling skill set we saw all of camp. Offensively, she created space with a jab-step that created space for a 3-ball. Her catch and shoot looks confident and automatic. She gets to the rim very quick and can really float with the ball in her hands. When she gets a defensive rebound, it’s a huge threat because she can transition so quickly down the floor for early offense. She has some star qualities about her game.

Tomlinson is a lead guard who is built for the modern game of basketball. She is a quick, skilled player who can set the pace of the game from the outset. The left-handed point guard uses her advanced dribble moves to create space on the perimeter and has terrific touch to finish in the lane even in traffic. If defenses decide to give her space to take away the drive, she has consistent range on her jumper to nail 3-pointers. The freshman is far from a shoot first, ‘get her own’ type player. She keeps her head up and puts passes on the mark to teammates for easy scores. Her energy and quick feet translate well to the defensive end where she can be found disrupting opponents into mistakes. As good as Tomlinson is with the ball in her hands, she can still become more comfortable finishing with her off-hand in traffic. As she climbs the ranks of grassroots basketball and scouting reports become more prevalent, being a consistent threat to go either direction will be key. – Coach Hemi


 
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Models her game after Kyrie Irving and Allan Iverson, the latter is exactly who I thought of while watching her. Like parts of her game more than his though, at least based on early looks.


 
And just for fun, here is Ms Tomlinson in 2017 at 11 years old.


 
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Sluconn Husky said:
Tomlinson is a workout fiend. This is one of several videos demonstrating her work ethic. Don't think I've ever seen quicker feet.


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Are there quicker feet? Can there be quicker feet? It sounds like she tap dancing...on her toes. The old fashioned way. She's nasty with left handed stroke.
 
Jingo said:
Brooklyn was arguably the best high school hoops in the country when my high school, Brooklyn Tech, competed against storied Boys High [Connie Hawkins], Erasmus Hall [Billy Cunningham] and Wingate High [Roger Brown]. At the time, circa 1960, the CHSAA [led by Molloy's Billy Lawrence] was considered the top high school boys' basketball conference - top-to-bottom - in the country, and still is today!
The high school girls' program at that "gloomy place" - Christ the King HS - has been designated by USA Today as the best in the land, eh?
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I was a freshman at Tech in '63. I still live about 16 blocks from BT.
 
JordyG said:
I was a freshman at Tech in '63. I still live about 16 blocks from BT.
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I was at Chaminade in the early 60s. Here is the 1963 CHSAA All-City Team: Val Reid, LaSalle (played at Syracuse); Willie Wolters, Loughlin (Kara's father; played for Bob Cousy at Boston College); Lew Alcindor, Power Memorial; Lloyd "Sonny" Dove, St. Francis Prep (played at St. John's U. and in the NBA); Chris Chimera, LaSalle.
 

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