Don’t sleep on ‘sneaky’ Caroline Ducharme and how she can help the UConn women’s basketball team

[SVCBeercats]

Don’t sleep on ‘sneaky’ Caroline Ducharme and how she can help the UConn women’s basketball team

Out of the UConn women’s basketball team’s highly touted freshman class, No. 1 overall recruit Azzi Fudd has received the bulk of the hype and understandably so. But Fudd isn’t th…

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[itsasport]

For those of us who picked her as the big surprise this year, I think some pats on our backs are in order,

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think she is a huge find and was projected to be a solid contributor. Watch her high school championship game and her 3 point shooting competitions. She's for real and almost definitely underestimated in my view. I think she's going to be a star.

 

[tchalla1]

Underestimated? "A huge find?" Caroline is no secret. She was the fifth overall rated HS recruit--Liv was rated the same coming out of high school by both ESPNW and Hoop Gurlz. So why is there all this "sleeper", "underrated", "overachiever" and "under the radar" sentiment about Ducharme--she is a great, great versatile player and I am confident that she will achieve all that she is projected to do... She's not a sleeper... Sleeper is the #50th recruit, not the #5... Caroline was slotted right behind Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagan and received a grade 98 just as they did--and no one's calling them "sleepers".. I heartily agree with all your assessments about her contributions but Caroline is not underestimated nor a sleeper..

 

[Dokey]

Before the first dribble, I picked Caroline as the Husky whose play I would focus on this year. I’d pat myself on the back but after a day of felling trees and splitting firewood, it is a bit painful.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Underestimated? "A huge find?" Caroline is no secret. She was the fifth overall rated HS recruit--Liv was rated the same coming out of high school by both ESPNW and Hoop Gurlz. So why is there all this "sleeper", "underrated", "overachiever" and "under the radar" sentiment about Ducharme--she is a great, great versatile player and I am confident that she will achieve all that she is projected to do... She's not a sleeper... Sleeper is the #50th recruit, not the #5... Caroline was slotted right behind Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagan and received a grade 98 just as they did--and no one's calling them "sleepers".. I heartily agree with all your assessments about her contributions but Caroline is not underestimated nor a sleeper..

Thank you @tchalla1 . Caroline was and is no surprise in the recruit pile. Unfortunately we have Geno's ramblings to thank for the "sneaky" moniker. What he meant was some of her moves were surprising. Surprising only goes so far and then its just her game. I look forward to a lot of her game. That girl has game and she comes through the front door.

 

[EricLA]

Underestimated? "A huge find?" Caroline is no secret. She was the fifth overall rated HS recruit--Liv was rated the same coming out of high school by both ESPNW and Hoop Gurlz. So why is there all this "sleeper", "underrated", "overachiever" and "under the radar" sentiment about Ducharme--she is a great, great versatile player and I am confident that she will achieve all that she is projected to do... She's not a sleeper... Sleeper is the #50th recruit, not the #5... Caroline was slotted right behind Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagan and received a grade 98 just as they did--and no one's calling them "sleepers".. I heartily agree with all your assessments about her contributions but Caroline is not underestimated nor a sleeper..

I agree. A few additions...

Caroline was injured so she got no publicity, or chance to show her game, during her injury. Her senior year, fully healthy, she shot up the rankings in several services. HG ended at #5. PN at #11, Blue star at #7, ASGR #9, World Exposure #14. So you are correct - to say she snuck up on anyone is incorrect. Maybe she "snuck up" her seninor year coming off injuries. But every single service had her as a top 15 kid.

Now I'm all for a kid having a chip and feeling the need to prove oneself. I hope Caroline doesn't get caught up in that too much - maybe for the first part of the season, but just go out and work your butt off and show that you are an elite player. Period. Play with an edge. I'm all for that.

I think the sneaky stuff came from Geno. That she does things maybe he didn't know she could do.

I think (IMHO) the reason some UCONN fans refer to her as a sleeper is that almost all the publicity for the class surrounded Azzi. The "next great thing". From that perspective, not a lot of fans were talking about Caroline. ESPN obviously mentioned her in their ranking our class #2 behind SC:

Fudd, a dynamic playmaker, is the second No. 1-ranked prospect the Huskies have signed in as many years, as UConn also landed Paige Bueckers in the 2020 class. Fifth-ranked Caroline Ducharme is one of the most improved players in the country heading into her senior campaign. F Amari DeBerry, the No. 15 prospect, has a skill set similar to UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa thanks to her elite size, length and mobility. No. 30 Saylor Poffenbarger is a versatile guard who has 3-point range and size to post up in the paint.

 

[Inthepaint]

Underestimated? "A huge find?" Caroline is no secret. She was the fifth overall rated HS recruit--Liv was rated the same coming out of high school by both ESPNW and Hoop Gurlz. So why is there all this "sleeper", "underrated", "overachiever" and "under the radar" sentiment about Ducharme--she is a great, great versatile player and I am confident that she will achieve all that she is projected to do... She's not a sleeper... Sleeper is the #50th recruit, not the #5... Caroline was slotted right behind Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagan and received a grade 98 just as they did--and no one's calling them "sleepers".. I heartily agree with all your assessments about her contributions but Caroline is not underestimated nor a sleeper..

Yeah, she's here for a reason. Reason is that Geno wants her here.
Quite probably, the whole under the radar, underestimated, sleeper thing was mostly due to "Azzi-mania".
When you have that kind of anticipation running wild, even a talent like Caroline's can get a bit overshadowed.
Good, they'll never see her coming till it's too late. Much head shaking and "Who IS SHE?"

 

[Stymie]

Marginally off topic, but I’m hoping Saylor can shake the injury bug and show what she’s got when healthy.
Took a lot of courage (all things considered) to join the team early last year and not peak health to try to get ahead of the learning curve.

 

[ConnecticutBB]

What exactly are or were Caroline’s injuries?

 

[UConn82]

She tore her ACL and then her labrum in a shoulder, missing two high school seasons. This is why she was, but no longer, "under the radar."

 

[eebmg]

I agree. A few additions...

Caroline was injured so she got no publicity, or chance to show her game, during her injury. Her senior year, fully healthy, she shot up the rankings in several services. HG ended at #5. PN at #11, Blue star at #7, ASGR #9, World Exposure #14. So you are correct - to say she snuck up on anyone is incorrect. Maybe she "snuck up" her seninor year coming off injuries. But every single service had her as a top 15 kid.

Now I'm all for a kid having a chip and feeling the need to prove oneself. I hope Caroline doesn't get caught up in that too much - maybe for the first part of the season, but just go out and work your butt off and show that you are an elite player. Period. Play with an edge. I'm all for that.

I think the sneaky stuff came from Geno. That she does things maybe he didn't know she could do.

I think (IMHO) the reason some UCONN fans refer to her as a sleeper is that almost all the publicity for the class surrounded Azzi. The "next great thing". From that perspective, not a lot of fans were talking about Caroline. ESPN obviously mentioned her in their ranking our class #2 behind SC:

Fudd, a dynamic playmaker, is the second No. 1-ranked prospect the Huskies have signed in as many years, as UConn also landed Paige Bueckers in the 2020 class. Fifth-ranked Caroline Ducharme is one of the most improved players in the country heading into her senior campaign. F Amari DeBerry, the No. 15 prospect, has a skill set similar to UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa thanks to her elite size, length and mobility. No. 30 Saylor Poffenbarger is a versatile guard who has 3-point range and size to post up in the paint.

Yes, Geno started this description but not in a vacuum. He was saying this by observing how his own players were surprised by her play in practice and were getting beat badly in practice drills.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

I'm pretty sure Christyn Williams said she was sneaky before Geno did

 

[eebmg]

I'm pretty sure Christyn Williams said she was sneaky before Geno did

I think that is correct. Glad we are getting this "Sneaky Caroline" timeline solidified. The powerful ramifications of this reminds me of the 'Tricky Dicky' scandal.

 

[BBallF]

She is sneaky in her off ball movements. She fakes and cuts and gets open and goes to the basket in that kind of a throwback way. As I said before, she is going to put up 20 one game or maybe in more than one. She has size and a long wing span. I love her game. I will be interested to see her defense on Sunday.