Geno On The "Madness" For The Women

[JavaMan]

Where’s the March Madness in the Women’s Final Four?
The NCAA women’s basketball tournament will have more upsets than it used to but still lags behind the men’s tourney.
By Matt Baker

When the Women’s Final Four last came to Tampa in 2015, you could count the number of teams with realistic championship hopes on one or two fingers.

As the NCAA women’s basketball tournament prepares to return to Amalie Arena next month, UConn coach Geno Auriemma sees six or seven teams capable of winning it all, as his Huskies did four years ago.

“This year, I think, is going to be one of the more wide-open races that there has been,” Auriemma said.

As Tampa was preparing to host its first Women’s Final Four in 2008, eight of the nation’s top 20 recruits signed with either Tennessee or UConn. Nine other teams split the rest.

This year’s top 20 recruits went to 15 different schools. None, shockingly, chose the Huskies. The defending national champion (Notre Dame) only landed one of them, as did the Lady Vols.

“More teams are benefiting from the fact that more players are choosing different schools,” Auriemma said. “That’s what needed to happen.”

And it’s starting to result in a little bit more madness.

Complete article HERE
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[warbler1055]

So parity has come to WBB!!! None of the top 20 recruits chose UConn. Are we doomed?

 

[Oldbones]

Madness. Madness...…………….

 

[MilfordHusky]

"This year’s top 20 recruits went to 15 different schools. None, shockingly, chose the Huskies."

But, if one believes that there was one recruit who was grossly under-ranked, that may not be true. And if you add in foreign players, maybe we have multiple top-20 prospects. We'll know in time.

 

[Gus Mahler]

"This year’s top 20 recruits went to 15 different schools. None, shockingly, chose the Huskies."

But, if one believes that there was one recruit who was grossly under-ranked, that may not be true. And if you add in foreign players, maybe we have multiple top-20 prospects. We'll know in time.

I take solace in your optimism.

 

[Jaybird65]

"This year’s top 20 recruits went to 15 different schools. None, shockingly, chose the Huskies."

But, if one believes that there was one recruit who was grossly under-ranked, that may not be true. And if you add in foreign players, maybe we have multiple top-20 prospects. We'll know in time.

Many, many more options available for top players. Just one of those recruiting years so far but still time to pull a rabbit or two out of the pot.

 

[Charliebball]

So parity has come to WBB!!! None of the top 20 recruits chose UConn. Are we doomed?

if by doomed you mean winning the championship every other year then the answer is yes.....................

 

[Charliebball]

Many, many more options available for top players. Just one of those recruiting years so far but still time to pull a rabbit or two out of the pot.

the same options have been available for a while now................Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee, Maryland, Louisville, UCLA etc................the particular highly ranked group of players that UConn targeted ultimately didn't buy into what Geno was selling and there was zero back up plan, thus the last minute scramble for talent near and far.............

 

[JordyG]

Another thing that we need to take into account are transfers. If, and I say if, Holly at Tenn has tendered her resignation as scuttlebutt has implied, and she does leave, that will leave a lot of talented incoming freshmen and sophomores with some big decisions to make.

 

['nuff sed]

if by doomed you mean winning the championship every other year then the answer is yes......

I disagree

If there are 2-3 teams in the "big game hunting" pool then you would need to land monster recruiting classes.

If you dilute the "top 20" to 15 or even 20 schools you only need to land 1-2.

So the edge goes to who can evaluate talent, recruit it successfully, and develop it, say in the top 50+

Then there is this ridiculous transfer game.

Doomed is not the word here IMO - the "top program" will be the one to continue to win multiple NC's per decade --- with multiple teams

 

[Jaybird65]

the same options have been available for a while now......Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee, Maryland, Louisville, UCLA etc......the particular highly ranked group of players that UConn targeted ultimately didn't buy into what Geno was selling and there was zero back up plan, thus the last minute scramble for talent near and far...

Yep, you've identified the standards. The fringe group is getting larger & larger each year. There are more options for players to stay closer to home & get the experience that they want. Geno is not going to change what he "sells"; his target group will just get larger; it was going to come to this at some point in time, maybe sooner than some expected. It'll be fun to see how he adapts.

 

[Charliebball]

I disagree

If there are 2-3 teams in the "big game hunting" pool then you would need to land monster recruiting classes.

If you dilute the "top 20" to 15 or even 20 schools you only need to land 1-2.

So the edge goes to who can evaluate talent, recruit it successfully, and develop it, say in the top 50+

Then there is this ridiculous transfer game.

Doomed is not the word here IMO - the "top program" will be the one to continue to win multiple NC's per decade --- with multiple teams

UConn has more often then not managed to land one or two of the top players in a class until 2019................I'm waiting to see if that was an aberration or the beginning of a trend................... clearly whoever lands Paige Bueckers and then Azzi Fudd in '21 will have a major advantage going forward.........................I'm hoping both are UConn bound but not counting on it..........