Geno on the Three 2016 Recruits

[meyers7]

She didn't HAVE to repeat her sophomore year; she CHOSE to repeat her sophomore year. No one calls it redshirting, but high school kids do that all the time. A player one year older is obviously in a much stronger position to compete athletically. She couldn't have done that at a public high school, but the rules permit it for private academies. Male football, basketball and baseball players quite often repeat their senior years at a private academy to have a second chance at Division I scholarships or, in the case of baseball players, to improve their draft position without having to wait until the end of the junior year of college to be eligible.

Not only that, but my brother who lives in OK, was telling me that lot's of the boys go to school as K, 1, 1A, 2, 3, 4,..... etc. so that they are 18-19 when they graduate HS instead of 17-18. My nephew didn't have to go the 1A route. My brother is 6-1 and the uncles on the mom's side are all around 6-4, 6-5. The kid just finished his Soph year and is about 6-2/3.

 

[masshusk77]

Mass: how about a scouting report on Molly's game???

Ok, to preface my opinion on her game, I'm not claiming to be an "expert" on evaluating players or anything, I was just an average high school player who really enjoys the game and I've been able to see Molly play probably about 8-12 times on the AAU circuit over the last couple years sometimes full games, more often bits and pieces. So you can take my opinion with that in mind.

I personally think that Molly is going to be a big surprise to a lot of people in Connecticut. Her game is very enjoyable to watch from an "old school" perspective. She plays more like one of John Wooden's players than the way the game is played today. Very fundamentally sound and not very flashy which is why I think she gets a bad rap when it comes to the perspective of the people making the ranking lists. For those of you who don't know, at most tournaments that the recruiting analysts are at, they watch games for only 3 or 4 minutes at a time and then they move on. So for a player like Molly, her game doesn't immediately stand out.

Her biggest strength in my opinion is that she has the best "motor" I've seen from a player her age which is why she is such a great defender. She rarely comes out of the AAU games I've seen when they play against good teams and it looks like she is going to run herself into the ground but is able to do it for long stretches at a time. Offensively she is at her best in transition, she always pushes the ball and is able to make plays distributing and getting to the basket. She has a very good pull-up jumper which makes her tough to stop because if you back off to try and stop her from getting to the basket she will shoot that from the elbow. Although she isn't in the Moriah or Crystal category when it comes to pure athleticism she is a better athlete than you would think when you look at her. Another thing that you rarely see out of kids these days is willingness to put forth equal effort on the defensive and offensive ends. Molly might be the opposite where she puts more effort into her defense.

Her weakness in my opinion is that she is almost unselfish to a fault, especially in a set offense she becomes more passive and rarely looks to score. Her mindset seems to go to setting others up rather than attacking for herself. She makes a lot of the shots when she does take them but she isn't a volume shooter by any means.

I am going to try to catch a few of her games this winter when Tabor comes to play near me (Boston area) so I'll try to report back when I do see her play again for those of you who are interested.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Just some of the things I like about Molly:

She's a high honors student.

She wanted UConn

She play hard

As a 2-sport star, she's VERY fit

She likes to push the pace on offense

She's a tenacious defender (see Nurse, Kia)

She's unselfish

She has a nice pull-up jumper. Sue, Renee, and Bria all had that. Tiff never really did.

 

[UcMiami]

On the two sport aspect - Soccer is probably the highest energy output major team game played in the US - with 45 minute halves, very limited substitutions, and except for carded fouls and near goal fouls no involvement by refs in out of bounds or foul situations the movement around the pitch is constant for the full 45 minutes - great for endurance training. Basketball may be played faster, but there are regular stoppages and the whole game only lasts 40 minutes.

 

[warbler1055]

Molly chose UConn. Geno chose Molly. The both had lots of choices so it's got to be a good match. We all know there is a GREAT leap from HS to D1 College BB. But I am a dreamer and I hope the best for Molly. She could be another Sue Bird for all I know.

 

[Kibitzer]

Based on reports from our intrepid observers -- plus the fact that Geno recruited her (surely with input from Shea) -- Molly seems ready to pass the first evaluation test: Can she play?

A likely yes, verifiable at Storrs. Once she has jumped that hurdle, we'll see if she is a badass. Ya gotta think the potential is there.

 

[warbler1055]

LOL. You are funny. Of course she can play. The question is can she play at the elite UConn level.

 

[j66kicker]

Based on reports from our intrepid observers -- plus the fact that Geno recruited her (surely with input from Shea) -- Molly seems ready to pass the first evaluation test: Can she play?

A likely yes, verifiable at Storrs. Once she has jumped that hurdle, we'll see if she is a badass. Ya gotta think the potential is there.

Here is a graphic depiction of a badass, in case anyone is wondering what that is...

 

[Kibitzer]

Here is a graphic depiction of a badass, in case anyone is wondering what that is...

I get the idea, but what I had in mind was something along the lines of Sue at the Buzzer, Diana vs. Tennessee (often), Stewie running end-to-end to do a smackdown on the Rutgers girl with an easy (she thought!) layup, Kia doing a number on Team USA, or Kaleena breaking Irish hearts with that drumbeat of clutch buckets in the NC game. (MoJett and Morgan not included since their best is yet to come.

 

[j66kicker]

I get the idea, but what I had in mind was something along the lines of Sue at the Buzzer, Diana vs. Tennessee (often), Stewie running end-to-end to do a smackdown on the Rutgers girl with an easy (she thought!) layup, Kia doing a number on Team USA, or Kaleena breaking Irish hearts with that drumbeat of clutch buckets in the NC game. (MoJett and Morgan not included since their best is yet to come.

That's what I had in mind too - I don't get what the difference is...????