Haley Jones to Stanford

[Carnac]

I don't think Stanford has had a truly elite player since Chiney graduated, and even her Sr. year she was not surrounded by great talent. You have to go back to her Fr. and Soph year to find a Stanford team stacked like they could be the next several years. They might get back to annual trips to the Final 4. The Pac 12 is better top to bottom than it was during their last dominant period but they should rise to the top again. It's kind of hard to believe they haven't won a conference regular season championship since 2014, but that drought may end sooner than later.

Stanford recruited Haley just as vigorously as the other elite programs. The difference being they already had a prior relationship with her, as she attended several youth summer basketball camps. Not to mention the fact that they were the closest MAJOR program recruiting her, being only 42 miles from her home.

Her family, friends and relatives can attend ALL of her home games. Jones said "It makes me happy that my parents, grandparents, and all my friends can come see me for home games and hopefully get season tickets.”

I can assure you that her parents will NEVER have to pay to attend a home game. She'll never get home sick either. She can go home every weekend. That is a dynamic no other program could offer.

 

[Padutch5]

The Ogwumike sisters are doing fine in the WNBA. And having a Stanford education is a pretty nice fall back plan in case somehow basketball doesn't work out.

Gee I guess I just forgot how many championships Tara has??????

 

[hoopsfan22]

Stanford recruited Haley just as vigorously as the other elite programs. The difference being they already had a prior relationship with her, as she attended several youth summer basketball camps. Not to mention the fact that they were the closest MAJOR program recruiting her, being only 42 miles from her home.

Her family, friends and relatives can attend ALL of her home games. She'll never get home sick either. She can go home every weekend. That is a dynamic no other program could offer.

Sadly these things didn't matter when we recruited Boston.

 

[Padutch5]

Post of the day!!! Lots of real truth and honesty in your post. Thank goodness for Aubrey Griffin, or UConn would have "whiffed" on the 2019 class. 2020 or bust, I agree. UConn CANNOT go two classes in a row, as you said, without signing some height.

ONO will be "it" after this year. What happens if she starts off slow, or gets hurt, and misses a substantial amount of games? Who backs her up? Camara will be eligible to graduate after this season, and may not return. 2020 had better be a banner year for UConn.

Perhaps Geno will sign a Juco and/or a graduate transfer or two to get them through the 2019-2020 season. Mid-major programs find good (non top 100) players i.e., BIGS to fill their rosters every year. They never compete with the elite programs for the top 100 players. Only one AAC team (Memphis) signed a top 100 player from the 2019 class besides UConn.

I checked, St. Johns does not have a single top 100 player on its current roster, and they are very competitive.
I realize Geno usually doesn't go that route, but these are unusual circumstances, which call for a temporary change in philosophy and approach in obtaining players. Geno usually is able to pull a rabbit or two out of his hat when he needs to. It will be very interesting to see how he handles this.

Query: Can UConn be competitive next season with the present roster (minus Lou & Pheesa) and Griffin as the only addition?

I'm not doing a "Chicken Little" dance here, I don't do that, but things will be critical for UConn they don't get more bodies in here from somewhere for next season. What two reserve players currently on the bench can be counted on to step up to replace Lou and Napheesa? Maybe Geno will get lucky, and have a couple of graduate transfers drop in his lap over the summer. Keep hope alive.

How much help will freshman Griffin be?. I'm not expecting anything from Griffin until her sophomore year. Anything they get from her will be unexpected given how Geno feels about freshman. I want someone to tell me that we'll be OK if Griffin is the only addition we'll have for next year, and why.

If I'm missing something here, someone please point it out. Thoughts, concerns......

Sorry. Good losers are losers forever.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Gee I guess I just forgot how many championships Tara has??????

She has as many as any other active coached not named Geno.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Hey Boneyarders, longtime admirer of the program and a huge Cardinal fan and alum here. I think fans from all the schools Jones was considering have been anxious to hear of the decision, and I've been reading the Boneyard as you guys had some really on point posts reading the tea leaves, so just wanted to drop in.

Now that the dust has settled, I just want to say this: Geno is an amazing coach and I think UConn has the best program for player development in the country. You have three of the four past no. 1 recruits, and came basically two buzzer-beaters away from 6 national championships in a row. Coming from a program that last had a championship long before I became a fan, I have to say I'm a little surprised by the doom and gloom. As a fan of one of UConn's biggest rivals over the past two decades, I don't see the program going anywhere anytime soon, and I wouldn't want it to. You've had a few similar dips (2005-8 and 2011-12 come to mind), but even during that period, UConn was always in the hunt. Not only do I see no reason why you won't still be now given all your no. 1 recruits, but I also don't see why it won't repeat soon.

That said, I'm glad to see the wealth spread around a bit. I do think women's basketball will be taken more seriously if there are more than 1-3 contenders per year. But I don't see UConn not being in that pool every year as long as Geno's still coaching. Good luck with your year, and take consolation in the senior season of KLS, who four years ago this week disappointed us the way Jones has disappointed some of you.

 

[BobbyJ]

You think coaches are saying this? Especially when Tara is older than Geno and Muffet is just a couple years younger. I was wondering what it would be like to be a fly on the wall during a recruit's visit. Geno lets the recruits look at all the banners and trophies, and basically says this is what we have to offer, take it or leave it. Perhaps that approach isn't enough anymore.

Definitely. Coaches negative recruit all across the country. In WBB they may be a little more civil and less personal but MBB is a cesspool. These coaches will do whatever they have to, within reason, to get the players they want. It's their job and their career on the line.

 

[Blueballer]

Hey look at it this way. We won't have to hear about how UCONN's dominance is bad for the game for a couple of years

 

[WNBA 09]

For the ones saying Azura is the poster child for this movement. Did she not look WAY better in the WNBA than she did at UCONN? She was all rookie team and a very important piece to Dallas. Leaving seems like a smart move now for Stevens.

 

[WNBA 09]

You are exactly right, and that's exactly how it should be. But, at times, its curious when these college bound stars are quoted as to the "why" of their choice. Take the top two recruits, Haley Jones, and Jordan Horston. In Haley's words: "It will be great to be a part of a program that is always up there competing for national championships," Always competing for National Chamionships? When was the last time they were in the Championship game? According to Horston, “I also want a coach that knows how to push me and help me become a better player. I’m always just trying to work on everything, but I don’t want to be the same player in college I want to get better.” And, she chose Tennessee and Warlick?
Make no mistake, the choice is certainly theirs, and hopefully their choice turns out to be exactly what they wanted.
But, as any compettitor knows, the best way to respond to "adversity" or "naysayers", is simply to prove them wrong. And, to do that, all we need to do is win, and everything else will fall into place. Including, more top recruits.

Albeit not a championship game but Stanford is only 1 year removed from the Final 4. When SC won it all stanford was there FF opponent. Heck stanford has been the only west coast mainstay for decades to be honest. Ive called Jones to stanford for the last month or so. Her twitter gave it away about 2 weeks ago before she rescheduled.

 

[UConnCat]

You need to go check the scoreboard if you think Jones was my first and only accurate prediction.

You keep saying this but provide no links. I actually did a search so I could give you credit. I couldn't find any. That's okay. We'll look forward to next year and see if you're on a roll.

 

[WNBA 09]

Heres the video in case people missed it along with the REAL reasons she chose stanford.

 

[Carnac]

Sorry. Good losers are losers forever.

Thanks.

 

[Carnac]

Sadly these things didn't matter when we recruited Boston.

Between the two, I wanted Boston more. I was very disappointed that we didn't get Aliyah. She would have paid MAJOR dividends during her time in Storrs.

 

[Sakibomb25]

Gee I guess I just forgot how many championships Tara has??????

Because championships are the only thing that matter to a college kid looking to play basketball...

 

[shizam]

If we sign 5 or 6 from one class, we might as well only sign 2 or 3 because the other half will transfer. When was the last time we had a recruiting class of more than 3 remain intact? Other than the big three, when was the last time a recruiting class of more than 2 remained intact? Geno says 2 is his preferred class size, so if he can land a couple of top recruits in 2020 and again in 2021 the program will be fine. We may have to wait a little bit for another national title though.

“In tact” days have left the building and will not be back. The transfer mkt now will have good players like never before . Geno will be on the hunt. Stevens was a great one and Geno will strike again

 

[Woof 101]

Does this mean UCONN is no longer bad for woman's basketball???

 

[j66kicker]

To you and Shades I owe an apology for being so defensive of Uconn and Uconn Women BB players specifically. I spent my formative years at Uconn and those students were as capable as any of those I met later in life in other institutions. Many had outstanding careers. Yes, I'm defensive. Sorry only that I came on too strong in that defense.
I have children that were all academically successful and met the standards of Harard, MIT, Stanford, (none applied to Duke) and yes one State Dept officer analyst who speaks 5 languages is a Middle East analyst that graduated from UConn.

Again, my apology for being too defensively aggressive for my uconn kids

"Shades, post: 2935150, member: 6101"]Doesn’t Stanford have a higher SAT standard, or do they ignore that for athletes?

Not sure what you’re apologizing for. ?? Anyway I didn’t intend to insult UConn players or grads, or imply that you aren’t brilliant. There are a million reasons one might choose a state U over a more prestigious institution. Hopefully some elite high school basketball players will soon find some of these reasons.

 

[newsincerity]

I guess Haley Jones going to Stanford is logical from the point that Stanford is still relevant and one of the 3 strong programs on the left coast. That said, as a number 1 rated player, I wonder how much her skills will improved at Stanford. Tara's been to 4 Finals ('90,'92,'08,'10), and to 7 additional Final Fours ('91,'96,'97,'09,'12,'14,'17) so she is as consistent as you can get aside from Geno and Muffet. I look at her top recruits and I just don't see any real improvement. Yes, the two Ogwumike sisters had very good if not great careers at Stanford and other can probably opine better if Nneka or Chiney really improved their games during their time under Tara (my perspective is Nneka did and Chiney evolved a bit). That said, I just haven't seen any other players improve and maintain their lofty McDonald's AA status they had when they entered. For as much as we have watched Karlie Samuelson, she is still just a spot up shooter and did not really evolve her game under Tara.
I also know many have touted the "educational value" of Stanford, which is true for 98% of the students who go their. but for the elite athlete who is top ranked, their future is clearly in the pro's and along that end, did Haley Jones make the right choice? Her sole focus as a top dog is to stay dominant and make it a top 3 pick in the WNBA and stay relevant for USA and International Basketball.
l just think only a few programs offer a "Masters" degree in WCBB to elevate their game. ND, UConn for sure. Even mighty Baylor is questionable now. How much has Lauren Cox really developed? Is she held back by Kalani Brown, is it coaching, is it personal drive? Dawn has coached 1 player so the jury is still out on her.
All said, I can absolutely understand and respect this choice but do not wholly agree with it. Maybe she will evolve her game and stay as top dog. Best of luck to her.

I can vouch Nneka improved astronomically from freshman to sophomore year at Stanford. The statistical improvement was 10.6 ppg 6.1 rpg in 21mpg to 18.5 ppg 9.9 rpg in 30mpg, but having watched her plenty both seasons it felt much more.

I really didn't think much of her as a freshman! I thought, undersized pogo stick post player who comes from a more academic minded family and didn't focus intensely on hoops until much later than most other players at that level. No ball handling, no post moves, finished well w/ point blank opportunities inside, but often fumbled entry passes, looked uncomfortable shooting.

I remember thinking Glory Johnson was a much better player when they played Tennessee. By senior year, Nneka destroyed Johnson and Tennessee with 19 FG's for 42 points and I think 15-20 rebounds too.

 

[newsincerity]

I can vouch Nneka improved astronomically from freshman to sophomore year at Stanford. The statistical improvement was 10.6 ppg 6.1 rpg in 21mpg to 18.5 ppg 9.9 rpg in 30mpg, but having watched her plenty both seasons it felt much more.

I really didn't think much of her as a freshman! I thought, undersized pogo stick post player who comes from a more academic minded family and didn't focus intensely on hoops until much later than most other players at that level. No ball handling, no post moves, finished well w/ point blank opportunities inside, but often fumbled entry passes, looked uncomfortable shooting.

I remember thinking Glory Johnson was a much better player when they played Tennessee. By senior year, Nneka destroyed Johnson and Tennessee with 19 FG's for 42 points and I think 15-20 rebounds too.

Of Team USA Basketball level players, I'd say Angel McCoughtry is the other one that comes to mind as having improved dramatically from how they started out in college.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Chiney improved dramatically as well. First 2 seasons she was a very good complimentary player. By Sr. year she was unstoppable.

 

[hoopsfan22]

“In tact” days have left the building and will not be back. The transfer mkt now will have good players like never before . Geno will be on the hunt. Stevens was a great one and Geno will strike again

Agree. Think there's going to be a growing secondary market for (good) players now that you can transfer penalty free.

 

[CocoHusky]

Agree. Think there's going to be a growing secondary market for (good) players now that you can transfer penalty free.

What are you even talking about? The NCAA has only approved maybe a handful of waiver over the past 4 years. The penalty of having to sit a year still exists.

 

[Longtime fan]

Not shocking. Focus is on class of 2020! I think we will still be a top 10-15 team next year as long as ONO develops how I think she will. She won’t be an AA next year but I think she will be a first team All-Confernec type player. Crystal will be best PG in country & CW & MW will have expanded roles. Depth even more of an issue than this year, however. TRUST IN GENO!

If you watched today's game, you have clear evidence of your observation that, " ONO will not be an AA next season." She can't do anything ( shoot, rebound, set a screen, defend, etc) without committing a foul. We all hope and expect her to develop into a dominating player. Geno and this team will do all they can to help her along. But she has to do it. She has to get better.

 

[bantamlaker]

If you watched today's game, you have clear evidence of your observation that, " ONO will not be an AA next season." She can't do anything ( shoot, rebound, set a screen, defend, etc) without committing a foul. We all hope and expect her to develop into a dominating player. Geno and this team will do all they can to help her along. But she has to do it. She has to get better.

Agree with you but think about the early days of Dolson and even Charles. It wasn’t pretty at the beginning.