HoopGurlz Top 100 for 2014

[Wbbfan1]

Article: http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...ting-ariel-atkins-no-3-prospects-trade-places

List: http://espn.go.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/rankings/_/class/2014 Kia Nurse added to list at 33rd.

 

[alexrgct]

Nurse upgraded to a 97. That's a huge bump; I think she was a 93 beforehand. Ekmark has received a downgrade from 98 to 97. Since she didn't play ball this year, that may be why.

At any rate, the 2014 class remains a fine one.

 

[doggydaddy]

Nurse at 33 and they have her as a wing even though she plays point guard for the Canadian national team.

Ekmart got worse because they didn't see her play against HS players?

Clueless.

 

[EricLA]

Nurse at 33 and they have her as a wing even though she plays point guard for the Canadian national team.

Ekmart got worse because they didn't see her play against HS players?

Clueless.

Have to agree 100%. For years ESPN/HG has been ridiculously off on their rankings. At one point, I forget who, one of their people came over on the BY and got into it with some of us as they defended the insane rankings. Just a few examples...

Faris - 34 per HG, top 10 by everyone else
Hartley - 14 per HG, no higher than 6 by everyone else
Stokes - 42 per HG, no worse than 14 by anyone else

It's cool though. All we do is win NC's and put players in the pros...

 

[Vowelguy]

HG is just a name that ESPN owns. Previously their ranks were done by Glenn Nelson and I believe the folks now at Peach State. Now they're done by Dan Olson of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Not comparable over time.

UCLA commit Recee Caldwell dropped from #9 to 19.
Virginia's Mikayla Vensom from #33 to #44
Ohio St's Makayla Waterman from #69 to #99

Besides Nurse, USF's Laura Ferreira debuts at #49
SoCar's Bianca Cuevas from #44 to #35
WF's Amber Campbell from #61 to #50

Ekmark has been ranked #31 since last fall.

 

[connboy77]

I take all rankings with a grain of salt; how the player performs when they get to college is whats important. It wouldn't surprise be if both Kia and courtney play like top ten recruits when they play for UCONN next year.

 

[Enigma64]

Wasn't Ekmark ranked top five a couple of years ago?

 

[Vowelguy]

Wasn't Ekmark ranked top five a couple of years ago?

Dont recall that.
You may be thinking of All Star Girls Report, which has her at #8. The other services have her at #14, #26, #31, #31.

 

[bbsamjj]

Have to agree 100%. For years ESPN/HG has been ridiculously off on their rankings. At one point, I forget who, one of their people came over on the BY and got into it with some of us as they defended the insane rankings. Just a few examples...

Faris - 34 per HG, top 10 by everyone else
Hartley - 14 per HG, no higher than 6 by everyone else
Stokes - 42 per HG, no worse than 14 by anyone else

It's cool though. All we do is win NC's and put players in the pros...

Eric, I think that's unfair to say. I believe someone did a comparison of the three major recruiting services a while ago (HG, Blue Star, ASGR) and each of them had fairly even number of "outliers" compared to the other recruiting services.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Have to agree 100%. For years ESPN/HG has been ridiculously off on their rankings. At one point, I forget who, one of their people came over on the BY and got into it with some of us as they defended the insane rankings. Just a few examples...

Faris - 34 per HG, top 10 by everyone else
Hartley - 14 per HG, no higher than 6 by everyone else
Stokes - 42 per HG, no worse than 14 by anyone else

It's cool though. All we do is win NC's and put players in the pros...

There are always tons of examples. Blue Star had Alana Beard at #30 and behind Morgan Valley (#21; no disrespect to Morgan). ASGR had Ka'Lia Johnson at Duke in the top 13.

I could point out the same things about other rankings, even with UConn players. Here is one that comes to mind right away:

Renee Montgomery
Blue Star: #21
ASGR: #52

Remember, the rankings are snapshots at a finite period of time; the final rankings are in the senior year of high school. How a player develops over four years has a lot to do with things when we go back and evaluate rankings.

And how a player develops has a lot to do with coaching. Would Kelly Faris have been the same player under Sharon Versyup at Purdue? Would Bria Hartley have been the same player under Joanne P. McCallie at Duke? And if they had not developed like they did under Geno Auriemma's tutelage, would we go back and say that Hoopgurlz got it right?

It is very difficult to go back and evaluate recruiting rankings compared one to another and say who was right and who was wrong after four years, when the raters have no control over a player's motivation, the coaching, the injury historty, etc.

On the other hand, it is perfectly fine to ask the question why a player like Stokes was ranked so low as compared to the other services at the same point in time. Then it might yield interesting information. For example, maybe Stokes was only evaluated once by Hoopgurlz, whereas the other services saw more games. Or perhaps Stokes performed poorly in the games the Hoopgurlz evaluators saw, while being stellar in games wher ASGR and Blue Star raters were present. That, to me, is the more interesting information.

Or perhaps, ericsandiego, you were saying that, and I just spent this entire post circling the airport.
Okay, bringing it in for a landing!

 

[UcMiami]

Rating HS players really is a crap shoot - most of their competition in HS is pretty poor and most of their teammates are pretty spotty so you are left with AAU teams that get little practice time. Players with strong one-on-one skills will tend to rise, facilitators and glue players will tend to fall. Add in the limited resources that lead to limited competitive viewing of players, and the huge field of candidates and what you hope for is an indication, no a bible.
Being ranked 15 vs. 30 may be based on the performance in one or two games and even the best players can run into bad match-ups and off nights.

 

[hoophuskee]

I thought I read somewhere that Gabby Williams was around 7 or 8?

I thought with Nurse on National team would be much higher?

If their rankings are correct, it's not a super class. It's a very, very good class. But the superstar(s) wins the title(s).

OFC who is to say over the next two years they don't get superstars --assuming they are correct here and what winds up is that none emerge a superstar.

 

[MarieYLee]

I thought I read somewhere that Gabby Williams was around 7 or 8?

I thought with Nurse on National team would be much higher?

If their rankings are correct, it's not a super class. It's a very, very good class. But the superstar(s) wins the title(s).

OFC who is to say over the next two years they don't get superstars --assuming they are correct here and what winds up is that none emerge a superstar.

You had a super class in 2012 with Stewert, Jefferson and Tuck (now RS). You don't need a class of super stars, you need supporting players. 2015 will be very important (if the rumors are true and Wilson is opting to go elsewhere). I don't think UConn necessarily needs a SUPER star, but it will help.

Courtney Ekmart is an interesting player to rate IMO. I've seen her a few times. If she is the #1 or #2 option, I'm not sure she will be as effective as if she was a #3rd/4th/5th option, where she will be at UCONN. And I absolutely love her game, super high BB IQ, great passer, and can shoot. Basically, had she gone to like Arizona or something where she would be the big fish, I'm not confident that she would be as effective if teams zoned in on her/double'd team her. But, I think she will absolutely shine at UConn. She'll play off of Stewert/Mo/KML for 1 year and Stewert/Mo/Tuck or Chong (?) or whoever UConn recruits (Durr? Samuelson? etc). She's smart, make the open pass, shoot, etc. So, how to you rate her exactly?

 

[UcMiami]

I thought I read somewhere that Gabby Williams was around 7 or 8?

I thought with Nurse on National team would be much higher?

If their rankings are correct, it's not a super class. It's a very, very good class. But the superstar(s) wins the title(s).

OFC who is to say over the next two years they don't get superstars --assuming they are correct here and what winds up is that none emerge a superstar.

There are usually only one or two obvious 'super stars' in women's HS basketball (and sometimes none) each year. A Parker or Maya or Griner is even rarer. But a 30+ rated kid in the right situation with the right commitment can turn into a Stef or Kelly. And I have high hopes for the four we have - I think we are getting at least two 'Kelly' type of players in terms of IQ and commitment and maybe more.

 

[sawxfan23]

I thought I read somewhere that Gabby Williams was around 7 or 8?

I thought with Nurse on National team would be much higher?

If their rankings are correct, it's not a super class. It's a very, very good class. But the superstar(s) wins the title(s).

OFC who is to say over the next two years they don't get superstars --assuming they are correct here and what winds up is that none emerge a superstar.

OK well then just go by ASGR rankings which has Williams#2. Edwards #6, Ekmark #8, and Nurse #14. Is that a "super class" ?

 

[CBus13]

I think this has already been touched on in the past...
But how reliable is this ranking service if it has 52 Five Star recruits and 21 of them with 98 ratings? When Brittney Griner was a 99 and Breanna Stewart was a 98 from the her ESPN HoopGurls ranking...even though it's been done by different services under the same name?

 

[hoophuskee]

You had a super class in 2012 with Stewert, Jefferson and Tuck (now RS). You don't need a class of super stars, you need supporting players. 2015 will be very important (if the rumors are true and Wilson is opting to go elsewhere). I don't think UConn necessarily needs a SUPER star, but it will help.

Courtney Ekmart is an interesting player to rate IMO. I've seen her a few times. If she is the #1 or #2 option, I'm not sure she will be as effective as if she was a #3rd/4th/5th option, where she will be at UCONN. And I absolutely love her game, super high BB IQ, great passer, and can shoot. Basically, had she gone to like Arizona or something where she would be the big fish, I'm not confident that she would be as effective if teams zoned in on her/double'd team her. But, I think she will absolutely shine at UConn. She'll play off of Stewert/Mo/KML for 1 year and Stewert/Mo/Tuck or Chong (?) or whoever UConn recruits (Durr? Samuelson? etc). She's smart, make the open pass, shoot, etc. So, how to you rate her exactly?

I'm thinking beyond Stewart/Jefferson class. They will need a SUPER star beyond Stewart.

 

[hoophuskee]

OK well then just go by ASGR rankings which has Williams#2. Edwards #6, Ekmark #8, and Nurse #14. Is that a "super class" ?

Sure. My point was I used the word IF

I said "IF their rankings are correct."

I have seen Edwards though. She's not 6 from what I saw.

 

[hoophuskee]

There are usually only one or two obvious 'super stars' in women's HS basketball (and sometimes none) each year. A Parker or Maya or Griner is even rarer. But a 30+ rated kid in the right situation with the right commitment can turn into a Stef or Kelly. And I have high hopes for the four we have - I think we are getting at least two 'Kelly' type of players in terms of IQ and commitment and maybe more.

Right but Stewie and KML were #1's.