I like Blanca’s chances for a starting spot. It may not materialize until January depending on how quickly she picks up Geno’s system. But I’ll be very surprised if she isn’t a rotation player from November on.
It’s tempting to look at her international experience as a sort of guarantee that she comes in a fully finished AA. But I am pretty confident there will still be a learning curve. As
@Cuango and
@oldhusky have already pointed out, her natural position at the 3 is already a crowded spot. But she comes in as the healthiest and most athletic of her likely competitors, Carol and Morgan, and bigger and quicker than Allie.
The interesting competitor at the 3 is Ash, who is a better shooter but is a lot smaller. Ash is also practically the definition of the defender Geno loves. How long will it take Blanca to catch up to Ash’s defensive intensity? That’s the main limiting factor here, that and her perimeter shooting.
A second pressure point on Blanca’s playing time at the 3 is Sarah. She is a more dangerous player in all areas than pretty much everyone in D1 WCBB. If Geno want to play Serah next to Jana or Ice or Ayanna in the frontcourt, it seems likely that Sarah will see some times at the 3. This will cut into Blanca’s minutes, especially if it takes longer for her to prove herself on defense.
As
@Molisanos has pointed out, she could be part of an interesting lineup of medium big players. I have no idea if this would appeal to Geno, but I can imagine a lineup that could feature Blanca next to Sarah, Morgan, Azzi and Ayanna. The problem ordinary big lineups face is team speed. But this group would be much quicker than most teams could keep up with. Of course, it would only work if Azzi and Morgan could manage the PG responsibilities in it. Also, with only 2 proven perimeter shooters, a lot would depend on Morgan and Blanca improving their consistency.
It is also possible that Blanca could see some minutes at the 4 backing up Sarah. Ordinarily, I’d see Ayanna as a better fit in such moments, but Blanca might bring better offensive punch than Ayanna.
Blanca occupies a sort of sweet spot at her size, since she brings speed and quickness. UConn is stocked with 6’2”+ players, and this competition will surely be really good for her. Her versatility is a great asset especially because it allows her to compete for minutes in several directions.
As for how Blanca compares to other top recruits in this class, I’d guess she’d come in somewhere in the top 5. Betts, Chavez, and Davidson are significant talents too. Any one of them could prove to be game changers at this level. And so could Blanca. She has had more challenging experience in Italy, but some of them seem to have more polished skills already, like Chavez and Davidson.
