June 2020 UCONN recruiting thread

[j66kicker]

Now it's certainly an accomplishment to get an offer in and of itself, but the few times recruits have really hyped up their offers, it has generally been a positive sign for us down the road. No guarantees, of course, but...

Scroll down her twitter - this is the same exact wording she has used to announce all her (many) other offers.

OTOH getting an offer from Stanford means having been accepted (or pre-qualified) by Stanford (right??). So that's pretty special in itself, and has to have those other schools worried....

 

[MilfordHusky]

Won’t Paige be able to as well?

Actually, yes. Paige's birthdate is October 20, 2001. I hadn't realized that.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I really like Maya Nnaji's game and personality. In addition, I want:

--Any former teammate of Paige's.

--Any player named Maya.

 

[BobbyJ]

Scroll down her twitter - this is the same exact wording she has used to announce all her (many) other offers.

OTOH getting an offer from Stanford means having been accepted (or pre-qualified) by Stanford (right??). So that's pretty special in itself, and has to have those other schools worried....

Does Stanford pre-qualify or accept students with only 2 years of HS finished?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Paige Bueckers named the Star-Tribune All-Metro female athlete of the year.


“Paige is very smart, very astute,” Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. “I’m also absolutely convinced that if Paige was in college right now that she would be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. She is that good.”

Incomparable Paige Bueckers 'enjoyed every second' of final run with Hopkins

Hopkins guard Paige Bueckers is looking forward to college ball.

www.startribune.com

 

[BobbyJ]

Paige Bueckers named the Star-Tribune All-Metro female athlete of the year.


“Paige is very smart, very astute,” Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. “I’m also absolutely convinced that if Paige was in college right now that she would be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. She is that good.”

Incomparable Paige Bueckers 'enjoyed every second' of final run with Hopkins

Hopkins guard Paige Bueckers is looking forward to college ball.

www.startribune.com

I assume he means at her current skill level and if so, that is quite a statement. I have no doubts about her skills, I would only question her strength and physicality to play defense. But then again, not many of the #1 picks are defensive aces either. Her court vision and passing is the best I've ever seen from a HS kid and as a college senior will be ridiculous.

 

[j66kicker]

Does Stanford pre-qualify or accept students with only 2 years of HS finished?

I'm not the expert (help?), but it's my understanding that Tara doesn't make an offer without a "strong indication" (like lock-solid guarantee) that the athlete would be accepted by the school.

 

[eebmg]

Paige Bueckers named the Star-Tribune All-Metro female athlete of the year.


“Paige is very smart, very astute,” Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. “I’m also absolutely convinced that if Paige was in college right now that she would be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. She is that good.”

Incomparable Paige Bueckers 'enjoyed every second' of final run with Hopkins

Hopkins guard Paige Bueckers is looking forward to college ball.

www.startribune.com

Great sound bite but I think a statement like that is quite silly. She has alot of growing and maturing to do as all freshman do (except Boston?? ). I really wish everyone would let her grow into her (Generational Player) role at whatever pace will make her the best when she graduates UConn

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Great sound bite but I think a statement like that is quite silly. She has alot of growing and maturing to do as all freshman do (except Boston?? ).

This is all true. But if you were a WNBA executive with the top pick, who would you take over Bueckers if she were available? She may not be pro ready by next spring but she's probably the top-level prospect anyway.

 

[eebmg]

This is all true. But if you were a WNBA executive with the top pick, who would you take over Bueckers if she were available? She may not be pro ready by next spring but she's probably the top-level prospect anyway.

You cant use a #1 pick on a player if she is not pro ready no matter what her potential is and developing a player with high expectations on a WNBA roster is not a given. This is all fantasy anyway. Paige will in my mind unquestionably be the 1st pick in any draft just like Sabrina (and for many of the same reasons including BB talent and public persona) but only after she fully develops at UConn.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

You cant use a #1 pick on a player if she is not pro ready no matter what her potential is and developing a player with high expectations on a WNBA roster is not a given.

Someone would take her. Are you going to let another team have her instead? Outside of Awak Kuier--if she enters--I don't know who else you consider passing Paige for.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I'm not the expert (help?), but it's my understanding that Tara doesn't make an offer without a "strong indication" (like lock-solid guarantee) that the athlete would be accepted by the school.

That is our fan board's understanding as well. It is not uncommon to get commits at the end of their sophomore year: Anna Wilson and Brooke Demetre were examples of this, and I believe Jana Van Gytenbeek was as well. I believe in the past once the recruit has hit AP targets sophomore year and has the requisite test scores to be in the ballpark, Tara can get an accelerated "strong indication" from admissions by summer after sophomore year.

And to my knowledge, we've never had to rescind an offer due to an admissions snafu, a problem we have (unfortunately) had from time to time in other sports like football - when it happens after a recruit commits, it's AAF and unfortunate for all involved, because that recruit has to reopen their recruitment very late in the cycle. Because WBB involves a handful of recruits per cycle, I think admissions' crystal ball is generally pretty clear.

 

[donalddoowop]

It's a video via tweet. I'm seeing it, are you not?

Great sound bite but I think a statement like that is quite silly. She has alot of growing and maturing to do as all freshman do (except Boston?? ). I really wish everyone would let her grow into her (Generational Player) role at whatever pace will make her the best when she graduates UConn

No one is preventing her from growing into her (Generational Player) role. Not one thing posted on the BY will affect the pace at which she matures. Now, if the coaching staff was saying some of those things then it would make a difference. Also, I still don't think Boston is a generational player yet and may never be. Very good, yes. Is she any better than A. Wilson was for SC at the same point in her career? Is Wilson considered a generational player? Just saying.

 

[soxfan23]

Does Stanford pre-qualify or accept students with only 2 years of HS finished?

Stanford is a fine academic institution, but like most elite academic schools, they offer admittance exemptions for athletes. There was an article I read a while back in the Stanford Daily that stated the the median ACT and SAT test scores of athletes landed in the bottom 10% of total admitted. Not saying that Nnaji is not a smart girl, I know NOTHING about her academic record, just merely pointing out that if they really want her they can usually find a way to get her admitted.

 

[soxfan23]

I'm not so sure I buy that. I think Geno is really choosing versatile bigs that could play either 4 or 5 position and we could be entering an era where the bigs are all sort of 4.5s so that opens up a lot of combination permutations to get folks playing time. I just can't wait till the day we can field a big line up again like a Stewie, Tuck, and Stokes option.

What would you call Edwards, DeBerry, and Brady?

 

[DEpup]

What would you call Edwards, DeBerry, and Brady?

I'm stoked about them. And if 1 or more are injured or in foul trouble, I am greedy and want more. Nanji is a good prospect.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Stanford is a fine academic institution, but like most elite academic schools, they offer admittance exemptions for athletes. There was an article I read a while back in the Stanford Daily that stated the the median ACT and SAT test scores of athletes landed in the bottom 10% of total admitted. Not saying that Nnaji is not a smart girl, I know NOTHING about her academic record, just merely pointing out that if they really want her they can usually find a way to get her admitted.

Sure. If that makes you sleep better at night. Tara has stated in the past that the admissible pool of top 100 recruits is rarely more than 10 per year, and in some years has been closer to 5.

And BTW: 1 out of every 7 students at Stanford is a varsity athlete, so by your math that's 14.2% of the school that's crowding into the bottom 10%. Stanford students even excel at bending the laws of math, apparently!

 

[Charliebball]

Paige Bueckers named the Star-Tribune All-Metro female athlete of the year.


“Paige is very smart, very astute,” Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff said. “I’m also absolutely convinced that if Paige was in college right now that she would be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. She is that good.”

Incomparable Paige Bueckers 'enjoyed every second' of final run with Hopkins

Hopkins guard Paige Bueckers is looking forward to college ball.

www.startribune.com

I do believe that maybe true but just imagine there are many folks who think she might not even be a starter this season............that I don't believe..........

 

[Kurebeach5]

Stanford is a fine academic institution, but like most elite academic schools, they offer admittance exemptions for athletes. There was an article I read a while back in the Stanford Daily that stated the the median ACT and SAT test scores of athletes landed in the bottom 10% of total admitted. Not saying that Nnaji is not a smart girl, I know NOTHING about her academic record, just merely pointing out that if they really want her they can usually find a way to get her admitted.

Years ago (late '90's) I got tired of listening to Duke and Coach K's sickening self-promotion of their men's program's academic prowess so I did a little research and found that the average SAT score for Duke was a little over 900. For Stanford it was over 1400. I believe it was 1999, when we beat Duke for the title and also played Stanford during the season.

 

[UConn2SF]

Stanford is a fine academic institution, but like most elite academic schools, they offer admittance exemptions for athletes. There was an article I read a while back in the Stanford Daily that stated the the median ACT and SAT test scores of athletes landed in the bottom 10% of total admitted. Not saying that Nnaji is not a smart girl, I know NOTHING about her academic record, just merely pointing out that if they really want her they can usually find a way to get her admitted.

Maya Nnaji is smart; she made the honor roll and maintained a 4.0 GPA her freshman year.

 

[Alydar]

Nnagi's brother was a freshman at Arizona last season and announced he was entering the NBA draft this spring. Not exactly a decision for education.

 

[soxfan23]

Sure. If that makes you sleep better at night. Tara has stated in the past that the admissible pool of top 100 recruits is rarely more than 10 per year, and in some years has been closer to 5.

And BTW: 1 out of every 7 students at Stanford is a varsity athlete, so by your math that's 14.2% of the school that's crowding into the bottom 10%. Stanford students even excel at bending the laws of math, apparently!

I don't care what Tara has to say, if you don't think that athletes get admittance exemptions then you are kidding yourself. I didn't write the article, take it up with the author if you have issue. By the way it was an Op-ed written by a Stanford grad.

The price of athletics at Stanford

It's time for us to consider whether Stanford's policies of heavy investment in athletic programs and recruitment are really in line with the university's mission. Regardless of what we decide to do, we as a university should have a frank discussion about how much we are willing to sacrifice...

www.stanforddaily.com

 

[soxfan23]

I'm stoked about them. And if 1 or more are injured or in foul trouble, I am greedy and want more. Nanji is a good prospect.

I understand Nnaji is a good player, I have been singing her praises for years at this point. You just have to look at it from her perspective though. Why would she go to a school like UConn and have to beat out the #1 ranked big in 2021 class, the #2 overall player in the 2022 class, and the #1 overall ranked Canadien in the 2020 class to get minutes, when she can go somewhere else and start from Day 1?

 

[JonathanXIV]

Sure. If that makes you sleep better at night. Tara has stated in the past that the admissible pool of top 100 recruits is rarely more than 10 per year, and in some years has been closer to 5.

And BTW: 1 out of every 7 students at Stanford is a varsity athlete, so by your math that's 14.2% of the school that's crowding into the bottom 10%. Stanford students even excel at bending the laws of math, apparently!

Read again. It said the median scores for athletes were in the 10th percentile. Which means half of them had scores that were above that. The math works, no need to bend any laws.

 

[Charliebball]

Nnagi's brother was a freshman at Arizona last season and announced he was entering the NBA draft this spring. Not exactly a decision for education.

well he'll get some experience in basic math counting all those dollar bills if he's good enough to sign an NBA contract..............