Kelly Farris Class!

[HuskyFan1125]

I have been following WCBB for so long things run together and my memory has a filter ( my mouth unfortunately does not), but what I was wondering who else in that class with Kelly was UCONN recruiting.

I honestly cant think of anyone??

Does anyone remember??

 

[Goodgood]

Taber Spani, Krista Gross, Kerry Shields. There are probably more and I am sure others will chime in.

 

[ucbart]

Was Chelsey Lee in that high school class?

 

[rocky rococo]

Griner? Diggins?

 

[EricSD]

we never recruited Griner. she verbaled to Baylor as a sophomore i believe... maybe even sooner. KM really snatched her up early in the process. i'm not sure if she was recruited by anyone else besides Baylor.

 

[rocky rococo]

Oh right. Missed the "who UConn was recruiting part". Doh.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Kelsey Bone.

 

[bruinbball]

Taylor Hill of Ohio State and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt were both targets at one point.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Spani was a fairly high priority. I think we were 3rd on her list. K State was second.

Bone was a priority as well. Her mother did not like all the media involvement.

Gross decided late. I think Tayler Hill did too.

Shields was at First Night but may not have gotten an offer.

Diggins had UConn and Stanford in her final 3.

I think any interest in Ruffin-Pratt ended fairly early, probably from Tierra who seemed to be ACC-focused from birth.

Chelsey Lee was the prior year--with Tiffany, Caroline, Heather, and Elena.

Certainly a class of Bone, Diggins, and Faris would have been outstanding. Any 3 of those would have been nice.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Who is Kerry Shields? I don't remember her at all!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Who is Kerry Shields? I don't remember her at all!

A guard from the Philly suburbs. She ultimately went to BC. I think she was at the SuperShow with Caroline, Elena, et al. They were wearing hats made of balloons.

http://thephiladelphiaphotographer.com/2008/12/08/kerri-shields/

She averaged 11 ppg for the Eagles last year.

http://www.bceagles.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/bc/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/cumulative-stats

 

[HuskyFan1125]

It's all coming back to me know!

Thanks guys!

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Gross decided late. I think Tayler Hill did too.

Diggins had UConn and Stanford in her final 3.

I think any interest in Ruffin-Pratt ended fairly early, probably from Tierra who seemed to be ACC-focused from birth.

Gross decided early. She got in to Stanford, but spurned the Cardinal for UNC.

Diggins did not really have a top three from what I remember. It was a top two - Notre Dame and Stanford. The others were collectively eliminated.

Ruffin-Pratt was always going to the ACC. Only question was whether it would be Duke, Maryland, or UNC, though a few other ACC schools heavily recruited her.

 

[Scotter]

UConn started recruiting Gross late in the process. She attended UConn's First Night in the middle of October of her senior year and didn't commit to UNC until the very end of October. That seems to qualify as deciding late even if she was already leaning strongly to UNC.

Gross decided early. She got in to Stanford, but spurned the Cardinal for UNC.
.

 

[rjp172]

Spani was a fairly high priority. I think we were 3rd on her list. K State was second.

Bone was a priority as well. Her mother did not like all the media involvement.

Gross decided late. I think Tayler Hill did too.

Shields was at First Night but may not have gotten an offer.

Diggins had UConn and Stanford in her final 3.

I think any interest in Ruffin-Pratt ended fairly early, probably from Tierra who seemed to be ACC-focused from birth.

Chelsey Lee was the prior year--with Tiffany, Caroline, Heather, and Elena.

Certainly a class of Bone, Diggins, and Faris would have been outstanding. Any 3 of those would have been nice.

UConn was never in Diggins top three. Her stated top three were ND, Penn State, and Stanford. Washington had just left ND for the Penn St. job. Her final list before being trimmed to those three was: Illinois, Rutgers, Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

UConn started recruiting Gross late in the process. She attended UConn's First Night in the middle of October of her senior year and didn't commit to UNC until the very end of October. That seems to qualify as deciding late even if she was already leaning strongly to UNC.

Ah, hence the difference.

The initial post was about Gross and Tayler Hill deciding late. Hill decided in April...the "late signing period." Gross decided in the "early singing period."

My understanding was that the initial poster was referencing the "late signing period" by putting Gross and Hill together.

 

[Scotter]

Ah, hence the difference.

The initial post was about Gross and Tayler Hill deciding late. Hill decided in April...the "late signing period." Gross decided in the "early singing period."

My understanding was that the initial poster was referencing the "late signing period" by putting Gross and Hill together.

You might be right. I assumed the poster grouped Hill and Gross together because they were two guards that UConn didn't show recruiting interest until later after it became clear they weren't getting Diggins. And the "early signing period" tends to be considered late in UConn recruiting where verbals tend to come much sooner, but I can see how you connected the dots. UConn also didn't do much more than briefly flirt with Hill so I also didn't place much importance on her inclusion by the original poster either.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Ah, hence the difference.

The initial post was about Gross and Tayler Hill deciding late. Hill decided in April...the "late signing period." Gross decided in the "early singing period."

My understanding was that the initial poster was referencing the "late signing period" by putting Gross and Hill together.

No. Gross was fairly late, meaning senior year. Hill was very late. I could be confusing (1) when they dropped UConn from their list and (2) when they chose their school.

 

[MilfordHusky]

UConn was never in Diggins top three. Her stated top three were ND, Penn State, and Stanford. Washington had just left ND for the Penn St. job. Her final list before being trimmed to those three was: Illinois, Rutgers, Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland.

I apparently misremembered. Maybe it was Chiney who had Stanford, ND, and Uconn as her top 3.

HoopGurlz had PSU as the #3 for Skylar. UConn was interested in her through at least the summer of 2008, though it was not clear how mutual it was.

The general point to the initial question was that UConn was recruiting lots of good players, including at least:
Faris
Spani
Bone
Diggins
Hill
Gross

Over time, one by one, all other than Kelly dropped UConn.

UConn was also waiting that summer to see if EDD would return.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I apparently misremembered. Maybe it was Chiney who had Stanford, ND, and Uconn as her top 3.

HoopGurlz had PSU as the #3 for Skylar. UConn was interested in her through at least the summer of 2008, though it was not clear how mutual it was.

The general point to the initial question was that UConn was recruiting lots of good players, including at least:
Faris
Spani
Bone
Diggins
Hill
Gross

Over time, one by one, all other than Kelly dropped UConn.

UConn was also waiting that summer to see if EDD would return.

Looking at that group is interesting. None of them really stick out to me. Bone was probably the biggest target I'm guessing. Didn't realize we were ever recruiting Spani.

 

[semper]

Oh, yeah, I remember being really disappointed about Spani. Do you think it's been hard on Kelis Fisher to be the lone member of her class? I haven't heard it discussed very much.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Oh, yeah, I remember being really disappointed about Spani. Do you think it's been hard on Kelis Fisher to be the lone member of her class? I haven't heard it discussed very much.

Well, she isnt really alone anymore, she has Buck and Doty!!!!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Looking at that group is interesting. None of them really stick out to me. Bone was probably the biggest target I'm guessing. Didn't realize we were ever recruiting Spani.

Ok, I may be misremembering again but .... Geno liked Spani. Like Kelly, she went to a Christian school and was a good all-around player without guady offensive stats. I think we finished 3rd. Her father, a pro footballer, is in the Kansas State HOF. KState finished 2nd.

Bone was either 1 or 2 in her class, with Griner, who committed very early. Recall that we had Tina at the time.

The big name in the group was not Bone or Diggins. It was EDD. We looked to be totally loaded with Tiff's class, including Elena, plus Maya and Tina. Some may have shied away. Elena did not come back to UConn in August 2008. Over the course of the summer, some players might have dropped UConn.

 

[UConnCat]

Ok, I may be misremembering again but .... Geno liked Spani. Like Kelly, she went to a Christian school and was a good all-around player without guady offensive stats. I think we finished 3rd. Her father, a pro footballer, is in the Kansas State HOF. KState finished 2nd.

Spani was home-schooled. She was raised in a very Christian home, however, so I guess you could say she went to a Christian school. You're correct, she dropped UConn and then decided between Tenn and K State.

 

[Scotter]

I think you are misremembering a bit.

Spani was home schooled and played on a team of home schooled players. Spani had some all-around skills otherwise UConn wouldn't have recruited her, but she was very much a big time scorer putting up huge scoring numbers and winning a 1 on 1 offense contest at a Nike Skills Academy. The Christian school Kelly attended was more akin to a Protestant version of the numerous Catholic high schools with big time athletic programs including Kelly's national championship contending high school team. Two very different environments, and one was Wilt Chamberlain and the other Bill Russell.

Bone and Diggins were the big names in their class with Griner already committed to Baylor very early. EDD was in the previous class with Tiffany, Caroline, and Heather although EDD did leave UConn that summer UConn was recruiting Kelly's high school class. If you knew EDD was in the previous class and just meant EDD making up her mind was the biggest deal that over shadowed everything else that is my misunderstanding.

Ok, I may be misremembering again but .... Geno liked Spani. Like Kelly, she went to a Christian school and was a good all-around player without guady offensive stats. I think we finished 3rd. Her father, a pro footballer, is in the Kansas State HOF. KState finished 2nd.

Bone was either 1 or 2 in her class, with Griner, who committed very early. Recall that we had Tina at the time.

The big name in the group was not Bone or Diggins. It was EDD. We looked to be totally loaded with Tiff's class, including Elena, plus Maya and Tina. Some may have shied away. Elena did not come back to UConn in August 2008. Over the course of the summer, some players might have dropped UConn.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm losing it. I do recall Taber being an ardent Christian. I was confusing home school with small private school. I recall nothing about her scoring.

I know EDD was the prior (2008) class. My point was that it still looked as if she would be at UConn and that affected the 2009 class. Except for Griner, Elena was far better than anyone in 2009.

 

[Scotter]

Here's a rough timeline and I'm going to begin with Nov/Dec 2007 when recruiting really gets serious enough that UConn narrows the list.

Chris Dailey thought she had Chelsey Lee wrapped as the fifth member of UConn's class of 2008, but she decided to sign with Rutgers.

Bone and Diggins were the intital targets with both having the versatile basketball skills to fit in well at UConn.

Kelly Faris and Taber Spani were added as primary targets for the 4 open scholarships UConn had.

At some point after her visit in early March UConn decided not to continue recruiting Spani, but Faris did verbal at the end of March. By this point it was also becoming clear that neither Bones or Diggins had much interest in coming to Storrs and the UConn coaches started looking at other players such as Tayler Hill for a brief period.

In late Spring the coaches decided to accept the transfer of Jessica McCormack leaving them with two open scholarships, which they decided to target Krista Gross and Jasmine Hassell for. Jumping in late with both of them.

In the summer there was the EDD disappearance, while the staff was trying to interest Gross and Hassell in UConn.

We know what happened at the end of the summer with EDD, Hassell would commit to Georgia in September without ever visiting Storrs, and Gross did make it to First Night before ultimately choosing UNC over UConn and Stanford.

And thus UConn was left with three unused scholarships of the 2009-10 season, which would become four when McCormack left the next Spring.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Nice detail. Thanks.

I barely remember Hassell.

I recall JMac. I'll take your word that we pursued her when things did not look good with Bone.

The Horde were reporting as late as July 2008 (maybe later) that we were interested in Diggins. Rich's blog is still out there. Publically, our interest in Bone might have continued that late as well. It sounds as if the Horde may have been 3 months behind on the status of Diggins at least.

Would JMac have been in Kelly's class?

Having just Kelly as a HS recruit in 2009 would not have had the impact it did if JMac had been healthy and stayed and had EDD been happy at UConn. Despite the small class, we did pretty well over Kelly's 2 years.

Edit: On July 28, 2008, Rich Elliott was still listing Bone and Diggins as UConn targets.

 

[Scotter]

Nice detail. Thanks.
The Horde were reporting as late as July 2008 (maybe later) that we were interested in Diggins. Rich's blog is still out there. Publically, our interest in Bone might have continued that late as well. It sounds as if the Horde may have been 3 months behind on the status of Diggins at least.

Would JMac have been in Kelly's class?

I don't think the horde was necessarily late. They were just reporting facts because I don't think UConn ever completely shut the door to either one. i expect the coaches were maintaining contact in case a game changing player that the coaches liked had a late change of heart. I'm pretty sure Rich and Jim both new the odds of getting either Diggins or Bone were very slim. There had been the complaints about the UConn media from Bone's mother and nothing to indicate either one had much interest. And UConn would have held the open scholarships for them if they were serious as is typical UConn practice, rather than making offers to Gross and Hassell. UConn doesn't typically offer more scholarships than they have open. In later interviews both Geno and CD have implied that they knew early on that things weren't going well with Bone or Diggins.

JMac as a transfer would have been in Tiff's class had she played all three years after sitting out on the 08/09 season.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Bone/Diggins = package deal