Kendall Cooper to Duke

[Tonyc]

Gotta agree. UConn Duke and even UNC are loaded. Lville and Stanford are in the picture too. Tenn has a long way to go. Russell and Graves is a good start but Tenn is in the rebuilding mode which means to me that they will need to develop chemistry and that takes time. I could see them if they get the right players making the FF in Russells junior or senior year.

 

[EricSD]

Gotta agree. UConn Duke and even UNC are loaded. Lville and Stanford are in the picture too. Tenn has a long way to go. Russell and Graves is a good start but Tenn is in the rebuilding mode which means to me that they will need to develop chemistry and that takes time. I could see them if they get the right players making the FF in Russells junior or senior year.

In her sophomore year, they will have Massengale/Burdick as seniors, Graves/Carter as juniors, and Russell/Tucker as sopohomores. you have to imagine starters of Massengale, Carter/Tucker, Burdick, Graves and Russell. On PAPER, that's a terrific starting 5. then again, on paper, Massengale, Simmons, Stricklen, Johnson and Baugh looked great, but they still went down to Baylor by 20 (actually I think they started Bass and Manning over Simmons and Massengale).

I keep reading that the tennessee coaches want the team to run and that it's built to run. That's great. But what kind of offense and half court execution will they have if teams take the run away from them? I saw a poll that had them at #7 (or maybe it expected them to be the #7 team this year). It will be interesting to see how that pans out...

 

[tnvolfan65]

Cooper was being recruited because up until a week or so ago, Tennessee still lacked an elite center and she is the second best in the class. As I said, Russell's commitment addresses that need.

I don't know of anyone claiming Tennessee is now going to win multiple titles, but it wouldn't be the first time a Tenn or Uconn fan has made a bold and brash proclamation after landing a good recruit.

As far as USA ball goes, Russell shot 64% this summer and was 7th on the team in shots attempted. She made 1 shot less than Greenwell and 11 less than Deshields yet took 35 and 58 less shots, respectively. She led the team in blocks and was second in rebounds-a stat line that speaks of an elite center on a team of elite players IMO.

On pretty much the same team, sans Deshields, the summer before she was second on the team in scoring and set tournament records with her 11.4 rebounds per game and 4 blocks per game.

If you want to judge her based on these 13 total games, I would think Russell has more than established herself as an elite center prospect.

 

[EricSD]

Cooper was being recruited because up until a week or so ago, Tennessee still lacked an elite center and she is the second best in the class. As I said, Russell's commitment addresses that need.

I don't know of anyone claiming Tennessee is now going to win multiple titles, but it wouldn't be the first time a Tenn or Uconn fan has made a bold and brash proclamation after landing a good recruit.

As far as USA ball goes, Russell shot 64% this summer and was 7th on the team in shots attempted. She made 1 shot less than Greenwell and 11 less than Deshields yet took 35 and 58 less shots, respectively. She led the team in blocks and was second in rebounds-a stat line that speaks of an elite center on a team of elite players IMO.

On pretty much the same team, sans Deshields, the summer before she was second on the team in scoring and set tournament records with her 11.4 rebounds per game and 4 blocks per game.

If you want to judge her based on these 13 total games, I would think Russell has more than established herself as an elite center prospect.

as for multiple titles, it was on your board. not sure how many thought so, but there it was. and no one is saying she's not elite. but will she be elite like Charles or Fowles, or elite like Snow or Vaughn or Bone? that remains to be seen.

she's rated 98 by HG and is one of the top 2 or 3 recruits in the nation (Blue Star has her at #2). it's not like she's the runaway superstar of the class like Stewart was in 2012. and it's not like she dominated on every team she played on like Stewart did. she's an excellent elite center with a lot of potential. she's a top 3 kid for a reason. in general, however, we don't think she's as elite as tennessee fans. and the empirical data tends to bear that out.

 

[wallman]

Forget the stats, did you watch her play?

As with most high school kids going to the next level means they are going to have to learn how to play defense and that includes Russell, regardless of her ranking.

Plus international competition is not even equal to some elite club level in US.

 

[Rb335]

All of a sudden only 5 top 100 prospects according to HG are still available. Uconn is only in the running for mccall who announces tomorrow. Her announcement will make only 4 top 100 players available. Time to move onto 2014 as 2013 was somewhat of a bust for uconn.

 

[tnvolfan65]

as for multiple titles, it was on your board. not sure how many thought so, but there it was. and no one is saying she's not elite. but will she be elite like Charles or Fowles, or elite like Snow or Vaughn or Bone? that remains to be seen.

she's rated 98 by HG and is one of the top 2 or 3 recruits in the nation (Blue Star has her at #2). it's not like she's the runaway superstar of the class like Stewart was in 2012. and it's not like she dominated on every team she played on like Stewart did. she's an excellent elite center with a lot of potential. she's a top 3 kid for a reason. in general, however, we don't think she's as elite as tennessee fans. and the empirical data tends to bear that out.

No telling who said that on the Summitt or in what context, but again...not surprising or an uncommon reaction from either fanbase.

And I've said on both boards that I think Stewart is the top prospect out of high school since Griner. I'm not sure how Russell not perfoming like Stewart proves anything other than just that or that they have very different playing styles. Also not sure what empirical data you're referring to because the only setting all these girls play in now days are USA ball, and as I said Russell put up very good "data."