Kiki commits to UCLA

[Stymie]

Done.
UCLA.

 

[D J B]

UCLU? Is that in Alaska?

 

[jchusky]

Uclu? She going to London to play basketball? that's a shocker

 

[ConwayGmck]

University of California Lower Utah???

 

[D J B]

Done.
UCLA.

You might want to ask a mod to fix that.

 

[SECbbfan24]

University of California Lower Utah???

Never heard of her

 

[Fossil]

Wow. Must have been the weather. How is their roster with guard play? Maybe after all the speculation it was playing time that made the final decision. Not the best for academics not the best for basketball future. Wish her all the best and hope she Doesn’t become just an average player. Coaching

 

[tchalla1]

Congratulations to UCLA and to Kiki.... The front runners Duke and Sanford because of supposed academics lean, did not come to fruition, especially for BYers who thought Stanford was a slam dunk... That's a great recruitment gem for UCLA--probably their best ever.....

 

[Stymie]

Thank you moderator.
Huge peanut gallery here.
Checked status on my phone on way home from office.
Good intentions- fat fingers.

 

[Carnac]

Congratulations to Kiki on her choice of schools. Cori Close got a good one. Congratulations to her and her staff as well. Kiki should enjoy her time in Southern California. I think it’s just a brief stop on her way to the WNBA.

 

[Kaizen]

Never heard of her

This is what you will find in Twitter, .

 

[D J B]

Thank you moderator.
Huge peanut gallery here.
Checked status on my phone on way home from office.
Good intentions- fat fingers.

It's all good.

 

[Bigboote]

This is what you will find in Twitter, .

Is that just parsley in the rice? BOOORRING. Maybe cilantro with a little lime and chile, but what's shown is just meh.

 

[EricLA]

UCLA has a good class that year. I'm really glad it wasn't Stanford or Duke. I do like Close - and there are 2 top kids in the 2023 class from the same school (La Jolla Country Day) - Jada Williams already committed to UCLA. Breya Cunningham is the other one. I know Close and the staff are ALL OVER HER. They desperately want her.

Having said that, Kiki did say that she wants to win NC's (multiple). She even mentioned NC's in her tweet. UCLA will not even make the final 4 before she graduates unless the seriously upgrade the level of recruits. In the last 5 years, the best they have done is the Elite 8. With the talent Close currently has, they lost in the 2nd round last year.

They do have a nice class to go along with Rice - 3 kids right around #20. And they have #20 in 2023. But they need consecutive years of 2 top 5-10 kids if they want to come close to UCONN, SC, Stanford, Oregon, OSU, Maryland, etc.

And please note I'm not trying to be sour grapes. UCLA is a terrific school - it recently passed UC Berkeley recently to become the #1 public university in the country. The campus is beautiful and there is a TON to do around LA. But she's not going there realistically to win "NC's". As of now, the absolute upside is Sweet 16. We will see how the recruiting goes the next year or 2...

 

[Alydar]

I'm sure Tara was prepared to lose her, but not to another PAC12 team.

 

[cohenzone]

UCLA has a good class that year. I'm really glad it wasn't Stanford or Duke. I do like Close - and there are 2 top kids in the 2023 class from the same school (La Jolla Country Day) - Jada Williams already committed to UCLA. Breya Cunningham is the other one. I know Close and the staff are ALL OVER HER. They desperately want her.

Having said that, Kiki did say that she wants to win NC's (multiple). She even mentioned NC's in her tweet. UCLA will not even make the final 4 before she graduates unless the seriously upgrade the level of recruits. In the last 5 years, the best they have done is the Elite 8. With the talent Close currently has, they lost in the 2nd round last year.

They do have a nice class to go along with Rice - 3 kids right around #20. And they have #20 in 2023. But they need consecutive years of 2 top 5-10 kids if they want to come close to UCONN, SC, Stanford, Oregon, OSU, Maryland, etc.

And please note I'm not trying to be sour grapes. UCLA is a terrific school - it recently passed UC Berkeley recently to become the #1 public university in the country. The campus is beautiful and there is a TON to do around LA. But she's not going there realistically to win "NC's". As of now, the absolute upside is Sweet 16. We will see how the recruiting goes the next year or 2...

My son lives a relatively short walk to the UCLA campus. Westwood is a great area although I think some of the Westwood Village businesses folded due to the pandemic. Very good university. and the older, northern part of the campus is a very nice urban campus. The southern end is a bit more citified if that’s a word.

 

[Ozimoto]

So we are all surprised.

 

[Artifact]

Want to wish, 'KiKi,'only the best & success, in her playing basketball career at UCLA !

 

[oldude]

While I certainly would have loved to see Rice come to UConn, I have to say that since I learned she was heading to UCLA, I have a general sense of ambivalence about her choice.

UConn is loaded in the backcourt for the next several years, the Huskies already have offers out to several top 2023 guards and Rice is not going to hurt us playing basketball in Westwood.

Rice seems like a wonderful young lady. I wish her all the best at UCLA. It’s time to move on to the next recruit.

 

[JellyBean]

Congrats, KiKi. UCLA and Coach Cori got the pieces and now just have to put it all together. They are knocking on the door to a Final Four & National Championship. The addition of Kiki could be that piece that brings everything together. Congrats, UCLA and Kiki.

 

[Iluvacc2]

Wow. Must have been the weather. How is their roster with guard play? Maybe after all the speculation it was playing time that made the final decision. Not the best for academics not the best for basketball future. Wish her all the best and hope she Doesn’t become just an average player. Coaching

Not the best for academics? Not sure if it’s sarcasm. UCLA is one of the best schools in the country.

Huge get for Close. Haven’t been this surprised by a recruiting decision since Boston picked South Carolina.

 

[Iluvacc2]

While I certainly would have loved to see Rice come to UConn, I have to say that since I learned she was heading to UCLA, I have a general sense of ambivalence about her choice.

UConn is loaded in the backcourt for the next several years, the Huskies already have offers out to several top 2023 guards and Rice is not going to hurt us playing basketball in Westwood.

Rice seems like a wonderful young lady. I wish her all the best at UCLA. It’s time to move on to the next recruit.

Well said!

 

[hoopsfan22]

I'd rather hit 2023 hard just for spacing and I said that before Rice's decision. The 2023-24 season would be the senior season for Paige's class, so the freshman will get a year to learn from the best and get their feet wet, and then when they take the sophomore leap would have lots of playing time after the graduation of about 5 players. The 2023-24 team would be anchored by a senior Fudd (assuming she doesn't/can't go pro early), and sophomores Ice and Ayana which is a pretty good core to build around.

 

[donalddoowop]

This is what you will find in Twitter, .

Kaizen, you lied to me. You said Rice wanted to win NCs. Evidently not.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Not the best for academics? Not sure if it’s sarcasm. UCLA is one of the best schools in the country.

Huge get for Close. Haven’t been this surprised by a recruiting decision since Boston picked South Carolina.

But Stanford >>> UCLA in academics and women's basketball. The decision is surprising because she didn't pick the best basketball school, nor the school with the best academics, nor the school closest to home.