Kiki Iriafen headed to Stanford

[The CDR-Ret]

I would have liked to have seen the Regional Final @ Ft. Wayne if Maryland had made the final vs. UCONN. UCONN would have won by more than 20, so the conversation of "how Maryland will handle SC, Baylor, and/or Oregon" would have ended by half time....

 

[Watchdog]

We're excited to have her, and it sounds like she will be a great contribution to the program and a great fit for the Stanford community. This must have been the "Christmas" present our assistant coach was promising we'd get at the end of July, just with a few "delivery delays."

More broadly, I agree that at this point Stanford has so much to work with in the paint, but a Kiki Rice would really round things out nicely. We have one more spot available for 2021 and I don't think it's likely we'll land Fudd, those with insider knowledge said on our board this morning that Stanford is not recruiting Fudd, and we are done for 2021, but I agree a top rated PG should definitely be a high recruiting priority over the next year.

And Tara was very prescient to switch to the Princeton, because she has so many versatile players that can shoot from all over. Haley Jones's skill set goes without saying at this point. For a 6'4" post, Brink's handle and 3 point shooting is pretty fantastic. Even our big big, Ashten Prechtel, is a strong threat from outside. And the Hull twins play much taller than they are in terms of rebounding, but also defend like 5'10" guards. Assuming everyone stays healthy, Tara has so many pieces to work with, and I can't wait to see how she spreads out responsibilities among these several very talented classes.

And yes: UConn stands alone because UConn has Geno and everybody else doesn't. Unless and until that's not true, there's no question in my mind who's #1.

Are Stanford fans losing hope for winning it all with Tara as coach? It's been 28 years (she won in 90 and 92) and people here would be pulling their (remaining) hair out by now if that was the case at UConn.

 

[Mdoggie]

Are Stanford fans losing hope for winning it all with Tara as coach? It's been 28 years (she won in 90 and 92) and people here would be pulling their (remaining) hair out by now if that was the case at UConn.

Unsure. Are Stanford WBB fans as rabid as UConn fans?

 

[TheFarmFan]

Unsure. Are Stanford WBB fans as rabid as UConn fans?

I think most of us are not as dogged and we also recognize that the admissions hurdles make our runs to a national championship more limited in likelihood. Nothing will ever unbreak my heart from 2010 and 2011, and I'd love nothing more than Tara to get a third natty, but more than anything it's just a love of the game that keeps me a fan.

Not coincidentally, that's the same reason why UConn is generally my runaway #2 team to be a fan of - almost always exceptionally well executed basketball. Who doesn't get a thrill watching DT, Maya, Stewie and now likely Bueckers achieve super human results on the court? Not to mention everybody's favorite lovable hard-@, Geno.

 

[bballnut90]

I would have liked to have seen the Regional Final @ Ft. Wayne if Maryland had made the final vs. UCONN. UCONN would have won by more than 20, so the conversation of "how Maryland will handle SC, Baylor, and/or Oregon" would have ended by half time....

UCONN wasn't ever going to Fort Wayne. Maryland was a lock for the #1 seed and Louisville was getting the #2 seed based on location. UCONN was going to Portland as the 2 and if they advanced to the regional finals, was likely facing Oregon in a road environment.

 

[UConnCat]

I think most of us are not as dogged and we also recognize that the admissions hurdles make our runs to a national championship more limited in likelihood.

Seems to me the admissions excuse is a thing of the past. In the 2018-2021 recruiting classes Stanford has landed players with Hoopgurlz rankings #1, 3, 4, 9, 14, 15, 16 and 18. For 2022, Stanford will be serious contenders for Hoopgurlz #s 1, 5, 6, 8 and 20.

 

[bballnut90]

Seems to me the admissions excuse is a thing of the past. In the 2018-2021 recruiting classes Stanford has landed players with Hoopgurlz rankings #1, 3, 4, 9, 14, 15, 16 and 18. For 2022, Stanford will be serious contenders for Hoopgurlz #s 1, 5, 6, 8 and 20.

I agree. It hurts and helps Stanford at the same time. It limits the pool of recruits, but most top recruits that are academically inclined and qualify for Stanford admissions end up in Palo Alto. They're (by far) the best school on the west coast if you're academically inclined and want to play at a top program. UCLA is probably #2 but every year Stanford is loaded with top kids.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Seems to me the admissions excuse is a thing of the past. In the 2018-2021 recruiting classes Stanford has landed players with Hoopgurlz rankings #1, 3, 4, 9, 14, 15, 16 and 18. For 2022, Stanford will be serious contenders for Hoopgurlz #s 1, 5, 6, 8 and 20.

Agreed. It's time to put this "we can't recruit anyone because of admissions" to rest.

 

[BobbyJ]

Iriafen's a tremendous player. Would've been a massive pickup for UConn. Disappointing but saw it coming for a while.

As you know, I agree. And I’m sure Auriemma probably saw it long before we did. Now I have to believe that Patterson and Betts will get the full court press. At least one of the two to pair with Brady for 4 years would be ideal.

 

[Plebe]

Not necessarily. UConn's losses, as usual, came against the very best teams in the country. UConn rarely loses to a team that they are expected to beat. Can't say the same about Maryland.

Usually's and rarely's only go so far in conjecturing about a single season. UConn, historically, very **rarely** loses any games by double digits, and yet they lost thrice this season by margins of 16-18 points. A typical season this was not.

 

[Plebe]

I’m confident that UConn would have beaten Iowa and Northwestern. I’m about 75% confident they would have beaten NC State.

Both teams lost to SC.

Maryland didn’t have then personnel to beat Oregon or Baylor.

Are you telling me that if Maryland had the exact same losses and played in the American they would have been considered for a #1 seed?

We can move this to another thread if you want — this one should be about Kiki and Stanford.

First of all, anyone who viewed Maryland objectively over the course of the season would have to acknowledge that the team that ran the table in the second half of the season was almost unrecognizable from the one that lost four games in the first half. After losing a tight game at Iowa on Jan. 9, just five weeks later Maryland crushed them by 34, as part of a 17-game win streak with no win margin closer than 9 points.

And if Oregon was capable of losing to Arizona State, and Baylor was capable of losing to Iowa State, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that Maryland would have no chance against either of them.

Similarly, while I think UConn *should* have won hypothetical games against the likes of Northwestern and Iowa, I'm not terribly confident that the team would’ve won had they played like they did in the Memphis and Vanderbilt games, among others.

It's pointless to hypothesize about "what if Maryland played in the American". The conference affiliations are well known in advance, and it's on the teams to schedule around them accordingly. In previous years, MD *appeared* to draw the short end when the Big Ten was relatively weak and offered precious little in the way of quality wins, when in reality it was MD's weak nonconference schedule that undermined their seeding on those occasions. By the same token, UConn's weak conference schedule has been a well-known axiom, and it's a victim's mentality to claim that our conference somehow "did us dirty" as if they just snuck up behind us in a dark alleyway.

And back to regularly scheduled programming: Congrats to Kiki and to Stanford! They sound like a great fit, and Stanford is shaping up to be a formidable team for years to come.

 

[saywho]

Seems to me the admissions excuse is a thing of the past. In the 2018-2021 recruiting classes Stanford has landed players with Hoopgurlz rankings #1, 3, 4, 9, 14, 15, 16 and 18. For 2022, Stanford will be serious contenders for Hoopgurlz #s 1, 5, 6, 8 and 20.

Per her twitter, Stanford has also already offered Van Slooten (#14) already. But it seems like they definitely are in contention and going after 1,5,6,8,14, and 20. They have 5 spots they can fill for '22. My guess is that they have a very solid chance with 1,5, and 6 for sure. Current players have a connection with Betts and seem to be outwardly recruiting her in the manner Bueckers is with Azzi, Kiki Rice seems like a no-brainer to the farm, and they are pressing hard for Gardiner. Who knows how it will all play out though until there are commitments.

 

[DefenseBB]

Per her twitter, Stanford has also already offered Van Slooten (#14) already. But it seems like they definitely are in contention and going after 1,5,6,8,14, and 20. They have 5 spots they can fill for '22. My guess is that they have a very solid chance with 1,5, and 6 for sure. Current players have a connection with Betts and seem to be outwardly recruiting her in the manner Bueckers is with Azzi, Kiki Rice seems like a no-brainer to the farm, and they are pressing hard for Gardiner. Who knows how it will all play out though until there are commitments.

Did the NCAA rescind the rule of only 1 "Kiki" per team? Otherwise, Rice might need to go elsewhere...

 

[Lorcan]

Did the NCAA rescind the rule of only 1 "Kiki" per team? Otherwise, Rice might need to go elsewhere...

We already had 2 K. Johnson’s recently attend the Leland Stanford Jr. University at the same time to play some basketball. Kailee and Kaylee were both fabulous players. Kaylee in particular was inspiring how she played through injuries her senior campaign. Their names did not cause an NCAA infraction, so I don’t see why Kiki would.