Lauren Engeln to transfer

[jennyo70]

Bret McCormick (@ASGR1995)
8/6/12 3:59 PM
Lauren Engeln 5-11 G from Laguna Hills HS CA 2010 class is transferring from Connecticut.

This is from his twitter feed.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm a little surprised at this point, but she must see that she is at the bottom of the depth chart. She is good enough to be a contributor for a Division 1 team.

 

[UConnCat]

I heard this was coming back in the spring but thought she might've had a change of heart. I guess not.

Good luck Lauren! I agree, she can be a contributor somewhere.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Ohhh no!!!! That stinks!!!!!

Good Luck to Lauren!!

This makes the 2013 class even more vital!

 

[sarals24]

Wow...so only two left in that class out of five. Big recruiting classes don't always work out either. It's such a crapshoot with 18-year-old kids! I am surprised she waited this long, although maybe the team knew and they didn't announce it yet.

Any word on where she's heading? I am guessing back west...

 

[connboy77]

This means that UCONN now has only 8 players for the 2013-2014 year. This makes it even more important that UCONN sign at least two players from the 2013 class.

 

[doggydaddy]

Good luck to Lauren in her pursuit of more playing time. I love her game and will miss her smile.

Bad news for UConn opponents. The end of the bench is now more talented than before. It will be tough to put on the brakes in blowouts.

 

[Kevin G]

Best of luck Lauren!! Thank you for all that you have done.

 

[alexrgct]

I never understood what role Geno envisioned for her at UConn. Clearly he had something in mind. However, it's not like she was highly prized recruit out of high school that didn't pan out; she's pretty much what the recruiting services projected her to be. And that was definitely good enough to play college ball, but likely to be buried in the depth chart at a program like UConn.

I understand why she'd come if offered, and wish her the best of luck going forward, but her case was always a head scratcher to me.

 

[JimGunther]

Godspeed Lauren. Once a Husky - Always a Husky!

 

[Icebear]

Blessings, Lauren, on where ever life leads you.

 

[FairView]

Hope she has a happy, fulfilling college career and look forward to giving her a big round of applause if the team she goes to ever plays UConn.

 

[speedoo]

I never understood what role Geno envisioned for her at UConn. Clearly he had something in mind. However, it's not like she was highly prized recruit out of high school that didn't pan out; she's pretty much what the recruiting services projected her to be. And that was definitely good enough to play college ball, but likely to be buried in the depth chart at a program like UConn.

I understand why she'd come if offered, and wish her the best of luck going forward, but her case was always a head scratcher to me.

My best guess is he wanted her to be another Meghan Gardler, but she did not have the toughness and defensive intensity to asume that role. Too bad, because she had Kelly Faris playing on the same team to provide the model.

 

[Outside Shot]

Recruiting is always an inexact science. It helps some when we tend to have "first pick" of many recruits, but it's always a guess. Just think of how many misses other schools have when they are sifting through leftovers. Hopefully Lauren finds a good fit this time around.

 

[Husky WBB Fan]

Blessings, Lauren, on where ever life leads you.

My sentiments as well. Lauren shared her warm smile with us and she was a contributor when her number was called. She is a good person based on everything we know. I wish her more opportunities to contribute in basketball and a good life.

 

[Vowelguy]

I never understood what role Geno envisioned for her at UConn. Clearly he had something in mind.

As Geno has said over and over, he doesn't recruit just for ability. He recruits for personality and ability to accept a role. He doesn't want 13 AAs because it's almost impossible to find 13 kids who will be happy in that setup. You need some players who are willing to be secondary members.

 

[alexrgct]

As Geno has said over and over, he doesn't recruit just for ability. He recruits for personality and ability to accept a role. He doesn't want 13 AAs because it's almost impossible to find 13 kids who will be happy in that setup. You need some players who are willing to be secondary members.

Clearly the role Lauren has had isn't one she's been happy with. Which means either Geno's representation of the role wasn't accurate during the recruiting process (seriously doubt), she wasn't able to play the secondary role she was supposed to (possible- see Speedoo's suggestion above), or Lauren wasn't honest with herself about whether she'd be happy with the role (possible as well).

 

[UConnCat]

Lauren is very good friends with Thea Lemberger who plays for UCLA. Maybe she'll end up there.

Wallman, any word on whether UCLA is a possible destination?

 

[sarals24]

Clearly the role Lauren has had isn't one she's been happy with. Which means either Geno's representation of the role wasn't accurate during the recruiting process (seriously doubt), she wasn't able to play the secondary role she was supposed to (possible- see Speedoo's suggestion above), or Lauren wasn't honest with herself about whether she'd be happy with the role (possible as well).

It has to be a tough balancing act to find kids who are competitive enough to give it their all every day and will still accept a role at the end of the bench. And it must have been really frustrating for her to sit and watch her freshman year while Geno played exactly one sub all year. I am not saying she was ready to play, or good enough to contribute at that level, just that both her and Michaela were probably go-to players in high school and then came to UConn and didn't leave the bench. Kids like Jacki Fernandes and Megan Gardler are tough to find. (Gardler did contribute eventually, but Geno basically told her when she came that she wouldn't play much, if at all)

 

[ochoopsfan]

Lauren is very good friends with Thea Lemberger who plays for UCLA. Maybe she'll end up there.

Wallman, any word on whether UCLA is a possible destination?

Interesting, because supposedly two freshman guards from UCLA last year, one injured mid season and one redhsirted because of an injury before the season, supposedly are not coming back to UCLA.
Wish her the best.

 

[boontonbomber]

i'm delighted that she's making an attempt to finally get to play the game again. not an easy move to make. i'll really be rooting for her.

 

[UConnChapette]

Good luck Lauren. You will always be a Husky in my heart.

 

[Scotter]

The role he had expected her to play was that of a typical and traditional UConn guard, and there are very few players in each recruiting class that fit that mold. He saw a 6 foot tall guard that handled the ball and passed well enough to play point guard on one of the best AAU teams in the country. Some recruiting services had her ranked in the top 20 early in high school based on that potential. Lauren just never continued to develop for whatever reason, and her recruiting rankings were downgraded over time accordingly. In my opinion it just never really clicked into place for her to understand how to use her skills to impact the game. That was warning I gave before Lauren's freshman year to try and reduce expectations when people's instinct was to compare her to Kelly Faris.

I never understood what role Geno envisioned for her at UConn. Clearly he had something in mind. However, it's not like she was highly prized recruit out of high school that didn't pan out; she's pretty much what the recruiting services projected her to be. And that was definitely good enough to play college ball, but likely to be buried in the depth chart at a program like UConn.

I understand why she'd come if offered, and wish her the best of luck going forward, but her case was always a head scratcher to me.

 

[UCONNfan1]

I think most hoped/expected her to have a Meghan Gardler type of impact - someone Geno trusted off the bench - not the first line of bench players, but definitely the 2nd line and ahead of the mop-up time players.

The funny thing is she was being recruited by Duke, Cal, Vandy, and a few other Pac 10 programs - at least that's info i found on the Duke board from 2009 when she was being recruited. Obviously those are some very good programs. I checked Hoopgurlz and they don't say who else she was considering at the time she choose UCONN in April 2009.

I'll be very interested to see how she does wherever she ends up. HG had her at 95. I think Blue Star and ASGR had her substantially higher - in the 40-50 range. A solid contributor, but this year she'd have been behind Kelly, Caroline, Bria, Brianna, and Moriah. Next year Kelly and Caroline would be gone. Basically 4th on the depth chart for guards on a potentially small 9 person team? (IF UCONN were to get no one from 2013)

Maybe she became aware UCONN seems likely to land a guard or 2 from 2013 and realized she'd never really get any significant PT off the bench while at UCONN. At least that's my hope.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

The funny thing is she was being recruited by Duke, Cal, Vandy, and a few other Pac 10 programs - at least that's info i found on the Duke board from 2009 when she was being recruited. Obviously those are some very good programs. I checked Hoopgurlz and they don't say who else she was considering at the time she choose UCONN in April 2009.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=167&f=1387&t=2643325&p=6