May 2020 UCONN recruiting thread | Page 10 | The Boneyard

May 2020 UCONN recruiting thread

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This might offer some insight into Fudd going to SC. Last year Staley started 3 freshmen and kept them in the starting lineup all year. They developed quite a bit. Geno and freshmen don't usually mix. Even the #1 recruits like Walker and Williams have not fared all that well in their Freshmen years. This might be a concern to Fudd. I know if it were me it would.

I don't buy what you're selling
. Nurse started. Katie Lou started. Williams stated. These players didn't "mix?"
How many teams have won championships or even been to Final Fours with 3 freshmen starting? Whiel UCONN gets to at least the FF every year.
IMO you've picked a one-time event and tried to use it as a main point while not considering how successful UCONN has been by getting to Finals Fours and their records in a couple recently were undefeated leading into Tourney. Its rare a 3 rookie starting team will go undefeated.
 
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Here's another, very logical reason for Fudd to wait, at least if they have a season this year. I believe they have until the spring of their senior season to sign, correct? If that is the case Bueckers can give her a detailed report on playing for UConn before Fudd needs to make a decision. Not saying I think that is the likely reason, but it would be a smart reason.
It’s not even remotely late in the process. People act like she’s dragging this out because it doesn’t fit their personal timelines of wanting her to commit to UCONN yesterday. It’s absolute insanity. It’s a 16 year old girl deciding where she wants to spend the next 4 years of her life. It’s often the first real big decision of anyone’s life and it’s magnified times a million for someone like her with magnified developmental/financial implications. Approximately 50% of the 2021 top 100 has committed but even if all 99 had already committed she still wouldn’t be ‘dragging the decision out’ just cause random people think it’s a no brainer she should choose the school they root for.
 
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If a girl is apprehensive to commit to your school because she’s worried about starting as a freshman then let her go some place else...and I’d be willing to bet Geno would feel the same way. I also would be willing to bet that’s of zero concern to Azzi. She’s 100% a team first player and by all accounts really just seems to ‘get it.’ She’s super talented, unselfish, a great teammate and extremely hard working....it’s just super obvious the minutes will be there as a freshman and I gotta think starting is a non factor and of no concern to her
I think any girl that is competitive would want to start every game that they are involved in. Fudd I am sure would end up starting on UConn at some point in her freshman year because she was the best guard on the FIBA teams and she was playing with girls two years older than her. This includes Paige. I am saying it is a consideration for some players. The question is why hasn't she committed to UConn. The other consideration is the age of Geno versus Dawn. Boston played on the FIBA teams with her and Paige. That could be a draw. We will find out eventually.
 
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I don't buy what you're selling
. Nurse started. Katie Lou started. Williams stated. These players didn't "mix?"
How many teams have won championships or even been to Final Fours with 3 freshmen starting? Whiel UCONN gets to at least the FF every year.
IMO you've picked a one-time event and tried to use it as a main point while not considering how successful UCONN has been by getting to Finals Fours and their records in a couple recently were undefeated leading into Tourney. Its rare a 3 rookie starting team will go undefeated.
I am not trying to promote her starting as a freshman my comment was base don Why HASN'T SHE COMMITTED YET. The word HER being the point.
 
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I think any girl that is competitive would want to start every game that they are involved in. Fudd I am sure would end up starting on UConn at some point in her freshman year because she was the best guard on the FIBA teams and she was playing with girls two years older than her. This includes Paige. I am saying it is a consideration for some players. The question is why hasn't she committed to UConn. The other consideration is the age of Geno versus Dawn. Boston played on the FIBA teams with her and Paige. That could be a draw. We will find out eventually.
Regarding the downside of Azzi potentially wanting to go somewhere where starting right away was a virtual certainty, look to the Diana Taurasi history. People forget Shea Ralph kept Diana on the bench her freshman year. Diana was probably a little better from the start, but my point is, that worked out pretty good.

Diana was a major contributor on a great team her first year, then had her day in the sun in subsequent years. Three national championships, WNBA all star & champion, multiple Olympic golds, and a future Hall of Fame Inductee. So how important is starting that first year anyway, as long as you are a key contributor on a great team? That would be my argument to Azzi regarding that particular potential concern.
 
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If Azzi wants to go to a program where she starts from day 1 that may explain why she is taking her time with her decison. Perfectly understandable if that is what she wants...One way or the other it will work out..
 

donalddoowop

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How does Fudd compare to Skylar Diggins, and Odyssey Sims? Those are two very talented guards who did not play for UConn and the Huskies did just fine without them. However, I hope she commits to UConn. She has until next Spring to make her commitment to whatever school. That gives her plenty of time to think about it.
 
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MilfordHusky

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How does Fudd compare to Skylar Diggins, and Odessy ( ?sp) Sims,? Those are two very talented guards who did not play for UConn and the Huskies did just fine without them. However, I hope she commits to UConn. She has until next Spring to make her commitment to whatever school. That gives her plenty of time to think about it.
Sky and Odyssey were/are excellent players. Azzi is a true generational talent. She won 2 NPOY awards as a sophomore. No one else has done that on the women's side. The only sophomore NPOY in any sport was Marion Jones in track and field. Azzi is uber elite.
 

MilfordHusky

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It’s not even remotely late in the process. People act like she’s dragging this out because it doesn’t fit their personal timelines of wanting her to commit to UCONN yesterday. It’s absolute insanity. It’s a 16 year old girl deciding where she wants to spend the next 4 years of her life. It’s often the first real big decision of anyone’s life and it’s magnified times a million for someone like her with magnified developmental/financial implications. Approximately 50% of the 2021 top 100 has committed but even if all 99 had already committed she still wouldn’t be ‘dragging the decision out’ just cause random people think it’s a no brainer she should choose the school they root for.
Agreed, but for the sake of accuracy, Azzi is now 17-1/2.

Azzi's birthday is late in the year, so she will be WNBA-eligible after her junior season. Anyone worried about that? I'm not. I'd take her, even if it's for only 3 years.
 

CamrnCrz1974

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How does Fudd compare to Skylar Diggins, and Odessy ( ?sp) Sims,? Those are two very talented guards who did not play for UConn and the Huskies did just fine without them.

I am sure @CocoHusky , @Fairfield Fan , @vowelguy , @MilfordHusky , @ucbart , @EricLA , and others will weigh in, so I will defer to my more knowledgeable posters, but here are my observations...

--- First, Fudd has a pro-level physique. She has strong, broad shoulders and balances that with an incredibly strong leg base. Her musculature is very impressive (especially for a player who is in high school who has yet to hit a college weight room). I have to go back to Monique Currie to find that type of physical strength in a high school recruit.

--- Second, I do not see the similarities to Diggins or Sims. Diggins is a scoring point guard; Sims is a combo guard who can pass, but is better paired with another facilitator. Fudd is primarily an off-guard with great handles, who is primarily a scorer but who can be a secondary facilitator at the collegiate level.

--- Third, Fudd has a tremendous ability to elevate and create space in front of her defender, especially in the mid-range, pairing that with a very high release point on her shot. In terms of elevation and smoothness of her mid-range game, the best HS recruit comparison I can come up with is Seimone Augustus.

--- Fourth, Fudd is incredible in terms of attacking players one-on-one, using her handles and sick crossovers, switching directions, contorting her body into positions where she can still square up for her shot, etc. Hard to find an exact comparison, but it is a weird hybrid of Diana Taurasi/Alana Beard, with a little bit of Ivory Latta's crossover thrown in.

--- Finally, in men's recruiting, we talk about players being "coaches' kids" - players who may not be the most athletic, but have a cerebral approach to the game based on being raised by parents who make their livings drawing up Xs and Os and designing offensive/defensive sets. And there are "players' kids," when you see former stars have children who have inherited their gifts.

In Fudd's case, she has both. Her mother is Katie Smrcka-Duffy, who was the USA Today National Player of the Year as a junior and senior. She was ACC ROY at NC State, before transferring to Georgetown, where she was All-Big East Second Team for her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. Amazingly enough, Smrcka-Duffy ranks in the top five in numerous Georgetown categories (including scoring), despite the fact she only played three years there.

Fudd's father is Tim Fudd, who played collegiately at American, where he was a two-time selection to the All-Colonial Athletic Association Team (and was the team leader in scoring one year). He also was an assistant men's basketball coach for Longwood for six years, helping the Lancers to its most successful Division I season in program history.

In other words, Fudd balances the incredible talent of her mother (and her father had an impressive basketball career in his own right) with the cerebral nature of the game passed on by her father, in terms of coaching Xs and Os.
 
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Agreed, but for the sake of accuracy, Azzi is now 17-1/2.

Azzi's birthday is late in the year, so she will be WNBA-eligible after her junior season. Anyone worried about that? I'm not. I'd take her, even if it's for only 3 years.
Nope.....hope there is a W. in 3 years...Didn't some one famous say What me worry?
 

eebmg

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I am sure @CocoHusky , @Fairfield Fan , @vowelguy , @MilfordHusky , @ucbart , @EricLA , and others will weigh in, so I will defer to my more knowledgeable posters, but here are my observations...

--- First, Fudd has a pro-level physique. She has strong, broad shoulders and balances that with an incredibly strong leg base. Her musculature is very impressive (especially for a player who is in high school who has yet to hit a college weight room). I have to go back to Monique Currie to find that type of physical strength in a high school recruit.

--- Second, I do not see the similarities to Diggins or Sims. Diggins is a scoring point guard; Sims is a combo guard who can pass, but is better paired with another facilitator. Fudd is primarily an off-guard with great handles, who is primarily a scorer but who can be a secondary facilitator at the collegiate level.

--- Third, Fudd has a tremendous ability to elevate and create space in front of her defender, especially in the mid-range, pairing that with a very high release point on her shot. In terms of elevation and smoothness of her mid-range game, the best HS recruit comparison I can come up with is Seimone Augustus.

--- Fourth, Fudd is incredible in terms of attacking players one-on-one, using her handles and sick crossovers, switching directions, contorting her body into positions where she can still square up for her shot, etc. Hard to find an exact comparison, but it is a weird hybrid of Diana Taurasi/Alana Beard, with a little bit of Ivory Latta's crossover thrown in.

--- Finally, in men's recruiting, we talk about players being "coaches' kids" - players who may not be the most athletic, but have a cerebral approach to the game based on being raised by parents who make their livings drawing up Xs and Os and designing offensive/defensive sets. And there are "players' kids," when you see former stars have children who have inherited their gifts.

In Fudd's case, she has both. Her mother is Katie Smrcka-Duffy, who was the USA Today National Player of the Year as a junior and senior. She was ACC ROY at NC State, before transferring to Georgetown, where she was All-Big East Second Team for her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. Amazingly enough, Smrcka-Duffy ranks in the top five in numerous Georgetown categories (including scoring), despite the fact she only played three years there.

Fudd's father is Tim Fudd, who played collegiately at American, where he was a two-time selection to the All-Colonial Athletic Association Team (and was the team leader in scoring one year). He also was an assistant men's basketball coach for Longwood for six years, helping the Lancers to its most successful Division I season in program history.

In other words, Fudd balances the incredible talent of her mother (and her father had an impressive basketball career in his own right) with the cerebral nature of the game passed on by her father, in terms of coaching Xs and Os.

and a 3pt shooter at the level of KML and a FT shooter like EDD
 

RockyMTblue2

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Katie and Azzi. Classic form! Katie is in the Virginia HOF.



There is no genuine basis for comparison there. It's fun, but that is all it is. Azzi has very good form which is best appreciated in motion.
 

RockyMTblue2

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? Explain
They are at different points in the shot. Now the tight lipped look of concentration is pretty close. I suspect their form is quite similar; you are just not getting it from those 2 photos.
 
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They are at different points in the shot. Now the tight lipped look of concentration is pretty close. I suspect their form is quite similar; you are just not getting it from those 2 photos.
Agreed. Different angles also
 
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and a 3pt shooter at the level of KML and a FT shooter like EDD

You forgot that she is also a skilled defender who takes personal pride in playing defense.

She is what most coaches would choose for their team if players could be custom-ordered like cars.
 

eebmg

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You forgot that she is also a skilled defender who takes personal pride in playing defense.

She is what most coaches would choose for their team if players could be custom-ordered like cars.
I do not know that part of her game but salivating even more
 

MilfordHusky

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Mikayla Pivec is quite the athlete! The 2016 winner.
 
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