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McD haul... Is it a good Omen for UConn
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alexrgct
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"High school All-American status is no guarantee of college success. With a historic signing class that includes the Nos. 1 and 2 prospects, plus another in Tuck who appeared headed to a top three ranking before an ACL injury, however, Connecticut's trio is as close to a sure thing as they come. "
That strikes me as a bit odd. Morgan is showing no apparent ill effects of the ACL injury, which is now upwards of 2.5 years old. Why would that prevent her from being a top five (or even top three) prospect? She's a badass and has been proving it.
That strikes me as a bit odd. Morgan is showing no apparent ill effects of the ACL injury, which is now upwards of 2.5 years old. Why would that prevent her from being a top five (or even top three) prospect? She's a badass and has been proving it.
triaddukefan
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That hoopzgurlz article is incorrect when it lists the schools that have had 3 or more selections in a single recruiting class. Duke had 3 players in the 2009 game.
EricLA
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because it's HG? not saying that to pick on them but i've yet to see a coherent explanation as to why she remains at #15. I'm not sure if they have updated their rankings at any time in the past year, so i can't say they just left her at 15 while making other adjustments. Also i do know that someone from HG explained that the difference between the McD AA game and the rankings has to do with... McD AA is based on high school performance. HG rankings take their guestimate for college potential into consideration...
A few thoughts about Morgan and her rankings:
1. When Morgan was named the #1 player in her class as a freshman there seemed to be a near consensus that she was very unlikely to keep that ranking throughout high school. She was expected to be passed by some players that developed later and had more athletic tools, and people projecting basketball players have a tendency to get caught up in whether a player is tall enough to score as a post player and defend the post.
2. Especially since Hoopgurlz re-organized their evaluation staff a couple of years ago and brought in a much bigger voice from the southeast there has been little emphasis on fundamental skills and team play, and a much stronger emphasis on athletic potential and individual 1 on 1 skills in evaluation. So basically an emphasis on star potential. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that approach to ranking players, but it is going to have very little in common with how a player will perform at UConn. And it is not how I would rank players.
Those lines of thinking aren't completely unfair though. Morgan is very skilled and a good athlete in terms of being coordinated, but not an explosive athlete. In choosing UConn she chose a good environment for her skills. The Asjha Jones comparison has been made is apt. Asjha is talented enough to be a WNBA All-Star, but there is a point where the limits of her athleticism prevent her from being a true star that threatens teams. Hoopgurlz is willing to rank players with at least the potential to be that kind of true star higher even if the odds of them achieving that potential is much lower than Morgan achieving her only slightly lesser potential. I don't agree with that line of thinking, but the way Hoopgurlz ranks isn't much different than the way many NBA teams approach the college draft.
1. When Morgan was named the #1 player in her class as a freshman there seemed to be a near consensus that she was very unlikely to keep that ranking throughout high school. She was expected to be passed by some players that developed later and had more athletic tools, and people projecting basketball players have a tendency to get caught up in whether a player is tall enough to score as a post player and defend the post.
2. Especially since Hoopgurlz re-organized their evaluation staff a couple of years ago and brought in a much bigger voice from the southeast there has been little emphasis on fundamental skills and team play, and a much stronger emphasis on athletic potential and individual 1 on 1 skills in evaluation. So basically an emphasis on star potential. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that approach to ranking players, but it is going to have very little in common with how a player will perform at UConn. And it is not how I would rank players.
Those lines of thinking aren't completely unfair though. Morgan is very skilled and a good athlete in terms of being coordinated, but not an explosive athlete. In choosing UConn she chose a good environment for her skills. The Asjha Jones comparison has been made is apt. Asjha is talented enough to be a WNBA All-Star, but there is a point where the limits of her athleticism prevent her from being a true star that threatens teams. Hoopgurlz is willing to rank players with at least the potential to be that kind of true star higher even if the odds of them achieving that potential is much lower than Morgan achieving her only slightly lesser potential. I don't agree with that line of thinking, but the way Hoopgurlz ranks isn't much different than the way many NBA teams approach the college draft.
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