McDonalds All Americans

[RegisteredUconn]

Just a word of caution in reading too much into Registered serious work above - have a single great player on a team isn't a formula for a great team - EDD at Delaware was not going to get them ranked of example, so there is a certain density of good players that a team needs - having one AA is not going to change a program. I would thing 2 is a little light as well, 3 begins to get some synergy, and four gives you a starting line-up.
The other thing is players tend to impact programs more as they get older - Napheesa and Lou were not essential for last year to be successful, as freshman they provide help, but a good pair of non-AAs likely would have been enough. This year is a different story. So having a senior AA vs. a freshman AA is more valuable on the whole. If one of the teams above with three AA players got two of them this year and one last year, it may not have much impact this year, but could have much more in the next two year.

Just the single word of caution? You're being too generous. I did consider much of what you wrote but even my eyes were beginning to glaze over at the length of my own post. So I decided to focus on trying to quantify the value of an AA. The one thing the OP showed was that UConn's success isn't simply the result of stacking Mickey D's All Americans in the bowels of Gampel like so much cord wood.

 

[CBear01]

Just a word of caution in reading too much into Registered serious work above - have a single great player on a team isn't a formula for a great team - EDD at Delaware was not going to get them ranked of example, so there is a certain density of good players that a team needs - having one AA is not going to change a program. I would thing 2 is a little light as well, 3 begins to get some synergy, and four gives you a starting line-up.
The other thing is players tend to impact programs more as they get older - Napheesa and Lou were not essential for last year to be successful, as freshman they provide help, but a good pair of non-AAs likely would have been enough. This year is a different story. So having a senior AA vs. a freshman AA is more valuable on the whole. If one of the teams above with three AA players got two of them this year and one last year, it may not have much impact this year, but could have much more in the next two year.

I don't normally ever disagree with you but I have to on your EDD example...

"Delaware’s success earned the team national recognition as the Blue Hens cracked the national polls for the first time in school history. After coming in at No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Nov. 28, Delaware found its way onto the USA Today Poll at No. 25 just one week later.

The Hens, who moved up to as high as No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the USA Today Poll, also finished a perfect 14-0 run on their home court and set school records for wins in a season (31) and consecutive wins (21).

Leading the way for Delaware this season was junior Elena Delle Donne, who led the nation in scoring with 28.1 points per game, and has been a consensus first team All-American this season"

They finished #14 in the final poll that year (2012)

http://m.bluehens.com/mobile/ViewArticle.dbml?atclid=209351393&DB_OEM_ID=29100&

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't normally ever disagree with you but I have to on your EDD example...

"Delaware’s success earned the team national recognition as the Blue Hens cracked the national polls for the first time in school history. After coming in at No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Nov. 28, Delaware found its way onto the USA Today Poll at No. 25 just one week later.

The Hens, who moved up to as high as No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the USA Today Poll, also finished a perfect 14-0 run on their home court and set school records for wins in a season (31) and consecutive wins (21).

Leading the way for Delaware this season was junior Elena Delle Donne, who led the nation in scoring with 28.1 points per game, and has been a consensus first team All-American this season"

They finished #14 in the final poll that year (2012)

Women's Basketball - Mobile - BlueHens.com - UD Athletics

I rarely disagree with Miami, but I did too on that point. One very good McD's AA can get a team ranked. Kelsey Plum may be the only HS AA on Washington. EDD was certainly good enough to get UDel ranked. But getting ranked is a far cry from being a NC contender. If you have 4 AAs who play different positions, and 1-2 of them are NPOY contenders, you have a chance at an undefeated season.