Megan Walker Narrows her list of top schools

[Mdoggie]

The guys on Sports Center basically made a recruiting video. Come here and win championships.

If you're good come be great. If you're great come become greater! Leave your comfort zone and be coached to greatness!

 

[MikeR01950]

Let's enjoy the ride were already talking about a recruit who won't step on a college campus in 2 years!! Wow let's enjoy now and worry about next season before we worry about recruits 2 years from now!! Dam a lot can happen. Enjoy today!!!

 

[bags27]

If you're good come be great. If you're great come become greater! Leave your comfort zone and be coached to greatness!

Ah, there's the rub, Hamlet! Virtually every kid, when faced with college choices, decides to go where they think they'll be most comfortable. That's the 18 year old mind (and pretty much everyone's mind throughout our lives). A few kids see the very challenge of being outside their comfort zone to be in fact their comfort zone (Lexi Gordon tweeted her acceptance saying precisely that: that UConn will get her out of her comfort zone), but most recoil from that.

 

[bags27]

Let's enjoy the ride were already talking about a recruit who won't step on a college campus in 2 years!! Wow let's enjoy now and worry about next season before we worry about recruits 2 years from now!! Dam a lot can happen. Enjoy today!!!

we can enjoy this at the same time.

 

[MilfordHusky]

If you're good come be great. If you're great come become greater! Leave your comfort zone and be coached to greatness!

I don't recall the exact quote, but it's something like: Geno turns good players into great players and great players into legends. The Legend of Stewie will live on forever.

 

[ivrytontusker]

Is she highly conscious of academic rankings? That is UConn's only disadvantage relative to those other schools.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Is she highly conscious of academic rankings? That is UConn's only disadvantage relative to those other schools.

I'm not sure that Texas has got a really prestigious academic ranking. I plead ignorance but maybe someone out there has a good idea as to whether they're an elite educational institution. UConn has come a long way and I think that they provide an exceptional educational opportunity.

 

[j66kicker]

I'm not sure that Texas has got a really prestigious academic ranking. I plead ignorance but maybe someone out there has a good idea as to whether they're an elite educational institution. UConn has come a long way and I think that they provide an exceptional educational opportunity.

Texas is a very good school. Best Colleges' 2016 academic rankings put them just above UCONN at #52 (UCONN #57)

 

[JS]

Texas is a very good school. Best Colleges' 2016 academic rankings put them just above UCONN at #52 (UCONN #57)

Money (oil money, to be precise) has something to do with it.

"Endowment per student" gives Texas a special boost in ranking systems.

​

Quick: Find the "academics" oddball in this list: ​

College (Money Best Colleges rank) FY 2015 endowment size (billions) FY 2014 endowment size (billions) % change in market value Endowment value per student*

1. Harvard University (6) $36.44 $35.88 1.6 $1,571,806
2. Yale University (21) $25.57 $23.89 7.0 $2,093,776
3. The University of Texas System (N/A) $24.08 $25.43 -5.3 N/A
4. Princeton University (3) $22.72 $20.99 8.2 $2,836,789
5. Stanford University (1) $22.22 $21.45 3.6 $1,375,953

 

[kat0189]

How many is "so many"?

LOL, I love this.

"Really! Gimme a number!"
"...405,687?"

 

[kat0189]

Tonight's championship game is the best argument for UConn that exists. When they scan the crowd and you see Cash, Lobo, Charles Maya & Dolson how can a player with transcendent talent not want to be a part of a program that plays at that level.

Tonight was a *magical* fairytale. but idk recruiting is quite tricky sometimes. there are definitely peaks and valleys, even with UConn over the years it kinda seems like things can really heat up in recruiting ('12 Stewie, Tuck, MoJeff) then cool off ('13 just 1 recruit: Saniya).

But anyway, with Megan Walker....first of all, I really don't see Texas...frankly, I don't think Aston's recruiting makes sense—all these elite guards yet Louisville, Oklahoma, UCLA, Mississippi State score most of the in-state posts? Cox to Baylor? Sure. but Texas Tech signing better TX bigs? Joyner is 6'3" but a 4/3...6'2" Hosey was top 10, but even less of a post. These offers ain't Holloween candy you gotta keep count (two early verbals land in Waco?)

I'm not mad I'm trying to help b/c it's self destructive! I'd LOVE to see a balanced starting 5 at Texas, and it's possible, but you cant sign an eager All-American TX post if you have a full 15 roster + some weird pinky-swear/sketchy waitlist thing going on, too, it;s just flat out sloppy & awkward, Karen! Chill, girlfriend...I know that 5'10" center had a nice put back but let's wait til halftime before dubbing her 'the next Nina Davis' & offering an out-of-state tuition full-ride.

Anyway, I basically read her final four as:

NOTRE DAME VS. CONNECTICUT

*A shoutout for the home team to generate some *buzz* (a sentimental charitable donation)
*I actually prefer not to know why Texas made the list

 

[Mdoggie]

LOL, I love this.

"Really! Gimme a number!"
"...405,687?"

It's like when my kids say "everybody" or everyone is going. I reply, wow that's gonna be a lot of people. I better get ready

 

[TerpWomenFan]

The Texas coaching staff has a done a very good job in recruiting some elite out of state players recently; granted, they didn't end up signing with Texas, but when a program with a fairly new head coach can get official visits from Ionescu from California, Jatarie White from North Carolina, and Jessica Jackson from Arkansas, as well as a recent unofficial visit from Rellah Boothe of Florida, they are doing something right. Eventually, one of those elite of out-of-state players will decide Texas is the place for them.

As far as I know, Walker has not visited Texas unofficially; and, I don't believe there is any kind of family/coaching connection involved. So, I can only assume her including Texas as one of her finalists is largely because of the coaching staff.

Texas is going to have a monster program. Word out in Florida is Boothe is going to go to Texas. Texas will be a perennial top 5 team.

 

[bags27]

Texas is going to have a monster program. Word out in Florida is Boothe is going to go to Texas. Texas will be a perennial top 5 team.

Of course, we all think this way: who has the greatest number of 5 star athletes. In a sport where nearly infinite depth and breadth are essential (think football), that's a critically important metric. Not irrelevant in WCBB, but where you also: 1. put only 5 players on the court at a time; 2. where the interaction of those players is far more important than individual skills; and 3. unlike MCBB you have all 4 years to develop both their individual skills and team cohesion. The other side of the "wow, they are a monster team because they have so many 5 star recruits," is: do they play interesting basketball? I watched UConn play teams (like, frankly, Ohio State) in which the opposition bored me and where I couldn't see myself being a booster of that team; and I watched UConn play much less highly ranked teams--teams that will never have "monster" recruiting success--such as DePaul, where I would pay to see them play. So, we all do get excited when we land the highly prized recruit, and I certainly respond as you do; so I am certainly not knocking you. But just to say as well that we should also be following the Molly Bents of this world just as activity and with equal appreciation for what they bring to the court and the world. Geno and his staff certainly appreciate that, too, and that's good enough for me.

 

[HGN]

I like the content of this post Thought Maryland was a real contender here. That would send a huge message if Texas, in addition to their normal crop of in-state stars, added an east-coast super-prospect. I would think UConn or ND is the most likely.

Orang, great minds must think alike.............I too thought Maryland had a good shot. Maybe after seeing them in the tournament changed her mind. And hopefully seeing UConn once again in the Winner's Circle will help the UConn cause.

I had read earlier , month's ago , that she wants to make her decision by the start of her senior year. Hopefully she sticks to that schedule.

GO HUSKIES!!

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Orang, great minds must think alike...I too thought Maryland had a good shot. Maybe after seeing them in the tournament changed her mind. And hopefully seeing UConn once again in the Winner's Circle will help the UConn cause.

I had read earlier , month's ago , that she wants to make her decision by the start of her senior year. Hopefully she sticks to that schedule.

GO HUSKIES!!

Maryland really wanted Megan Walker. Just like Asia Durr, they just got out-recruited.

 

[HGN]

Maryland really wanted Megan Walker. Just like Asia Durr, they just got out-recruited.

Frese has a good team returning , plus some good freshmen coming in. The Terps will again be a dangerous team. I hesitate to say Frese got out-recruited , more like out-lucked by Walz and Louisville.

 

[ivrytontusker]

I'm not sure that Texas has got a really prestigious academic ranking. I plead ignorance but maybe someone out there has a good idea as to whether they're an elite educational institution. UConn has come a long way and I think that they provide an exceptional educational opportunity.

The main reason I worry about what will happen when Geno leaves is that other schools either have a location hook, or an academic hook, or both. Texas has the location hook, in that top recruits are going to be on average closer to Texas than us. Stanford, ND, Duke, UVA, etc., have the academic hook. We have the 'best program and coach ever' hook- which is the best hook, but obviously won't apply when Geno retires.

I think of Muffet as sort of like Tom Izzo- has a good W-L record, beats us rarely but still more than anyone else, in often, only won one title, but still can recruit very well. She can't sell 11 titles but she can make a case for as decent a chance to win a title as anyone after us and maybe Baylor. She has lost many big games, but also won some- which cannot (yet) be said of South Carolina.

All we can do in win titles as long as Geno is here, and let the chips fall where they may after that. And that's what we are doing.

 

[bags27]

As long as Geno is coaching it will be a great team to watch. It will have terrific fundamentals, team-play, and energy. Whether it wins championships or not is somewhat beyond the powers of anyone to control these days. Dominance is a mixed blessing, at best. Great play on the court is what stirs our hearts.

 

[Orangutan]

But anyway, with Megan Walker....first of all, I really don't see Texas...frankly, I don't think Aston's recruiting makes sense—all these elite guards yet Louisville, Oklahoma, UCLA, Mississippi State score most of the in-state posts? Cox to Baylor? Sure. but Texas Tech signing better TX bigs? Joyner is 6'3" but a 4/3...6'2" Hosey was top 10, but even less of a post. These offers ain't Holloween candy you gotta keep count (two early verbals land in Waco?)

I think Joyner Holmes is a post. She just doesn't know it yet.

 

[HoopsFan21]

It's simple: other programs collect stars while Geno builds teams.

 

[southie]

The main reason I worry about what will happen when Geno leaves is that other schools either have a location hook, or an academic hook, or both. Texas has the location hook, in that top recruits are going to be on average closer to Texas than us. Stanford, ND, Duke, UVA, etc., have the academic hook. We have the 'best program and coach ever' hook- which is the best hook, but obviously won't apply when Geno retires.

That makes sense. Each school has certain attributes/advantages that make it attractive to certain recruits. It can be argued that Tennessee's attraction was Pat Summitt; and, now that she's gone . . .

 

[malevocalist#]

I think the Big 3 leaving should appeal to Walker coming to Uconn even more. Playing time?

 

[EricLA]

I think the Big 3 leaving should appeal to Walker coming to Uconn even more. Playing time?

Perhaps to a degree, but Walker would be a freshman after next year for the following year. The big 3 was always going to be gone by then and while UCONN supposedly led for her early on, ND came on strong and supposedly leads now. Point is that I don't think the big 3 has anything to do with her decision, other than to see how much the #1 and 2 players Stewie and Mo improved while at UCONN.

THAT is something that I would think holds more sway than who played for UCONN in the near recent past...

 

[CocoHusky]

Part of Geno's message during the post game presser last night was directed directly at recruits. Paraphrased: "As long as the staff continues to find me those types of kids (ones that are unselfish and work hard) I can continue to coach for a long long time. They (the staff) gets me a different type of kid and things will change"