Megan Walker Narrows her list of top schools

[Charliebball]

Actually, and you have to keep this on the QT, the entire UConn campus and all on campus are being teleported to her hometown... actually about 7 miles out of town in abandoned tobacco fields.

if that's what it takes!!!!!!!!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

From watching Megan Walker videos, I think she reminds me of a combination of: a thinner, slightly taller Maya Moore; a slightly less athletic and shorter Diamond DeShields; and a bigger Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. Megan has good size and is very fluid. She's also an excellent shooter. She clearly has Olympic potential.

 

[ucalum]

So wait, she is coming to Storrs for a visit this weekend coming or the following weekend?

 

[baggerbob]

She must have watched when Holly asked Geno how he made it seem simple to win the 4 championships? Geno said " Its easy and pointed 1, 2, 3, as he pointed to Stewie, Moriah, and Morgan, then explained what great people they were, as well as players. That has to make any great player think I would like to part of that, Geno has a quiet humanity that he exposes from time to time.

 

[rford53]

So wait, she is coming to Storrs for a visit this weekend coming or the following weekend?

This coming weekend, April 15 - 17

 

[HoopsFan21]

This coming weekend, April 15 - 17

Thank god the weather is supposed to nice for the first time in a while. Partly cloudy and 60s this weekend instead of the misery we've been having that is typical of New England spring.

 

[Sonny44]

We are getting Walker, Williams and Brunelle! I am claiming it!

If so, I'm buying the beer and wings.

 

[Sonny44]

No matter what happens this summer, no matter who may come or go, at THIS point (and I've etched it stone), In Geno I trust. I know he knows exactly what he's doing. Geno does not need to explain or defend himself every time he makes a move or decision either. The man has a track record that speaks for itself. End of discussion.

Geno has said recently at least twice that all will be well as long as they (the assistant coaches) keep bringing him great recruits, so he obviously doesn't know what's going on. Huh?

 

[Carnac]

Geno has said recently at least twice that all will be well as long as they (the assistant coaches) keep bringing him great recruits, so he obviously doesn't know what's going on. Huh?

He knows exactly what's going on. He said that because the coaches do all of the leg work, read the high school recruiting rags, keep up with all of the sites that cater to up and coming blue chip recruits all over the country. When they find one they like (based on the criteria he gives them), then HE goes out to take a look at them in person, after they've already done so. They discuss potential recruits in their coach's meetings 2-3 times a week. Head coaches don't recruit, their assistants do.

Recruiting is part of their duties as an assistant coach. Recruiting has become a year round operation. If a 6'6" kid from nowhere Idaho is tearing up her local AAU league scoring 35/20 a game, leaping out of the gym, and running the floor like an antelope, you can bet all of the other top 10 teams are going to know about her. YOU had better know about her too.

Other wise you'll be figuring out how to stop her down the road because she committed to someone else, because YOU didn't do your due diligence, and let her slip through the cracks, and commit to another program, when she would have committed to you, but your team didn't offer her a scholarship, because you didn't know about her. Its not uncommon for Geno to go watch a potential recruit play between games during UConn's season.

Now, having read my comment, does what he said: " all will be well as long as they (the assistant coaches) keep bringing me great recruits" make more sense?

Note - The coaches have been doing an excellent job finding recruits that fit the blueprint that Geno give them.
A tip o' the turban to the entire staff. Well done ladies!

 

[BobbyJ]

From watching Megan Walker videos, I think she reminds me of a combination of: a thinner, slightly taller Maya Moore; a slightly less athletic and shorter Diamond DeShields; and a bigger Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. Megan has good size and is very fluid. She's also an excellent shooter. She clearly has Olympic potential.

I think she's better than DeShields right now. By the time she hits college it won't even be close.

 

[bags27]

Actually, and you have to keep this on the QT, the entire UConn campus and all on campus are being teleported to her hometown... actually about 7 miles out of town in abandoned tobacco fields.

Will architect David Vincent witness it?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I think she's better than DeShields right now. By the time she hits college it won't even be close.

As much as I like her, I think people would be pretty shocked to learn she's only a 40% career field goal shooter. And she's had similar issues with efficiency in AAU games.

 

[BobbyJ]

As much as I like her, I think people would be pretty shocked to learn she's only a 40% career field goal shooter. And she's had similar issues with efficiency in AAU games.

Having been involved with AAU for several years I know there's not much offensive discipline going on. Kind of every man for himself for bragging rights. Plus putting up 30 shots a night against inferior HS competition can make her a little sloppy. I believe that in a structured environment with a higher level of coaching her shot selection will improve greatly as well as her concentration. Her mechanics look fine to me so I expect her to become much more efficient. And 40% is probably at least as good as DeShields.

 

[pacific 44]

One commonality between Lexi Gordon and Megan Walker is that they are great shooters but they are such standouts on their respective teams that they are double and triple teamed on any team they play on.Put them in the mix with other good shooters and their shooting percentages will skyrocket.Both will have great scoring capabilities if they join a college team where there are 4 other people who can't be ignored.Opponents would double team them at their own peril.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Plus putting up 30 shots a night against inferior HS competition can make her a little sloppy. I believe that in a structured environment with a higher level of coaching her shot selection will improve greatly as well as her concentration.

You'd think someone with her talent and athleticism would be much higher though.

 

[masshusk77]

One commonality between Lexi Gordon and Megan Walker is that they are great shooters but they are such standouts on their respective teams that they are double and triple teamed on any team they play on.Put them in the mix with other good shooters and their shooting percentages will skyrocket.Both will have great scoring capabilities if they join a college team where there are 4 other people who can't be ignored.Opponents would double team them at their own peril.

I have to agree with Slu. Katie Lou shot the ball 638 times her senior year of high school in 32 games which is an average of 19.94 times per game. Of those shots, 283 (44.3%) of them were 3 pointers. Overall, she shot it at 50% from the field and 41% from 3. Kyla Irwin this year shot the ball 434 times in 24 games. Of those shots 78 (18%) were 3 pointers. She shot 53% from the field and 33% from 3. Walker this season shot the ball 499 times in 25 games which is an average of 19.96 times per game and of those shots only 102 (20.4%) of them were 3 pointers. She shot only 41% from the field overall and 27% from 3. All 3 shot the ball very similar amounts throughout the course of the season. Lou took a much larger percentage of difficult shots (3 pointers) and still shot almost 10% better from the field. Kyla was very similar in both numbers and was 12% better. Almost all high level recruits will face opposing teams in high school who's #1 goal is to shut them down. The numbers don't lie, if you are a great shooter (Like KLS is) or a very efficient player (like Kyla is) the numbers will prove that to be true, so I just don't see how Gordon and Walker can be considered such if the numbers just simply don't back that up.

 

[DaddyChoc]

guess Geno needs to give up on Walker

 

[masshusk77]

guess Geno needs to give up on Walker

I never said she wasn't a great player, just not a great shooter. There is a big difference. As Geno pointed out this year when Kia had the game where she missed all her 3's.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think she's better than DeShields right now. By the time she hits college it won't even be close.

She may be a better baller than Diamond, but DD sure is athletic.

 

[Carnac]

OK, I'm lost in all of these comments and posts. I've got one simple question to ask................Has UConn officially offered Megan Walker a scholarship?

 

[MilfordHusky]

OK, I'm lost in all of these comments and posts. I've got one simple question to ask......Has UConn officially offered Megan Walker a scholarship?

Of course. She's class of 2017 and has been on campus at least once.

 

[Carnac]

Of course. She's class of 2017 and has been on campus at least once.

Thank you very much!!!

 

[BobbyJ]

OK, I'm lost in all of these comments and posts. I've got one simple question to ask......Has UConn officially offered Megan Walker a scholarship?

At this point, if they haven't , I doubt that she'd be visiting for a second time at her own cost.

 

[BobbyJ]

I have to agree with Slu. Katie Lou shot the ball 638 times her senior year of high school in 32 games which is an average of 19.94 times per game. Of those shots, 283 (44.3%) of them were 3 pointers. Overall, she shot it at 50% from the field and 41% from 3. Kyla Irwin this year shot the ball 434 times in 24 games. Of those shots 78 (18%) were 3 pointers. She shot 53% from the field and 33% from 3. Walker this season shot the ball 499 times in 25 games which is an average of 19.96 times per game and of those shots only 102 (20.4%) of them were 3 pointers. She shot only 41% from the field overall and 27% from 3. All 3 shot the ball very similar amounts throughout the course of the season. Lou took a much larger percentage of difficult shots (3 pointers) and still shot almost 10% better from the field. Kyla was very similar in both numbers and was 12% better. Almost all high level recruits will face opposing teams in high school who's #1 goal is to shut them down. The numbers don't lie, if you are a great shooter (Like KLS is) or a very efficient player (like Kyla is) the numbers will prove that to be true, so I just don't see how Gordon and Walker can be considered such if the numbers just simply don't back that up.

All good points. Seems she's more of a scorer than a pure shooter. For a pure shooter like Samuelson, I'm sure she'd rather have an open 3 than a contested 2. Hopefully we'll find out what Auriemma and staff can do for her.

 

[kat0189]

It's funny how such a major piece of info ("...oh, and by the way, this 'Megan Walker' girl is close to committing to UConn. But anyway...") just snuck it's way into an article about a different player whose recruitment is two years further down the road!

That said, my instinct is that it's legit! Even if perhaps this was not something Walker expected or perhaps wanted printed on record in a newspaper article at this time.

Can't imagine Megan Walker committing to UConn if Geno was heading off to the NBA, lol! And I'm sure she knows better than any of the folks who wrote those articles what his plans are.

Also, it looks like there could be another dominant era for UConn on the horizon—the "Megan Walker" period. And this isn't to say Katie Lou Samuelson won't score a million points as a Husky (she will) or that Megan Walker will be as dominant as Breanna Stewart (she doesn't need to be). Every class needs a #1 player, but there are #1 players and undisputed #1 players—and it seems like Megan Walker has been in that latter category for a while. And the timing of her arrival puts her in a great position just as long as UConn can get a couple elite post players from 2017 or 2018 to join her.

While it's slightly curious how the two '17 commits—Espinoza-Hunter and Gordon—fit into this equation, it now makes sense why Geno doesn't seem to have really looked at #2 Rellah Boothe and #3 Evina Westbrook (he's focused on Walker and confident this is the right move).

Notre Dame does have an advantage with academic prestige. But Geno was able to sign Katie Lou Samuelson out of California despite having two sisters playing at Stanford, which was in her home state and has more academic prestige than Notre Dame. I think Notre Dame would need a stronger (likely even perfect) "pitch" to sell to Walker in order to have a shot at landing her over UConn.

The two incoming freshmen each won a major NPOY award. Unfortunately, I think Notre Dame would have needed a 3rd NPOY award winner coming in—Lauren Cox, especially because she was #1 overall and Jackie Young might play the same position as Walker. Asia Durr the year before would've been nice, too.

Furthermore, while I would call the early departures of both Jewell Loyd and Taya Reimer "red flags" per se, it just raises a couple more questions. Also, the early exit this past season in the Sweet 16 is simply bad timing when you're going for a player like Walker and every little detail counts (of course if Loyd and Reimer were still around and playing at full force, that likely wouldn't have happened).