So a warning in advance - this is going to be a LONG post. FWIW - the experience of seeing he play, the environment, etc - all to be covered. Had a chance to meet
@Golden Husky and
@CTtoSanDiego as well which was a bonus!
2 hour drive from LA to Del Mar for her game. Cathedral Catholic High school. Made nice to the athletic director and was told the school was built in 2005 and is pretty much state of the art. They allow kids of any denomination in, but they have to attend mass twice a month.
The gym is quite nice. At least as nice as some of the lesser "gyms" that some college teams play at. Oh, and there were 20 cheerleaders there (yes 20). On to Ms. Brady...
WOW. That's all I can say (kidding). I will try not to say it too many times in this post, but the kid is ONLY finishing up her sophomore year. She has MAD skills. Not only was she far and away the best player on the floor, she was the best by a very wide margin. Cathedral Catholic was playing Bishop. In their league, CC was the #3 seed and Bishop the #6 seed. They play in a tough conference.
The head coach is young. Early 30's. Jackie Turpin. As nice as the day is long, and just as intense when coaching the kids. Both she and the assistant coach, Sophia, were so nice and accommodating in chatting and answering questions...
Warmups - pretty typical for a high school team. Somewhat organized - a little stretching, then some basic drills. Layups, jump shots, passing, etc. Right away you notice Ice - the tallest player. Easily 6'3" - but not quite 6'4". Per her dad, she's still growing. Met her dad and grandmother - she described him as a "hippie dude with a beard". Grandma couldn't have been nicer and is very proud not only of her granddaughter's hoops skills, but her personality and demeanor as well. It's easy to see why Ice is such a sweet kid with how she was raised.
Right off the bat, you notice that at 6'3", she looks like she has the body of a college upper classman. Tall, big but not fat, sturdy and strong, but not flabby or soft. She's simply in good shape. Played almost the entire game. Never once hanging on her shorts or dogging it, but there were a few times late in the 2nd half where she didn't sprint up the floor on defense and sort of stopped at half court. NOT a big deal as she was mostly hustle and effort the rest of the game.
Did I say mad skills? 41 points, 27 rebounds, probably about 5-6 assists and the same number of blocks. Layups with BOTH hands in traffic. Finishes layups even when getting bumped or mauled. The opposing team had a slightly taller but thinner center who tried her best, but just was not as good as Ice (I saw her after the game and complimented her on how hard she worked and how well she played). She is athletic and has ups for a 6'3" kid, not like Aubrey, but she's no slouch.
On defense, the coach had them playing equal parts zone and man. She is a SMART player. Very high basketball IQ. Several examples:
- She literally committed 0 fouls the entire game (maybe one late - hard to recall). Not once did she plow into a defender hoping for a foul call. Not afraid of contact, but also smart enough to instantly decide she had no lane to the hoop and passed the ball off to a teammate.
- She is capable of getting off her feet and blocking shots, but but instead of the tomahawk chop, she either goes up and flicks her wrist, or stays put with her arms straight up. The thing that made her so smart IMHO is that against anyone shorter, she bodied up to them with her arms straight up, knowing they could not shoot over her. Against the taller center, she would get off her feet and use her wrist to flick the ball away.
- On several occasions, she brought the ball up the court, even against the press. But the second she saw double teams coming, immediately got rid of the ball. Several of the turnovers were more the result of her teammates not being able to handle the crisp passes, but she won't have that problem at UCONN.
- She does NOT take dumb shots. Several times she was open for a second beyond the arc, started to take a shot, but got closed out on, and instead of just jacking it up, instantly found an open teammate
- One play she had the brought the ball up the court, was moving to her right around the top of the key, saw a double team coming, and with her OFF hand (right hand), zipped a pass to the teammate in the far left corner for a wide open shot. Teammate missed the 3, but the pass was spot on.
Had 23 points and 7 rebounds at half time. She exploded on the boards in the 2nd half. I knew she had at least 20 but did not realize it was 27 until I read it. She was given a plaque for her 1,000th point after the game. Pictures below.
Got to chat with her after the game. Asked her a few questions...
- Who are your favorite players?
- Tina Charles, Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck
- What did Geno say when you told him you were committing to UCONN?
- He was excited and said "that's great - I'm very excited". I was surprised and asked her "you mean no sarcasm from him?" She laughed and said no.
- What do you think the biggest adjustment will be to playing college hoops?
- The size and strength of other players and the pace of the game
Didn't want to keep her too long - her dad had already left and her grandmother was leaving too. I had a chance to ask grandma a few questions:
- Did she always want to play basketball?
- Her dad was a very good basketball player and at 6'5", played in college. He introduced Ice to the game as a youngster hoping she'd like the sport, but you never know with kids. Ice loved it and has been committed ever since
- What other colleges did she consider besides UCONN?
- Really none that I can think of. She had offers from everyone - all the west coast teams (Berkeley, UCLA, USC, SDSU, etc), Duke, ND, etc. BUT... it was always UCONN. She dreamed of playing for them since she was a young girl
Also spoke with coach Jackie. Congratulated her on the win, and told her how impressed I was with the team - not only that they played well, but also that they were good teammates. Ice especially went over and helped teammates up, patted them on the back after nice plays, etc. She not only thanked me for saying that, but said she would tell that to the team because she feels it's really important and wanted them to know that fans notice ALL that kind of good stuff.
I will definitely check out more games when I can. I still can't believe how good she is as a sophomore. Such a complete player - I simply cannot imagine how good she will be as she goes thru 4 years of college at UCONN. We are SO lucky!!
Last thing - we all know Geno recruits high character kids. She's ONLY a sophomore - is composed, well spoken, thoughtful, funny, charming, and sweet. She will be a fan favorite from day 1 and will be incredibly eloquent and well spoken when interviewed. She's a special kid! We got a gem for sure!!
Welcome to UCONN ICE!!!
