Nika Muhl to UCONN

[j66kicker]

My experience is that people from Yugoslavia/the former Yugoslavia born around 1960 or later all speak very good English. I've worked with or collaborated with people from Serbia, Macedonia, and Slovenia, and known folks from Yugoslavia before it broke up, and to a person, their English was all very good. (This is in no way minimizing Ms. Muhl's accomplishment; I realize what a pain English is, especially the idiomatic part.)

[tangent warning] The best ESL speakers are from the small Western European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland). A close Danish friend explained to me that there are not that many Danish speakers (maybe 7-8 million) in the world, so all Danes are fluent in either English or German, often both. That would also make sense for the folks in the former Yugoslavia (and Bulgaria, Albania, etc.), except that for those born in 1960, they were still behind the Iron Curtain till they were 30, so Russian was likely their secondary fluent language, and I would think they were discouraged from learning English. But evidently not. [/tangent]

European business people used to have to know several languages to travel/do business in Europe - usually at least English, French and German, plus others if they did business in those countries. Now they all just have to learn English, as it has become the business language of the Europe.

 

[NewCorn]

European business people used to have to know several languages to travel/do business in Europe - usually at least English, French and German, plus others if they did business in those countries. Now they all just have to learn English, as it has become the business language of the Europe.

So how many languages does Nika speak? If she speaks polish, she and Anna could call some Europea League plays.

 

[Charliebball]

How about with 5 different personalities?

no only two of those................

 

[eebmg]

I am afraid Nika showed her near perfect english too early. She can't use Sveta's 2nd language tricks

 

[awhom111]

I'm glad we have Nika onboard but I can't help but wonder what changed for UCONN two months ago that would cause UCONN to start looking at another combo guard in the 2020 class. Any guesses? Was Nika just too good to pass up regardless of where she was in the recruiting class?

I still like my theory that Saniya sent the staff a scouting report after she faced her and told the coaches to get it done.

 

[pvdoggy]

New ESPN article today about Nika's recruiting. Nothing really new, new in it, but good read regardless.

When UConn called, it was game on for Croatian recruit Nika Muhl

 

[hoopsdiva]

I'm glad we have Nika onboard but I can't help but wonder what changed for UCONN two months ago that would cause UCONN to start looking at another combo guard in the 2020 class. Any guesses? Was Nika just too good to pass up regardless of where she was in the recruiting class?

Maybe Geno was looking overseas for a post and stumbled across Nika? Whatever the reason, I'm glad she's on board.

 

[Orangutan]

The thing is UConn was very late on Muhl having only contacted her a first time in January. It appears as if Muhl had UConn near the top of her list way before they got involved.

I guess if you're going to be late to contact her, be early to Croatia and send the big guns (Geno). Gotta be annoying to be the other schools and watch UConn swoop in at the last minute and get added to her finalists list with one email from Chris Dailey.

 

[eebmg]

New ESPN article today about Nika's recruiting. Nothing really new, new in it, but good read regardless.

When UConn called, it was game on for Croatian recruit Nika Muhl

Well, I thought this is a nice quote which I did not see anywhere in print before.

Of course, at the time of those scrimmages, Bueckers had no idea Muhl was a couple of days away from committing to UConn, and thus the two young stars never formally met.

Even so, Bueckers said she had "no problem" with another guard joining the Huskies for 2020.

"I consider myself a combo guard," Bueckers said. "And from what I've heard, [Muhl] is unselfish and a pass-first point guard who will put the team first. I'm looking forward to getting to know her."



Also, can't go wrong bringing a smile to Pop's face.

 

[meyers7]

Connecticut has had only one previous European player -- Svetlana Abrosimova, a Russian who became a three-time All-American for the Huskies from 1997 to 2001.

Oops. Not only has UCONN had another European, they've had another Croatian. Tihana Abrlic. Although she came via Florida Central Community College.

 

[eebmg]

Connecticut has had only one previous European player -- Svetlana Abrosimova, a Russian who became a three-time All-American for the Huskies from 1997 to 2001.

Oops. Not only has UCONN had another European, they've had another Croatian. Tihana Abrlic. Although she came via Florida Central Community College.

We had a brief thread on this.

International Huskies

 

[meyers7]

We had a brief thread on this.

International Huskies

That was like 4.5 years ago. The old codgers on here can't remember back that far.

 

[Kaizen]

I like this:

Added Muhl: "[Bueckers] is a great player. It's going to be fun. I think we are going to make each other better. Hopefully, we can win championships together."

 

[Sluconn Husky]

New ESPN article today about Nika's recruiting. Nothing really new, new in it, but good read regardless.

When UConn called, it was game on for Croatian recruit Nika Muhl

Paige's reaction is new. Fun article.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Also this bit of scouting report:


She hopes to finally visit Storrs in July or August, but when she arrives for good in 2020, the Huskies will be getting a great prospect, according to Galligan.


"She has great vision and court awareness," Galligan said. "Her handle is impressive. She does a lot with side steps and Eurosteps. She can knock down an open 3, but where she is elite is how she gets to the rim and creates for herself or a teammate.


"When she gets to the open floor, it's game over."

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I guess if you're going to be late to contact her, be early to Croatia and send the big guns (Geno). Gotta be annoying to be the other schools and watch UConn swoop in at the last minute and get added to her finalists list with one email from Chris Dailey.

View attachment 42397

Same thing happened with Kia Nurse's recruiting - the swoop down.

The more I see if Nika the more I like. She's straightforward and tough. Confident, yet humble enough to share the moment of opening Chris Dailey's e-mail. Would have liked to be in that living room.

"I was speechless," Muhl said of the email she received in January. "My mom [Roberta] cried. I cried, oh yeah, I cried. My dad [Darko] was speechless. We all just sat in silence in our living room for five minutes."

Having looked at everything on her on YouTube I agree with the scout 100% ... she gets free in open court best you just watch.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Another thing about Muhl is that based on video she likes to cut, both on handoffs and without the ball. UConn has gone away from that a bit in recent years. She seems to have the smarts to be really good at that.

 

[Vowelguy]

I guess if you're going to be late to contact her, be early to Croatia and send the big guns (Geno). Gotta be annoying to be the other schools and watch UConn swoop in at the last minute and get added to her finalists list with one email from Chris Dailey.

Yeah I was stunned to hear that UConn's first contact was in late January.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Yeah I was stunned to hear that UConn's first contact was in late January.

And the first contact came with an offer, apparently.

 

[Charliebball]

Yeah I was stunned to hear that UConn's first contact was in late January.

apparently recruits aren't as jaded in Europe as they are in the States..........

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

I'm glad we have Nika onboard but I can't help but wonder what changed for UCONN two months ago that would cause UCONN to start looking at another combo guard in the 2020 class. Any guesses? Was Nika just too good to pass up regardless of where she was in the recruiting class?

based on the video I watched Nika was much too good to pass up.. . . she plays defense, rebounds, passes, shoots well and scores

 

[Sluconn Husky]

ESPN may not have Nika Muhl ranked yet but Dan Olsen's description of her probably means she's held in high regard.


Oregon becomes the third school with multiple top-40 commitments in the 2020 class. Notre Dame has verbals from No. 12 Natalija Marshall and No. 24 Allison Campbell, and Stanford has verbals from No. 2 Cameron Brink and No. 37 Jana Van Gytenbeek. UConn has a pair of commitments from No. 1 Paige Bueckers and European superstar Nika Muhl.

Kelly Graves draws elite junior recruits Sydney Parrish, Angela Dugalic to Oregon

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Yeah I was stunned to hear that UConn's first contact was in late January.

She was stunned too - though a different kind of stunned. She had not dared to dream and suddenly it was reality.

 

[MilfordHusky]

ESPN may not have Nika Muhl ranked yet but Dan Olsen's description of her probably means she's held in high regard.


Oregon becomes the third school with multiple top-40 commitments in the 2020 class. Notre Dame has verbals from No. 12 Natalija Marshall and No. 24 Allison Campbell, and Stanford has verbals from No. 2 Cameron Brink and No. 37 Jana Van Gytenbeek. UConn has a pair of commitments from No. 1 Paige Bueckers and European superstar Nika Muhl.

Kelly Graves draws elite junior recruits Sydney Parrish, Angela Dugalic to Oregon

I like the wording: "European superstar."

 

[BobbyJ]

I like the wording: "European superstar."

Have to believe he’s using the term relatively, meaning relative to European amateur competition. I doubt that she’s been playing against kids as good as Bueckers and Fudd.