No. 3 Sabrina Ionescu has committed to Oregon.

[Vowelguy]

Oregon is an improving team but like so many programs play a Pathetic OOC Schedule with the exception of North Carolina. This year they were undefeated entering conference play and then became just an average team in the conference. They lost their first 5 games in Conference Play. They were in the WNIT this year and made it to the semi-finals losing to South Dakota.

Oregon Ducks Women's Basketball 2015-16 Schedule - Ducks Home and Away - ESPN

With the signing of Sabrina Ionescu they'll probably end up with a Top 4 Recruiting class.

Let's see if they improve their OOC Schedule. I suspect not.

What is the big deal?
The previous 2 seasons were .500 and losing records. So they wanted a manageable OOC to build confidence before they got into tough conference play.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Congrats to Oregon! Looks like a decent number of teams in the Pac 12 have upgraded in recent years. Should be a fun season if you are a fan of parity in that conference...

Yes on the upgrading. Other than Stanford and ASU, everyone needed an upgrade, I think, and over the last 4-5 years, most of them have. This summer, Arizona finally dumped Coach Butts and Colorado has made a change.

I'm a fan of parity where it means "not always Stanford and ASU" and "Arizona is competitive". OTH, I want some really good teams that represent well in the tourney, as we had this year.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

What is the big deal?
The previous 2 seasons were .500 and losing records. So they wanted a manageable OOC to build confidence before they got into tough conference play.

Besides the fact that almost everyone plays mediocre out of conference schedules - it is learning time for many programs - the teams out here have an extra challenge. There are not that many remotely local teams not in the PAC that are really challenging OOC. While the Big 12 is fairly near, they're splitting their "good games" between the PAC and all the other conferences.

One of our new coach's comments is that our OOC needs to be upgraded. However, she also pointed out that she isn't trying to do so this year, when she has just taken over the program, has no recruits after last year's dismal record, and doesn't feel that the players will learn anything by being beaten down. For example, Ohio State offered a game (her old boss, Kevin McGuff) and she told him "not this year, but definitely in the future".

 

[Gate81]

I heard over a year ago from someone in Sabrina's hometown that the Oregon coaches were boasting that she was going there. Now reading that Supak declined the Univ of WA asst coach offer, I am inclined to think that is exactly how and why UW got in the mix, and once that wasn't going to happen, sealed the deal for her to commit to Oregon. As a Bay area resident, I wish she had gone to Cal so I could see her play frequently but perhaps her desire to be at the same school as her brother (or coach) was her top priority, even over academics. .

 

[DaddyChoc]

and UConn's "in-conference" schedule sucks so they have no choice but to have a tough OOC schedule

 

[iamcbs]

I'm not sure where this anti-Ionescu stuff comes from. Because the kid decided to wait till the end to make her decision? I'm not sure why anyone has an issue with it.

I watched her play a couple of times and thought she absolutely has the right game, intensity, and effort to be a UCONN player. She reminded me of a morph between Faris and Bird. Oregon got a really good player. But I wonder about comments like "train wreck" and "odds on her remaining the full four years". Aside from her taking her time, I never read or saw anything that indicated she was anything other than a slow decision maker.

I must have missed the articles that talked about how she was using the recruiting process to bolster her own sense of self-importance...

There hasn't been an article published about her that I've seen that would indicate that there are any character issues. like you @ericsandiego, I don't know where the "hate" is coming from. She took her time, weighed all of her options, and made the decision she feels is best for her and she did it in her own time, I don't see a problem with that at all. She stated from the beginning of her recruitment that she intended to stay on the West Coast but she gave Geno and his staff the courtesy of listening to their pitch, she was never in play for Connecticut so again why the negativity, I'm not sure.

 

[Orangutan]

What is the big deal?
The previous 2 seasons were .500 and losing records. So they wanted a manageable OOC to build confidence before they got into tough conference play.

Right. Also, wasn't that the PAC-12's strategy for improving RPIs conference-wide? Play the best non-conference opponents that you can beat? Emphasis on "that you can beat".

 

[CocoHusky]

There hasn't been an article published about her that I've seen that would indicate that there are any character issues. like you @ericsandiego, I don't know where the "hate" is coming from. She took her time, weighed all of her options, and made the decision she feels is best for her and she did it in her own time, I don't see a problem with that at all. She stated from the beginning of her recruitment that she intended to stay on the West Coast but she gave Geno and his staff the courtesy of listening to their pitch, she was never in play for Connecticut so again why the negativity, I'm not sure.

There is no hate-who has time for that? There is caution & concern about her indecision and multiple (4) postponement of her self stated ( by her and her HS coach) of a timeline to make a decision. There is further concern of benefits that appears to be part of her college decision making process, specifically 1) A walkon/scholarship opportunity for her brother and a coaching position for her AAU coach. The latter is what brought Washington back into Sabrina's recruiting picture when she had previously announced that she had down selected to a list of schools that did not include Washington. It was also the reason for the 4th and final postponement because at the Jordan Brand classic Sabrina announced that she would make a decision in May.
Sabrina is a joy to watch play. There are many people who wish she were playing in a UCONN uniform-count me among them. These are valid concerns not hate and will lead to concerns of transferring.

Oops looks like the transfer speculation cat is already out of the bag.

Dither, dither, dither. I'm surprised she didn't wait until the first week of fall classes. I wonder if Vegas is taking odds on her remaining the full four years.

 

[Orangutan]

If she had decided in April, I don't think she would have got much criticism. But she waited until after many (most?) schools' incoming freshman had already arrived on campus. It went on nearly to the point of absurdity.

Now, if she wasn't one of the top kids in the country, no one would have noticed. She didn't necessarily ask for the scrutiny that comes with being an elite recruit. Maybe this was just an indecisive person making a really tough decision.

On the other hand, when June rolls around a player still has not chosen a school, I don't think it's totally unreasonable for people to get the feeling of "hey, something feels a little off about this" just because her process was so abnormal.

 

[JordyG]

There is no hate-who has time for that? There is caution & concern about her indecision and multiple (4) postponement of her self stated ( by her and her HS coach) of a timeline to make a decision. There is further concern of benefits that appears to be part of her college decision making process, specifically 1) A walkon/scholarship opportunity for her brother and a coaching position for her AAU coach. The latter is what brought Washington back into Sabrina's recruiting picture when she had previously announced that she had down selected to a list of schools that did not include Washington. It was also the reason for the 4th and final postponement because at the Jordan Brand classic Sabrina announced that she would make a decision in May.
Sabrina is a joy to watch play. There are many people who wish she were playing in a UCONN uniform-count me among them. These are valid concerns not hate and will lead to concerns of transferring.

Oops looks like the transfer speculation cat is already out of the bag.

It also seems to me as if she really didn't want to play at Oregon, but this was the safe and comfortable move. Not the move that perhaps she thought would have been the best for her game in the long. Or perhaps she really didn't want to play so close to home. Else why the dithering? If her brother as a walk on and an AAU coach getting a position were the final factors, then she seems one good men's letter of intent and one coaches blow out away from transfer. It's a shame. A fine young player that seems to have been torn in too many directions at too young an age. Frankly I think ND or (go Dawn!) SC would have been good fits for her.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Right. Also, wasn't that the PAC-12's strategy for improving RPIs conference-wide? Play the best non-conference opponents that you can beat? Emphasis on "that you can beat".

To an extent, that's everyone's strategy. There are a few teams that a P5 conference team could play, lose to, and still see a positive effect on RPI. UConn has historically been one.

For a p5 team, consider the factors - 50% your opponent's record (hence, you can benefit from an opponent who is really, really good in a really not-so-good conference and loses little in conference, in the old days that was ODU and LaTech, more lately, Gonzaga, James Madison, Dayton for a number of years all fit the bill), and 25% your own record so you clearly want to beat more opponents than not. Factor 3 is a bit more difficult - opponents opponents records.

Sadly, you are not advancing into the Big Dance or, if you are, getting a very good seed unless your RPI is good. That is and has been a fact of life. The committee has begun quite properly to weigh some other factors more than they did - and RPI never did determine exact seed line - but if your future as a coach depends on decent tourney performance, you are dang well going to want to play the best ooc opponents that you can beat.