Non-UConn Recruiting Information

[Geew1992]

I’m surprised. Figured she wanted to play with her sisters

And what does it say about Clark??

 

[Dillon77]

Alasia Hayes to Notre Dame!
Per her twitter account

This was a very intense courtship, so to speak. Most of those following ND didn't know of this mutual interest until Hayes announced her final five this spring/summer. All of her four finalists (ND, Michigan, Middle Tennessee St. and N.C. State all paid home visits to the Hayes within the last NCAA recruiting period and ND was introducing it's new PG coach, Michaela Mabrey.

Hayes had an OV to Michigan and assume she's been to local MTS often. She was supposed to have an OV with Deja Kelly this past weekend, but Kelly was in North Carolina instead.
So Hayes had the visit to herself and got the double-Mabrey treatment (Marina was in town this weekend)!

https://twitter.com/alasia_5/status/1178476029444329472

Apparently the visit went awfully well because she committed the very next day.

ND's not done yet: Caitlin Clark, Maddy Westbeld and verbal commit Alli Campbell all take OV's Oct. 11-13 during the Southen Cal (that would be USC to most Irish fans) weekend.
Stay tuned.

 

[DaBball]

This was a very intense courtship, so to speak. Most of those following ND didn't know of this mutual interest until Hayes announced her final five this spring/summer. All of her four finalists (ND, Michigan, Middle Tennessee St. and N.C. State all paid home visits to the Hayes within the last NCAA recruiting period and ND was introducing it's new PG coach, Michaela Mabrey.

Hayes had an OV to Michigan and assume she's been to local MTS often. She was supposed to have an OV with Deja Kelly this past weekend, but Kelly was in North Carolina instead.
So Hayes had the visit to herself and got the double-Mabrey treatment (Marina was in town this weekend)!

https://twitter.com/alasia_5/status/1178476029444329472

Apparently the visit went awfully well because she committed the very next day.

ND's not done yet: Caitlin Clark, Maddy Westbeld and verbal commit Alli Campbell all take OV's Oct. 11-13 during the Southen Cal (that would be USC to most Irish fans) weekend.
Stay tuned.

Nice pickup! Looking back on her mother’s social media, Notre Dame has been sending her a lot of mail for a long time...

 

[DaBball]

Tennessee with a desperation offer:

 

[SECbbfan24]

Tess Darby

 

[Lwrc]

Nice pickup! Looking back on her mother’s social media, Notre Dame has been sending her a lot of mail for a long time...

ND might have been sending letters but the offer and the courtship likely started recently as ND chasing a non-top 25 5’7” PG shows how desperate they are down the stretch. Clearly the top 25 PGs have already said no to Muffett including Kelly now too.

 

[Orangutan]

ND might have been sending letters but the offer and the courtship likely started recently as ND chasing a non-top 25 5’7” PG shows how desperate they are down the stretch. Clearly the top 25 PGs have already said no to Muffett including Kelly now too.

Well, when you have two walk-ons on the roster and are looking for more, perhaps you get the idea to widen the recruiting net. (Katie Cole is on scholarship now but she started as a walk-on).

Signing top-50 ranked players is the kind of "desperate" I don't mind being.

Also, Sniezek is the only player on the team recruited to play point guard, so ND might like to sign two PGs this year.

Given the similarities between Kelly and Hayes and Kelly visiting UNC instead of ND last weekend, she may be out of play. But I think Clark and perhaps Kapinus are still in play.

 

[Orangutan]

Tennessee with a desperation offer:

Late bloomer? Seems to be picking up a lot of P5 offers in quick succession this summer/early fall.

 

[DaBball]

ND might have been sending letters but the offer and the courtship likely started recently as ND chasing a non-top 25 5’7” PG shows how desperate they are down the stretch. Clearly the top 25 PGs have already said no to Muffett including Kelly now too.

Alasia just fell a little bit in the rankings - she was very recently top-30. They are also in the running for combo-guard Leilani Kapinus, she was top-10 before tearing her ACL, she will be visiting.

Similar to UConn with Gabriel, but Muffett was able to keep it in the top-100.

 

[DaBball]

Late bloomer? Seems to be picking up a lot of P5 offers in quick succession this summer/early fall.

Good chance. She was solid playing on the EYBL with TN Flight.

 

[sivad40]

And what does it say about Clark??

It means that most likely there isn't going to be a clean sweep of ND getting Clark, Kelly, and Kapinus.

 

[Lwrc]

Alasia just fell a little bit in the rankings - she was very recently top-30. They are also in the running for combo-guard Leilani Kapinus, she was top-10 before tearing her ACL, she will be visiting.

Similar to UConn with Gabriel, but Muffett was able to keep it in the top-100.

Besides Clark, ND is not in the running for any major player. I really think ND is going to struggle getting back to a top 10 team down the road. Campbell is way too high in rankings, she was not a factor for a below average Belles team this summer. Both campbell and Marshall have been steadily dropping in rankings and deservedly so. The other schools on Deja Kelly’s top 5 list tell you how college coaches see her game (not sure why Olsen keeps her so high). Minnesota, Duke, UNC and Texas AM. I’ve never thought Kelly was a top 30 player. That’s where ND recruiting is now. And it looks like ND has lost Kelly to one of those schools.

 

[DaBball]

Besides Clark, ND is not in the running for any major player. I really think ND is going to struggle getting back to a top 10 team down the road. Campbell is way too high in rankings, she was not a factor for a below average Belles team this summer. Both campbell and Marshall have been steadily dropping in rankings and deservedly so. The other schools on Deja Kelly’s top 5 list tell you how college coaches see her game (not sure why Olsen keeps her so high). Minnesota, Duke, UNC and Texas AM. I’ve never thought Kelly was a top 30 player. That’s where ND recruiting is now. And it looks like ND has lost Kelly to one of those schools.

Also in the running for top-25 Maddy Westbeld, and former consensus top-10 Leilani Kapinus (who of course dropped after tearing her ACL) -- I had always considered Kapinus a major player.

I was also very impressed with what I saw in Anaya Peoples, I thought she looked very good. Not a huge fan of Brunelle's tweener game, but I think she can be a solid player in Muffett's system.

 

[Lwrc]

Also in the running for top-25 Maddy Westbeld, and former consensus top-10 Leilani Kapinus (who of course dropped after tearing her ACL) -- I had always considered Kapinus a major player.

I was also very impressed with what I saw in Anaya Peoples, I thought she looked very good. Not a huge fan of Brunelle's tweener game, but I think she can be a solid player in Muffett's system.

Just seems like cupboard is getting bare in South Bend. I agree 100% about Brunelle. Just hard to see her being a major player at the top end of D1. I like Peoples too, but just doesn’t feel like enough. Kapinus seemed like a #10-20 player to me, but when they play the easier circuits it’s harder to tell. Now with the injury, she seems like a risk and a drop out of top 25 (like Olsen did) seems appropriate. Westbeld only in on ND cause of sister. But she’s a role player at best. I’ve never thought she was as good as her sister and she wasn’t a huge factor for ND.

Just my opinion, but I think Muffett is an unattractive head coach to girls and losing Ivey was huge because of that.

 

[Reypl21]

Besides Clark, ND is not in the running for any major player. I really think ND is going to struggle getting back to a top 10 team down the road. Campbell is way too high in rankings, she was not a factor for a below average Belles team this summer. Both campbell and Marshall have been steadily dropping in rankings and deservedly so. The other schools on Deja Kelly’s top 5 list tell you how college coaches see her game (not sure why Olsen keeps her so high). Minnesota, Duke, UNC and Texas AM. I’ve never thought Kelly was a top 30 player. That’s where ND recruiting is now. And it looks like ND has lost Kelly to one of those schools.

Remember back when ND turned the tide against UConn? McGraw built that come back by developing players like Novosel, Mallory, McBride, Peters, Achonwa, and Cable. The high rated players like Diggins, Loyd, Turner, and Ogunbowale definitely helped her program stay up there, but her player development is second to only Geno.

I think ND can go back to its roots by screening, cutting, and back doors that made them so fun to watch in 10-11 and 11-12.

I think McGraw likes being the underdog. Her team isn't going to make a FF team this year, but most of the scholarship players will be back next year and they are all young. They'll be good next year. This year, top 10 is iffy. Next year they will be top 10. McGraw is a HOF coach. Underestimate her at your own peril

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I really think ND is going to struggle getting back to a top 10 team down the road.

Nah. Might take a couple years but they'll be a contender again.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I think ND can go back to its roots by screening, cutting, and back doors that made them so fun to watch in 10-11 and 11-12.

I think McGraw likes being the underdog. Her team isn't going to make a FF team this year, but most of the scholarship players will be back next year and they are all young. They'll be good next year. This year, top 10 is iffy. Next year they will be top 10. McGraw is a HOF coach. Underestimate her at your own peril

I also want to make a plug for grad transfer Marta Sniezek (from Stanford - she had to redshirt her senior year and by the time that was clear, we didn't have a scholarship left for her to come back). Sniezek was never a terrific shooter and was the epitome of a pass-first PG, but she has a wonderful understanding of the game and I suspect will function as a fourth assistant coach for the team this season, because she was practically functioning like a coach last season for her Stanford teammates, and Tara was praising her coaching abilities and how it was her destiny down the road to end up as a HC. ND got a good one, and at a time when they could use the extra help developing young players.

 

[DaBball]

Not so sure what makes Muffett so unattractive. She just sent five players to the WNBA and placed three on the WNBA Rookie Team. Unless it’s that creepy Irish jig, not sure what makes ND an unattractive destination. Also, I think Michaela Mabrey will help ease the loss of Ivey.

 

[Reypl21]

Not so sure what makes Muffett so unattractive. She just sent five players to the WNBA and placed three on the WNBA Rookie Team. Unless it’s that creepy Irish jig, not sure what makes ND an unattractive destination. Also, I think Michaela Mabrey will help ease the loss of Ivey.

If I had to guess, it might be because of her intensity or maybe short leash.

Holly told a story during the semifinal about how one of her transfers (didn't specify which one) told MM that she was never happy with anything.

 

[Orangutan]

Remember back when ND turned the tide against UConn? McGraw built that come back by developing players like Novosel, Mallory, McBride, Peters, Achonwa, and Cable. The high rated players like Diggins, Loyd, Turner, and Ogunbowale definitely helped her program stay up there, but her player development is second to only Geno.

I think ND can go back to its roots by screening, cutting, and back doors that made them so fun to watch in 10-11 and 11-12.

I think McGraw likes being the underdog. Her team isn't going to make a FF team this year, but most of the scholarship players will be back next year and they are all young. They'll be good next year. This year, top 10 is iffy. Next year they will be top 10. McGraw is a HOF coach. Underestimate her at your own peril

Good post. I agree - I tend to think ND is recruiting at a similar level as recent years except that for a while ND had a fortunate streak of landing elite talents who happened to fit into their typical recruiting profile.

I've wrote about this before but ND recruits from the Midwest, Great Lakes and east coast cities. Basically that amounts to Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, NYC, and maybe Northern Virginia/DC area. That's where the ND brand is strongest. If religion is important to the player or the player has attended religious schools, that obviously helps.

ND had Skylar Diggins from their own backyard followed by:
McBride ("only" ranked #20 by ESPN but outperformed that, from an all-girls Catholic school in PA)
Loyd (from Chicago and the kind of person that tweets bible verses)
Reimer (from Indiana, she under-performed her rankings but was considered an elite recruit)
Turner (this is the exception to the rule - the only elite recruit ND has got out of the deep south in this run)
Ogunbowale (from all-girls Catholic school in Wisconsin)
Young (from Indiana)

And then Shepard was a bit of luck after her dream of playing for the home-town team turned sour. (Curiously, Caitlin Clark played AAU with one of Shepard's younger siblings - so I guess she's aware of the case against trying to be the hometown hero).

Scan the 2017 and 2018 rankings for someone who fits those geographical parameters. 2017 all you have is Sidney Cooks (who none of the blue bloods recruited despite her high ESPN rankings) and Dana Evans. 2018 the only person before Katlyn Gilbert that fits is Emily Engstler out of NY.

The map was much friendlier in 2019 and ND got two top-20 recruits in Peoples and Brunelle.

In 2020, Campbell and Marshall fit squarely in the geographical profile. Hayes is an intriguing outlier. And part of the reason I've been so interested in Caitlin Clark all along is that she fits the ND profile perfectly. From Iowa, which is at the west edge of ND's recruiting range but goes to a Catholic school and her faith seems important to her (at least based on news articles).

The one development that gives me pause is actually the emergence of Oregon and South Carolina as national recruiting powers who are getting elite talents out of ND's traditional strongholds.

It remains to be seen whether ND can keep consistently getting the elite players that fit the profile I've outlined with UConn being UConn and places like Oregon and South Carolina seemingly being the "it" schools at the moment.

Getting Clark would be an important step forward in that department.

 

[Orangutan]

Just seems like cupboard is getting bare in South Bend. I agree 100% about Brunelle. Just hard to see her being a major player at the top end of D1. I like Peoples too, but just doesn’t feel like enough. Kapinus seemed like a #10-20 player to me, but when they play the easier circuits it’s harder to tell. Now with the injury, she seems like a risk and a drop out of top 25 (like Olsen did) seems appropriate. Westbeld only in on ND cause of sister. But she’s a role player at best. I’ve never thought she was as good as her sister and she wasn’t a huge factor for ND.

Just my opinion, but I think Muffett is an unattractive head coach to girls and losing Ivey was huge because of that.

How I know you are talking nonsense is that you said Kathryn Westbeld wasn't a huge factor for ND.

 

[Orangutan]

And it looks like ND has lost Kelly to one of those schools.

As for further evidence, you are talking nonsense, Kelly posted this tweet last night (after Hayes' announcement) and retweeted it again today.



Why would she be saying 3 to go if she had told ND no? Sounds like she still intends to visit.

For what it's worth, ASGR rates Hayes a few spots higher than Kelly anyway, which further dents the theory of Hayes as a "desperation" move after losing out on Kelly. Seems like they are on roughly the same level.

 

[HuskylnSC]

I’ll assume you’re implying that she’s potentially recruiting the ladies in the picture wearing those numbers. For your notes, no one on the Mexican is of college age.

I’d hate for you to be implying something impolite.

Impolite or irreverent is not in y nature. It was supposed to be how I order at a restaurant. Looking for two posts and a wing. If I've offended, I apologize. It is in bad taste

 

[HuskylnSC]

I’ll assume you’re implying that she’s potentially recruiting the ladies in the picture wearing those numbers. For your notes, no one on the Mexican is of college age.

I’d hate for you to be implying something impolite.

it's bye bye now

 

[Argonaut]

it's bye bye now

Ditto.