A big potential set back for them: 6-5 Tai-Yanna Jackson isn’t listed on the 19-20 roster.
She is definitely making up some ground, and has two top-100 players in 2020, and she got the best in-state player. Vic has to cast a smaller net than usual, because her has 13 players and 0 seniors on the team
2020 6'4" post Fatou Samb of Westside HS in Houston (68 HG, #76 PN) has an interesting top 5:
Rice
Wake Forest
Michigan
Harvard
Cal
The Houston kid in me couldn't even remember the last time Houston ISD had a top 100 player, so I went and looked it up. Apparently the last one was AJ Alix from Bellaire HS (HG #48 in 2013).
This is just awful! Such a talented dual-sport athlete, was likely going to be ND GPOY in both, again!
Sort of an interesting group of finalists for a top-30 player from Texas:
Madison Scott’s top-5: Ole Miss, UCLA, Maryland, Florida State, and Miami.
2020 6'4" post Fatou Samb of Westside HS in Houston (68 HG, #76 PN) has an interesting top 5:
Rice
Wake Forest
Michigan
Harvard
Cal
No offense to any of the teams in her final five, but this list of schools is not what you would expect for the #14 ranked player in country.
No offense to any of the teams in her final five, but this list of schools is not what you would expect for the #14 ranked player in country.
?
Outside of Ole Miss those are solid programs. Maryland in particular is no surprise at all to see make a top 5 list for a highly rated prospect. FSU and UCLA have both pulled in plenty of highly touted recruits over the years. I don't see anything unusual about this list other than Ole Miss.
Maybe she's not a consensus top 15 player? Prospects Nation has her 49, so then does your perception of her list change? Her list isn't that different than ESPN's #16 player or the schools considered by the #13 player. She also may have cut some bigger schools, maybe they didn't do as good of a job recruiting her as her finalists. I think her list is perfectly normal. UConn isn't recruiting her so not sure who else she has to have included. Maybe she doesn't have the transcript for ND and Stanford admittance. Solid list of schools regardless.
I agree except for Wake Forest. That one's out of left field for me. Not particularly special academically, and by far the weakest basketball program among those listed.Actually, that list has a pretty clear logic to it: child of immigrant West African parents who prioritize education, but not quite a highly enough ranked recruit to draw interest from Duke, Notre Dame, Stanford or UCLA. And probably finds Princeton too boys clubby/new coaching situation makes that less certain than in the past.
Believe it or not, Wake is tied with Michigan in the US News rankings. In terms of undergraduate experiences, I'd say Wake has pretty solid academic bona fides. Top to bottom when including graduate programs, it's definitely no Michigan, but for undergraduate academic experience, I think her list makes a fair amount of sense.I agree except for Wake Forest. That one's out of left field for me. Not particularly special academically, and by far the weakest basketball program among those listed.
I find the list interesting because it couldn't be more geographically diverse: one west coast school, one local, one northern/midwestern, one northeastern, one southeastern.
I agree except for Wake Forest. That one's out of left field for me. Not particularly special academically, and by far the weakest basketball program among those listed.
I find the list interesting because it couldn't be more geographically diverse: one west coast school, one local, one northern/midwestern, one northeastern, one southeastern.
No offense to any of the teams in her final five, but this list of schools is not what you would expect for the #14 ranked player in country.
That's a great point, but Blue Star has her ranked 9th!Maybe she's not a consensus top 15 player? Prospects Nation has her 49, so then does your perception of her list change? Her list isn't that different than ESPN's #16 player or the schools considered by the #13 player. She also may have cut some bigger schools, maybe they didn't do as good of a job recruiting her as her finalists. I think her list is perfectly normal. UConn isn't recruiting her so not sure who else she has to have included. Maybe she doesn't have the transcript for ND and Stanford admittance. Solid list of schools regardless.
Can I be jealous of that ? LolNot every top prospect is going to necessarily limit their choice to the top programs. Most do, but many may not. They look at their relationship with the coaches, what the school offers, proximity factors.
Ole miss is far from a top program but many of the young ladies feel a very strong connection with her staff and feel apart of something bigger. It’s a testament of the culture coach Yo is building down there.
I say good for her and good for ole miss.
Fair enough. There are other factors that would lead to a players final list outside of the top schools not having interest. Just would have thought more “elite 8” schools would be chasing her (which her list includes none of this past seasons)
2020 6'4" post Fatou Samb of Westside HS in Houston (68 HG, #76 PN) has an interesting top 5:
Rice
Wake Forest
Michigan
Harvard
Cal
The Houston kid in me couldn't even remember the last time Houston ISD had a top 100 player, so I went and looked it up. Apparently the last one was AJ Alix from Bellaire HS (HG #48 in 2013).
Caitlin Clark is down to Iowa, Iowa State, and Notre Dame.
Decision seems to come down to chance to be local hero vs. joining established powerhouse. She says that her ultimate goal is to win the National Championship, so I guess she needs to decide whether that's realistic at Iowa or Iowa State or if she needs to go to Notre Dame.
Iowa State has a good recruiting class going in 2020 but would have to think NC contention is more realistic playing with folks like Peoples, Brunelle, Marshall, and Campbell at Notre Dame.
Telling that she refers to winning big at one of the in-state schools as "something special" - "So I think they’re kind of more the powerhouse if I want to go that way, rather than doing something special or doing something that hasn’t been done".