October non-UConn recruiting thread

[CocoHusky]

Watkins? Have you seen our front court? Watkins will be great but she's not going to get in front of Boston, Cardosa, Amihere, or Saxton. Then you have the freshman Feagin too. I hope we do get her, but she's going to be behind some great ones.

Uhm.. Watkins is class of '22 which means Saxton will be gone when she arrives on campus.
A year after Watkins would arrive on campus Boston, Cardosa, Amihere are all WNBA eligible.
I'm a UCONN fan so you didn't hear it from me but you might want to plan ahead just a little bit more than you are currently doing.

 

[cancontent]

Question - couldn't it be to Watkins advantage to learn from those in the front court who are ahead of her? Even a a year (or two) training against, Boston, Cardoso and Amihere could be a huge boost to her overall development.

 

[CocoHusky]

Question - couldn't it be to Watkins advantage to learn from those in the front court who are ahead of her? Even a a year (or two) training against, Boston, Cardoso and Amihere could be a huge boost to her overall development.

Nah... that makes too much sense...says this UCONN fan.

 

[DaBball]

Boston, Amihere, Cordosa, and Feagan will still be there when Watkins would arrive as a frosh. Until yesterday, she was also looking at the potential of competing with Barker.

She may already be committed to us. Dawn announced a "birdie in the nest" last Summer but we don't know who. Could be a '23 but I suspect Watkins.

Would Watkins have actually been visiting other schools if she committed to South Carolina in the summer? That would be a bad look IMO.

Fulwiley seems to be one of the few who hasn't really been publicly visiting other schools.

 

[saywho]

Joyce Edwards looks to have been at Stanford recently from her recent tweet.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Watkins? Have you seen our front court? Watkins will be great but she's not going to get in front of Boston, Cardosa, Amihere, or Saxton. Then you have the freshman Feagin too. I hope we do get her, but she's going to be behind some great ones.

And she isn't JUJU Watkins. That was my first thought. And even JUJU would have to wait on a roster like SC.

 

[TC22]

Uhm.. Watkins is class of '22 which means Saxton will be gone when she arrives on campus.
A year after Watkins would arrive on campus Boston, Cardosa, Amihere are all WNBA eligible.
I'm a UCONN fan so you didn't hear it from me but you might want to plan ahead just a little bit more than you are currently doing.

Saxton may be gone. She doesn't have to be. My answer about Watkins had to do with immediate playing time, which is what we were discussing when I made my comment. Just like it would be advantageous to Cooper to play with the group of guards we have. A year after Cooper would arrive we would no longer have Henderson, Zia, Beal, Grissette, or Littleton.

 

[JDuro]

A Coop entering the coop?

 

[ConwayGmck]

Watkins may be more of a 4 than a 5, but her only issue with choosing South Carolina would be whether she wanted to be a main starter her freshman year. But for her sophomore year, Boston and Amihere would be gone, and Grissett, Wesolek, and Saxton would be gone even if they used a sixth year of eligibility (Grissett is already using hers this coming season).

That leaves just Cardoso and Feagin on the roster as 4's and 5's. Which was why I felt we could've taken BOTH Watkins and Barker should they have chosen to come. Come 23-24, or Watkins' sophomore season, the program will be HURTING for players like her to start or play starter's minutes.

Of course, they still have the 2023 cycle to get 1 or 2 more into the program. But then unless we get SOMEONE for this class, they WILL be starting as freshmen.

So, it depends on Watkins being able to accept taking on an internship role her freshman season, sort of what the entire 2021 class which was rated #1 in the nation will be accepting this coming season.

My biggest concern involved Cooper. We brought in Feagin, but also brought in Johnson (PG), Rivers (G), and Hall (G). Henderson is a senior this season, and Littleton may leave or she may take on a sixth season for more reasons than just Covid (her feet injuries and transferring derailing portions of her career). Cooke and Thompson will be gone her sophomore season, but Johnson and Rivers will be around until her senior season. Whereas Fulwiley will have an extra season to take lead of the program.

So I was thinking it made more sense to wait until Fulwiley, and let Cooper go elsewhere, but all reports are we're still working hard for Talaysia to come to Columbia, so I don't know...

 

[ConwayGmck]

A Coop entering the coop?

Lets hope we don't have to wait half a year to find out about this one.....

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Watkins may be more of a 4 than a 5, but her only issue with choosing South Carolina would be whether she wanted to be a main starter her freshman year. But for her sophomore year, Boston and Amihere would be gone, and Grissett, Wesolek, and Saxton would be gone even if they used a sixth year of eligibility (Grissett is already using hers this coming season).

That leaves just Cardoso and Feagin on the roster as 4's and 5's. Which was why I felt we could've taken BOTH Watkins and Barker should they have chosen to come. Come 23-24, or Watkins' sophomore season, the program will be HURTING for players like her to start or play starter's minutes.

Of course, they still have the 2023 cycle to get 1 or 2 more into the program. But then unless we get SOMEONE for this class, they WILL be starting as freshmen.

So, it depends on Watkins being able to accept taking on an internship role her freshman season, sort of what the entire 2021 class which was rated #1 in the nation will be accepting this coming season.

My biggest concern involved Cooper. We brought in Feagin, but also brought in Johnson (PG), Rivers (G), and Hall (G). Henderson is a senior this season, and Littleton may leave or she may take on a sixth season for more reasons than just Covid (her feet injuries and transferring derailing portions of her career). Cooke and Thompson will be gone her sophomore season, but Johnson and Rivers will be around until her senior season. Whereas Fulwiley will have an extra season to take lead of the program.

So I was thinking it made more sense to wait until Fulwiley, and let Cooper go elsewhere, but all reports are we're still working hard for Talaysia to come to Columbia, so I don't know...

We do really have a backup pg for next season assuming Henderson doesn't return

I'm not sure Cooper is a PG either at college level, we will see, but there is an opportunity for guard playing time there.

I don't really see how Watkins gets on the floor much her freshmen year.

cardoso, Boston, Amihere, Feagin, Beal and Hall all could take minutes at 4/5.

it all opens up a lot after that season of course.

 

[TC22]

I like having these problems.

 

[Geew1992]

Wasn’t Cooper supposed to announce?

 

[JDuro]

Wasn’t Cooper supposed to announce?

Announcing @ 3:00.

 

[JDuro]

Talaysia Cooper officially commits to South Carolina.

 

[Mdoggie]

Talaysia Cooper officially commits to South Carolina.

Stacked. Dawn is one hell of a recruiter. Job now is to coach up all that talent.

 

[Nash83]

Stacked. Dawn is one hell of a recruiter. Job now is to coach up all that talent.

Don’t forget Coach Law, gotten it done at Tenn and SoCar.

 

[mikeboss550]

Don’t forget Coach Law, gotten it done at Tenn and SoCar.

Law is the secret to our recreuilting

 

[SCGamecock]

Really impressive because Georgia and Tennessee threw the kitchen sink at Cooper. Cooper adds speed, length and scoring to the backcourt. Her and Rivers are going to be demons on the perimeter. With Hall about 6’2 and still growing (according to her dad) and now trending like a SF/PF, Cooper is a great pickup for guard corp.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Law is the secret to our recreuilting

She is a phenomenal recruiter. It’s makes what Warlick did at Tennessee incomprehensible to me.

 

[jumpstart]

Uhm.. Watkins is class of '22 which means Saxton will be gone when she arrives on campus.
A year after Watkins would arrive on campus Boston, Cardosa, Amihere are all WNBA eligible.
I'm a UCONN fan so you didn't hear it from me but you might want to plan ahead just a little bit more than you are currently doing.

Lol...I don't think this person is in the "think tank" with Dawn and her staff....

 

[TC22]

Uhm.. Watkins is class of '22 which means Saxton will be gone when she arrives on campus.
A year after Watkins would arrive on campus Boston, Cardosa, Amihere are all WNBA eligible.
I'm a UCONN fan so you didn't hear it from me but you might want to plan ahead just a little bit more than you are currently doing.

We'll let Dawn in on the secret.

 

[eebmg]

Really impressive because Georgia and Tennessee threw the kitchen sink at Cooper. Cooper adds speed, length and scoring to the backcourt. Her and Rivers are going to be demons on the perimeter. With Hall about 6’2 and still growing (according to her dad) and now trending like a SF/PF, Cooper is a great pickup for guard corp.

Why would anyone want a kitchen sink?

 

[ConwayGmck]

Would Watkins have actually been visiting other schools if she committed to South Carolina in the summer? That would be a bad look IMO.

Fulwiley seems to be one of the few who hasn't really been publicly visiting other schools.

To compare with the most hectic, frantic, and desperate collegiate recruiting process - college football recruiting - there are many programs who allow a prospect who committed to them to enjoy their recruiting process and take officials to other programs on those programs' dime. Their reasoning being that they want prospects to come into their programs who truly and fully want to be there, and know they do.

There are still others who think along the lines of your thinking, and tell prospects to wait to commit to them (if they want to) until AFTER taking those officials, OR if they had already publicly committed, to withdraw their commitment if they still want to take officials to other programs, and wait until after visiting to decide if they wish to re-commit. Those programs will tell the prospect, "hey, if you're still looking around, then we'll still look around as well, and if there are other prospects that fill your position of need that we like as much who wants to go ahead and pick us and shut it down, then we won't guarantee to you that we won't go ahead and let them take your scholarship spot while you're still looking around".

That may not be the case with collegiate basketball recruiting, as there are so much fewer top-rated prospects to pick and choose from than with collegiate football. But in THIS case, please remember that Watkins' commitment - if it exists - to us is a "silent" commitment, meaning it's pretty much not a legit official commitment to us yet, and therefore that could free Ashlyn up to continue her recruitment process with other programs until she makes it official.

The ONLY reason why we're even contemplating that Watkins has committed to South Carolina in the first place, is because of some tweet Dawn Staley put out back in June that doesn't (and by rules cannot) even name Watkins as that "birdie", while Watkins has officially committed to nothing, so I don't see how her continuing to make sure she makes the best decision for herself should be considered "a bad look"......

 

[SCGamecock]

Why would anyone want a kitchen sink?

A good point was made. Lol