October Recruiting Thread | Page 12 | The Boneyard

October Recruiting Thread

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It’s very interesting how some view the “She’s the next coming of Stewie” or “He’s the next Bird” as some kind of negative put-down while others see it as a compliment. I think it is virtually always a compliment! There is nothing in that statement that is negative toward that player. It doesn’t even preclude the possibility that the player could conceivably be better than Stewie (or whoever you are comparing the player to. I just don’t understand it, I guess. I do concede it could go the other way if the player is compared to a bad player but I don’t recall seeing that happen. Every time I’ve seen it, it was meant as a compliment and taken as such imo by most people, including the player him/herself!
I get your point.
 
It’s very interesting how some view the “She’s the next coming of Stewie” or “He’s the next Bird” as some kind of negative put-down while others see it as a compliment. I think it is virtually always a compliment! There is nothing in that statement that is negative toward that player. It doesn’t even preclude the possibility that the player could conceivably be better than Stewie (or whoever you are comparing the player to. I just don’t understand it, I guess. I do concede it could go the other way if the player is compared to a bad player but I don’t recall seeing that happen. Every time I’ve seen it, it was meant as a compliment and taken as such imo by most people, including the player him/herself!
I think this refers back to a number of athletes and a number of people in different professions who have struggled with these types of comparisons and living up to outsized expectations. When people say 'the next _____', they are referring to a person who has already gone through developmental struggles and failures and their own early mediocrity when no one was looking,and have then built a resume that is monumental. To be thrust into such comparisons during their own early struggles and failures can be a crushing weight. We see the comparisons everywhere and the 'failures' left in the wake of the comparisons.

On a Uconn level ... whoever follows Geno will be a failure because no one will live up to his legacy - as no one lived up to Wooden or Pat. And as no one has survived the 'next great American author' or the 'next Cary Grant' or the 'next _____.' The Jets have been looking for the 'next Joe Willie' for 50 years, the Pats will be looking for the 'next TB12' for decades, and those expectations have turned fan bases into killing machines.

In more recent times ... no one who says 'the next Diana' reflects on her 0fer in her first FF and Diana didn't have to face the world's expectations because she hadn't been labeled as the 'next Nykesha Sales' who played brilliantly as a freshman in winning a championship. And when they compare to Stewart, they aren't going to be saying they expect this new player to be benched in her first season, but are expecting the 2016 era Stewart in a HS senior.

While the comparison can be meant as a compliment, too often it also creates an expectation that is unlikely to be reached, and especially with young, unestablished talent can create negative comparisons when a disappointing product is put out. While Paige had a phenomenal year, she failed to match Stewart's results - while everyone is giving Paige a pass because she was NPOY after all, I think the rest of the team has taken additional criticism for not being 'good enough' in a way that 2001 and DT and the task force didn't - they had the excuse of injuries of course, but the remaining team had 4 Olympians and two #1, a #2, #4, and #6 WNBA picks.

I understand the desire to compare skill sets, and I don't tend to comment, but I do think the above is worth thinking about before putting too much pressure on kids.
 
I think this refers back to a number of athletes and a number of people in different professions who have struggled with these types of comparisons and living up to outsized expectations. When people say 'the next _____', they are referring to a person who has already gone through developmental struggles and failures and their own early mediocrity when no one was looking,and have then built a resume that is monumental. To be thrust into such comparisons during their own early struggles and failures can be a crushing weight. We see the comparisons everywhere and the 'failures' left in the wake of the comparisons.

On a Uconn level ... whoever follows Geno will be a failure because no one will live up to his legacy - as no one lived up to Wooden or Pat. And as no one has survived the 'next great American author' or the 'next Cary Grant' or the 'next _____.' The Jets have been looking for the 'next Joe Willie' for 50 years, the Pats will be looking for the 'next TB12' for decades, and those expectations have turned fan bases into killing machines.

In more recent times ... no one who says 'the next Diana' reflects on her 0fer in her first FF and Diana didn't have to face the world's expectations because she hadn't been labeled as the 'next Nykesha Sales' who played brilliantly as a freshman in winning a championship. And when they compare to Stewart, they aren't going to be saying they expect this new player to be benched in her first season, but are expecting the 2016 era Stewart in a HS senior.

While the comparison can be meant as a compliment, too often it also creates an expectation that is unlikely to be reached, and especially with young, unestablished talent can create negative comparisons when a disappointing product is put out. While Paige had a phenomenal year, she failed to match Stewart's results - while everyone is giving Paige a pass because she was NPOY after all, I think the rest of the team has taken additional criticism for not being 'good enough' in a way that 2001 and DT and the task force didn't - they had the excuse of injuries of course, but the remaining team had 4 Olympians and two #1, a #2, #4, and #6 WNBA picks.

I understand the desire to compare skill sets, and I don't tend to comment, but I do think the above is worth thinking about before putting too much pressure on kids.
Sorry, if you think the team hangs on our words and writing I have a BB court I'm willing to sell you. While some may read some of posts they are hardly hanging on our arm chair thoughts and ideas with baited breath. If they do read any of our posts my bet would be that they are laughing their butts off at us. I do think they are happy we are here as fans, however they don't think of us as any more than that. My real question is which one of us is so important that the team relies on us for coaching, playing time, line ups or player comparisons. ;)
 
Sorry, if you think the team hangs on our words and writing I have a BB court I'm willing to sell you. While some may read some of posts they are hardly hanging on our arm chair thoughts and ideas with baited breath. If they do read any of our posts my bet would be that they are laughing their butts off at us. I do think they are happy we are here as fans, however they don't think of us as any more than that. My real question is which one of us is so important that the team relies on us for coaching, playing time, line ups or player comparisons. ;)
I think this refers back to a number of athletes and a number of people in different professions who have struggled with these types of comparisons and living up to outsized expectations. When people say 'the next _____', they are referring to a person who has already gone through developmental struggles and failures and their own early mediocrity when no one was looking,and have then built a resume that is monumental. To be thrust into such comparisons during their own early struggles and failures can be a crushing weight. We see the comparisons everywhere and the 'failures' left in the wake of the comparisons.

On a Uconn level ... whoever follows Geno will be a failure because no one will live up to his legacy - as no one lived up to Wooden or Pat. And as no one has survived the 'next great American author' or the 'next Cary Grant' or the 'next _____.' The Jets have been looking for the 'next Joe Willie' for 50 years, the Pats will be looking for the 'next TB12' for decades, and those expectations have turned fan bases into killing machines.

In more recent times ... no one who says 'the next Diana' reflects on her 0fer in her first FF and Diana didn't have to face the world's expectations because she hadn't been labeled as the 'next Nykesha Sales' who played brilliantly as a freshman in winning a championship. And when they compare to Stewart, they aren't going to be saying they expect this new player to be benched in her first season, but are expecting the 2016 era Stewart in a HS senior.

While the comparison can be meant as a compliment, too often it also creates an expectation that is unlikely to be reached, and especially with young, unestablished talent can create negative comparisons when a disappointing product is put out. While Paige had a phenomenal year, she failed to match Stewart's results - while everyone is giving Paige a pass because she was NPOY after all, I think the rest of the team has taken additional criticism for not being 'good enough' in a way that 2001 and DT and the task force didn't - they had the excuse of injuries of course, but the remaining team had 4 Olympians and two #1, a #2, #4, and #6 WNBA picks.

I understand the desire to compare skill sets, and I don't tend to comment, but I do think the above is worth thinking about before putting too much pressure on kids.
Yeah, you make some points that occasionally these kinds of statements can put pressure on some kids that they cannot live up to. However, I still contend that to expect people who are making genuine, sincere compliments towards a player to pause and analyze every potential rabbit hole that may come from that compliment, is simply a bridge too far. Furthermore, it feeds into this trend in our culture of desperately looking for offense when none was intended or when it simply is not there. Many kids thrive on statements that help them see other’s respect for their game or the perceived potential that others may see in their game. Helping kids have a realistic understanding of their own potential is the job of parents, coaches, and the kids themselves, not some complete stranger who believes they have great potential and who are simply complimenting them on their skills.
 
Yeah, you make some points that occasionally these kinds of statements can put pressure on some kids that they cannot live up to. However, I still contend that to expect people who are making genuine, sincere compliments towards a player to pause and analyze every potential rabbit hole that may come from that compliment, is simply a bridge too far. Furthermore, it feeds into this trend in our culture of desperately looking for offense when none was intended or when it simply is not there. Many kids thrive on statements that help them see other’s respect for their game or the perceived potential that others may see in their game. Helping kids have a realistic understanding of their own potential is the job of parents, coaches, and the kids themselves, not some complete stranger who believes they have great potential and who are simply complimenting them on their skills.
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PN on Devin Coppinger ('24):

Brandon Clay:

Devin Coppinger has really turned herself into a legitimate producer for an NCAA Tournament caliber program. She can do whatever her future college needs her to be successful. During our Seattle session, Coppinger was shooting the ball at an elite clip given her age. Then in Texas last weekend, she followed that performance up with a similar one with some of the nation’s top prospects in the building with us. In that regard, Coppinger is a plug and play type capable of providing a multitude of things to a college roster. She’s strong enough to keep people in front of her yet skilled enough to be a shot maker when left open. Add those qualities to the work ethic that she shows whenever we train and Coppinger has the ability to be a consistent difference maker in the right situation next level.


Chris Hansen:


Coppinger is a coach’s dream. She morphs into whatever her team needs and usually does it at a high level. In that way she compares impact-wise to a Sam Thomas at Arizona. They are build different but both can contribute across the board. Coppinger early on was fantastic off the dribble and scoring as a slasher. Her game has continually evolved and it’s been a lot of fun to see her add the jumper then learn how to use it to set up other parts of her game. The subtly to her game makes training with her fun as well as you can throw just about anything at her and she’ll figure it out.


 
There are at least 3 relevant differences between Juste and Ezi:

1. Juste doesn't have an all-time great in Lithuania like Lauren Jackson to mentor her.

2. Juste is about 4,000 miles from Storrs; Ezi was about 10,000.

3. Juste was born in the U.S. Ezi was born in Australia.
 
Sorry, if you think the team hangs on our words and writing I have a BB court I'm willing to sell you. While some may read some of posts they are hardly hanging on our arm chair thoughts and ideas with baited breath. If they do read any of our posts my bet would be that they are laughing their butts off at us. I do think they are happy we are here as fans, however they don't think of us as any more than that. My real question is which one of us is so important that the team relies on us for coaching, playing time, line ups or player comparisons. ;)
my knowledge is limited to several past players involved in being recruited by UConn.........they were impressed with the sheer enthusiasm of the Boneyard and thought some of the comments to be very amusing and some to be outright crazy......
 
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I understand the desire to compare skill sets, and I don't tend to comment, but I do think the above is worth thinking about before putting too much pressure on kids.
I think once the season starts the pressure of comparisons of being compared to a player completely goes away. Players come to UCONN to become part of a team. They don't care that much that the fans or media refers to them as comparisons to this player or that unless if there is a selfish play they might. It will sound cliche but the pressure they have is playing for each other. They live with each other. Each o0thers opinions of one another (and ofc the coaches) is the foremost driver. The comparisons by others on the outside are not that relevant imo.
 
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Good for Georgia! The rich don’t get richer this time!
UGA is right on SC’s heels. It may not be long before they become top Dawg in the SEC…. ;)
 
Do we really think she will go to college or just go straight to the pros?
Does UConn take a chance on a European player that may leave after one or two years. Would it be better to have a player more likely to finish school and run through the whole program. There is a chance her leaving could impact team chemistry and recruiting. A recruit that may be more impactful long-term may decide to go somewhere else.
 
Does UConn take a chance on a European player that may leave after one or two years. Would it be better to have a player more likely to finish school and run through the whole program. There is a chance her leaving could impact team chemistry and recruiting. A recruit that may be more impactful long-term may decide to go somewhere else.
Yes.
 
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There are at least 3 relevant differences between Juste and Ezi:

1. Juste doesn't have an all-time great in Lithuania like Lauren Jackson to mentor her.

2. Juste is about 4,000 miles from Storrs; Ezi was about 10,000.

3. Juste was born in the U.S. Ezi was born in Australia.
Good points.. and the plot thickens
 
Per her IG story Kiki rice is at Duke Today with other recruits

I find it interesting that Uconn was the only official visit she was on that other recruits and team members weren't tagging her in pics on her visit. Maybe because we realize there is no need to beg for her services because she is going to be a Husky. :)

In all seriousness I still think she will be a Husky. I think it will be between us and Duke, I don't think she is going out west. Looking forward to whenever her announcement will be!
 
I find it interesting that Uconn was the only official visit she was on that other recruits and team members weren't tagging her in pics on her visit. Maybe because we realize there is no need to beg for her services because she is going to be a Husky. :)

In all seriousness I still think she will be a Husky. I think it will be between us and Duke, I don't think she is going out west. Looking forward to whenever her announcement will be!
I too think the real choice is between UConn and Duke. Kiki is family oriented and although the allure of Cali is great her parents, family and friends would just have too tough of a time seeing her on the regular out west. If she were to choose any college other than UConn my choice is Duke. Go Dukies!
 
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