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Message: [QUOTE="EricLA, post: 2573001, member: 26"] One other thing about her that is amazing (well I think it goes to the staff as well) is that they have "taught" the other players to always be looking for a pass coming their way if they are open. Crystal can thread the needle with bounce passes, bullet passes, or lobs into the post, but they will only result in assists and baskets if the teammate is ready and able to catch the pass. Kudos to the entire team - whenever any of them talk about Crystal, they almost always say some version of "you have to be ready because the second you are open she will find you". I also recall at least one recent recruit saying one reason she chose UCONN was because she wanted to play with an elite PG ie. Crystal (I think it was either Megan or Christyn). There are not that many extraordinarily elite true PG's, and while Crystal will shoot when open, she's always looking for the best pass for her teammates. My point there is that going forward, it's important to land another elite type PG. If you go back over the years to the elite PG's that Geno has had (Rizzotti, Rita Williams to an extent, Sue Bird, Renee Montgomery, Moriah Jefferson, and now Crystal Dangerfield. Without doing tons of research, the years UCONN struggled were in no small part to the lack of a PG (an elite one who developed). Kennitra Johnson transferred. So did Kia Wright and Kiana Robinson (I think Wright was going to be the PG). Lorin Dixon never developed into an elite guard. Ketia Swanier was quite good, but not elite. There are so few truly elite PG's out there it's amazing that UCONN has landed as many as they have. And for the record, even if these kids are VERY highly rates, they don't generally have eye-popping freshman years. That means to me that the staff is truly remarkable in how they develop these kids. Freshman year is rough for them, and then they GET it and become true floor generals and 2nd coaches on the court. While I was bummed that Honesty Scott-Grayson in 2018 and Zia Cooke in 2019 did not work out for UCONN (whether it was them, us, or both), but that just means it's really important to land Van Lith and/or Buekers from 2020 - in the top 12, there are 5 PG's so there is a lot to recruit from, and UCONN is very much in need of at least 1 from that class. [/QUOTE]

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