Rumor: Walker Wants to play for Geno

[HuskiesU]

Danger

Don't forget about Tucker.

Who is Tucker

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Tuck will be gone Cox sophomore year. I'm with Rocky how can you forget about Boykins an experience Gabby williams and Ekmark. Butler was big east freshman of the year and averaged a double double and you haven't even seen Cox play a game yet in college and she starts over all these players that been and know UConn system better than she would??

I've seen Cox play a lot and believe she's is a special player. It'd be like those players starting ahead of Stewart. Besides, none of those mentioned play the position Cox does anyway. Again, it would be Geno's task to figure out, but Cox isn't coming off the bench for three years no matter where she goes.

 

[HuskiesU]

I've seen Cox play a lot and believe she's is a special player. It'd be like those players starting ahead of Stewart. Besides, none of those mentioned play the position Cox does anyway. Again, it would be Geno's task to figure out, but Cox isn't coming off the bench for three years no matter where she goes.

My point she plays center and i believe Butler is as special and proved it. That's one of the reasons she's at uconn. If Butler have a good year next year I'm just saying it will be hard not to start her over a sophomore her senior year. But your right that's for Geno to decide and I hope cox do commits I like her game now cus before I thought she was overrated

 

[Sluconn Husky]

My point she plays center and i believe Butler is as special and proved it.

I'd like to see Butler play before forming too much of an opinion on her. I like that other coaches who saw her speak highly, and she has a reputation as a hard worker which is good for future development. I don't know what to make of her stats at Georgetown which was a bad team in a blah conference. She played a ton (36 min). She'll never get those minutes at UConn, but I have hopes she'll be a good player.

People who haven't seen her are going to be shocked by how good Cox will be.

 

[HuskiesU]

I'd like to see Butler play before forming too much of an opinion on her. I like that other coaches who saw her speak highly, and she has a reputation as a hard worker which is good for future development. I don't know what to make of her stats at Georgetown which was a bad team in a blah conference. She played a ton (36 min). She'll never get those minutes at UConn, but I have hopes she'll be a good player.

People who haven't seen her are going to be shocked by how good Cox will be.

But to me the Big east is just as good if not better than the AAC. But I seen her play twice last year and ima tell you now she is a big body/present on the floor

 

[Geno-ista]

My point she plays center and i believe Butler is as special and proved it. That's one of the reasons she's at uconn. If Butler have a good year next year I'm just saying it will be hard not to start her over a sophomore her senior year. But your right that's for Geno to decide and I hope cox do commits I like her game now cus before I thought she was overrated

How did Butler prove it? Just by UConn taking her? She may well be- but I don't think the jury can be out on her yet. I will say, she is in magnificent shape, but time will tell.

 

[Geno-ista]

But to me the Big east is just as good if not better than the AAC. But I seen her play twice last year and ima tell you now she is a big body/present on the floor

Oh, that is pretty good. I didn't realize you had seen her a lot last year. She'll be two yrs older when she hots her first game. Pretty good!

 

[Farney]

I'd like to see Butler play before forming too much of an opinion on her.

That's not a Boneyard attitude. You should already be deciding who's getting minutes in 2017.

 

[jsloanjr]

Keep the pipeline full Geno...............

 

[Bgillon]

People who are skeptical about Butler sound like the same people who were skeptical about Nurse. Remember those comments about how weak the competition Kia played against was, etc, etc and there was no way she was better than Chong becuase Chong had a year of college ball. Well, Butler played against D1 competition and was FPOY in the Big East. Geno said she was a game changer. Bruno said she would be an excellent addition. But some BYers need to see her play for UCONN before they will agree she is better than a high school player.

 

[Geno-ista]

People who are skeptical about Butler sound like the same people who were skeptical about Nurse. Remember those comments about how weak the competition Kia played against was, etc, etc and there was no way she was better than Chong becuase Chong had a year of college ball. Well, Butler played against D1 competition and was FPOY in the Big East. Geno said she was a game changer. Bruno said she would be an excellent addition. But some BYers need to see her play for UCONN before they will agree she is better than a high school player.

I didn't realize Geno said she was a game changer- that's pretty good!

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Geno said she was a game changer.

Geno also sung Chong's praises to high heavens after the Penn State game last year and now.....

 

[JS]

I didn't realize Geno said she was a game changer- that's pretty good!

I've always interpreted that remark as not meaning she'll necessarily be a major impact player but rather that having a good true center changes the strategies available to him.

 

[EricLA]

I sort of don't get the "how good will Butler be" discussion, other than to note that Geno is still recruiting post players who will overlap with Butler, as he should be doing.

And if she's better than expected, those who said so can jump up and down in the future and say "I was right". If she's worse than expected, those who said so can be the jumpee's...

for the record, Ken (Milfordhusky) and I were consistent and vocal that Nurse was going to be really good and that she was one of the top 10, if not top 5, players in the class. We saw how she "comported" herself on the Canadian National team, and as a 16-18 year old, felt her experience and talent would make her a star at UCONN.

I expected her to be really good her freshman year and to be in the mix to be a starter by the end of the year. She's far exceeded my expectations so not only was I right, but I was wrong too. she IS terrific, but she's even better than anticipated.

My point about Butler is that she will either start, or not. given how terrific Tuck has been, I have a feeling next year we start Mo, Kia, Morgan, and Stewie, and then IMHO the last spot will be a battle between Collier, Samuelson and Williams. But really Butler or Chong could also be a starter. But re: Butler - even if she's not a starter, I think she will be a Jess Moore type of impact player. Jess likely would not start on any of the UCONN teams in the past 2-3 years - not because she isn't really good, but because the other players we have are just that much better.

And I suspect it could be the same thing for Butler. Maybe she starts her junior year, after Stewie and Moriah leave, and even if she only averages 6 points and 8 boards, if she's a good passer and solid defender, she will add size and experience in the post that we will be "short" on.

Last thing (I promise). Say what you will about the Big East (it sucks, whatever), but her numbers were really really good. Why would anyone down play that when we go bonkers over our recruits averaging 25+ PPG in high school? Butler proved she can put those numbers up against college kids, not high school kids. That makes her really solid, no matter how you slice it..

 

[MilfordHusky]

The Big East was not a bad conference, though not what it was with UConn, ND, Louisville, and Rutgers. Here are Natalie's points and rebounds against some of the better teams on the schedule, in chronological order:

Cal 16/15
Princeton 14/5
Penn State 12/9
Michigan State 7/12
Florida 16/18
Creighton 24/13
DePaul 9/10
St. John's 14/10
St. Johns's 8/14
DePaul 15/13
DePaul 8/11

She averaged 13.3 rebounds overall and 13.8 in conference. She was the 5th leading rebounder in the nation and the top freshman rebounder in the nation. I think she can rebound with anyone. For comparison, here are Tina's freshman stats.

Ppg. Tina 12.7 Nat 13.9

Rpg. Tina 8.2. Nat 13.3

FG%. Tina .590 Nat .491

FT%. Tina .594 Nat .665

Blocks Tina 81 Nat 59

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Butler's rebound rate as a frosh was a bit better than Kiah Stokes' as a frosh/soph and a little worse than Stokes' as a junior/senior. So I don't doubt she can rebound. The question seemed to be would she be good enough overall to block Lauren Cox from a starting spot if Cox decided to come to UConn. And I don't believe she would be. That's not a knock on Butler.

 

[EricLA]

Butler's rebound rate as a frosh was a bit better than Kiah Stokes' as a frosh/soph and a little worse than Stokes' as a junior/senior. So I don't doubt she can rebound. The question seemed to be would she be good enough overall to block Lauren Cox from a starting spot if Cox decided to come to UConn. And I don't believe she would be. That's not a knock on Butler.

Geno doesn't generally like to start freshmen if he can help it. I have no doubt that Cox is better than Butler and has a higher ceiling. But, then again, Nurse played herself into the starting role and Geno simply couldn't keep her on the bench. Also, we are a little "thin" at the guard spots.

It would be a GREAT problem to have, eh? Butler who's solid and strong and a hard worker who I bet is very good for UCONN, or Cox - a freshman phenom.

But Ken and I weren't necessarily saying that Butler would (or wouldn't) start over Cox - just that Butler is likely to be somewhere in between good and very good for UCONN. Next year, Butler's "sophomore" season - I think she comes off the bench, but Geno will have a lot of choices for his 5th starter to replace KML...

 

[hjoerring]

There is a comment from our coach saying that if he has 10 good players he will play them all. But, he is not willing to play all 10 simply because they are there.
As for Walker: Rumors. Rumors. How sweet to the ears when they are what we want to hear. One good thing about rumor is that you can never finalize it's source. "Who knows ... but strong vibes" tells me that John A might be engaged in rumor mongering.

As for Butler and Cox: I'm too much of realist to start planning for what isn't there. A bird in hand is worth ......

 

[HuskiesU]

She proved to be a player in college that is capable of producing at a high level as to Lauren Cox never played a game yet in college. Also she know by choosing UConn she can compete with the best,try to become an AA, get notice more and play for the best coach and program ever.

How did Butler prove it? Just by UConn taking her? She may well be- but I don't think the jury can be out on her yet. I will say, she is in magnificent shape, but time will tell.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

One good thing about rumor is that you can never finalize it's source. "Who knows ... but strong vibes" tells me that John A might be engaged in rumor mongering.

He clearly has sources though. He was the first member of the UConn press to note that the Huskies were extremely interested in Walker months ago. He also tweeted that UConn was the favorite to land KLS a few weeks before she gave her verbal. At the time she was down to five schools and there was no public indication of where she would go. I suppose this speculation could mean nothing in the long run, but I take Altavilla's gossip more seriously than most.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

 

[HuskiesU]

Her future is so bright where ever she goes but why not join the ride of being a Huskies. Playing for UConn, already your a celebrity. Your going to learn from the best not only on the court but off, you will get a lot of exposure from TV games All Acess the Geno Show. UConn may be the only school where you average less than 10ppg few rebounds and assist and make the WNBA. Being from VA which is 5 6 hours away from CT and another Virginian in Butler i think we are in good shape with Walker.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno's opinion of Butler was doubtlessly influenced by Doug Bruno. He called Doug about her and got a really strong assessment from him. Based on her Big East performance and her year of UConn conditioning/training I would be surprised if she was not a significant contributor from the git go.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Eric and I talked a bit more on this. We agree that Butler will be good. We're not sure how good, but she should definitely contribute.

Another interesting question will be the starting lineup next year. We lose Kaleena and Kiah, so we have Moriah, Kia, Stewie, and Morgan all back. I think it's safe to stay that all keep their starting positions. Who gets the 5th starting slot next year? Natalie as a true 5? Lou as a premier shooter like Kaleena? The efficient, versatile, and hard-working Napheesa? The uber-athletic and more experienced Gabby? Saniya in guard-oriented lineup? I like several of those options. I've listed them in order, from what I deem most likely to least likely. I don't see Courtney or De'Janae starting next year.

 

[UcMiami]

Butler has also matured into her body and is three years older than any center arriving in 2016 - not an insignificant factor when talking about a position that requires strength and endurance.
Doug has also had a lot of exposure to elite levels of WCBB talent and his strong recommendation of Butler carries more weight for me than either my fellow boneyarder's (sorry guys) or the various HS talent evaluators who only see players in relation to their fellow HS players. Doug was evaluating against college players and was impressed.

Meanwhile - I love the fact that we are filling out line-ups based on players that will not arrive for two years and have not expressed a particular preference for Uconn over anywhere from 5 - 13 other programs and a rumor about a preference from a player who wouldn't arrive for three years.

Would love to have Uconn get Walker, but all we know about the team she will be joining is that our current freshman and next years class plus Butler will likely be on the team, and the oral commitments from 2016 and 2017 already made are probably going to be here as well.