Coach Aston is proving to be a very good recruiter; obviously, it helps to have the state of Texas as her backyard, but she is definitely a relentless worker. She established herself early on the recruiting trail after accepting the Texas job; and, kind of put herself out there by accepting early verbal commitments from very young players -- so young that there weren't even any published recruiting rankings for such youngsters yet.
IIRC, Charli Collier committed as an 8th grader. Then, it was Sedona Prince who committed early in her freshman season. Not long after that, 2017 Didi Richards gave her verbal commitment (November of her sophomore season). Granted, they each de-committed the Spring of 2015 or so. Regardless, having those verbals from both Prince and Collier for the same class kind of led me to believe that Prince was destined for the Center position, while Collier is a power forward.
These days, not every big/tall player wants to player Center in college. I think that applies to both Collier and NaLyssa Smith, although I could be wrong. If they want to play power forward and not be "forced" into the Center role, then they will probably look for a place that can meet their requirements. Luckily for Texas, they did conduct in-home visits with both (as did a lot of national programs), as well as with Queen Egbo. Would love for Texas to gain a commitment from a PF who would fit best playing alongside Sedona.
Landing elite out-of-state recruits is definitely the next step. Getting Alecia Sutton out of Missouri was a great start for her 2016 class. And, then landing the USC transfer of Jatarie White (NC) was another step in extending Texas' reach. Landing Megan Walker would definitely be a milestone moment for Coach Aston and Texas considering the competition for her.
For those wondering if the timing of Sedona's re-commitment has anything to do with Walker -- it certainly might. They do know each other, and were in Houston in August for a skills camp:
