September 2020 UConn Recruiting Thread

[pvdoggy]

Unconventional is one kind word for it. But everybody will goof up once in a while.

These kids can't win with some of you. If they put out a list, some people think they are trying to draw attention to them. If they don't put out a list but just inform people that it has been narrowed down, they still get criticized.

 

[soxfan23]

I've gone on record early on and said that Azzi's pull up is the best I've seen since Maya. Also her power drive to the basket is just phenomenal.

It was phenomenal, it remains to be seen whether she will ever regain the explosiveness that she had pre-injury. In the tape I have seen on Fudd recently, she is simply not the same player! She is still a great player and an otherworldly shooter, but she just does not have the speed and explosion she used to have. I am really hoping that as time goes she regains it, it really has not been that long since her surgery and knees tend to take around 18 months to get fully back.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think Maya's shot is harder to defend because her release is much quicker. Azzi's shots seem to pause in her hand a bit before the release. A lockdown defender like some recent Uconn player may be able to defend it.

I tried to do some simple video comparisons last night. From memory, I had though that Maya's release was substantially higher. Upon examination, I didn't see a huge difference. Maya's release IS higher, but part of that is because she's more than an inch taller and has better elevation. The release relative to the top of her head, is more similar to Azzi's release than I had thought.

I've seen post-injury Azzi in person only once, so I can't assess what she has lost. But she has nice moves and uses screens very well, so I think she can get her shot. Would a defender like Aubrey have more success slowing Azzi down than slowing Maya at a comparable age? My guess is yes. Maya would be too big and strong.

Keep in mind that Maya came into college as a 75% FT shooter and left as an 85% shooter. Azzi would come in as a 90% FT shooter.

If Azzi has lost a step, the floor for her might be something like what KML achieved in college (2x All-American, 3x NCAA champion, record setter, best shooter in college). The ceiling for Azzi is indeterminate. Mount Rushmore is certainly possible.

 

[pvdoggy]

I tried to do some simple video comparisons last night. From memory, I had though that Maya's release was substantially higher. Upon examination, I didn't see a huge difference. Maya's release IS higher, but part of that is because she's more than an inch taller and has better elevation. The release relative to the top of her head, is more similar to Azzi's release than I had thought.

I've seen post-injury Azzi in person only once, so I can't assess what she has lost. But she has nice moves and uses screens very well, so I think she can get her shot. Would a defender like Aubrey have more success slowing Azzi down than slowing Maya at a comparable age? My guess is yes. Maya would be too big and strong.

Keep in mind that Maya came into college as a 75% FT shooter and left as an 85% shooter. Azzi would come in as a 90% FT shooter.

If Azzi has lost a step, the floor for her might be something like what KML achieved in college (2x All-American, 3x NCAA champion, record setter, best shooter in college). The ceiling for Azzi is indeterminate. Mount Rushmore is certainly possible.

I am not saying that one shot is lower or higher than the other. I just think that the ball seems to leave Maya's hand quicker (no slight pause) compared to Azzi's shot which is also a thing of beauty. That fraction of a second may allow a lockdown defender to close out easier. Again just my perception watching the video.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Big news here. PBR guys do great work. Gotten a lot of info from them especially during AAU months. This will be very interesting. And I guess Dan Olsen will focus on his personal subscription site. Thanks to Stoli for the tip.

 

[UConnCat]

Big news here. PBR guys do great work. Gotten a lot of info from them especially during AAU months. This will be very interesting. And I guess Dan Olsen will focus on his personal subscription site. Thanks to Stoli for the tip.

As I posted on the other forum, hopefully we've seen the last of fifty-three 5-star players.

 

[DaBball]

I think Ducharme will get a big bump tomorrow.

 

[BobbyJ]

I tried to do some simple video comparisons last night. From memory, I had though that Maya's release was substantially higher. Upon examination, I didn't see a huge difference. Maya's release IS higher, but part of that is because she's more than an inch taller and has better elevation. The release relative to the top of her head, is more similar to Azzi's release than I had thought.

I've seen post-injury Azzi in person only once, so I can't assess what she has lost. But she has nice moves and uses screens very well, so I think she can get her shot. Would a defender like Aubrey have more success slowing Azzi down than slowing Maya at a comparable age? My guess is yes. Maya would be too big and strong.

Keep in mind that Maya came into college as a 75% FT shooter and left as an 85% shooter. Azzi would come in as a 90% FT shooter.

If Azzi has lost a step, the floor for her might be something like what KML achieved in college (2x All-American, 3x NCAA champion, record setter, best shooter in college). The ceiling for Azzi is indeterminate. Mount Rushmore is certainly possible.

I don’t think she’s lost a step, she’s just not using it. Still in protect mode, staying out of traffic, and not risking getting caught in the air and getting bumped. She’ll get there.

 

[JordyG]

Maya is taller, stronger, and more explosive, but Azzi may be more accurate. They are on the very short list of best jump shooters I've seen.

Yes to all. But Azzi is easily the better ball handler and penetrator off the dribble from the perimeter. Azzi is a true guard while Maya was a tweener. But that doesn't mean if Azzi comes to UConn she'll be on the wall next to Maya.

 

[JordyG]

It was phenomenal, it remains to be seen whether she will ever regain the explosiveness that she had pre-injury. In the tape I have seen on Fudd recently, she is simply not the same player! She is still a great player and an otherworldly shooter, but she just does not have the speed and explosion she used to have. I am really hoping that as time goes she regains it, it really has not been that long since her surgery and knees tend to take around 18 months to get fully back.

A year for some, 18 months to 2 years for others. You are correct.

 

[soxfan23]

As I posted on the other forum, hopefully we've seen the last of fifty-three 5-star players.

Agreed, Dan Olson's ratings for ESPN have been laughable at best!

 

[rvwsleep]

The new rankings are out.
CD up to #5
DeBerry #15
Poffenbarger $30

 

[rvwsleep]

New ESPN rankings
2021 espnW 100: Ranking the top women's college basketball prospects 2021 espnW 100: Ranking the top women's college basketball prospects
via @ESPN App http://espn.com/app

 

[UConn2SF]

Awesome for Caroline. It seems she has come back from that serious injury even better and stronger.
Saylor Poffenbarger dropping that much, 13 spots, is inexplicable to me. No way are there 29 better players in the 2021 class than her. Interestingly, the write-up on Caroline perfectly describes Saylor's game.

 

[Ralph]

S Carolina recruits really went up. Reads like one of the best classes ever. With their class of 2019 and now 2021, they are going to be tough.

 

[eebmg]

Awesome for Caroline. It seems she has come back from that serious injury even better and stronger.
Saylor Poffenbarger dropping that much, 13 spots, is inexplicable to me. No way are there 29 better players in the 2021 class than her. Interestingly, the write-up on Caroline perfectly describes Saylor's game.

View attachment 58495

Saylor should be pretty motivated.

 

[HopJim]

S Carolina recruits really went up. Reads like one of the best classes ever. With their class of 2019 and now 2021, they are going to be tough.

Surprised that North Carolina had 3 in the top 20. What's going on there? Don't believe they are on the UConn calendar but in 2-3 years would be a great series.

 

[soxfan23]

Saylor should be pretty motivated.

Poffenbarger at #30 is laughable, she is at worst a Top 15 player in the class!

 

[uconnever]

I don’t know anything about these guys, but their rankings do seem a bit off.

 

[DaBball]

Surprised that North Carolina had 3 in the top 20. What's going on there? Don't believe they are on the UConn calendar but in 2-3 years would be a great series.

They actually have four.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Cross-posting my comments here too since there's a dedicated thread about this in the General forum:

Here's their Top 100. Me thinks there's some insane East Coast bias there; the three West Coast top ten recruits under Olson, Demetre, Iriafen, and Von Oelhoffen, drop from 4, 9, and 10 to 11, 19, and 25, and Rayah Marshall dropped from 14 to 27. I know some folks thought Olson had a west coast bias, but I'm not sure I have any more confidence in these new guys given that nearly every top west coast prospect dropped at least 10 spots.

ETA: And Dawn suddenly goes from having the 3rd, 6th, and 13th recruits to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Ok then.

 

[Alydar]

Cross-posting my comments here too since there's a dedicated thread about this in the General forum:

Here's their Top 100. Me thinks there's some insane East Coast bias there; the three West Coast top ten recruits under Olson, Demetre, Iriafen, and Von Oelhoffen, drop from 4, 9, and 10 to 11, 19, and 25, and Rayah Marshall dropped from 14 to 27. I know some folks thought Olson had a west coast bias, but I'm not sure I have any more confidence in these new guys given that nearly every top west coast prospect dropped at least 10 spots.

ETA: And Dawn suddenly goes from having the 3rd, 6th, and 13th recruits to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Ok then

You and others seem to be under the impression that your players have dropped when they haven't. These aren't new rankings, they are different rankings and I'll wager those west coast players were ranked the same on this list a month ago. Hanson and Olson just disagree. Two of UConn's recruits are lower in this list while the third is higher. They are all still the same players.

If you need to see Stanford's recruits ranked as high as possible then go here where you will find the rankings you like better: 2021 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100 - ESPN

 

[soxfan23]

Cross-posting my comments here too since there's a dedicated thread about this in the General forum:

Agreed. Raven Johnson at #2 is just absurd!

 

[TheFarmFan]

You and others seem to be under the impression that your players have dropped when they haven't. These aren't new rankings, they are different rankings and I'll wager those west coast players were ranked the same on this list a month ago. Hanson and Olson just disagree. Two of UConn's recruits are lower in this list while the third is higher. They are all still the same players.

If you need to see Stanford's recruits ranked as high as possible then go here where you will find the rankings you like better: 2021 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100 - ESPN

Where do you think I got those comparisons from? My point, regardless, is that what is now the "official" ESPNW rankings seem to have a rather substantial bias against West Coast recruits, not just Stanford ones.

 

[CocoHusky]

Where do you think I got those comparisons from? My point, regardless, is that what is now the "official" ESPNW rankings seem to have a rather substantial bias against West Coast recruits, not just Stanford ones.

OMG! 1 ranking was enough for you to determine "a substantial bias against West Coast recruits"?
BTW the original ESPN Hoopgurlz founders Glen Nelson and Chris Hansen were often accused of having a West Coast Bias even though Glen was a Seattle native.

 

[TheFarmFan]

OMG! 1 ranking was enough for you to determine "a substantial bias against West Coast recruits"?
BTW the original ESPN Hoopgurlz founders Glen Nelson and Chris Hansen were often accused of having a West Coast Bias even though Glen was a Seattle native.

Do you guys not read my posts before responding? I acknowledged that some think Olson has a west coast bias. But the drop off for basically all West Coast recruits is pretty stark.

 

[CocoHusky]

Big news here. PBR guys do great work. Gotten a lot of info from them especially during AAU months. This will be very interesting.

I don’t know anything about these guys, but their rankings do seem a bit off.

I'm doing some research on Premier Basketball enough to spot a couple of red flags. The first red flag is that for a fee ~$500-900 players can pay to get evaluated. A second red flag is a significant part of the business is that Premier is a tournament organizer.
https://premierbasketballtournament...ball-tournaments/general-information/overview.
One of the tournaments that Premier sponsors is called the ThePrimeEvent. Caroline's Exodus AAU team won the championship of ThePrimeEvent east last month. Which may have been the reason for her dramatic rise from 37th to 5th in the class.

To be clear these red flags have nothing to do with Caroline-I honestly hope PBR have correctly rated her.

 

[Ozimoto]

Maybe some of these ranking shifts are a result of AAU play. In Saylor's case, she didn't play AAU ball this summer. She has just completed her rehab from off season hip surgery.

 

[Deuce]

S Carolina recruits really went up. Reads like one of the best classes ever. With their class of 2019 and now 2021, they are going to be tough.

You do realize SCs did not actually get any better by these newer rankings correct?

 

[visitingcock]

You do realize SCs did not actually get any better by these newer rankings correct?

I agree. This has changed nothing but opinion and arguments. Still, it will be fun to compare UConn and SCar's classes when you get Azi - as I'm pretty certain will happen,

Fuel to the fire... I just hope revised scheduling still allows us to play in January!