So... What's next for recruiting??!

[meyers7]

You seem to suggest that you'd prefer smaller players playing the front line like we had with Task Force (2001) when we had multiple players playing the center and forward spots that were in the range of 6'1 thru 6'3. It obviously worked out well but had Geno had an accomplished player or players with size like Rebecca or Kara or Tina or Stef, I doubt that he would have used that smaller lineup as extensively as he did.

Actually Geno did have a player with size, although not on the Lobo, Wolters, Charles or Dolson level (but then I don't think Butler is quite at that level either) in Sauer. As a senior she did not start. Cash/Jones/Williams did, because they were better. I think Butler can be good, not sure if she'll be at the AA level though. Which is fine. If she ends up a JMoore/Schumacher level player, I'll be very happy.

Not saying Butler won't start, but saying there is precedence of starting younger/smaller/more talented (if that is the case) players.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Actually Geno did have a player with size, although not on the Lobo, Wolters, Charles or Dolson level (but then I don't think Butler is quite at that level either) in Sauer. As a senior she did not start. Cash/Jones/Williams did, because they were better. I think Butler can be good, not sure if she'll be at the AA level though. Which is fine. If she ends up a JMoore/Schumacher level player, I'll be very happy.

Not saying Butler won't start, but saying there is precedence of starting younger/smaller/more talented (if that is the case) players.

Me too. And I think that is a reasonable expectation given her fine freshman year. AA is conceivable but not reasonable to expect.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Me too. And I think that is a reasonable expectation given her fine freshman year. AA is conceivable but not reasonable to expect.

That makes sense to me. Moore was a starter for at least a year or two, and who can forget Kelly's block party in 2000-whatever when she went bonkers against Tennessee. It was epic.

But to be fair, Kelly never averaged more than 6.5 PPG or 4.5 RPG in her entire college career. I get what people are trying to say regarding expectations, or Natalie's ceiling, but I think the Moore comparison is more apt.

Jessica averaged about 9.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG over her last 3 years of college (her freshman numbers were more modest). If Natalie can do that over her 3 remaining years, I would sign up for that... (but I still think her numbers will be bigger than that, especially on the rebounding side)...

 

[Sonny44]

Butler came to UConn as a transfer and I'm sure she didn't come to sit the bench or have limited minutes. We all were talking about a big post player and when Wilson and Turner went elsewhere we were all concerned. We got lucky to get a player like Butler with her proven record. With that said post players take time to develop however Butlers numbers for a freshman in a conference tuffer then the AAC are extraordinary. She will be very good and maybe a great player before Geno finishes with her development.

All this discussion about playing minutes can work against us. We all know parents recruits AAU coaches and opposing college coaches read this board and they can use our discussions of lack of playtime to keep players from coming to UConn. When you talking about a top 10 recruit by name from a class a year or two from now and remarking that she will sit the bench or will not play significant minutes is exactly one of the reasons why Asia Durr is waiting to commit. With our incoming freshman class of 4 guards/wings has her wondering who else will come to UConn and where she fits in and how many minutes she will play. She is ranked 1 or 2 depending on the poll and she is waiting. If shes waiting to commit what do you think kids coming up are looking at? As great as it would be for a girl to play on this UConn team she will want to play not sit.

We dont know who will start and how many minutes who will get because we dont know who might be injured, who might not be developed and who might play another position and who might be in a slump. Our 2015 class has 3 top 10 recruits and if Durr commits we have 4. If in the class of 2016 UConn gets 3 more verbals we know that Geno cant play over 5 at a time. So yes there will be shared minutes. Now what about the rest of the roster? Sharing minutes is huge. We dont know how many minutes anybody will get. It makes me uncomfortable when I read threads saying that a recruit wont start or wont play or there isnt enough room for her because I know there are people who read this board who believe what is written and that can work against us. JMO

Agree, this discussion is getting a little old, I'd say.

 

[hjoerring]

It's amazing to me that people can jettison a player-- Butler, accomplishments as an effect of "mid-majors" competition. Isn't the AAC just as mid-major as the BE? And what about all those "mid-major" players (EDD, f. upex) who have graduated to the WNBA and lighting it. Were they not as good as their stats showed? IMHO, Butler and Kia are the two proven players we have coming in next year. All others are potential. Of course the former ones have to adjust to their current situation.

 

[meyers7]

It's amazing to me that people can jettison a player--

I don't think anyone is jettisoning a player. Just some of us think she will be a good player, maybe not "the next coming". And for me that isn't based on where she played as a freshmen.

 

[hjoerring]

I don't think anyone is jettisoning a player. Just some of us think she will be a good player, maybe not "the next coming". And for me that isn't based on where she played as a freshmen.

That's nice of you. I would have a problem sorting the 4 pages into "good" vs "the next coming". The supplement would end up in an untitled bin. Questions are posed to her statistics, will she ever start, play back up to a 6,2 player, is G'Town a div 1... At best, there is a quiet reserve regarding this player that haunts none of the others. All I have in my hands to spin are her stats from a div 1 school- will she be "the next coming"? Reminds me of the White King (from Alice in Wonderland) who asks Alice to look along the road to see if his messenger is coming: 'I see nobody on the road, said Alice. 'I only wish I had such eyes,' the King remarked in a fretful tone. 'To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it's as much as I can do to see real people, by this light!' Telling a story in the place of the null class.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Recent Hoopgurlz article on potential UConn target Jaelyn Brown:

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...rific-25-2016-colleges-opponents-giving-chase

 

[meyers7]

That's nice of you.

I'm a nice guy.

Questions are posed to her statistics, will she ever start, play back up to a 6,2 player, is G'Town a div 1... At best, there is a quiet reserve regarding this player that haunts none of the others.

hmmmm, there doesn't seem to be a lot of over the top talk about Edwards. I think there is a bit of quiet reserve on her.

 

[EricLA]

Recent Hoopgurlz article on potential UConn target Jaelyn Brown:

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...rific-25-2016-colleges-opponents-giving-chase

Yes please!!

 

[johnnyc]

I think she is a starter from the moment she becomes eligible to when she decides to leave. Nothing behind that except a former coach ( Jim Lewis) who thought she had potential to play in the WNBA, an opposing coach's (Doug Bruno) assessment that she has the potential to be a great player and her current coach's opinion that she can be a game changer. I have seen her play a couple of times (tv) and I liked her game. I just remember that she altered a lot of shots and ran the floor well.

oops.....talking about Natalie Butler.....this was meant as a reply to meyers7

 

[caramel]

Dolson came into Connecticut a little out of shape,but with skills.With the proper coaching and work ethic,she became an AA and first round WNBA draft choice.
Butler comes in to Connecticut as a very good college player,and will have one year of learning the system,finding out what is expected of her work ethic,time in the weight center,advise on her eating habits,etc.
Geno is right,and we will all see that,that she will be a game changer.

I totally agree with Tony C.It is futile to discuss minutes of any present or future basketball player at Connecticut.

We have no idea who will grow in the system,and who will not.Injuries almost always happen year to year,and someone will rise above to take some or all of those minutes lost.

On top of that,the Connecticut coaching staff,can develop a player's strengths,expose their weaknesses and correct them,and guide them into what is best to getting them to success,both team wise and individually.

I have never read any past or present player say that any time spent at Connecticut was a waste of time.Trust in Geno and staff should be in our thoughts,period.

 

[meyers7]

I think she is a starter from the moment she becomes eligible to when she decides to leave. Nothing behind that except a former coach ( Jim Lewis) who thought she had potential to play in the WNBA, an opposing coach's (Doug Bruno) assessment that she has the potential to be a great player and her current coach's opinion that she can be a game changer. I have seen her play a couple of times (tv) and I liked her game. I just remember that she altered a lot of shots and ran the floor well.

oops.....talking about Natalie Butler.....this was meant as a reply to meyers7

I hope she is all those things. I just don't think, from what I've seen of her, that she is on the Charles/Dolson/Lobo level. I think she can be very good, and even maybe have a career in the WNBA. That would be great. I just don't see an AA or NPOY in her future. I could be (and would be happy to be) wrong.

 

[dtbtbtb]

I hope she is all those things. I just don't think, from what I've seen of her, that she is on the Charles/Dolson/Lobo level. I think she can be very good, and even maybe have a career in the WNBA. That would be great. I just don't see an AA or NPOY in her future. I could be (and would be happy to be) wrong.

We don't need her to be Charles or Dolson but we do need her to be Kelly S. or Jessica Moore (who had a nice career in the WNBA) and with what she showed so far in college she should be able (with UConn coaching and all we read about her work ethic, etc) to do that.
Now, if she does become a game changer....all the better

 

[meyers7]

We don't need her to be Charles or Dolson but we do need her to be Kelly S. or Jessica Moore (who had a nice career in the WNBA) and with what she showed so far in college she should be able (with UConn coaching and all we read about her work ethic, etc) to do that.
Now, if she does become a game changer....all the better

Absolutely agreed. (in fact I think I said as much somewhere in one of these threads )

 

[hoophuskee]

80% of the teams that UConn will play throughout the regular season will be no better than the teams in the Big East that Butler competed against AND DOMINATED. She's coming to UConn where she will have a year to integrate into the program, get appreciably better coaching and weight training and competing every day in practice against some of the most talented kids in the country. She has a marvelous work ethic and good physical skills (running the floor well, soft hands, etc) and somehow you speak of her as being a fine player as long as she's only playing against mid-major (Big East) teams but suggest that she'll lose minutes because you somehow feel that she won't be able to cope against better teams?????? It seems in reading some of your posts that you are all over the map with your opinions and there is a weird inconsistency. One minute you speak as if you have consummate knowledge of every scope of women's basketball and the next you're relying on opinions of a couple of posters who I had never heard of or read about before as if they brought the tablets off the Mount! You seem to suggest that you'd prefer smaller players playing the front line like we had with Task Force (2001) when we had multiple players playing the center and forward spots that were in the range of 6'1 thru 6'3. It obviously worked out well but had Geno had an accomplished player or players with size like Rebecca or Kara or Tina or Stef, I doubt that he would have used that smaller lineup as extensively as he did. Geno is undoubtedly going to have a lot of options with incoming talent and he loves flexibility and multi skill players but you act as if Stef would have have struggled for minutes if she were the transfer center coming into Storrs next season instead of Butler. You must remember that as a freshman, Stef didn't put up anywhere near the numbers that Butler did against primarily the same level talent though I know a couple of the stellar teams that Stef played against (Notre Dame and Louisville) were no longer in the Big East. Even if you feel Butler would have been completely shut down against these teams (which is unrealistic), her overall numbers wouldn't have changed that drastically. Why don't you and others give this girl some slack???? She has talent and yet you and others suggest that she is just some journeyman talent, competing against mediocrity to attain numbers. Evidently you assume that Geno's buddies and whose opinion he revers who coach DePaul and Villanova don't know anything about basketball skills and abilities when they see it???? They raved about Butler but still many here question her skill set or her ability to improve. If you had played and coached basketball all your life and had seen Butler play on numerous occasions and saw her exposed against talented teams, maybe, just maybe, I'd put a little stock in what you have to say but that isn't the case, is it? You are just making assumptions based on second hand information from WHO?????? If you are going to speculate, why don't you try and speculate in a positive manner instead of denigrating someone who you aren't even familiar with. The people around her can't say enough about her work ethic and her willingness to push herself continually to get better and better even when she was the UNANIMOUS winner of the freshman of the year award in her conference. Instead, there's bashing of a conference that we just left. Did you think the Big East conference sucked last year when we were in it???

Buzzyboy - read all the below posts in italics I made previously on this thread before you posted to me. I did not suggest she was a journeyman when I said below in italics. I'm not sold in being as confident as you and many others that she is going to start and get 25+ minutes especially in her very first year which I got the impression the poster "slu . . . ," was doing. And nowhere did I say " I prefer smaller centers." I did say below that Geno will play his best. That's much diffeent that your post saying to me "You seem to suggest that you'd prefer smaller players playing the front line . . . " I prefer the best players. So if it's Natalie - fine - great super!!! Here are the posts.

And I'm not sold that NB is better than the other recruits coming in. Though it wouldn't surprise that much if she is better than all of them overall at center and gets 25 minutes

He is going to "ride" hard his best players as complete players. If Natalie is among his best - fine.

Butler is "ideal" but I believe Geno plays the better player… No reason why Butler couldn't be similar IF Boykin is better (and what do you think I meant if Boykin isn’t better?).

And I don’t believe just because Butler is a junior means it’s so obvious she is going to be better than 6’2 soph Boykin


So if I'm saying she can start on Ct how am I not cutting her slack? It's just not obvious to me. I am not saying you or anyone else is wrong. Anyhow I don't want to get into a back-and-forth on this thread. If you want to have last word go for it. If you want to pm me or if anyone else sure- go ahead - and if so for anyone - let's be civil. And we can go back-and-forth but make no mistake no way do I believe NB can't be a big-time star . To repeat for me - just me - I'm not sold it is so obvious though. If for you it is- great!

 

[JS]

If you want to pm me or if anyone else sure- go ahead - and if so for anyone - let's be civil.

Being civil includes not distorting somebody else's handle -- as in "Bussboy" [sic].

 

[JS]

If you want to pm me or if anyone else sure- go ahead - and if so for anyone - let's be civil.

Being civil includes not distorting someone else's handle -- as in "Bussboy" [sic].

 

[hoophuskee]

Being civil includes not distorting somebody else's handle -- as in "Bussboy" [sic].

I didn't mean it. Sorry.

Sorry buzzyboy. I changed mine from up top. Sorry.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Buzzyboy - read all the below posts in italics I made previously on this thread before you posted to me. I did not suggest she was a journeyman when I said below in italics. I'm not sold in being as confident as you and many others that she is going to start and get 25+ minutes especially in her very first year which I got the impression the poster "slu . . . ," was doing. And nowhere did I say " I prefer smaller centers." I did say below that Geno will play his best. That's much diffeent that your post saying to me "You seem to suggest that you'd prefer smaller players playing the front line . . . " I prefer the best players. So if it's Natalie - fine - great super!!! Here are the posts.

And I'm not sold that NB is better than the other recruits coming in. Though it wouldn't surprise that much if she is better than all of them overall at center and gets 25 minutes

He is going to "ride" hard his best players as complete players. If Natalie is among his best - fine.

Butler is "ideal" but I believe Geno plays the better player… No reason why Butler couldn't be similar IF Boykin is better (and what do you think I meant if Boykin isn’t better?).

And I don’t believe just because Butler is a junior means it’s so obvious she is going to be better than 6’2 soph Boykin


So if I'm saying she can start on Ct how am I not cutting her slack? It's just not obvious to me. I am not saying you or anyone else is wrong. Anyhow I don't want to get into a back-and-forth on this thread. If you want to have last word go for it. If you want to pm me or if anyone else sure- go ahead - and if so for anyone - let's be civil. And we can go back-and-forth but make no mistake no way do I believe NB can't be a big-time star . To repeat for me - just me - I'm not sold it is so obvious though. If for you it is- great!

Okay, maybe we had a misunderstanding. No problem. I agree that Geno will play the best player or at least the player best for the situation at hand. I'm not giving Butler any minutes (you mentioned 25) because she'll have to earn it like everyone else. Whether she gets 5 minutes or 30 minutes will depend on how much she has to offer. My whole thing was the suggestion by a number of posters to dismiss what she did in her freshman year at Georgetown because of the level of competition (or lack thereof) she played against. I felt, based on what had been said about her by reputable coaches (some of whom are Geno's good buddies) that she has talent and ability that should only get better considering her work ethic and who she'll be being coached by beyond the fact that she'll be competing in practice against some exceptional players. It all bodes well for her and for UConn and I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if she doesn't become a very good center who will be able to contribute a good deal. I'm sure there might be times where Geno might feel that a more mobile player would be the answer against a particular lineup but in general, I'm optimistic that she'll be a lot more than adequate. I feel she'll contribute but as to how much, we won't know until we see her in November of 2015 after she's had a few games under her belt but I do like what I've heard from basketball people who've seen her play.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Geno is attending a Nike sponsored AAU tourney in Nashville this weekend. Yesterday(7/11), he was courtside to watch Crystal Dangerfield. Also in that game was 2016 wing Stephanie Jones (Hoopgurlz #13) who looked pretty impressive.

 

[chrissaran]

I'm wondering why UConn never recruited Natalie Butler. The staff seemed very pleased when she decided to transfer to UConn.

 

[EricLA]

I'm wondering why UConn never recruited Natalie Butler. The staff seemed very pleased when she decided to transfer to UConn.

IIRC she wasn't in the top 100 anywhere. She probably wasn't on UCONN's radar . And I know someone probably has access to it, but I'm guessing the teams she was recruited by were teams like Georgetown, Marist, Wisc Green Bay, etc. I don't think anyone thought she was UCONN caliber. Lastly, she sort of blew up her senior year but IIRC she was already committed to GT, or close to it by then.

 

[HuskeySlim]

Ahh, the crapshoot that is recruiting. It is fun to dscuss, and to see how it all shakes out. Thanks for the platform Eric.

Isn't Natalie Butler the only true back to the basket center we have, besides Kiah ? I am not even sure that
center is Kiah's natural position. I have watched entire Georgetown games and came away impressed. As a matter of fact, I think Natalie is farther ahead of Stef coming into their soph years. Nobody knows if Natalie will be as good as Stef was her senior year, because Stef worked her tail of to be an All-American. Gosh she was good ! Just because Natalie is a true back to the basket center doesn't mean we can't change the pace &
strategy and go small. From everything I have seen, heard, and read Natalie Butler will work HER tail off to reach her potential.

As for PT, we all know Geno's philosophy : Working hard in practice = minutes in games. Now we also know that Geno gives players more minutes early in the season when we are blowing teams out. It seems to me we have a couple of mysteries this year. What will happen with Chong ? How will Morgan and Gabby come back from injuries.

I also liked what Kenny K. said about Naphessa Collier. She is more about team than individual stats. Sounds like she is just what Geno likes, a real good get for UCONN.

 

[EricLA]

I also liked what Kenny K. said about Naphessa Collier. She is more about team than individual stats. Sounds like she is just what Geno likes, a real good get for UCONN.

Most kids who come to UCONN play the same way, but specifically in that class Boykin is a similar player. I watched 4 games of the USA U16 team and while Boykin didn't stand out as a "star", she did a lot of the little things and dirty work and quietly put together solid stats. I would have loved it if Collier played in that too so i could have watched her some, but it was fun watching Boykin, KLS, Durr, Cox, Ionescu, and the other kids...