She has lost weight and now we can see why Geno wanted her at UCONN.....
[Warning: rumor-mongering post. Take the following for what it's worth.]
He wanted her big-time during her sophomore HS year -- a prime target. When she came back to school at the start of her junior year, rumor at the time had it she was out of shape and that Geno had cooled on her for that reason. Her final schools did not include UConn. In retrospect, who knows whether the parting of ways was a mistake. Different paths taken, different results.
I've often thought over this past summer that backing off Massengale, rumored to be because of certain interpersonal dynamics not directly involving her, may have been a mistake. Jury's even farther out on that one. I'm certainly not disabused of the mistake idea. We'll see how she does in the notoriously non-point-guard-oriented TN system. Am reminded of a friend's question when a certain future Hall of Fame pitcher came up to the majors to join a team whose very haplessness was endearing: "Will Tom Seaver ruin the Mets, or will the Mets ruin Tom Seaver?"
And finally, there's a third current LV whom Geno, according to rumor, told one of the Assistants to stop recruiting because he didn't like a third party who was in the picture. My guess: he never again wanted to go through what he went through with Kia Vaughn.
These cases all suggest one thing: Geno has the luxury to play his personal feelings about recruits and those involved with them. If you look at who he ended up with, you have to conclude he can afford to be that way. He occasionally makes mistakes on other grounds for sure, but these personal hunch cases don't seem to have presented any serious risks.
Yes, yes, LV fans. I know you're thinking "He's just throwing this stuff out there to make it look like UConn could have had our players if it wanted." Suspicious minds, you. I'll give you one. He wanted Manning right up to the end. Fact is, though, that if a player seems clearly headed in one direction, another program will usually turn its attention elsewhere. It's only efficient. My point is that sometimes there's another reason, right or wrong.
