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UConn Recruiting Speculation 6

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It’s my hope that Strong is closely watching the recent performance of all 3 schools she is considering. That’s particularly true relative to the development of Ice at UConn, a player with very similar size and skills as Strong.

Yes, Duke & UNC are both closer to home, but from a personal development standpoint, it’s hard to make a case for any school other than UConn. In addition, both NC schools are currently “middle of the pack” in the ACC, having lost in the 1st round (UNC) & 2nd round (Duke) of their conference tournament respectively. If Strong wants to win a national championship, and SC & LSU are out, UConn is the place to be.
 
hoopsnloops32 said:
Seems like she wants to stay home but also wants to go to UConn. Ariana Robinson going to Duke probably helps them a lot there. She also followed a bunch of Duke players recently.

Will be interesting what she decides.
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Her following those Duke players recently definitely concerns me. I'm sure she already knows where she's going at this point, just waiting for the announcement. And perhaps she told Kara and team then followed those players. Most people assume she will announce at or right after the McDonalds all American game.

Fingers crossed she still picks us, but at least it won't be LSU or South Carolina if she goes elsewhere! :)
 
Having just read the Sports Illustrated article about JuJu Watkins' decision to
chose USC Trojans, I wonder if this could be a part of Ms. Strong's thoughts on
"where" to go to school. The article (March 2024) reported that JuJu, rather than
taking the multiple opportunities at established "top five - top ten programs", chose
USC to help to revitalize her hometown's program. Does that make UCONN
"establishment"? or does it indicate that UCONN is her primary choice of a "established" program??
I don't have to express my bias... but this will be an interesting decision for Ms. Strong.
Also, during the Chipotle Nationals basketball tournament (www.CHIPOTLENATIONALS.COM)
April 4- 6 ,2024, GRACE CHRISTIAN will be facing first IMG ACADEMY with Kelis Fisher (UCONN commit) and
UCONN POI Lara Somfai. Then If GRACE CHRISTIAN wins its first two games, Sarah and her teammates
could then match up against LONG ISLAND LUTHERAN with UCONN 2026 POI, OLIVIA Vukosa. That
would be the Championship Game at 10 AM ET on Saturday, July 6 th.
There could be some informative discussion off the court among those talented young ladies!
Throw the dice! Best wishes to Sarah.
 
Rings R Us said:
Her following those Duke players recently definitely concerns me. I'm sure she already knows where she's going at this point, just waiting for the announcement. And perhaps she told Kara and team then followed those players. Most people assume she will announce at or right after the McDonalds all American game.

Fingers crossed she still picks us, but at least it won't be LSU or South Carolina if she goes elsewhere! :)
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She doesn’t follow any of the current players. She follows Ari and just recently followed Toby.
 
Zarathustra said:
Having just read the Sports Illustrated article about JuJu Watkins' decision to
chose USC Trojans, I wonder if this could be a part of Ms. Strong's thoughts on
"where" to go to school. The article (March 2024) reported that JuJu, rather than
taking the multiple opportunities at established "top five - top ten programs", chose
USC to help to revitalize her hometown's program. Does that make UCONN
"establishment"? or does it indicate that UCONN is her primary choice of a "established" program??
I don't have to express my bias... but this will be an interesting decision for Ms. Strong.
Also, during the Chipotle Nationals basketball tournament (www.CHIPOTLENATIONALS.COM)
April 4- 6 ,2024, GRACE CHRISTIAN will be facing first IMG ACADEMY with Kelis Fisher (UCONN commit) and
UCONN POI Lara Somfai. Then If GRACE CHRISTIAN wins its first two games, Sarah and her teammates
could then match up against LONG ISLAND LUTHERAN with UCONN 2026 POI, OLIVIA Vukosa. That
would be the Championship Game at 10 AM ET on Saturday, July 6 th.
There could be some informative discussion off the court among those talented young ladies!
Throw the dice! Best wishes to Sarah.
Expand ...
Only problem is that Vukosa doesn't play for LUHI. She plays for Christ the King HS.
 
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CAbballfan2 said:
She doesn’t follow any of the current players. She follows Ari and just recently followed Toby.
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she just started following Ashlyn Jackson as well. Think she committed to them and is just waiting to announce.

Rings R Us said:
Good to know! I was going by what the other poster said.
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she just started following Ashlyn Jackson as well.
 
hoopsnloops32 said:
she just started following Ashlyn Jackson as well. Think she committed to them and is just waiting to announce.


she just started following Ashlyn Jackson as well.
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That’s all within the last couple hours then..bc I double checked before I posted lol I see another one of the assistants is now following her as well
 
has there ever been word that she took an official to Duke? A lot of times girls start following each other when they take their official visit. Since Duke reemerged late maybe that’s the reason of the recent follows. I know she attended one of their games in January or February..just don’t know if it was an official visit or not.
 
CAbballfan2 said:
That’s all within the last couple hours then..bc I double checked before I posted lol I see another one of the assistants is now following her as well
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Does she follow anyone at UConn?
 
CAbballfan2 said:
That’s all within the last couple hours then..bc I double checked before I posted lol I see another one of the assistants is now following her as well
Expand ...


oprah.jpg
 
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hoopsnloops32 said:
she just started following Ashlyn Jackson as well. Think she committed to them and is just waiting to announce.


she just started following Ashlyn Jackson as well.
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I’m not so convinced she’s committed anywhere yet. Seems like with as secretive as she’s been about her recruitment, that she wouldn’t have announced a top 3 at all if she had already committed somewhere (especially because I’m anticipating her announcing her commitment in April sometime). We saw her follow a bunch of LSU, South Carolina, and NC State players/ coaches and none of those schools are finalists.
 
GenoWept said:
I’m not so convinced she’s committed anywhere yet. Seems like with as secretive as she’s been about her recruitment, that she wouldn’t have announced a top 3 at all if she had already committed somewhere (especially because I’m anticipating her announcing her commitment in April sometime). We saw her follow a bunch of LSU, South Carolina, and NC State players/ coaches and none of those schools are finalists.
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I don’t think she followed many of those teams players tbh. At least not South Carolina.

I think she’d announce a top 3 if she made a decision. That or if she just wanted to disassociate herself from the LSU/SC mess. I’d be surprised if she didn’t have a decision made and was just waiting to announce it, which is why follows on social now are far more important than before.
 
BobbyJ said:
Only problem is that Vukosa doesn't play for LUHI. She plays for Christ the King HS.
Expand ...
Of course!,.. I stand corrected.... my endorphins must have been kicking in, knowing
that Ms. Strong could possibility be joining a Huskie Freshman class of Morgan Cheli,
Allie Ziebell, and Jana El Afry (RS SOPH). Together with our current team that
freshmen quartet will provide more " ammunition " for Paige as "Buckets" takes "aim" at
UCONN's next National Championship!
 
Saw on another post that the Nike Hoop Summit will be taking place on April 13th and our two 2024 recruits + Sarah Strong will be there. This is wishful thinking, but really hoping we get a picture of Morgan Cheli, Allie Ziebell, and Sarah Strong together with the announcement that they are all UConn teammates. Someone remind me, when is the signing period??
 
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GenoWept said:
Saw on another post that the Nike Hoop Summit will be taking place on April 13th and our two 2024 recruits + Sarah Strong will be there. This is wishful thinking, but really hoping we get a picture of Morgan Cheli, Allie Ziebell, and Sarah Strong together with the announcement that they are all UConn teammates. Someone remind me, when is the signing period??
Expand ...
the-boneyard.com

UConn Recruiting Speculation 5

Some dates to note, as there are a lot of moving parts that will potentially affect UConn and other schools that have significant player opportunities to take either a covid or redshirt year: March 17 - portal opens April 5 - deadline to declare for WNBA (see below) April 6 - WNBA deadline for...
the-boneyard.com the-boneyard.com
 
Many of us have our opinions on the Sarah Strong decision. A lot have said that she may be waiting on Aaliyah Edwards intentions to go pro and become a top five pick. I don’t recall reading anywhere or anyone saying that maybe Aaliyah has not come out about turning pro or staying at UConn because she may be waiting on what Sarah is going to do. Yes that sounds strange and I’m stretching it. But, maybe Aaliyah likes being at UConn as much as Paige does and possibly wants to stay. If Sarah committed then AE could turn pro. As much as everyone on the BY wants Strong on next years team I for one would prefer Edwards. Let her team up with Ice, Jana and Ayanna. That’s one hella of a front court.
 
ConnMotors said:
Many of us have our opinions on the Sarah Strong decision. A lot have said that she may be waiting on Aaliyah Edwards intentions to go pro and become a top five pick. I don’t recall reading anywhere or anyone saying that maybe Aaliyah has not come out about turning pro or staying at UConn because she may be waiting on what Sarah is going to do. Yes that sounds strange and I’m stretching it. But, maybe Aaliyah likes being at UConn as much as Paige does and possibly wants to stay. If Sarah committed then AE could turn pro. As much as everyone on the BY wants Strong on next years team I for one would prefer Edwards. Let her team up with Ice, Jana and Ayanna. That’s one hella of a front court.
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Given all the possibilities, Aaliyah returning would probably be the second best one, and far better than many lesser options. Sarah for 4 years is better than Aaliyah for 1, but in terms of winning a championship next year, Aaliyah could be as good or better. She is also better than the portal option where we might find a top player, but the probability of finding someone as good as Sarah or Aaliyah is not very good.

One thing I have not looked at or heard anything about, is potential returnees at North Carolina or Duke. If Aaliyah's is the only decision affecting Sarah's wait, then I like our chances of getting her or Aaliyah. If she is waiting on decisions at Noth Carolina or Duke, not so much.
 
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oldhusky said:
Given all the possibilities, Aaliyah returning would probably be the second best one, and far better than many lesser options. Sarah for 4 years is better than Aaliyah for 1, but in terms of winning a championship next year, Aaliyah could be as good or better. She is also better than the portal option where we might find a top player, but the probability of finding someone as good as Sarah or Aaliyah is not very good.

One thing I have not looked at or heard anything about, is potential returnees at North Carolina or Duke. If Aaliyah's is the only decision affecting Sarah's wait, then I like our chances of getting her or Aaliyah. If she is waiting on decisions at Noth Carolina or Duke, not so much.
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Both North Carolina and Duke don’t have a lot of seniors and I believe all the seniors on each team have their COVID year so probably not a lot of players leaving for them. One thing I think UConn has going for them when compared to North Carolina or Duke is that they relatively don’t have a lot of turnover in terms of transfers. I think Duke had at least 3 or 4 transfers last year. And North Carolina has a couple as well. Not saying this will be a determining factor, but I’m hoping that Sarah Strong sees that the top players that come to Uconn don’t typically leave and there is a reason for that.
 
oldhusky said:
Given all the possibilities, Aaliyah returning would probably be the second best one, and far better than many lesser options. Sarah for 4 years is better than Aaliyah for 1, but in terms of winning a championship next year, Aaliyah could be as good or better. She is also better than the portal option where we might find a top player, but the probability of finding someone as good as Sarah or Aaliyah is not very good.

One thing I have not looked at or heard anything about, is potential returnees at North Carolina or Duke. If Aaliyah's is the only decision affecting Sarah's wait, then I like our chances of getting her or Aaliyah. If she is waiting on decisions at Noth Carolina or Duke, not so much.
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I’m with you! Four years of Strong would be better than one with Aaliyah. However, if those are the two likely scenarios, I’m gonna stop worrying! Either one is going to result in next year’s team being absolutely loaded! If someone could guarantee one of those two I’d be a happy man!:)
 
GenoWept said:
Both North Carolina and Duke don’t have a lot of seniors and I believe all the seniors on each team have their COVID year so probably not a lot of players leaving for them. One thing I think UConn has going for them when compared to North Carolina or Duke is that they relatively don’t have a lot of turnover in terms of transfers. I think Duke had at least 3 or 4 transfers last year. And North Carolina has a couple as well. Not saying this will be a determining factor, but I’m hoping that Sarah Strong sees that the top players that come to Uconn don’t typically leave and there is a reason for that.
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All the seniors for Duke do not have Covid years. Camilla Emsbo and Kennedy Brown’s eligibility is done. The only other senior is De Jesus who sat out with a season ending knee injury. I’m assuming she’s returning bc she didn’t participate in senior day. That gives Duke 10 returning players.
 
Here's a thought: What if Carla Berube and Geno get together and convince Kaitlyn Chen of Princeton to spend her final year of eligibility with the Huskies?! I've watched many Princeton games and even saw them live this year at UCLA. She is the real deal. I'm sure Carla's system is similar to Geno's. Chen comes over to replace Nikka, comes off the bench for KK and that way Paige and Azzi get to stay on the wings as shooting guards with no responsibility for bringing the ball up. Depth on the bench in case of foul troubles and Chen gets a chance to play for a national title next season. I think it's a win-win.
 
JoePgh said:
If she does, that would guarantee an adverse result!
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I don't know. Winners like passionate fan bases. Imagine going somewhere where the fans don't care about the team?
 
skidroe said:
Here's a thought: What if Carla Berube and Geno get together and convince Kaitlyn Chen of Princeton to spend her final year of eligibility with the Huskies?! I've watched many Princeton games and even saw them live this year at UCLA. She is the real deal. I'm sure Carla's system is similar to Geno's. Chen comes over to replace Nikka, comes off the bench for KK and that way Paige and Azzi get to stay on the wings as shooting guards with no responsibility for bringing the ball up. Depth on the bench in case of foul troubles and Chen gets a chance to play for a national title next season. I think it's a win-win.
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Nothing wrong with the thoughts about how she could help, but right now we don't know with certainty if there is any room for even one additional player for next year. If Aaliyah returns there is no room for Sarah, Emely or anybody from the transfer portal. If Aaliyah doesn't as is largely expected, then we have one spot only.

Presumably that is held for Sarah Strong. The portal only becomes relevant after decisions by Aaliyah and Sarah and if we wind up with neither. Even then you still have to consider the trade-off of getting Rodriquez or pursuing someone in the portal, and if the portal has a pretty good big, i would think that would take priority over Kaitlin.

Having said all of that, if a second roster spot became available, and we got a big with the first, I would be all over pursuing Kaitlin.
 
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