@bbsamjj , with all due respect, I recommend looking at more recruiting rankings than just Hoopgurlz. Before 2013, ESPN/Hoopgurlz was done by Chris Hansen and others; they moved on and have been with Prospects Nation since 2013. Now, ESPN's rankings (2013 onward) are snapshots of Dan Olson's rankings.
But here are the recruiting rankings for the players you mentioned, with the respective years of high school graduation.
Stefanie Dolson (2010)
#12 - ASGR
#24 - Blue Star
#39 - ESPN Hoopgurlz
Teaira McCowan (2015)
#15 - Blue Star
#16 - ASGR
#28 - Prospects Nation
#46 - Dan Olson/Collegiate Girls Basketball Report
Megan Gustafson (2015)
#81 - Dan Olson/Collegiate Girls Basketball Report
#84 - Prospects Nation
Not in the Top 100 - ASGR
Not in the Top 300 - Blue Star
Rebekkah Brunson (2000)
#18 - ASGR
#45 - Blue Star
Ruth Riley (1997)
#53 - Blue Star
Unable to find ASGR rankings in my archives; tried a few Google searches, to no avail
@bbsamjj , there are more national recruiting services and rankings this decade than during the Riley/Brunson high school years. If a player is ranked in the Top 20 by a national recruiting service, I am not sure if that qualifies as a "diamond in the rough." Just my personal definition, but I recognize that it may not be yours and that we may have differing viewpoints.
But your point about Megan Gustafson certainly holds true.
I have had many conversations (on the phone and via text) with
@ucbart ,
@EricLA , and others about recruiting. And
@HuskyNan can attest to this herself. Some rankings are based on where players are. Some include an allotment for potential/ceiling. Some are based on one viewing; others are based upon seeing a player several times.
But I thought your point about post players developing later (and finding a "diamond in the rough") was interesting, so here are the recruiting rankings for other post players, for comparison:
Azurá Stevens (2014)
#23 - Dan Olson/Collegiate Girls Basketball Report
#27 - ASGR
#41 - Prospects Nation
#51 - Blue Star
Alexis Jennings (2014)
#35 - ASGR
#37 - Blue Star
#66 - Dan Olson/Collegiate Girls Basketball Report
#100 - Prospects Nation
Isabella Aalarie (2016)
#83 - Dan Olson/Collegiate Girls Basketball Report
#161 - Blue Star
Not in the Top 150 - Prospects Nation
Unable to find ASGR rankings in my archives; tried a few Google searches, to no avail
NOTE:
Alarie just finished her sophomore year at Princeton. She was a member of the 2017 USA Women's U19 World Cup Team. She was the 2017-18 Ivy League POY and Ivy League Tournament MOP; she also made First Team All-Ivy in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. For her two-year Princeton career, she is averaging 13 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, and 2.2 bpg, while shooting 46% from the floor, 36% from three, and 73% from the line. And in this year's NCAA Tournament, she put up 12 points (5-12 shooting), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds in the loss to Maryland; she also put up big numbers against Villanova, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Quinnipiac, and George Washington during the non-conference season.
I am mentioning Alarie because she wanted to come to Duke. Her father, Mark Alarie, played at Duke; he was part of Coach K's first big recruiting class in the 1980s. Mark Alarie was a two-time All-ACC first team selection, was drafted in the first round of the 1986 NBA Draft, and played in the NBA for five seasons.
Isabella Alarie committed to Princeton over Harvard, Penn and Michigan. But
back when she was being recruited:
Mark Alarie quietly hoped his alma mater, Duke, would get involved considering he took Bella to the school’s basketball camp every summer as she grew up.
“But we haven’t even gotten a letter,” he said, not hiding his disappointment .
With everything Joanne P. McCallie is losing this year to graduation, think Coach P could use a player like Alarie?
I remember having a conversation with
@HuskyNan about what the AAU coach said about Dolson during Dolson's freshman season (when
@HuskyNan and I were at the UConn/Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl together in January 2011).
To me, Dolson was like Alison Bales. Good size in the post. Fluid movement in post moves. Not the fleetest of foot, which both players corrected in their respective upperclass years, through increased focus on fitness. Good range on their shots, using mid-range, elbow jumpers, and 15"-18" shots even more in their junior and senior seasons (and in Stef's case, three-point abilities in her junior and senior seasons).
It might have been hard for some (including this AAU coach) to see the potential for development, but it took the right coaches (Gail Goestenkors for Alison Bales; Geno Auriemma for Stefanie Dolson) to help their respective players achieve their ceilings and improve year after year. Of course, though AAU coaches may see tons of players, they are also not professional talent evaluators.
With Bales and Dolson, the basic tools (shooting, post moves, passing, reading defenses, etc. were there; it just took increased fitness, increased confidence, using an expanded offensive arsenal, and playing within a team concept while recognizing the need to step and take over - and having the ability to do so.
