Walker's Visit this weekend

[Dillon77]

Question many have asked. While there are many reasons why recruits select others, the two hurdles UCONN has always faced are: 1) Location - Hmmm...the weather of Connecticut....or, almost anywhere else? Can you imagine, how many of those cited above, if Geno's 11 championships had taken place at Duke (to name one), would've chosen elsewhere? 2) School's history/prestige.
Despite these, 11 championships, and counting - not too shabby!

Save for late April-early May and September-early October, I wouldn't rate South Bend's weather as a major selling point either. In fact, once Halloween passes, ND is pretty much in "permacloud" until Easter.

 

[CocoHusky]

You forgot Skylar Diggins. Yes, Skylar critics, Geno recruited her hard but she's from South Bend and grew up an ND fan. That she considered the Huskies is amazing.

Very true, but I was thinking more recently class of 2013-17. Skylar was 2009.

 

[UcMiami]

This 'team oriented' stuff I think gets too much play - both Muffet and Geno use the talents they have on their team - can you really see a lot of difference between how Jewell and DT played - they both took a lot of shots (and made them) that would drive either coach to find a seat on the bench for a less talented player. Maya dominated on offense at Uconn as she would have in ND. Achonwa and Dolson could have traded teams and you would hardly notice a difference. That Geno has had more balanced teams in terms of overall talent probably explains the minor differences in style of players and focus on offense. To think that Muffet is not as tough a task master as Geno is a fallacy.

On recruiting head to head - meh. Look at location first, roster being recruited into, and to some degree the 'honor' of listing Uconn on a short list. I suspect there were also some 'wins' for Uconn that were decided before final lists were considered - did Muffet really not recruit Morgan, Moriah, or Breanna, or was she just told early a polite 'no thanks'.

 

[JoePgh]

Question many have asked. While there are many reasons why recruits select others, the two hurdles UCONN has always faced are: 1) Location - Hmmm...the weather of Connecticut....or, almost anywhere else? Can you imagine, how many of those cited above, if Geno's 11 championships had taken place at Duke (to name one), would've chosen elsewhere? 2) School's history/prestige.
Despite these, 11 championships, and counting - not too shabby!

As between UConn and Notre Dame, each school may have certain advantages, but climate / weather is not a comparative advantage for either of them. Winter weather in both places is bad enough to make you want to stay indoors and play basketball!

UConn faces the same issue with Stanford, particularly among California recruits. It's somewhat amazing that Geno got KML and KLS, but think how many California girls were heavily recruited by UConn and still went to Stanford (Jayne Appel, the Ogwumikes, the first 2 Samuelsons, and McCall -- and even Jamelle Wideman way back in the early 1990's).

I do think academics are an issue in both cases, especially with parents. I doubt if playing time is a major factor -- at least recently, the competition for minutes will be similar in both places.

I can certainly imagine that more 17-year-olds and their parents are put off by Geno's personality than by Muffitt's or Tara's, however. (You have to "get" Geno, and not everybody does. The constant sarcasm would grate on many personalities.)

But for many recruits, the chance to be a key part of making a program gain (rather than merely retain) the top echelon of WCBB would be a big draw. As I've said previously, a chance to be the Rebecca Lobo for another school might be more interesting than being the 25th first-team AA on the wall at UConn.

 

[CocoHusky]

For 2017, I've read both Geno and Muffet have personally looked at LaDazhia Williams, the 6'2"forward out of Florida, but I don't know if UConn and/or ND are among the top three schools on her list

Good catch LaDazhia Williams announce her top five a few months back which includes: Ohio State, ND, Tennessee, South Carolina and UConn.

 

[UcMiami]

I can certainly imagine that more 17-year-olds and their parents are put off by Geno's personality than by Muffitt's or Tara's, however. (You have to "get" Geno, and not everybody does. The constant sarcasm would grate on many personalities.)

I like the rest of your post, but Geno consistently gets high grades from parents of players who end up elsewhere, so I think this particular meme is likely wrong - I don't think Uconn is at a disadvantage personality wise to any other program - every coach will grate on some parents (and player) and be a strong positive with others. And his track record and the very public love of his former players is probably a net positive even if the parents are completely down with the Philly guy.

 

[Orangutan]

For 2017, I've read both Geno and Muffet have personally looked at LaDazhia Williams, the 6'2"forward out of Florida, but I don't know if UConn and/or ND are among the top three schools on her list

I don't know where her list stands but per her AAU coach, Muffet was at her AAU tourney in Atlanta this weekend. I don't think Coach McGraw would be traipsing down to Atlanta if she didn't think she had a serious shot.

Re the topic of ND and UConn recruiting - you and UcMiami have pretty much covered my thoughts. Mostly, they are looking for the same things and the long list of players both have recruited demonstrates that . And as UcMiami pointed out, that list is likely longer than we know because I'm sure there are some that both recruited but we don't know about it either because the player committed early or only one side got traction. For example, we wouldn't know that UConn was interested in Patberg if not for this passage in an ESPNW article -
By August before her sophomore year, Connecticut had gotten involved. Worried it might lose her, Notre Dame got "more aggressive" in its approach, McKee said. Notre Dame wanted an answer, and Patberg said "yes" on New Year's Eve 2012, during her sophomore year.

Regarding "individualism", I think they have different coaching styles. McGraw gave Arike and Marina a much freer hand than I can ever imagine UConn giving its players. My uninformed observation is that UConn tries to break its players of bad habits more or less cold turkey whereas ND is more willing to go through a process of slowly refining players' games.

 

[CocoHusky]

As between UConn and Notre Dame, each school may have certain advantages, but climate / weather is not a comparative advantage for either of them. Winter weather in both places is bad enough to make you want to stay indoors and play basketball!

UConn faces the same issue with Stanford, particularly among California recruits. It's somewhat amazing that Geno got KML and KLS, but think how many California girls were heavily recruited by UConn and still went to Stanford (Jayne Appel, the Ogwumikes, the first 2 Samuelsons, and McCall -- and even Jamelle Wideman way back in the early 1990's).

I do think academics are an issue in both cases, especially with parents. I doubt if playing time is a major factor -- at least recently, the competition for minutes will be similar in both places.

I can certainly imagine that more 17-year-olds and their parents are put off by Geno's personality than by Muffitt's or Tara's, however. (You have to "get" Geno, and not everybody does. The constant sarcasm would grate on many personalities.)

But for many recruits, the chance to be a key part of making a program gain (rather than merely retain) the top echelon of WCBB would be a big draw. As I've said previously, a chance to be the Rebecca Lobo for another school might be more interesting than being the 25th first-team AA on the wall at UConn.

The Ogwumikes were from Texas. Geno's personality has probably won over more top recruits & parents than Muffett and Tara combined. Since Rebecca Lobo ( 21 years) now, there has only been 1 Championship than was won at a school than had never won a Championship before-Maryland 2006. It took Multiple top level recruits to get that one done including Duron, Harper, Tolliver, & Langhorne

 

[Charliebball]

Perhaps the quality/quantity of UConn's next couple of recruiting classes will answer some of these questions.........in the meantime the three wonderful players that are leaving this year are simply irreplaceable...................

 

[Tonyc]

One thing to consider is who's playing in front of you and will you get a chance to play. With our Big 3 I can understand why kids went to ND or some other school. Now with the Big 3 graduated I would expect we may see more interest in UConn. ND is loaded and playtime will be minimal. One other point UConn continues to win NC and set records with ND getting so many top recruits Muffet hasn't been able to beat Geno. The only reason ND beat UConn was when they played FLOP Ball.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The Ogwumikes were from Texas. Geno's personality has probably won over more top recruits & parents than Muffett and Tara combined. Since Rebecca Lobo ( 21 years) now, there has only been 1 Championship than was won at a school than had never won a Championship before-Maryland 2006. It took Multiple top level recruits to get that one done including Duron, Harper, Tolliver, & Langhorne

And she had to use a recruit to tamper with an oral commit to put that together. I do believe her whole thing about Geno gets everybody stems from the fact she has not been able to steal a recruit since. (no appropriate emoticon available) Oh wait:

 

[CocoHusky]

And she had to use a recruit to tamper with an oral commit to put that together. I do believe her whole thing about Geno gets everybody stems from the fact she has not been able to steal a recruit since. (no appropriate emoticon available) Oh wait:

View attachment 13295 View attachment 13295

Suburban legend has it that it also took another recruit, an AAU coach, an easily swayed father to put the deal together.

 

[UcMiami]

Regarding "individualism", I think they have different coaching styles. McGraw gave Arike and Marina a much freer hand than I can ever imagine UConn giving its players. My uninformed observation is that UConn tries to break its players of bad habits more or less cold turkey whereas ND is more willing to go through a process of slowly refining players' games.

A nice distinction and I think you are right - there seems to be more of a 'break down and rebuild' each year at Uconn than at ND and I think that is true even taking into account roster options available perhaps being greater more consistently at Uconn.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Suburban legend has it that it also took another recruit, an AAU coach, an easily swayed father to put the deal together.

It's been said that one other highly regarded woman women's coach was a pro at this kind of poaching before Geno showed up.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

My uninformed observation is that UConn tries to break its players of bad habits more or less cold turkey

Orang: so it is a guess, or wild speculation, or you actually saw Shea with the whip and iron boot? Just kidding. Do you have any example of such a recruit with what bad habits. They exist of course, and everyone in WCBB knows Geno et als practices are from the bottom up; plus, his critique of AAU ball is now legendary. We now Muffet could never break a certain big girl from walking and Geno shares that with her in Charde. Got any others?

 

[UcMiami]

Orang: so it is a guess, or wild speculation, or you actually saw Shea with the whip and iron boot? Just kidding. Do you have any example of such a recruit with what bad habits. They exist of course, and everyone in WCBB knows Geno et als practices are from the bottom up; plus, his critique of AAU ball is now legendary. We now Muffet could never break a certain big girl from walking and Geno shares that with her in Charde. Got any others?

I think you could look at the ups and downs of playing time for specifically Lou and Gabby and Napheesa this past year as part of that 'breaking of habits' - specific to Lou, she was basically benched in one game because she was just hanging on the three point line.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I think you could look at the ups and downs of playing time for specifically Lou and Gabby and Napheesa this past year as part of that 'breaking of habits' - specific to Lou, she was basically benched in one game because she was just hanging on the three point line.

Was I talking to you!!! But, now that we are, what is your take on Geno saying a few weeks ago that if you asked Napheesa a play UConn runs she'd say Fruit Loops TuTu (or some such) and that she can drive to the hoop and rebound (and that's it). Just Geno being Geno OR true, but she is one he'll push to greatness.

 

[bags27]

We now Muffet could never break a certain big girl from walking and Geno shares that with her in Charde. Got any others?

Habits like these are killers. I keep screaming at the TV: "Natalie: just go right back up with it!". But I think it's the broader habit of always thinking team, and team starts with defense. You can't always make your shot go in, but you can always give body and soul to team D. I think that was also the main reason Lou was benched. And did it ever seem to work!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Habits like these are killers. I keep screaming at the TV: "Natalie: just go right back up with it!". But I think it's the broader habit of always thinking team, and team starts with defense. You can't always make your shot go in, but you can always give body and soul to team D. I think that was also the main reason Lou was benched. And did it ever seem to work!

Yeah, that with Natalie came instantly to mind for me too, along with he tendency to take a step away from contact before shooting, turning the shot from a layup into a short, off balance jumper.

 

[Wally East]

Since Rebecca Lobo ( 21 years) now, there has only been 1 Championship than was won at a school than had never won a Championship before-Maryland 2006.

Baylor? Notre Dame? Purdue? Texas A&M? Am I missing something about what you wrote?

 

[Orangutan]

Orang: so it is a guess, or wild speculation, or you actually saw Shea with the whip and iron boot? Just kidding. Do you have any example of such a recruit with what bad habits. They exist of course, and everyone in WCBB knows Geno et als practices are from the bottom up; plus, his critique of AAU ball is now legendary. We now Muffet could never break a certain big girl from walking and Geno shares that with her in Charde. Got any others?

Y'all watch more UConn than I do, so you can correct me if I'm wrong. I get the sense that Geno has a fairly quick hook if a player is playing poorly or not doing the right things on the court. Seems to me that Muffet is a little more...tolerant isn't the word...willing to let them keep playing anyway, I guess.

I was thinking of how some (more on other boards) have pointed out Ogunbowale and Mabrey2's bad habits. Arike probably should pass more; Marina gambles for steals. I'm sure there are other things but those are noticeable ones for each. Muffet (paraphrasing here, of course) said that she wanted Arike to be aggressive and look for her shot in part because so many ND players are pass-first types. But I'm guessing she still wasn't happy about Cable standing unguarded in the corner while Arike barreled into the paint, which happened a couple of times. I just think that she knew if she got Arike thinking too much, she would compromise her "instant offense" capabilities that ND needed.

Same idea with Marina. Eventually you want those gambles to be more calculated and the hit percentage to be greater. But it's better to have her attacking on D and sometimes making errors than just playing passive.

 

[CocoHusky]

Baylor? Notre Dame? Purdue? Texas A&M? Am I missing something about what you wrote?

Yea I botched it. What I was trying to say is that it would be hard/impossible for a Top recruit-singular to go to a school that had never won a Championship before Like Lobo did for UCONN. That would eliminate Baylor since then won before Griner. Would also eliminate A&M and Purdue because their wasn't a singular recruit-unless I remember wrong.
Might still include ND if you consider Ruth Riley. But my point was it would be hard unless the school the top recruit is going to is already at or near the top.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I know this is a thread about Megan but keep in mind that Jade Williams is also realistically down to ND and UCONN now also. Jade's other two choices were Duke and Utah.

I think those were just four schools that it was reported Williams had on a list of visits or home visits. Don't think that was a final list of potential destinations.

 

[CocoHusky]

I think those were just four schools that it was reported Williams had on a list of visits or home visits. Don't think that was a final list of potential destinations.

Those 4 are per her profile on ESPN -which is not always accurate either.
jade-williams

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Y'all watch more UConn than I do, so you can correct me if I'm wrong. I get the sense that Geno has a fairly quick hook if a player is playing poorly or not doing the right things on the court. Seems to me that Muffet is a little more...tolerant isn't the word...willing to let them keep playing anyway, I guess.

I was thinking of how some (more on other boards) have pointed out Ogunbowale and Mabrey2's bad habits. Arike probably should pass more; Marina gambles for steals. I'm sure there are other things but those are noticeable ones for each. Muffet (paraphrasing here, of course) said that she wanted Arike to be aggressive and look for her shot in part because so many ND players are pass-first types. But I'm guessing she still wasn't happy about Cable standing unguarded in the corner while Arike barreled into the paint, which happened a couple of times. I just think that she knew if she got Arike thinking too much, she would compromise her "instant offense" capabilities that ND needed.

Same idea with Marina. Eventually you want those gambles to be more calculated and the hit percentage to be greater. But it's better to have her attacking on D and sometimes making errors than just playing passive.

I can certainly see what is going on there. Muffet this year had little option it seems to me. If you saw Arike in the 3 on 3 (or was it 5x5 ) Int'l play you saw that damn the torpedoes I'm going to make it fit charge of hers and it can be very hard to break someone of that tendency. Geno let Nurse have a blast for this in mid-season for charging in with a wide open Stewie "waiting in the wings".

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Those 4 are per her profile on ESPN -which is not always accurate either.
jade-williams

I have to believe those were put in there after the report detailing four of her home visits:

Class of 2017 post Jade Williams sets first home visits.


Her mother would later add more teams in a tweet including Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas.

 

[UcMiami]

Was I talking to you!!! But, now that we are, what is your take on Geno saying a few weeks ago that if you asked Napheesa a play UConn runs she'd say Fruit Loops TuTu (or some such) and that she can drive to the hoop and rebound (and that's it). Just Geno being Geno OR true, but she is one he'll push to greatness.

Geno being Geno and probably somewhat true as well - always brings to mind Geno's imitation of Maya - I think I'm supposed to be here to set a screen, oh, no, maybe I go over here, nope, well, maybe I'm supposed to be here, darned thats wrong too, and then the ball gets passed to her and she drains an off balance jumper, and the announcers go 'that Moore, her movement without the ball is just brilliant!'

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno being Geno and probably somewhat true as well - always brings to mind Geno's imitation of Maya - I think I'm supposed to be here to set a screen, oh, no, maybe I go over here, nope, well, maybe I'm supposed to be here, darned thats wrong too, and then the ball gets passed to her and she drains an off balance jumper, and the announcers go 'that Moore, her movement without the ball is just brilliant!'

I forgot about that one. Thanks for the laugh. What really bothered me about the Genoism on Napheesa was that remained Charde's problem for her entire tenure at UConn. Such talent that never reached its potential for greatness.

 

[Wally East]

Yea I botched it. What I was trying to say is that it would be hard/impossible for a Top recruit-singular to go to a school that had never won a Championship before Like Lobo did for UCONN. That would eliminate Baylor since then won before Griner. Would also eliminate A&M and Purdue because their wasn't a singular recruit-unless I remember wrong.
Might still include ND if you consider Ruth Riley. But my point was it would be hard unless the school the top recruit is going to is already at or near the top.

Purdue was pretty good back then -- like UConn and Lobo, they'd gone to one Final Four before winning their title -- but I would put Stehpanie White in the Lobo category. She won the Wade Trophy in her senior year '99 (over Holdsclaw) and won multiple national HS POY awards. She had good teammates but so did Rebecca.

I'd include Riley.

Danielle Adams at A&M doesn't count? Although, she was a JUCO transfer/recruit.

But, agreed, it is definitely difficult. But, what if Breanna had gone to Syracuse? It seems as if they could've won a title this year with her on their team and UConn w/o her.

Does one really good player at a school at that level attract more talent in the recruiting classes that follow immediately or scare talent away?

 

[cbraarj]

Muffet: 7
Geno: 2

Push: 1
Undetermined: 3

Geno 4 Muffet 0 speaks for itself!