What's going on at Louisville?

[UConnCat]

Kyvin Goodwin-Rogers, a 6-1 F (2013) from Kentucky, de-committed in June and now Makayla Epps, 5-8 G (2013) from Kentucky, has re-opened her recruiting.

 

[EricLA]

Very strange indeed. L'ville has a great coach and a great recruiter in Sam Williams. Whatever is going on may have just sealed Russell to Tennessee...

 

[connboy77]

Very strange indeed. L'ville has a great coach and a great recruiter in Sam Williams. Whatever is going on may have just sealed Russell to Tennessee...

or they are making room for Russell at Louisville!

 

[RadyLady]

or they are making room for Russell at Louisville!

my thought as well. I hadn't been keeping scholarship score for the Cardinals lately

 

[avolfan]

UL has 13 on scholly for 2012-2013 with 3 seniors, so UL should have room easily for Russell without the decommits.

 

[Wonkster]

.
Far more painful was getting cut loose by the prime grade instater, Rebecca Greenwell.

It seems suddenly the Bluegrass is not always Greenweller.

 

[alexrgct]

Louisville and Jeff Walz are definitely rapidly entering the "[Defecate] or get off the pot" zone. Angel ended up being a better player than anyone dared to hope, but they haven't don't a thing since. The Cards and Walz have been given a pass because of rebuilding, injuries, etc., but while they're making excuses (or at least having excuses made for them), Kentucky is actually getting results. That's reality. I'm not going to say it again for the time being, but if it's April with another forgettable result, I'm going to repeat myself on this point.

 

[UConnCat]

Louisville is bringing in two 2012 recruits (Walton, HG #53 and Deines, unranked) and currently is without a commitment for 2013. Louisville is among Chong's final 4 and I'm sure being strongly considered by other 2013 players aside from Russell. But losing 2 commits at this stage has to hurt. Maybe this explains the billboard in Oregon (a known secondary violation).

 

[John Glass]

apparently Epps had been playing poorly, Walz could have backed off

 

[slimmer56]

The landscape of WCBB has really changed the last few years, especially recruiting. A verbal means almost nothing. There is a lot more talent to go around. A lot girls, even in high school believe a career in Pro-Basketball is possible. Most are superstars in high school. Does a verbal mean anything to them? I don't think so. I think the word "de-commit" is a word we will be hearing a lot more of in the future. The girls have too much to lose. They are going somewhere they can play, immediately

The institutions, and coaches have to be real careful not to recruit just any superstar. It has to be a fit first. That is why I love the way we go about our business. Someone asked Geno once what was the 1st thing he looked for in a recruit, Geno said, "unselfishness". Apparently it's working !

Megan Dienes could be a real sleeper for Coach Walz and Louisville. She is 6'0, played the point on her high school team. She sees the floor really well and is a heckuva passer.

 

[UConnCat]

apparently Epps had been playing poorly, Walz could have backed off

I don't know much about Epps but Walz is pursuing Kelsey Mitchell, 2014 G out of Cincinnati who is ranked #1 by Hoopgurlz. That could be a factor in her decision.

 

[Louisville]

I believe Walz backed off on them and that both Epps & Goodwin will end up at WKU. I think Jeff is looking in to pull in a big 2014 class. Mitchell and MyChal Johnson are very high on Louisville. A lot of talented 2015 guards in KY as well. Epps & Goodwin have been putting up some very poor numbers against sub par competition recently so maybe that's why Walz backed off. I would love to get Chong but I think she is yours. My guess is we get a commit from Russell and Montgomery for sure in the 2013 class. (Montgomery is a guard out of Oregon and Mercedes Russell's best friend, btw)

Oh, and thumbs up for the person who mentioned Megan. She was way under ranked coming out of HS. She is the definition of a 6'0 Courtney Vandersloot. Sees the floor extremely well, great foot speed, passer, handle, and always looks to pass before taking a shot. I think she will be a valuable contributor for the Lady Cards next season

 

[UConnCat]

I believe Walz backed off on them and that both Epps & Goodwin will end up at WKU. I think Jeff is looking in to pull in a big 2014 class. Mitchell and MyChal Johnson are very high on Louisville. A lot of talented 2015 guards in KY as well. Epps & Goodwin have been putting up some very poor numbers against sub par competition recently so maybe that's why Walz backed off. I would love to get Chong but I think she is yours. My guess is we get a commit from Russell and Montgomery for sure in the 2013 class. (Montgomery is a guard out of Oregon and Mercedes Russell's best friend, btw)

Oh, and thumbs up for the person who mentioned Megan. She was way under ranked coming out of HS. She is the definition of a 6'0 Courtney Vandersloot. Sees the floor extremely well, great foot speed, passer, handle, and always looks to pass before taking a shot. I think she will be a valuable contributor for the Lady Cards next season

Thanks for the info. What does it mean to "back off" recruits who've already given a verbal commitment. Did he withdraw their offers? I admire your confidence on getting Russell.

 

[John Glass]

Thanks for the info. What does it mean to "back off" recruits who've already given a verbal commitment. Did he withdraw their offers? I admire your confidence on getting Russell.

" back off " means the coach either directly, or indirectly let the recruit know they were no longer wanted

 

[speedoo]

" back off " means the coach either directly, or indirectly let the recruit know they were no longer wanted

M0re precisely, in the context of recruiting, "back off" means a coach really stops recruiting a player BEFORE a scholarship offer is made to that player. But in the case of these players decommitting from Louisville, they had to have scholarship offers before they made verbal commitments.. So the "back off" term would not apply on their cases.

Our Louisville visitor is saying, or at least implying, that Walz did something to make them decommit, and that would mean he withdrew their scholarship offers, after they verbally committed, accepting those offers.. I have never heard of a coach doing that before, and if he did it, Walz did something that many would see as unethical.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

M0re precisely, in the context of recruiting, "back off" means a coach really stops recruiting a player BEFORE a scholarship offer is made to that player. But in the case of these players decommitting from Louisville, they had to have scholarship offers before they made verbal commitments.. So the "back off" term would not apply on their cases.

Our Louisville visitor is saying, or at least implying, that Walz did something to make them decommit, and that would mean he withdrew their scholarship offers, after they verbally committed, accepting those offers.. I have never heard of a coach doing that before, and if he did it, Walz did something that many would see as unethical.

Not to be technical - but a verbal is worth the paper it is printed on. So is what you are terming the scholarship offer (which is definately non-binding, also).

 

[speedoo]

Not to be technical - but a verbal is worth the paper it is printed on. So is what you are terming the scholarship offer (which is definately non-binding, also).

OK. I do not disagree, but that does not mitigate the fact that, if Walz withdrew the scholarship offers, it is at least highly unusual, and something that many would consider unethical.

 

[EricLA]

To our Louisville poster, I sure hope you are correct. Tennessee fans seem to be quite confident they will land Russell as well.

 

[John Glass]

keep in mind Epps and Goodwin were very early verbals, you can call it what you want, the bottom line is Walz no longer wanted them. The same thing happened to Clair Watkins at Duke, she went to Vanderbilt.

 

[avolfan]

Louisville, Russell is also very good friends with Mavunga, committed to UNC.

 

[UConnCat]

Louisville, Russell is also very good friends with Mavunga, committed to UNC.

But which one is Russell's BFF?

Oy.

 

[Wonkster]

... Russell is also very good friends with Mavunga ...

But which one is Russell's BFF?

Cowabunga! Ya mean it's not Mavunga?

 

[Vowelguy]

Our Louisville visitor is saying, or at least implying, that Walz did something to make them decommit, and that would mean he withdrew their scholarship offers, after they verbally committed, accepting those offers.. I have never heard of a coach doing that before, and if he did it, Walz did something that many would see as unethical.

I'm sure this happens all the time. And I'm not sure how anyone would ever know.
I doubt any coach ever fully says "we're going to withdraw our offer," but it can be easily done more subtlety -- not talking to the player much, suggesting to the player that maybe she's not a good fit anymore, criticizing the player's effort in HS, etc. I would be surprised if this weren't going on. And it's why I don't place much stock in any of these absurdly early verbals (eg, frosh) -- seems a good chance the player changes her mind, or that the school later 'politely suggests' she look elsewhere.

 

[pinotbear]

Just to make an academic point: all of the commentary on this issue puts the onus on the coach, in this case, Walz. Is it possible that the potential player bears some responsibility? Did their grades/performance/effort/interest/focus/attitude slip? I don't know bupkus about this particular situation, I'll be the first to admit - but, having coached high school girls sports for eight years, sophmores and juniors in high school aren't exactly calm, consistent, reliable human beings. If the verbal was accepted with the understanding that progress would continue, or certain benchmarks would be met...

Again, I don't know. I'm just saying that in any situation where there's a deal, an agreement, there are two parties to it.

 

[Vowelguy]

Just to make an academic point: all of the commentary on this issue puts the onus on the coach, in this case, Walz. Is it possible that the potential player bears some responsibility? Did their grades/performance/effort/interest/focus/attitude slip? I don't know bupkus about this particular situation, I'll be the first to admit - but, having coached high school girls sports for eight years, sophmores and juniors in high school aren't exactly calm, consistent, reliable human beings. If the verbal was accepted with the understanding that progress would continue, or certain benchmarks would be met...

good point!