Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5289401, member: 12088"] I’ve probably said this before, but kids who were the go-to players on their high school teams seem to find their way to Storrs at a high frequency. This isn’t surprising since outside of the basketball academies, there will typically be only one or two players in a given class who catch the attention of top college coaches. But even with this, some kids stand out more than others as leaders. They’re used to being the kid all the others look to for the clutch basket or rebound or steal, the one they can all count on in the high pressure moments. In the past few years we can point to a few kids who fit this profile. In her freshman year, there was Paige, obviously. But beyond her only Aaliyah really played that role in high school. Although they were great high school players, this wasn’t the case with Nika or Mir or Saylor for example. In the following classes, Caroline fits this description even more than Azzi did. While Ayanna was clearly the best player on her high school team, and her teammates relied on her, she didn’t stand out as their go-to player in everything. KK and Ash were absolutely these sorts of leaders in high school. They did all the hard things and carried their teams through the most difficult moments. This is also what Morgan and Allie were to their high school teams. Their teammates routinely looked to them in high pressure situations. I’m not sure we have such a player coming in the fall. Maybe Blanca, but her high school experience may be too irregular to read in this way. The point of this rambling post is to reflect on Allie and what she might be able to accomplish next season. Unlike Ash, whom she somewhat resembles, she wasn’t thrust into prominence by accident and injury. She’s had to fight through a very clogged depth chart to earn any meaningful minutes, and it will still be an uphill climb in the fall. She’s used to having to earn her position, to fight for it, and then to carry her team once she gets there. My point in all this is that kids like Allie (and KK and Ash) are indomitable, even if like Allie they seem mild mannered on the outside. She chose UConn as much as Geno chose her. I suspect she knew it would be the most difficult path for her and yet she chose it anyway. She may not crack the rotation next season, but I think she will persevere. That’s who she is. And when she does win prominence, I suspect she will really show us something. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach