2018 Recruiting

[EricLA]

You are aware that Sue was not actually the highest ranked PG in her recruiting class at Uconn, right? Fortunately she recovered from her injuries to play three full years while the higher ranked never was able to play a season.

Bingo. HOWEVER... IIRC... at the time she was recruited, there was really only 1 game in town for rankings, and it was run by Mike Flynn. He was dismayed that Sue chose not to play for his AAU team, and therefore dropped her in the rankings (I do not know this as a "fact", but rather have been told the same thing by numerous different people).

But you are right - Kiesten Walters was rated higher, and who knows what might have happened if she had been healthy. Lastly, I THINK Sue was considered a 2G back in the day. Not a pure PG like Rita Williams, for example. But I'm not 100% sure about the last part...

 

[CocoHusky]

Absolutely true!
This is what you posted.
Stop insulting the players.

This is where we had to straighten you out!

Several gross errors in this post:
1) The earliest possible signing date for a member of the 2018 class is November 8, 2017.

NLI Future Signing Dates

2). Of the top 20 2018 class per ESPN 15 were not committed (verbal or signed NLI) until well after the May 2017 date you cited in another post. See the tabulation below. Dates are the first time that the player committed to that school and collected from a variety of sources.
View attachment 26401

3) Haley Jones is class of 2019 & UCONN has plenty of time to evaluate her. Even if Haley decided to verbal somewhere else she will not be "committed" until about 50 weeks from today.

 

[Biff]

Recruiting thread posters. There was a growing sub thread of snark and personal insult growing within here so I took a pretty broad brush and tried to wipe that stuff clean. I apologize if in doing that I deleted some good recruiting content. Sometimes a little good tissue needs to go with the cancer.
Please continue with your legitimate recruiting chatter.

 

[Go/huskies]

Who knows if there is really interest in Osborne, but Prospect Nation has her ranked #11 overall in 2019 and #3 point guard behind Peoples and Horston.

I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Jordan Horston be the next player to wear #23 in a Uconn uniform.

 

[MilfordHusky]

You are aware that Sue was not actually the highest ranked PG in her recruiting class at Uconn, right? Fortunately she recovered from her injuries to play three full years while the higher ranked never was able to play a season.

Renee was rated below Kristi Tolliver, I believe, but Renee had a stellar UConn career.

 

[CocoHusky]

I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Jordan Horston be the next player to wear #23 in a Uconn uniform.

Interesting dilemma that UCONN has with 2019 class: Should the class include a PG that would overlap at least one year with Crystal or should you wait until 2020 which is loaded with quality PGs.
Have always been of the opinion that Horston or Cooke will end up at tOSU and the smarter of the two will go elsewhere.

 

[Charliebball]

Interesting dilemma that UCONN has with 2019 class: Should the class include a PG that would overlap at least one year with Crystal or should you wait until 2010 which is loaded with quality PGs.
Have always been of the opinion that Horston or Cooke will end up at tOSU and the smarter of the two will go elsewhere.

Perhaps it will depend if UConn can get an early commitment from Bueckers or one of the other targeted '20 point guards...............Horston is certainly not an option at the point as she's more of a scoring guard or wing and after Cooke I'm not sure if there's even interest in Owens or anybody else

 

[CocoHusky]

Perhaps it will depend if UConn can get an early commitment from Bueckers or one of the other targeted '20 point guards.....Horston is certainly not an option at the point as she's more of a scoring guard or wing and after Cooke I'm not sure if there's even interest in Owens or anybody else

I'm not sure why Horston would not be an option. She can certainly play PG and defend the position. Charisma Osborne was also at the UCLA vs UCONN game.

 

[Charliebball]

I'm not sure why Horston would not be an option. She can certainly play PG and defend the position. Charisma Osborne was also at the UCLA vs UCONN game.

I could be wrong but from what I saw of her in international play, ball handling/passing were not her strongest skills............she's really long and athletic and can attack the basket at will on the break...........it appeared her outside shooting was also a work in progress...............

 

[Golden Husky]

What Cat said. Also, remember when UCONN landed the 3-headed monster? By their senior seasons, the differences in their games were on full display, and they worked incredibly well together (Cash, Jones, Williams) and along with Sue and Dee, were one of our great all time teams. I think Ezi and ONO have size similarities, but also differences in their games such that not only would they be successful on the court together, but actually thrive.

By the way, is it EE-Zee, which would be Ezi-er on pun makers or Eh-Zee, which would be M-Ezi-er?

 

[CocoHusky]

I could be wrong but from what I saw of her in international play, ball handling/passing were not her strongest skills..she's really long and athletic and can attack the basket at will on the break......it appeared her outside shooting was also a work in progress.....

We both saw the same thing. She was a Wing on USA basketball. She grew up a PG however and grew from 5'10" to 6'1" in a very short time frame. Think of the versatility 1-3 and the ability to defend same and no wonder her stock is rising.

 

[donalddoowop]

Interesting dilemma that UCONN has with 2019 class: Should the class include a PG that would overlap at least one year with Crystal or should you wait until 2010 which is loaded with quality PGs.
Have always been of the opinion that Horston or Cooke will end up at tOSU and the smarter of the two will go elsewhere.

Hey Coco, those 2010 point guards are in the WNBA or have retired by now.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

By the way, is it EE-Zee, which would be Ezi-er on pun makers or Eh-Zee, which would be M-Ezi-er?

Eh-zee, short for Eziyoda.

 

[Golden Husky]

Eh-zee, short for Eziyoda.

Well, darn, there's go that "Ezi Does It!" headline when she hits a game-winning shot.

 

[Charliebball]

We both saw the same thing. She was a Wing on USA basketball. She grew up a PG however and grew from 5'10" to 6'1" in a very short time frame. Think of the versatility 1-3 and the ability to defend same and no wonder her stock is rising.

I would enjoy watching her but have no idea if UConn is really interested................definitely could play lots of roles.............she plays a bit loose so would be another fun project for Geno & Co...........

 

[BroadwayVa]

You are aware that Sue was not actually the highest ranked PG in her recruiting class at Uconn, right? Fortunately she recovered from her injuries to play three full years while the higher ranked never was able to play a season.

Just proves once again--once a kid arrives at Uconn all ratings are meaningless. Sue shall always be number ONE in my heart.\ Her half time 5/8th court shot and final shot against ND in a BE Championship game--WOW! Nothing to compare!
Players don't become more special than Sue Bird.

 

[j66kicker]

By the way, is it EE-Zee, which would be Ezi-er on pun makers or Eh-Zee, which would be M-Ezi-er?

Prolly nothing to do with Magbegor, but the Ezi I know pronounces her name "Et-Zee"

 

[UConnCat]

Magbegor has been named to a preliminary Opals squad in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April. The Opals will have a training camp in Italy in February and probably play some games as well.

I expect Magbegor to make the Opals for the World Cup in Spain in September 2018. When I think about foreign players and their national team commitments during the school year I think about how difficult that is to manage. Then I think about Kia Nurse playing for Canada in her first World Championship in September/October 2014 in Turkey and missing school. UConn does have experience managing this type of thing.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

New article on Ezi Magbegor in which she doesn't mention college.


And what does the future look like for Ezi?


Well, she hopes to be representing Australia in the Olympics, saying it’s her number one priority.

Sport / Emerging Ezi heads to the top - Canberra CityNews

 

[cohenzone]

I don't know is #3 PG "ELITE" enough for UCONN?

Having seen none of them play, I would not rank them in that order anyway. Just a feeling I have from counting the number of letters in their names (scientific method) or splattering their stats onto a canvas (artistic method) and using my methods to open my own ranking service. To end the mystery, Osborne came out #2 using the letters method and #83 using the splatter method. My 9 year old granddaughter oddly came out #1 in both. She led her team this Saturday with 40% of their points (an elite performance if ever there was one) in a heartbreaking 11-10 defeat (true). A certain GA was spotted 100 miles from her game, so the rumors are hot (possibly true, but several other coaches were spotted 100 miles away so the competition is great even though we think she was wearing a UConn T shirt under her Westchester Elementary uniform).

 

[meyers7]

The Huskies are like wolves & not concerned with the opinions of the sheep. UCONN doesn't settle for anything nor are they concerned with who you or I or ESPN or anybody considers the 5th or 6th or 10th or 30th best PG in the class. Eg., Molly Bent was recruited as a PG.

I'm gonna nominate this for post of the year.

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm gonna nominate this for post of the year.

You should, it was liberally borrowed (perhaps stolen) from one of your prior post from 2014.

sarals24 said: ↑
We are sharing our experiences and saying that, as women, we don't enjoy hearing terms like "throws like a girl".
meyers7 said:
I get that. I would just like to see you all be more confident in who you are as women. Have a greater self worth. Such that what other people may say or do does not make you feel inferior. Be a wolf, don’t concern yourself with the opinions of sheep.
↑

 

[meyers7]

You are aware that Sue was not actually the highest ranked PG in her recruiting class at Uconn, right? Fortunately she recovered from her injuries to play three full years while the higher ranked never was able to play a season.

Bingo. HOWEVER... IIRC... at the time she was recruited, there was really only 1 game in town for rankings, and it was run by Mike Flynn. He was dismayed that Sue chose not to play for his AAU team, and therefore dropped her in the rankings (I do not know this as a "fact", but rather have been told the same thing by numerous different people).

But you are right - Kiesten Walters was rated higher, and who knows what might have happened if she had been healthy. Lastly, I THINK Sue was considered a 2G back in the day. Not a pure PG like Rita Williams, for example. But I'm not 100% sure about the last part...

My memory is that Bird was considered a combo or 2 guard coming into college.

BlueStar rankings from back then (guards)

4. Kelly Komara (Purdue)
12. Krista Gingrich (Duke)
13. Keirsten Walters (UCONN)
14. Tamara Moore (Wisconsin)
15. Lauren St. Clair (Stanford)
16. Sondra Johnson (Alabama)
17. Shawn Gortman (S. Carolina)
18. Suzanne Bird (UCONN)

As an aside, for those that don't remember, UCONN's TASSK Force class that year also included #1 Tamika Williams, #2 Swin Cash and #6 Asjha Jones.
1, 2, 6, 13, 18, not bad eh?

 

[meyers7]

You should, it was liberally borrowed (perhaps stolen) from one of your prior post from 2014.

sarals24 said: ↑
We are sharing our experiences and saying that, as women, we don't enjoy hearing terms like "throws like a girl".
meyers7 said:
I get that. I would just like to see you all be more confident in who you are as women. Have a greater self worth. Such that what other people may say or do does not make you feel inferior. Be a wolf, don’t concern yourself with the opinions of sheep.
↑

hmmm, I actually wrote that? I kind of like that better than the version I have in my signature line now.

 

[UcMiami]

My memory is that Bird was considered a combo or 2 guard coming into college.

BlueStar rankings from back then (guards)

4. Kelly Komara (Purdue)
12. Krista Gingrich (Duke)
13. Keirsten Walters (UCONN)
14. Tamara Moore (Wisconsin)
15. Lauren St. Clair (Stanford)
16. Sondra Johnson (Alabama)
17. Shawn Gortman (S. Carolina)
18. Suzanne Bird (UCONN)

As an aside, for those that don't remember, UCONN's TASSK Force class that year also included #1 Tamika Williams, #2 Swin Cash and #6 Asjha Jones.
1, 2, 6, 13, 18, not bad eh?

Thanks for digging that stuff up. I still can't figure out why Geno and Co. were interested in some guard ranked way down below #15 and the eighth ranked guard at that!