2019/20 UConn Recruiting

[OoImFancy]

Muffet says “we’re done” after getting LOIs from Peoples and Brunelle.

So they aren’t accepting anymore letters of intent? Meaning Boston nor Jones will be attending??

 

[oldude]

The obvious implication is that Aliyah Boston is NOT going to N.D., though we have several folks here who were convinced of it.

Also implies that Haley Jones is not going to ND, one of her finalists, although with Jones I guess everyone feels it will come down to UConn or Stanford.

 

[TitleTown]

Muffet says “we’re done” after getting LOIs from Peoples and Brunelle.

Where was this posted?

 

[CocoHusky]

Where was this posted?

"ESPN’s No. 1 and No. 3-rated girls high school basketball prospects in the class of 2019 — each continue to count Notre Dame as a finalist in their recruitment. But if they do wind up with the Irish, it’ll apparently come as a surprise even to coach Muffet McGraw.
“No, we’re done. I think we’re done,” McGraw said Thursday afternoon of whether Notre Dame will be adding any more high school players to a signee list that stands at merely two during a season in which the Irish are scheduled to exhaust the eligibility of four stars."

Notre Dame women's hoops signs elite prospects Brunelle and Peoples

 

[TitleTown]

Coach McGraw Signs Two in 2019 Class - UND Athletics

Thanks

 

[Charliebball]

very possible but I could envision her getting one of the two and just saying that it was a big "unexpected surprise" to her............

 

[CocoHusky]

very possible but I could envision her getting one of the two and just saying that it was a big "surprise" to her..

 

[meyers7]

View attachment 36413

Charlie always looks on the dark side of things. The anti-Tony.

 

[CocoHusky]

BTW Dan Olson is also quoted in the article on the record explaining what was very obvious to many of us as to why Brunelle fell from #1 in the class.

“She didn’t play a lot,” Olson said of Brunelle’s role on the United States’ gold medal-winning U17 team, “and some of those other girls played more, played great.”

 

[oldude]

very possible but I could envision her getting one of the two and just saying that it was a big "unexpected surprise" to her..

CB, clearly you are an adherent to that old expression, “Don’t count your chickens, even after they hatch.”

 

[Charliebball]

CB, clearly you are an adherent to that old expression, “Don’t count your chickens, even after they hatch.”

Why have they hatched yet? I just hear a lot of clucking!!!!!!!!!!..........

 

[jonson]

Also implies that Haley Jones is not going to ND, one of her finalists, although with Jones I guess everyone feels it will come down to UConn or Stanford.

Not quite everyone.

 

[Dillon77]

BTW Dan Olson is also quoted in the article on the record explaining what was very obvious to many of us as to why Brunelle fell from #1 in the class.

“She didn’t play a lot,” Olson said of Brunelle’s role on the United States’ gold medal-winning U17 team, “and some of those other girls played more, played great.”

Coco. I know you like Brunelle and her game, so allow me to go into a bit more detail. I like the way Anthony Anderson (one of the main beat writers for the Irish WBB team) and Olson address this, so I'll put that quote back into the article's progression for overall context.

"Olson said Thursday by phone that the change was more a reflection of what other players achieved over the summer than a change in his own opinion about Brunelle."
“She didn’t play a lot,” Olson said of Brunelle’s role on the United States’ gold medal-winning U17 team, “and some of those other girls played more, played great.”
Boston, a post player, Jones, a wing, and Team USA MVP Jordan Horston — a Tennessee recruit ranked No. 2 by Olson, and No. 1 among guards — were the U17 club’s top three scorers.
“(Brunelle) may have slipped a little over the summer,”(#1 to #4) Olson said. “Nonetheless, this kid not only brings an offensive skill set out to the 3-point line, but the intangible of being a quality teammate, which is a priceless commodity.”

Fair take by all concerned...you, Olson, Anderson. Thanks.

 

[Dillon77]

very possible but I could envision her getting one of the two and just saying that it was a big "unexpected surprise" to her..

Well, writer Anthony Anderson feels the same way about it:
"Of course, in all likelihood, Jones or Boston would still be heartily welcomed if either did choose the Irish."

But MM indicated that she's not expecting Boston to travel much further west on I-84 than Storrs when she said this:

“It would be great if we could get a grad transfer to come in with Jackie and that would balance things out a little better (than another freshman),” McGraw said of the 2019-20 roster makeup.

So, depending on what transpires after Boston makes her announcement, I'll be:
- listening and watching with rapt attention when an announcer calls an adept post "a redshirt junior" or "a senior who still has another year of eligibility left."
- seeing how often MM and/or post coach Carol Owens visit Queens and Christ the King HS to see Natalija Marshall and/or Mainland H.S. in southern NJ to visit Kylee Watson. (Remember, ND is not on the finalists list of either Hannah Gusters and/or Angel Reese).

 

[HopJim]

Well South Carolina will definitely be a force next season with the #1 recruiting class. Amihere signed with Dawn over the other programs. Shocked to say that they will once again be a contender for another championship.

While I haven't always been a big Dawn fan, surprised she doesn't get more respect from this Board. Has done a great job of recruiting and keeping her team at the Top 5 level of several years now. Looks like this will continue for several more.

 

[HopJim]

very possible but I could envision her getting one of the two and just saying that it was a big "unexpected surprise" to her..

Could be her choice of words. Possible that she is including other acceptances that have not been publicly announced.

 

[jennyo70]

It was a brutal recruiting outcome for my team, I agree.
-I think it is a combo of factors:
The back-to-back scandals w/ the men’s program certainly shines an unwelcome light on the department.
-As a result of said scandals, the AD Tom Jurich also loses his job. For all Jurich’s flaws, he was a strong advocate and huge supporter of women’s sports. Losing him really threw a cloud not only over the whole department, but worried folks about the uncertainty of who would take over and their level of dedication to the women’s programs.
- All the while we have a massive scandal with the President of the University, who is pushed out. An interim President who is a yes-man to our whacky Governor also drew huge concerns for our University.
- Did I mention our whacky Governor? While his home is in louisville, he and his politics don’t really reflect the Louisville area. He has continually undermined the University, he fires the entire Board, and started replacing them with handpicked like-minded folk, again who don’t really mesh with the greater Louisville mindset. Due to his illegal firings of the Board, Louisville’s accreditation was was threatened, put on probation. While the political circus has slowed down and stability is starting to rule again, there is still recovery needed.
- Now we have football drama.

Meanwhile, a really great AD has been hired. He hit a home run with the basketball hire, he has extended contracts with sports with great success and support ( Walz, our men’s soccer and baseball coaches) and he has had to make some hard coaching decisions, followed by great hires in volleyball, softball and women’s lacrosse. It has been a tumultuous 2 years for the Department on the whole , with lots of fantastic things happening under the new AD. Talk of a great football hire is all the buzz now. All of that is to say it has been very, very difficult, even with great things happening with WBB.
- a fantastic President has been hired who is taking our city by storm, she is getting high, high praise across the board ( read stability and putting the past scandal to rest). She is also bringing donors back to the school, who understandably, had left the last few years.
-With all that has gone on, the negative press with Walz around the officiating in the F4 game and subsequent 1 game suspension ( NCAA tourney game) couldn’t have helped anything.

We are ready for normalcy to return. We are getting there, and if we can get our whacky Governor out next November, that is likely to be the last of the nonsense. We hope.

So, while the outcome of this recruiting season is brutal, it is nothing compared to the circus the men’s program, politics and firing and interim appointments have been.
We’ll be fine, I am just so bummed for our coaches who have worked their tails off, with all of this going on, to have such a difficult result/outcome. I firmly believe we are ok, as a University, and certainly the women’s program.

 

[Charliebball]

Well, writer Anthony Anderson feels the same way about it:
"Of course, in all likelihood, Jones or Boston would still be heartily welcomed if either did choose the Irish."

- seeing how often MM and/or post coach Carol Owens visit Queens and Christ the King HS to see Natalija Marshall and/or Mainland H.S. in southern NJ to visit Kylee Watson. (Remember, ND is not on the finalists list of either Hannah Gusters and/or Angel Reese).

surprised to see how much UConn interest Marshall has shown recently...........I always thought she was an ND lean...........

 

[UConnCat]

So they aren’t accepting anymore letters of intent? Meaning Boston nor Jones will be attending??

More like she's not expecting any more LOIs. She said "we're done" and then said she "thinks we're done."

Decisions still to be made or maybe Muffet reads the Boneyard.

 

[Charliebball]

It was a brutal recruiting outcome for my team, I agree.
-I think it is a combo of factors:
The back-to-back scandals w/ the men’s program certainly shines an unwelcome light on the department.

So, while the outcome of this recruiting season is brutal, it is nothing compared to the circus the men’s program, politics and firing and interim appointments have been.
We’ll be fine, I am just so bummed for our coaches who have worked their tails off, with all of this going on, to have such a difficult result/outcome. I firmly believe we are ok, as a University, and certainly the women’s program.

I tend to think the issue is more likely Jeff W's over recruiting.................offering so many players leads to questions about positional duplication and playing time plus a fair amount of transfer activity leading to a perception of program instability...........since there are no allegations against the Louisville WBB program that I'm aware of I find it less likely that high school players would worry too much about the status of the board or the athletic director et al...........

.

 

[CocoHusky]

It was a brutal recruiting outcome for my team, I agree.
-I think it is a combo of factors:
The back-to-back scandals w/ the men’s program certainly shines an unwelcome light on the department.
-As a result of said scandals, the AD Tom Jurich also loses his job. For all Jurich’s flaws, he was a strong advocate and huge supporter of women’s sports. Losing him really threw a cloud not only over the whole department, but worried folks about the uncertainty of who would take over and their level of dedication to the women’s programs.
- All the while we have a massive scandal with the President of the University, who is pushed out. An interim President who is a yes-man to our whacky Governor also drew huge concerns for our University.
- Did I mention our whacky Governor? While his home is in louisville, he and his politics don’t really reflect the Louisville area. He has continually undermined the University, he fires the entire Board, and started replacing them with handpicked like-minded folk, again who don’t really mesh with the greater Louisville mindset. Due to his illegal firings of the Board, Louisville’s accreditation was was threatened, put on probation. While the political circus has slowed down and stability is starting to rule again, there is still recovery needed.
- Now we have football drama.

Meanwhile, a really great AD has been hired. He hit a home run with the basketball hire, he has extended contracts with sports with great success and support ( Walz, our men’s soccer and baseball coaches) and he has had to make some hard coaching decisions, followed by great hires in volleyball, softball and women’s lacrosse. It has been a tumultuous 2 years for the Department on the whole , with lots of fantastic things happening under the new AD. Talk of a great football hire is all the buzz now. All of that is to say it has been very, very difficult, even with great things happening with WBB.
- a fantastic President has been hired who is taking our city by storm, she is getting high, high praise across the board ( read stability and putting the past scandal to rest). She is also bringing donors back to the school, who understandably, had left the last few years.
-With all that has gone on, the negative press with Walz around the officiating in the F4 game and subsequent 1 game suspension ( NCAA tourney game) couldn’t have helped anything.

We are ready for normalcy to return. We are getting there, and if we can get our whacky Governor out next November, that is likely to be the last of the nonsense. We hope.

So, while the outcome of this recruiting season is brutal, it is nothing compared to the circus the men’s program, politics and firing and interim appointments have been.
We’ll be fine, I am just so bummed for our coaches who have worked their tails off, with all of this going on, to have such a difficult result/outcome. I firmly believe we are ok, as a University, and certainly the women’s program.

@jennyo70 thanks as always for your insight and perspective. I did not realize that there were so many negative factors impacting not just the WBB team but Louisville the University at large. Hopefully Jeff remains engaged with USA basketball and lands a better recruiting with the 2020 class-minus the UCONN targets of course.

 

[DallasBUFan]

I tend to think the issue is more likely Jeff W's over recruiting.......offering so many players leads to questions about positional duplication and playing time plus a fair amount of transfer activity leading to a perception of program instability......since there are no allegations against the Louisville WBB program that I'm aware of I find it less likely that high school players would worry too much about the status of the board or the athletic director et al......

.

I agree with Charliebball on this one.

I mean Baylor has had more than it's fair share of scandals in the past and recently. Yet it yielded Baylor the fab 5 last year. I can see how when you offer practically every top 20 player an offer an issue. Why do I wanna play on the team that seems to want anyone.

I do think he is a good coach. I mean if he were bad he wouldn't have had the success he had had in the past. Just maybe take notes on recruiting from Ashton and she could take notes on coaching with him. Since she seems to get a lot of the talent she recruits, but hasn't had the success on the court that Waltz has.

 

[meyers7]

Decisions still to be made or maybe Muffet reads the Boneyard.

I imagine most Div 1 coaches read the BY. How else are they gonna know where recruits are going or what Geno's weaknesses are??

 

[river rat]

I saw on the Worchester Academy web site that Bostons nickname is Peaches...

 

[oldude]

I saw on the Worchester Academy web site that Bostons nickname is Peaches...

Yes, I’m guessing that’s gonna stick once she gets to Storrs.