December UConn recruiting thread

[HuskyNan]

It seems we are often late to the offer party. I would love to know why. What strategy is being followed? Are we tighter with our offers than most of the top programs. Luckily from time to time we are late to the party, but swoop in and swoop up the prize.

An article I didn’t link said Leah had a terrific showing one of the big tournaments then started drawing interest from major programs, including UConn.

 

[darrell]

I’d offer her following the AAU circuit before her Freshman year, honestly. She’s instantly one of the players you draw interest early and recruit hard. If we’ve ever seen “Stewie-lite” it is this kid!

 

[Cuango]

She pushes off a lot and is extremely liberal with her forearm...don't know if she gets away with that at the next level.

She can be taught to avoid that. It’s much harder to teach them to be physical in the first place. I’d just like to see us get a few kids that are willing and capable of being more physical in the frontcourt. Or the backcourt, for that matter. I think Ashlynn is probably (small though she is) one that is perfectly prepared to mix it up a little but Sarah Strong would be the missing ingredient for our frontcourt! I’m wishng and hoping for some “bruisers” for Christmas!

 

[RoadMaster]

I’d offer her following the AAU circuit before her Freshman year, honestly. She’s instantly one of the players you draw interest early and recruit hard. If we’ve ever seen “Stewie-lite” it is this kid!

Agree

 

[MilfordHusky]

Macy is #8 on HG.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Macy is #8 on HG.

Macy is a big talent. Glad to see UConn is in on her.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Leah Macy's EYBL stats from the summer:


Leah Macy of Kentucky Premier impresses with 18.2 points per game, backed by a remarkable field goal percentage of 57.4%. Macy, class of 2025, is particularly notable for her three-point shooting, recording an exceptional 56.7%. Her strong presence is also felt in rebounding, with 7.9 rebounds per game.

Mysite

www.performanceanalytica.com

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Macy is #8 on HG.

She's #12 at Prospects Nation and on Blue Star's not yet finalizes top-10.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Class of 2025 guard Addie Deal of Mater Dei (CA) found her rhythm against a loaded IMG Academy team on day two. Deal facilitated for teammates, scored the basketball and found her way into passing lanes on multiple occasions as well.

Class of 2026 guard Addison Bjorn of Park Hill South (MO) was a factor in multiple facets of the game on the opening two days here. She is a distributor, scorer and brings real energy to her team throughout the game. She hit a big three with five seconds left to force an overtime her team went on to win Tuesday.

Table Set For Epic TOC Finish | Prospects Nation

prospectsnation.com

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Back to Sports looks at Emely Rodriguez and UConn's future:



Once again we are down to praying for a premium Big. I'm sorta worn out with this theme.

 

[rvwsleep]

Which premium big, who is available, would you like UConn to get ?
Don't waste your time. The Big O is the next premium big that will be available.
(Outside of, some, as of now, unknown portal player)

 

[Zarathustra]

Which premium big, who is available, would you like UConn to get ?
Don't waste your time. The Big O is the next premium big that will be available.
(Outside of, some, as of now, unknown portal player)

"Maggie" Mendelson, 6'5" , from Nebraska is in the Portal with 3 years of WBB
eligibility.

 

[oldhusky]

"Maggie" Mendelson, 6'5" , from Nebraska is in the Portal with 3 years of WBB
eligibility.

I looked up her basketball stats from her freshmen year. She didn't play much and like you might expect was pretty good on rebounds and blocked shots, but was terrible on assists to turnovers, was not a scorer or shooter, and committed so many fouls that it largely negated her blocks. Her PER stat was 10 something which is clearly below average. In short sounds like a marginal prospect at best IMO.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Which premium big, who is available, would you like UConn to get ?
Don't waste your time. The Big O is the next premium big that will be available.
(Outside of, some, as of now, unknown portal player)

Is this your way of saying abandon hope?

 

[oldhusky]

Back to Sports looks at Emely Rodriguez and UConn's future:



Once again we are down to praying for a premium Big. I'm sorta worn out with this theme.

I like what the video shows of Rodriquez, but I'm confused by the intended role. The commentary in the video seems to project her as a big guard, potentially competing with Morgan, Q, maybe Caroline is she returns etc.. It may be coincidence but I believe her name came up after Roberson went elsewhere and Sarah decided to delay her decision.

From that perspective she seemed like more of a desperation plan B if Sarah goes elsewhere, as an undersized 4, who at least put up good rebounding numbers in high school. Another reason I thought that, was depending on many players with options, we might not even have a roster spot available. I suspect we will have one but two is more iffy so if spots are very limited, wouldn't it be odd to use one of them on a wing, unless you intended to try to use that player at least some of the time at the 4?

 

[Zarathustra]

I looked up her basketball stats from her freshmen year. She didn't play much and like you might expect was pretty good on rebounds and blocked shots, but was terrible on assists to turnovers, was not a scorer or shooter, and committed so many fouls that it largely negated her blocks. Her PER stat was 10 something which is clearly below average. In short sounds like a marginal prospect at best IMO.

Sounds very objective..... Back to Sarah STRONG??

 

[Bone Dog]

I like what the video shows of Rodriquez, but I'm confused by the intended role. The commentary in the video seems to project her as a big guard, potentially competing with Morgan, Q, maybe Caroline is she returns etc.. It may be coincidence but I believe her name came up after Roberson went elsewhere and Sarah decided to delay her decision.

From that perspective she seemed like more of a desperation plan B if Sarah goes elsewhere, as an undersized 4, who at least put up good rebounding numbers in high school. Another reason I thought that, was depending on many players with options, we might not even have a roster spot available. I suspect we will have one but two is more iffy so if spots are very limited, wouldn't it be odd to use one of them on a wing, unless you intended to try to use that player at least some of the time at the 4?

The video wasn't as clear as I'd hoped, and the comparison to Gandy was in error. Gandy is a raw project, not much different from Piath so far. But at 6'2" or 1", Emely already has significant skills in addition to her size and speed. She doesn't look like a 'project' at all, even if she's not a complete player yet.

She is absolutely in the mold of Morgan and Caroline, maybe quicker than each of them and not quite the smooth scorer both of them are.

And the best observation in the video is that Emely looks like a woman playing among girls. This says she's mature and that's good, but it also could mean that the shock of playing against fast and strong women at D1 speeds may be quite a shock for her. Ashlynn switched high schools last year in order to get ready for D1 and it seems to have paid off. Morgan has seen good competition in her league playing teams like Etiwanda.

This leaves me with a few thoughts.

First, If (and it's a huge IF) Caroline sits this year out and manages to return healthy next fall, we'll have quite a logjam at the 3-4 with Caroline, Morgan, Qadence and Emely competing for minutes. This could be really useful for running a 4-out set. Ice or Jana with KK Ashlyn and any two of these four rotating in and out. If it's Qadence and Caroline, our perimeter game will be fearsome. If it's Morgan and Emely, then our paint game will be formidable.

Second, this suggests to me Geno is trying to prepare for the departure of Paige and Aaliyah. This doesn't mean Paige is decided yet, but he'd be a fool not to prepare for this eventuality. If we lose our two starting power forwards , then Ice and Jana will need support and adding Emely gives us some depth with our intermediate stretch-3s (can I coin this term?).

Third, if we don't get Sarah to commit, then Emely is an important addition. She's not anywhere near the player Sarah is yet. But she has some of the physical skills she does. She's big and strong and not easily intimidated.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Can’t find a box score but Morgan had 17 points, 10 assists per one article I saw

Much more about Cheli at the link below.


The always steady Cheli had a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Long Island Lutheran and was an easy choice for the all-tournament team.

“Morgan was paramount to our success,” Phillips remarked. “Mo was our floor general, play maker, made key baskets and had an abundance of assists, double digits in all four games.”

Prep2Prep

www.prep2prep.com

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Addison Deal ('25) suffered a "pretty bad" ankle injury during a game last Thursday. Was sent to the hospital.

 

[BobbyJ]

Much more about Cheli at the link below.


The always steady Cheli had a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Long Island Lutheran and was an easy choice for the all-tournament team.

“Morgan was paramount to our success,” Phillips remarked. “Mo was our floor general, play maker, made key baskets and had an abundance of assists, double digits in all four games.”

Prep2Prep

www.prep2prep.com

Some great comments about Cheli in the article but I'm not surprised. In most every game she plays she'll be the most fundamentally sound and have the highest BB IQ of anyone on the court. UConn is getting a rock to build around.
And hats off to HOFer Sue Phillips, the best HS coach in the country.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don’t understand how Cheli is ranked #18. She looks like a top-5 or so.

 

[rvwsleep]

Is this your way of saying abandon hope?

Do you always answer a question with a question ?
I don't know of any premium bigs that are available. Do you know of any ?
And please don't say Maggie Mendelson.
She is NOT a premium big by any measure.

 

[Alydar]

I don’t understand how Cheli is ranked #18. She looks like a top-5 or so.

Cheli was injured part of last year. I think she missed the Nike Nationals and was a victim of "out of sight, out of mind".

 

[BobbyJ]

Cheli was injured part of last year. I think she missed the Nike Nationals and was a victim of "out of sight, out of mind".

Read the article in post #319 above. It’s all in there.

 

[HuskyNan]

Liked by Lara Somfai