i just want to expand on my post a little bit since it's already been quoted and i don't want to edit it. years ago and leading up to the Strother class and especially the following Sherwood class, Geno would not even look at a kid till their junior year. IIRC the main reason for that was he felt kids were still developing/growing/etc. and it was a crapshoot at best to know where kids were at developmentally until into their junior years. he'd always had terrific success that way but getting Ann, Nicole, Barb, Willnett and Gillian Goring was the last good class he got recruiting that way.
The following year, IIRC, players he may have wanted (plan A) were already gone by the time he started looking in earnest and we ended up with Sherwood, Robinson and Wright. Additionally he was stung when Brit Hunter seemed poised to verbal to UCONN only to change her mind and go to Duke. Wright never made it to campus, Robinson and Sherwood both transferred at the end of the year, even tho we won the NC that season.
The following season he scored a solid class of Charde, Mel, and Ketia, but was forced to explore the JUCO route nabbing Sadiq. and i believe that was when he shifted his recruiting to start identifying kids he liked earlier and at least communicating with them sooner. After nabbing Renee, Kalana, Cassie and Tahira, Geno really went on a roll of getting in early and nabbing Tina, Maya, EDD, and then KML and Breanna/Moriah - an unprecedented string of #1/2 players after the 2 year lull following Strother.
My point is that recruiting has changed a lot and Geno has had to change with it, especially with regards to identifying kids earlier. In fact, when you look at the number of top 5 kids Geno has nabbed over the past 7 years, it adds up to more than all the rest of the years he recruited combined, so clearly he's doing something right lately.
One other thing that is different with Geno compared to some/many other coaches is that he prefers not to use all 15 scholarships. i believe his ideal team number is 12. because of that, there are only so many kids he CAN go after and even less that he ends up focusing on. Do i wish he was going after Russell, Deshields, Greenwell, Reimer, Harper, Cooper, Grey, Tucker, Scaife, Muvunga and Johnson from 2013? of course as those are the top 10-11 players who are not committed yet. but from what we've read, he's after Deshields, Reimer, Tucker, and Muvunga - 4 out of the top 12.
so i really answer why Geno is not looking at Russell, Greenwell, Harper, Cooper, Grey, Scaife, or Johnson. nor can i say for sure he won't look at them or vice versa. i think it's more surprising if we find out he never looked hard at Russell than Greenwell. Russell is a much more unique player than Greenwell. But bottom line, one thing Geno has not changed in recruiting style is that he looks at less kids than other coaches. maybe the "less" just is an illusion as nothing gets publicized, but i think in general kids don't really hear from UCONN nearly as often as they do from other schools, volume-wise.
Perhaps other fans can recall interviews or comments from Geno that shed more light on his recruiting strategy than what i can recall.
