Kyla Irwin Commits to UConn

[Hope]

http://touch.courant.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81743963/

Many interesting quotes in this John A story. The more I read about Kyla (and her mom) the more I understand why Geno recruited her. She's going to UConn to play.

BTW, sounds like Geno is looking to sign one more player in this class, another post player.

Kyla's Mom Bethany:

But as a coach, it was practice that I really loved to see. And she loved it just as much. I’ve been telling her how important it was to see how the teams [recruiting her] practice. You want to make sure you understand what it is they do every day and you need to decide for yourself if you can do it, can you handle it, can you deal with the mentality and physicality. I wanted her to watch a full practice and it was great to see.”

“Kyla had some questions, Geno had some answers,” Bethany said.

“I told her, ‘Kyla, they are not recruiting your parents, they are recruiting you. But you are also recruiting a team that will be a perfect fit for you. You need to come up with questions. You need to be able to relate to the coaches on a daily basis, be comfortable walking into their offices to talk about life situations for four five years unless you get to know them.

“She brought in her notebook and asked them all kinds of questions; personal and basketball alike so she could have an understanding what they were looking for. It’s part of her personality and she handled it very well.

“I can tell you, as her coach, I can tell as her mother, she is going to work extremely hard,” Bethany said. “She will push until she gets as far as she can go. She grew up in my gym, my basketball gym. I’ve coached for 22 years and Kyla’s been there with me for 17. She’s been on the bus rides, sitting on the couch with me breaking down film or scouting as asking questions. She wants to coach college. That’s her goal.

“It’s amazing to know that the game that I love, that has taken me so many places, is having the same impact on my daughter.”

Kyla:

“Coach Auriemma asked me what position I thought I was best at and I told him I thought I was a post player. He said he agreed with me. Then he explained that the plan was to bring two guards and one post in [with the Class of 2016] but the thinking now was to perhaps focus on two posts and one guard. Then he asked the others coaches if they thought they should offer me and they all said ‘yes’”.

 

[Hope]

What if the assistant coaches had voted not to offer Kyla a scholarship? What then?

 

[Goodgood]

What if the assistant coaches had voted not to offer Kyla a scholarship? What then?

I am sure they already knew it was going to be a resounding "YES", Geno would never embarrass a kid whose dream is to play at UConn for him.

To me, she is a great addiction. She always plays hard, understands the team concept and will do whatever the coach wants her to do (legally). And on top of that, she is also very talented. What more can a coach ask? they had scouted her all summer and seen her play, so they know what she can do.

 

[OneTrickPony]

To me, she is a great addiction.

I'm not addicted just yet, but I am open to the experience...

 

[Sonny44]

The kids and the parents gotta know that anyone can post on this board including UCONN haters and sceptics who are likely to post anything, especially negatives. I think there have been very few of these and I think the Irwin's see things in perspective. We continue to overestimate our influuence.

Separately, I think comparisons to McLaren are ludicrous. I liked Kaili a lot but she basically waddled down the court. Kyla has way more upside potential.

 

[Kibitzer]

I sympathize to some extent - we don't need to go on and on about a player's weight, or endless speculation that they might just be a role player, or whatever. Especially stuff that might scare away future recruits. On the other hand, though, this is just a fan message board, and a pretty mild-mannered one at that. If an athlete wants to be "big time", they have to learn to deal with the media. I.E. If you want to play for Yankees, you gotta be able to deal with the back pages of the NY Post & Daily News. There's a certain amount of grief that comes with notoriety. Reality is that when you're in the fish bowl, you can't just get one without the other.

Put another way, the higher you climb the more of your ass shows.

 

[uconnfan68]

Tuck was seen as a premiere talent going back to her freshmen year. At this point Irwin is not seen that way by evaluators. Doesn't mean she can't be/won't be good or even really good, but all we can do is hypothesize based on available information. Natalie Butler wasn't super highly regarded in HS either and she'd probably be ranked differently in retrospect, so we'll see.

On a sidenote, I don't think Nurse will play point for UConn. Think she's more of a small forward who can play some point. It's Jefferson and then perhaps Edwards before Dangerfield takes over, in my opinion.

Because she has no experience against good players being from Canada?

 

[OneTrickPony]

Because she has no experience against good players being from Canada?

Hush...

 

[Kibitzer]

The kids and the parents gotta know that anyone can post on this board including UCONN haters and sceptics who are likely to post anything, especially negatives./QUOTE]

Seems a bit harsh to refer to UConn haters as septics.

Inadvertent Freudian slip or deliberate scatological touch?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Because she has no experience against good players being from Canada?

Because it doesn't seem to be her natural position. She might play point here or there on some plays but I don't believe she's a full-time PG like Jefferson and Dangerfield. I think moving without the ball will make her very effective.

 

[DaddyChoc]

not sure if "I cant wait for the season to start" is the right thing to say around here... the bitching & moaning along with the 1-upping may get worse

 

[Hope]

I am sure they already knew it was going to be a resounding "YES", Geno would never embarrass a kid whose dream is to play at UConn for him.

To me, she is a great addiction. She always plays hard, understands the team concept and will do whatever the coach wants her to do (legally). And on top of that, she is also very talented. What more can a coach ask? they had scouted her all summer and seen her play, so they know what she can do.

Well you can color me septical or sceptical but I would much prefer skeptical, because the day will come when CD will jokingly tell Mr. Big that he has gone daft and that she would rather resign than give a thumbs up to his latest flavor of the month. And yes, it is + !

 

[msf22b]

Because it doesn't seem to be her natural position. She might play point here or there on some plays but I don't believe she's a full-time PG like Jefferson and Dangerfield. I think moving without the ball will make her very effective.

Am I mistaken
or was she not the point for the Canadian National Team？

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Kia is a 1, 2, 3. At times she played the point on the national team. More last year than this year. I'm thinking she will most often plan the 2 in UConn's scheme. It is going to be fun this fall watching the freshmen and an absolute stitch to read the threads of debate - I'm counting on you guys and you know who you are!

 

[EricLA]

Am I mistaken or was she not the point for the Canadian National Team？

Not mistaken. She was the starting PG for the Canadian National Team, and acquitted herself incredibly well. She was solid for them and has the potential to be sensational for UCONN IMHO.

Kia is a 1, 2, 3. At times she played the point on the national team. More last year than this year. I'm thinking she will most often plan the 2 in UConn's scheme. It is going to be fun this fall watching the freshmen and an absolute stitch to read the threads of debate - I'm counting on you guys and you know who you are!

Totally agree. At 6'0", she's tall for a guard. I have a feeling that with Jefferson for 2 more years, and then Dangerfield coming the year after Jefferson leaves, there will only be 1 potential season (Dangerfield's freshman) where the starting 1 won't necessarily be a PURE PG. I could see Nurse starting at the 1 Crystal's freshman year, then moving over to the 2 Crystal's sophomore and Crystal starting at the 1 that year.

Or maybe Sadie will be so good it will be impossible to keep her off the court. Or maybe senior Chong will start Crystal's first season. But i think more likely (just a long time out projection), starters of Nurse, Chong, Tuck, Samuelson, Butler. The freaky thing is that we'd have Ekmark, Edwards, Williams, Collier, Boykin, Dangerfield, Irwin, and ??? coming off the bench. I say freaky because it may be another season where our bench lineup would likely be a to 10 team in their own right...

 

[UConnChapette]

Not mistaken. She was the starting PG for the Canadian National Team, and acquitted herself incredibly well. She was solid for them and has the potential to be sensational for UCONN IMHO.Totally agree. At 6'0", she's tall for a guard. I have a feeling that with Jefferson for 2 more years, and then Dangerfield coming the year after Jefferson leaves, there will only be 1 potential season (Dangerfield's freshman) where the starting 1 won't necessarily be a PURE PG. I could see Nurse starting at the 1 Crystal's freshman year, then moving over to the 2 Crystal's sophomore and Crystal starting at the 1 that year.

Or maybe Sadie will be so good it will be impossible to keep her off the court. Or maybe senior Chong will start Crystal's first season. But i think more likely (just a long time out projection), starters of Nurse, Chong, Tuck, Samuelson, Butler. The freaky thing is that we'd have Ekmark, Edwards, Williams, Collier, Boykin, Dangerfield, Irwin, and ??? coming off the bench. I say freaky because it may be another season where our bench lineup would likely be a to 10 team in their own right...

So many possibilities. Never a bad thing.