Last Rodeo for Kyla Irwin

[Sluconn Husky]

Local paper has a nice, long piece on Irwin's career and future as State College's playoffs beginning tomorrow. This article will also be in the recruit thread.


A major reason for the big numbers, along with being 6-2, is her knowledge and skill in the post. She has moves that are hard to find in high school.

“She’s such a student of the game,” Bethany said. “I tell her, ‘Would you just do a simple drop step?’ (Husband, father and assistant coach) Rob is always yelling, ‘plain vanilla, plain vanilla!’ You don’t have to do all that other (stuff). UConn’s not that razzle-dazzle. It’s plain vanilla, it’s a drop step, it’s an up-and-under. The last six, eight games she just went back to basics and wasn’t trying to do too much. She was just doing the right thing.”

....

“(She has) genuine passion for the game, and excitement for other people’s success as much as herself if not more,” said Huskies assistant coach Marisa Moseley, who was on hand for the 43-point night against Hollidaysburg and figures she has seen Irwin play about 10 times. “She competes on every single play, plays both sides of the ball, runs the floor harder than most kids in college do.”



http://www.centredaily.com/sports/high-school/article62774277.html

 

[huskyd]

I've watched film of Kayla for extended periods of time, and I love her game. She's exactly the kind of solid interior player UConn will really need next year. But she's extremely versatile, too. She can handle the ball well, see the court well, pass well, shoot from the outside. Her best work is done inside, where she reminds me of Morgan. When BY posters were considering the starters for next year (assuming Tuck opts out), I thought that Kayla might be the solution to a larger, solid interior. Gabby probably should start, and I'm hoping that Crystal works her way into the starting line-up next to Kia. Despite the naysayers, I do see Lou spending some time posting up and using her length and athleticism to do some good inside defensive work. Things may be better than we think next year; they will certainly be interesting.

 

[CocoHusky]

Penn State needs to get back on UCONN's schedule next year so that Kayla can play in her home town twice. As an added bonus we get to see first hand what De'Jane Boykin could have been.

 

[UcMiami]

OK Posters, you have about 3 months before Kyla gets onto campus to learn that she is NOT an AA, but a single A as in she only uses a single 'A' in her first name!

K Y L A !!!!

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Local TV station piece on Kyla and her family:

http://wjactv.com/sports/content/basketball-a-family-affair-for-uconn-bound-kyla-irwin

 

[Sonny44]

Local TV station piece on Kyla and her family:

http://wjactv.com/sports/content/basketball-a-family-affair-for-uconn-bound-kyla-irwin

Saaaaweeeet! Thanks Slu.

 

[malevocalist#]

I have not seen much of this young lady. Why is she ranked so low if she is that good. And yes I know they get it wrong at times.

But also what type of competition does she face in highschool.

 

[UcMiami]

I have not seen much of this young lady. Why is she ranked so low if she is that good. And yes I know they get it wrong at times.

But also what type of competition does she face in highschool.

Not the best HS competition, but PA is not devoid of talent. Her AAU is also more local and not one of the mega travel teams so she hasn't been seen as much. Neither she nor Bent get that much exposure. I think it hurts their ranking somewhat but neither would likely be top 25 if they had all the exposure. But then players like Dolson were ranked 39 and Faris 34.
Both Irwin and Bent appear to have qualities as basketball players that the Uconn staff values more than the ranking services tend too. Team play, passing, defensive effort, hustle, and IQ over pure athleticism and physical presence.

 

[bags27]

interestingly, she's easily an inch shorter than her mom and dad. Too bad about the recessive gene, because if she had grown to say 6'4 or 5"..... Still, she is going to make a big impact from the very start.

 

[magic]

I have not seen much of this young lady. Why is she ranked so low if she is that good. And yes I know they get it wrong at times.

But also what type of competition does she face in highschool.

Dangerfield should be a special player. But, the rest of the class is dissapointing to me. Not one other player in the top 100. I understand recruiting is cyclictic, but you would think that Husky Pedigree should have gotten them a higher ranked recruiting class. Not one post player from a class that is talented.

 

[HGN]

interestingly, she's easily an inch shorter than her mom and dad. Too bad about the recessive gene, because if she had grown to say 6'4 or 5"..... Still, she is going to make a big impact from the very start.

Growth spurt !! Growth spurt !

 

[CocoHusky]

Dangerfield should be a special player. But, the rest of the class is dissapointing to me. Not one other player in the top 100. I understand recruiting is cyclictic, but you would think that Husky Pedigree should have gotten them a higher ranked recruiting class. Not one post player from a class that is talented.

Trick Question!
Besides UCONN has the #1 recruiting class resulted in a National Championship for any School in the last 10 years? 20 years?

 

[magic]

Trick Question!
Besides UCONN has the #1 recruiting class resulted in a National Championship for any School in the last 10 years? 20 years?

Coco, what is your point? Are you saying talent is irrelivent, or coaching supercedes talent ?

 

[Orangutan]

Trick Question!
Besides UCONN has the #1 recruiting class resulted in a National Championship for any School in the last 10 years? 20 years?

Hard to find class rankings going back, but it looks like ESPN had Baylor's Griner class #1.

 

[CocoHusky]

Coco, what is your point? Are you saying talent is irrelivent, or coaching supercedes talent ?

Neither. I am saying don't believe the hype of getting the number 1 recruiting class because they don't actually award a trophy for that.

 

[CocoHusky]

Hard to find class rankings going back, but it looks like ESPN had Baylor's Griner class #1.

Yup, so the answer is 1-maybe. There is a #1 recruiting class 2013 sitting down in TN right now that is struggling to be relevant in their own conference.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Dangerfield should be a special player. But, the rest of the class is dissapointing to me. Not one other player in the top 100. I understand recruiting is cyclictic, but you would think that Husky Pedigree should have gotten them a higher ranked recruiting class. Not one post player from a class that is talented.

Can't always go on evaluation rankings. Having watched Bent a few times now I tend to think she's far better than her rankings, though McCormick has her top-50.

 

[Orangutan]

Yup, so the answer is 1-maybe. There is a #1 recruiting class 2013 sitting down in TN right now that is struggling to be relevant in their own conference.

Yeah, I take your point. But your post sparked my curiosity.

 

[Roundball fan]

I'm a believer in Geno and CD, so I can't wait for Kyla to put on the Huskies uniform and she how good she can be.

 

[magic]

I was not talking about recruiting " class " rankings, as I don't put much stock in them. I do however feel like individual player rankings are about the raw talent of the individual players. In that aspect it would seem that either none of these kids wanted to play at Uconn, or the coaching staff did not like any of the players in the top 100.

 

[EricLA]

Not the best HS competition, but PA is not devoid of talent. Her AAU is also more local and not one of the mega travel teams so she hasn't been seen as much. Neither she nor Bent get that much exposure. I think it hurts their ranking somewhat but neither would likely be top 25 if they had all the exposure. But then players like Dolson were ranked 39 and Faris 34. Both Irwin and Bent appear to have qualities as basketball players that the Uconn staff values more than the ranking services tend too. Team play, passing, defensive effort, hustle, and IQ over pure athleticism and physical presence.

You are correct, of course, but I think it's also important to note that while Dolson was 39 Per HG, she was 24 per BS, 26 per PN and 12 per ASGR. Similar for Faris - 34 for HG, 9 by BS, 7 by ASGR and 26 by PN.

Kyla is 44 per BS, NR per HG and 103 per PN. Molly is not ranked anywhere so she's not in HG's top 100, BS's top 50, or PN's top 150. Someone said she's in McCormick's top 50 but I checked BS and she's not there. Kyla's ranking is more similar to Lauren Engeln, and Molly's is more similar to the walk ons. I don't think we've ever recruited a player who was unranked by any of the recruiting services.

Having said that, I'm NOT saying they won't be better, or much better, than what they are ranked. And I agree that they both have qualities the coaches value. But I've seen people talk about solid PT for Irwin next year, at least a few even suggesting she might be a starter. I hope these kids have a great experience at UCONN, but realistically, I will be shocked if they get more than 4 minutes at the end of blowouts, and very pleasantly surprised.

As for the striking out on post post players for 2016, I tend to agree it's disappointing, but Geno went after almost all the top kids. Lauren Cox, Joyner Holmes, and Tori McCoy were all at the top of UCONN's wish list at various times. There were a bunch of other kids they didn't even go after (Mulkey, Shook, Johnson, and Statii were all top 25 post players I never saw UCONN associated with in any way except for maybe Mulkey). I know we are after some in 2017, but I have a feeling they aren't going to get Jade Williams out of Texas and they ought to look at Kushkutuah and Cooks - both top 10 post players... IMHO...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Local TV station piece on Kyla and her family:

http://wjactv.com/sports/content/basketball-a-family-affair-for-uconn-bound-kyla-irwin

Interesting little tid bit: Presumably, in context, this is just after getting the offer in Geno's office. Mother, father, Kyla : We went around the corner and we all just started bawling.

Quite a family.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Kyla is 44 per BS, NR per HG and 103 per PN. Molly is not ranked anywhere so she's not in HG's top 100, BS's top 50, or PN's top 150. Someone said she's in McCormick's top 50 but I checked BS and she's not there. Kyla's ranking is more similar to Lauren Engeln, and Molly's is more similar to the walk ons. I don't think we've ever recruited a player who was unranked by any of the recruiting services.

Bent is ranked #111 by Blue Star:

http://www.bluestarbb.com/results_11.php?ranklist=12&rankyear=2016

Bent was ranked by ASGR in November, but just outside top-50 at #56:

https://asgrbasketball.com/baylor-south-carolina-maryland-top-2016-recruiting-class-rankings/

And with ALL due respect to any UConn walk-ons, there is no way on earth they'd be rated anywhere near the top-150.

Irwin was #121 by ASGR last fall.

 

[JoePgh]

Was Laurin Dixon ranked when she was in high school? What about Megan Gardler? For that matter, what about Kara Wolters and Jen Rizzotti? What about Ketia Swanier?

But I understand your point -- in the last 10-15 years, it would be hard to point to a player who was "NR" in high school who made a serious impact on the court when she got to UConn.

On the other hand, role players in that category have existed and have made serious contributions. In addition to Dixon and Gardler, I can think of Ashley Valley and Carla Berube. There must be others.

I do NOT think that Kyla Irwin will be limited to "4 minutes at the end of blowouts" next year. UConn will have a thin front court next year, so I expect that Kyla will be used as much as she can be relied on. And hopefully that will be quite a bit. No, I don't think that she will start (or that she should).

 

[UcMiami]

Magic - it is not unusual for any team that gets a few really good classes to then throw in a very small class. Uconn has had a nice run of good classes, and 2016 is headlined by a very good player. As far as posts - there just aren't that many of them and a lot of competition for the ones that are really good. And for the past few years the biggest stock of good posts has been deep south, TX, and west coast - places that are more difficult for Uconn to recruit. We've gotten the last three great ones out of NY. Uconn has also struck out on highly rated post players for long stretches since 1999 - Moore was always a project and the team has had limited tall posts for most of the time since. Tina and Dolson and I guess Stewart and Stokes to go with Moore and Buck and a few visitors in Sherwood and McCormack. Not a crowd for a 15 year period.

Bent I believe has played a lot of soccer instead of a lot of AAU basketball over the years which also seriously dents her recruiting profile.

Where was Gardler ranked, by the way?

I have no idea about Bent having seen very little, but Geno is pretty high in his praise. Irwin really reminds me of a shorter Dolson in balance and positioning and agility in a similarly less 'athletic' frame in the video I have seen of her.