Qadence Samuels commits!

[hjoerring]

From what I can tell, I probably do have more doubts about Aaliyah than most on the Boneyard. She did improve over the last half of the season, but IMO was still not to the level of her freshmen season even near the end. I have no doubt that if she takes things seriously, she will return to form. I believe she will, and that is one of our biggest hopes for improvement this year.

But while I expect that to happen, last year she was a major disappointment. She has had one season where she looked like a future All American, and one where I could see her being beaten out by a freshmen like Ice or Ayanna. Since both extremes have happened I think you have to consider the possibility that either could happen again.

Geno implied last year that the Olympic team did not get to practice much and Aaliyah rarely played in the games, as if that contributed to her not being in the best condition. This year with an under 23 team she should get much more work, but the main point is the conditioning is in her hands, the burden of proof is on her.

As for using a very good natural PF at C instead of a true C type, of course many teams do that with good results. "Good" Aaliyah can do that, and Ice probably could too. A rotation with no big over 6-3 could work, no question, but would I still prefer a 6-5 or better player who could earn their minutes there, over a good PF playing a little out of position? Yes, but getting that type of big in the 2023 class is probably not very likely at this point.

Well, the only thing left for me to do, in protecting one of my favorite players, is to hide the matches from you, seeing that you have already poured the gasoline.

 

[oldude]

Let me interject one thought. We fans often hypothesize that because HS players know each other when they are from the same area and/or played together on the same AAU, HS or national team, the likelihood of them wanting to play together in college is high. With few exceptions, that’s usually not the case. Each HS recruit’s decision is influenced by a multitude of factors that often send players who are also friends to different schools.

I can recall how fans thought Boston, Jones, Paige and Azzi were all going to follow Brunelle to ND. In addition, there were high hopes that Boston, Horston and Jones would end up at UConn once Paige announced her intention to become a Husky, and all those players showed up together at a UConn game.

Of course there have been a few wonderful exceptions. Lou and Pheesa, who played together on a 3x3 team, both found their way to UConn. More recently, Azzi followed Paige to Storrs, cementing a friendship of two opposite personalities who started their friendship traveling and playing together for a U.S. national team.

As I have commented before, trying to predict the actions of 17-18 year old teenagers is a recipe for failure.