So... What's next for recruiting??! | Page 6 | The Boneyard

So... What's next for recruiting??!

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Natalie Butler will have the entire time of her hiatus year to become more than familiar with not only the system but also the demanding culture of UCONN basketball. It is indeed during practice where players earn their stripes or playing time, so Ms. Butler according to what is written and what Geno has said she is prepared for the rigors and expectations of Husky's work ethic.

Just from the interview Geno had with her, concerning how it is rare for UCONN to have a transfer come in:

"Auriemma said he asked Butler a simple question when he met her.

"I asked her, 'How many 6-5 kids did you play against this year? She said, 'none.' I said, 'Well, we didn't play against many in our league, and I looked in the ACC and there aren't many in that league and I checked in the Big Ten and there aren't many in that league. So you're kind of unique, you know,'" Aureimma said,

"So I think she's got a chance to really, really have a huge impact on our program. I told her, 'we don't do this.' In 30 years I've been here, maybe three or four [transfers]. We don't do this unless it's a game-changer, and she's going to be a game-changer for us, no question about it."

Hartford Courant, John Altavilla May 22, 2014

If the man says Ms. Butler is going to be a game changer, no arguments here. She has according to Geno 18 months to get adjusted and familiar with all things UCONN. She will play a lot I believe just based on the tenor of Geno's remarks. Further with the absence of Stokes and Kaleena and Butler already having a year under her belt in Division I (a very successful one at that) it puts her not only ahead of the curve but ahead of that incoming freshman class of 2015-2016. She will provide and fill the need of height and post present they will need in the 2015-2016 season.

Of course, Geno being Geno, he could play four guards with Stewart, then in that case disregard the above scenario.:)
 
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I'm wondering why UConn never recruited Natalie Butler. The staff seemed very pleased when she decided to transfer to UConn.

She was #140 BlueStar, #157 ASGR, and ~250 Hoopgurlz. Reportedly she had a good senior season -- too late to get on the radar.
 
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TROY: Wow. A post of beauty. And, to all that I say, pass the plate!

Gdfather...
<<it's all message board material because none of us really knows how it will turnout>>
Exactly! It is all speculation... and even from game to game.
What we have is the clay from which beautiful porcelain can be made. A Summer of practices will tell El Maestro what he has in various combinations. And what he'll pull out of his hat to craft each game plan is conjecture.
(Whether Butler is adept enough to mirror a Dolson high post set-up passer won't be confirmed until Geno sees if it can be mastered. But, I do believe he has telegraphed that he does see the potential for it.)
We have long experienced the little man behind the curtain and his pulling of levers. UConn customarily may have one set of five on the floor to start a game. Give it the four minute (sometimes less) audition... then... add a little speed, switch an assignment, throw in a 3/4 press unit... Tinker, try, & modify.
We have two more years of the ultimate "swiss-army-knife" of bball players. Too tall for most guards, too fluid for most "traditional" centers, and enough range to make opposing forwards weep.
Two more years of the pesky 'lil defender on (Mo)jet skis... an awesome fly in other teams' ointment... Four inches shorter than harrass-Faris, but a nervous-dervish that turns others lazy passes to breakaway deuces.
And when ANYONEs energy level tapers... Geno can play the next card in the deck.
See a hole in some team's defense... Add four minutes of 6-4" or a left-handed slasher (Moment of silence for BBanks, here).
We've got the clay comin', we've got the mad-potter, a few fiery practice months and... I think... we'll have a nice set of dishes to eat other folks' lunch.
 
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80% of the teams that UConn will play throughout the regular season will be no better than the teams in the Big East that Butler competed against AND DOMINATED. She's coming to UConn where she will have a year to integrate into the program, get appreciably better coaching and weight training and competing every day in practice against some of the most talented kids in the country. She has a marvelous work ethic and good physical skills (running the floor well, soft hands, etc) and somehow you speak of her as being a fine player as long as she's only playing against mid-major (Big East) teams but suggest that she'll lose minutes because you somehow feel that she won't be able to cope against better teams?????? It seems in reading some of your posts that you are all over the map with your opinions and there is a weird inconsistency. One minute you speak as if you have consummate knowledge of every scope of women's basketball and the next you're relying on opinions of a couple of posters who I had never heard of or read about before as if they brought the tablets off the Mount! You seem to suggest that you'd prefer smaller players playing the front line like we had with Task Force (2001) when we had multiple players playing the center and forward spots that were in the range of 6'1 thru 6'3. It obviously worked out well but had Geno had an accomplished player or players with size like Rebecca or Kara or Tina or Stef, I doubt that he would have used that smaller lineup as extensively as he did. Geno is undoubtedly going to have a lot of options with incoming talent and he loves flexibility and multi skill players but you act as if Stef would have have struggled for minutes if she were the transfer center coming into Storrs next season instead of Butler. You must remember that as a freshman, Stef didn't put up anywhere near the numbers that Butler did against primarily the same level talent though I know a couple of the stellar teams that Stef played against (Notre Dame and Louisville) were no longer in the Big East. Even if you feel Butler would have been completely shut down against these teams (which is unrealistic), her overall numbers wouldn't have changed that drastically. Why don't you and others give this girl some slack???? She has talent and yet you and others suggest that she is just some journeyman talent, competing against mediocrity to attain numbers. Evidently you assume that Geno's buddies and whose opinion he revers who coach DePaul and Villanova don't know anything about basketball skills and abilities when they see it???? They raved about Butler but still many here question her skill set or her ability to improve. If you had played and coached basketball all your life and had seen Butler play on numerous occasions and saw her exposed against talented teams, maybe, just maybe, I'd put a little stock in what you have to say but that isn't the case, is it? You are just making assumptions based on second hand information from WHO?????? If you are going to speculate, why don't you try and speculate in a positive manner instead of denigrating someone who you aren't even familiar with. The people around her can't say enough about her work ethic and her willingness to push herself continually to get better and better even when she was the UNANIMOUS winner of the freshman of the year award in her conference. Instead, there's bashing of a conference that we just left. Did you think the Big East conference sucked last year when we were in it???

BUZZ: good stuff. And speaking of input from coaches, I think it was the coach from St. Johns (not sure) who called her "THE most impressive freshman I have coached against in my 14 years in the Big East." If not exact, it's mighty close to exact and certainly captures the essence of his evaluation. (Geno used "game changer" as I recall.) I continue to think the Butler will have done it by the time she leaves UCONN.
 
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I think she is a starter from the moment she becomes eligible to when she decides to leave. Nothing behind that except a former coach ( Jim Lewis) who thought she had potential to play in the WNBA, an opposing coach's (Doug Bruno) assessment that she has the potential to be a great player and her current coach's opinion that she can be a game changer. I have seen her play a couple of times (tv) and I liked her game. I just remember that she altered a lot of shots and ran the floor well.

oops.....talking about Natalie Butler.....this was meant as a reply to meyers7

JC: I always like to read input from Yarders who have actually seen the player on the court. Thank you.....I presume if you had additional recollections, you would have included them....?
 

EricLA

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This is awesome news. After watching 4 of the Team USA U16 games, I came away thinking that Holmes was one of the 4 best players on the team, and she's a year younger (like Cox and Ionescu) than the rest of the team. I'd LOVE to land her. She's special.

Incredibly athletic, tenacious defender, strong post moves, solid with the ball, and has a WNBA body as a 15 year old.
 

Zorro

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He made even stronger comments about Heather Buck.

Moral: While he's usually right, it isnt always the case.

But that is the way you bet.
 
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I would absolutely love to land Holmes. She is as incredibly athletic, has great size, explosive first step, tremendous footwork, and the best part is that she is only 16 and will only get better.
 
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I would absolutely love to land Holmes. She is as incredibly athletic, has great size, explosive first step, tremendous footwork, and the best part is that she is only 16 and will only get better.


Gee, ya think so? ESPN only has Joyner Holmes as a 98.
 
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Sluconn Husky

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Gee, ya think so? ESPN only has Joyner Holmes as a 98.


Holmes is a terrific prospect, but don't put anything into ESPN's ratings yet. All they did was separate their top-25 by groups of five; i.e. 1-5 are 98's, 6-10 are 97's, 11-15 are 96's, etc.

It'll probably be another year before their '16 class ratings are legitimately labeled.
 
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Got to get Durr, she is head of 2015-16 class. Ogunbowale has ruled Uconn out. If Durr comes, Dangerfield will go to Tennessee, or another good option, where she could start right away in 2015-16.
 
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Got to get Durr, she is head of 2015-16 class. Ogunbowale has ruled Uconn out. If Durr comes, Dangerfield will go to Tennessee, or another good option, where she could start right away in 2015-16.

Durr would be a great get for UConn but so would Holmes and she probably means more because of positional needs.
 

Sluconn Husky

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Durr would be a great get for UConn but so would Holmes and she probably means more because of positional needs.

Considering UConn has three quality forwards coming in 2015, I'm not sure there's a positional need for Holmes either.
 

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Holmes will be a 5 by the time she gets to College.

I don't see that whatsoever. She's so mobile she could pass for a three. And a lot of her game is off the dribble.
 

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He made even stronger comments about Heather Buck.

Moral: While he's usually right, it isnt always the case.

I don't know what he said about Heather Buck or when he said it. What I do know (from an impeccably reliable source) is that there were doubts about heather's skills, but Jamelle persuaded Geno (and Chris?) to offer her, which he did.

She had a great attitude, was 6'5", and played hsbb in Connecticut. She gave everything she had for five years, excelled as a scholar, and has been a credit to UConn.
 
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Holmes seems like an amazing 4...she can play the 3 or 5 but it seems her best position is the 4...
 
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I don't know what he said about Heather Buck or when he said it. What I do know (from an impeccably reliable source) is that there were doubts about heather's skills, but Jamelle persuaded Geno (and Chris?) to offer her, which he did.

She had a great attitude, was 6'5", and played hsbb in Connecticut. She gave everything she had for five years, excelled as a scholar, and has been a credit to UConn.
And she was the best teamate of all time!
 
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I don't see that whatsoever. She's so mobile she could pass for a three. And a lot of her game is off the dribble.

Well I do. She does her best work in the paint( both face up and back to the basket}, she is an explosive athlete that dominates the glass, she has amazing footwork, she uses great position and great leaping abiity to be a monster on the boards. She reminds me a lot of a women's Bill Russell. Just because someone is mobile doesn't mean they are a 3. She does not have the perimeter jump shot or handle to be a 3 in college. She scores off the bounce primarily after facing up and beating her defender with her first step.
 
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