Dillon77
WBB Enthusiast; ND Alum, Fan
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Dillon would you say that MM looks for the same kind of player as Geno or is she a bit looser when it comes to individualism among the recruits.....I have to attribute some of UConn's recent recruiting issues with the limited number of "Boot camp" ready players that are willing sacrifice all for the good of the team.....
Charlie: As CocoHusky detailed in post #171, ND and UConn do go after a lot of the same (kind of) players. And even those that don't pop up on such lists often play like could be on the other's team (Madison Cable, Morgan Tuck come to mind).
There have been a couple of articles this year that go into a bit of detail about Muffet's (evolving) attitudes toward players and recruiting.
(This one goes into a slew of other topics but scroll on down: The Evolution of Muffet)
Her priorities -- as I've read -- seem to be:
- Need to be an exceptional player (sorry for stating the obvious)
- Play/contribute to/do well within the ND system of playing ball (fitting with her teammates is important, too)
- Being a fit in the university
- And...this is one of those evolving factors: Muffet wants to like being around this person for the duration of their time together. This is stated explicitly in another article, but hinted at here. It's a good thing...if they can concentrate on the relationship, the emotion of the "x's and o's," is minimized a bit and they can attack the goal together.
To some degree, this pushes everything closer to the small end of the funnel and they end up looking at fewer people. She mentioned there are three or four targets for the 2017 group. Although she's not explicit about who the "top liners" are, you can bet the top ones expected are fully vetted by Muffett, Niele Ivey and the rest of the staff. And she's also looking to recruit to what the roster needs/turnover is going to be...there will be no stockpiling.
That's fair to all concerned, in my mind.
As for your question, there does seem to room for a player to flex her individual talents -- Arike Ogunbowale comes to mind this year, but I'm sure Muffett had to initially grin and bear it when Michaela Mabrey started launching some her "somewhere from Ohio" three pointers.
So there's some flexibility there. Still, as the commentator in the Jordan Brand game said, you kind of know a Muffet McGraw player when you see one...Erin Boley certainly fits, as will Jackie young. Of course, could've seen them in Storris, just like I could've seen KLS in South Bend.
Would welcome any input from Orangutan, Flying A or any other Irish watcher....