BRS24
LisaG
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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Purely rhetorical/IMHO observations here. Lauren Betts was ranked #1 in 2022 class, Juju Watkins #1 in 2023. Did Betts look like the #1 high school player last year? Not really. Watkins on the other hand, does look like #1 was warranted. In 2020, Amari was ranked #15, Citron #16, however the latter has certainly had a better college career to date. In 2019, the top players were Haley Jones, Horston, Boston, Cooke, Rikea Jackson, and Brunelle. In college, however, I'd give the edge to Boston, Houston, and Cooke. Rikea and Brunelle are tbd as they are not finished yet.
Now, this is where we might get into some debates. In 2017, it was Megan Walker, Westbrook, and Boothe. I had high hopes for Walker, and IMHO, her progression to "senior" year was ok, but not spectacular. Westbrook, on the other hand, had pretty good last two seasons at UConn. Was she a better HS player than Walker? Maybe. UConn had the #1, 13, 16, and 29th ranked players, and other than Walker, no one else panned out in relation to the UConn expectations.
My point in all of this, is that ranking services will fall in love with certain players, whether it's speed, skill, height, or many other factors. The rankings are mostly directionally accurate (that's my hedge), but not a predictor of how well a player does in college. There are sooooo many factors that go into the transition of a HS to college player, where sometimes it moves in an upward trajectory and sometimes not. Was Amari truly #15? At that time, probably yes. However every time I see a thread on Amari with all the questions, demands, critique, etc, my heart falls. She seems like a good kid. She loves the team and they love her. And before anyone comments on how that's not enough, she's still on the team and that's good enough for me as I have no insight as to what the coaches' expectations are, or anything of that ilk. Let Amari be Amari.
(a lot of these thoughts are from reading the article about Mir today)
Now, this is where we might get into some debates. In 2017, it was Megan Walker, Westbrook, and Boothe. I had high hopes for Walker, and IMHO, her progression to "senior" year was ok, but not spectacular. Westbrook, on the other hand, had pretty good last two seasons at UConn. Was she a better HS player than Walker? Maybe. UConn had the #1, 13, 16, and 29th ranked players, and other than Walker, no one else panned out in relation to the UConn expectations.
My point in all of this, is that ranking services will fall in love with certain players, whether it's speed, skill, height, or many other factors. The rankings are mostly directionally accurate (that's my hedge), but not a predictor of how well a player does in college. There are sooooo many factors that go into the transition of a HS to college player, where sometimes it moves in an upward trajectory and sometimes not. Was Amari truly #15? At that time, probably yes. However every time I see a thread on Amari with all the questions, demands, critique, etc, my heart falls. She seems like a good kid. She loves the team and they love her. And before anyone comments on how that's not enough, she's still on the team and that's good enough for me as I have no insight as to what the coaches' expectations are, or anything of that ilk. Let Amari be Amari.
(a lot of these thoughts are from reading the article about Mir today)
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