Another Recruit Goes West: Maddie Scheer to Oregon

[Wbbfan1]

Maddie Scherr, nation’s No. 25 prospect and projected 5-star recruit, commits to Oregon Ducks

Reigning Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year Maddie Scherr becomes the 4th highly-rated recruit to commit Oregon in the class of 2020

www.oregonlive.com

Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year commits to Oregon. Used to seeing players going from the West Coast to the East Coast. Of course the exception has been Stanford who can recruit from anywhere due to their Academic Standards.

 

[Argonaut]

Maddie Scherr, nation’s No. 25 prospect and projected 5-star recruit, commits to Oregon Ducks

Reigning Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year Maddie Scherr becomes the 4th highly-rated recruit to commit Oregon in the class of 2020

www.oregonlive.com

Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year commits to Oregon. Used to seeing players going from the West Coast to the East Coast. Of course the exception has been Stanford who can recruit from anywhere due to their Academic Standards.

It'll be interesting to see how Graves divvies out playing time for all of these top recruits, or if Oregon will start to be plagued by transfers, too.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Oregon is looking like a full house!

Meanwhile, Jeff Walz misses out on an in-state player.

 

[willtalk]

I think with the improvement of West coast basketball this will be seen more often. I think the key might have been the Pac 12's TV deal which allows friends and family to view players across the country. Oregon also picked up a Center from the Australian U17 fiba championship team that beat the USA a few years ago. So they are not entirely without height. Lydia Giomi will also come back after next season. She redshirted her first season.

 

[jonson]

It'll be interesting to see how Graves divvies out playing time for all of these top recruits, or if Oregon will start to be plagued by transfers, too.

Graves likes to use his bench (when he has one), so--ideally, from an Oregon perspective--this won't be a major issue. There will be 5 guards after next year (Parrish will be a wing): Yaeger (a senior), Chavez (junior), Shelley (sophomore), and the two freshmen (Scherr and Paopao), with the first's playing time likely limited by chronic back problems. (She is also the least talented of the 5.) I suspect that Scherr's signing means that Graves believes that the Ducks are no longer a serious contender for Clark, although saying so is probably to undervalue Scherr's talent: for example, she clearly outplayed Van Lith in a recent head-to-head matchup. But whatever else one might say, Graves is clearly recruiting winners: Parrish, Dugalic, and Scherr all led their respective teams to state championships, and, in each case, the title was the first for all three schools. If Oregon is fortunate enough to land Watson, that will make four, with all of them players of the year in their respective states, and all ranked in the top 25 in the most recent Hoopgurlz listing.

 

[DeeHusky]

Oregon is looking like a full house!

Meanwhile, Jeff Walz misses out on an in-state player.

And Matthew Mitchell

 

[Dillon77]

I think with the improvement of West coast basketball this will be seen more often. I think the key might have been the Pac 12's TV deal which allows friends and family to view players across the country. Oregon also picked up a Center from the Australian U17 fiba championship team that beat the USA a few years ago. So they are not entirely without height. Lydia Giomi will also come back after next season. She redshirted her first season.

Graves likes to use his bench (when he has one), so--ideally, from an Oregon perspective--this won't be a major issue. There will be 5 guards after next year (Parrish will be a wing): Yaeger (a senior), Chavez (junior), Shelley (sophomore), and the two freshmen (Scherr and Paopao), with the first's playing time likely limited by chronic back problems. (She is also the least talented of the 5.) I suspect that Scherr's signing means that Graves believes that the Ducks are no longer a serious contender for Clark, although saying so is probably to undervalue Scherr's talent: for example, she clearly outplayed Van Lith in a recent head-to-head matchup. But whatever else one might say, Graves is clearly recruiting winners: Parrish, Dugalic, and Scherr all led their respective teams to state championships, and, in each case, the title was the first for all three schools. If Oregon is fortunate enough to land Watson, that will make four, with all of them players of the year in their respective states, and all ranked in the top 25 in the most recent Hoopgurlz listing.

- I was aware that Graves has Jaz Shelley, the hot-stuff Aussie point guard, coming aboard in the Class of 2019 (as noted by jonson). Along with Paopao, that's two point guards in 2020 and although I suspect Scherr will be used off-the-ball, her handle is pretty good (at least in the games I've seen her in).

- Who is the Aussie center? I missed that one...Dugalic is certainly not without height, that's for sure.

- As for height, Watson is also up there (6'3"/6'4"). She's taking an OV to Notre Dame in June and is on record as saying she wants to make up her mind shortly thereafter. You're right, she led her Mainland, NJ, team to a Class 3 State Title (for the first time). While she made USA Today's first team All-State Team Maryland recruit Diamond Miller was named POY by both USA Today and Gatorade.

- As for the virtual hauling in of guards in both 2019 and 2020, I'm hoping that Graves also believes he's not a major contender and that her preferred direction to travel from home is slightly northeast to South Bend, Indiana!

Still, that's quite an eastward haul by Coach Graves....Indiana, Illinois and now Kentucky.

 

[jonson]

- I was aware that Graves has Jaz Shelley, the hot-stuff Aussie point guard, coming aboard in the Class of 2019 (as noted by jonson). Along with Paopao, that's two point guards in 2020 and although I suspect Scherr will be used off-the-ball, her handle is pretty good (at least in the games I've seen her in).

- Who is the Aussie center? I missed that one...Dugalic is certainly not without height, that's for sure.

- As for height, Watson is also up there (6'3"/6'4"). She's taking an OV to Notre Dame in June and is on record as saying she wants to make up her mind shortly thereafter. You're right, she led her Mainland, NJ, team to a Class 3 State Title (for the first time). While she made USA Today's first team All-State Team Maryland recruit Diamond Miller was named POY by both USA Today and Gatorade.

- As for the virtual hauling in of guards in both 2019 and 2020, I'm hoping that Graves also believes he's not a major contender and that her preferred direction to travel from home is slightly northeast to South Bend, Indiana!

Still, that's quite an eastward haul by Coach Graves....Indiana, Illinois and now Kentucky.

Thank you for the correction. The Aussie is Lucy Cochrane, who is sometimes listed at 6'5", sometimes at 6'6". Both the Sabally sisters are 6'4"--so, the year after next (after Hebard departs), Oregon will have 3 at 6'4" (Saballys + Dugalic), 2 at 6'5" or 6'6" (Giomi and Cochrane)+ (maybe) Watson or Ware (the other "big" Graves is reportedly targeting and who, according to a recent ESPN feature, is now 6'5" and wants to play volleyball as well as basketball). I believe, and I believe that Graves believes, Clark is headed your way.

 

[KY Card Fan]

Not surprised that Walz missed on her. Louisville is extremely guard-heavy for next 2-3 years. Am surprised that Mitchell didn't get her.

Graves is certainly building a powerhouse at Oregon. I thought they might be one-hit wonders with Ionescu but that is obviously not the case.

 

[Orangutan]

Sabrina Ionescu is one of the clearest examples of how a single recruit can completely change a program.

Graves would have built something there regardless. But I think Sabrina made them "cool" and accelerated that process greatly.

 

[Argonaut]

Sabrina Ionescu is one of the clearest examples of how a single recruit can completely change a program.

Graves would have built something there regardless. But I think Sabrina made them "cool" and accelerated that process greatly.

Just like A’ja Wilson did for SC...

I think that’s why so many in Minnesota were upset when PB chose to go elsewhere. She and Whalen could have done something special to turn the Gophers (but, selfishly, I’m thrilled she’s coming to Storrs).

 

[SECbbfan24]

I wonder what this mean for Hailey Van Lith. Will she stay out west or will she go to Waco? I know Baylor has been all over her recruitment these last few months.

 

[NWHoopFan2]

Graves likes to use his bench (when he has one), so--ideally, from an Oregon perspective--this won't be a major issue. There will be 5 guards after next year (Parrish will be a wing): Yaeger (a senior), Chavez (junior), Shelley (sophomore), and the two freshmen (Scherr and Paopao), with the first's playing time likely limited by chronic back problems. (She is also the least talented of the 5.) I suspect that Scherr's signing means that Graves believes that the Ducks are no longer a serious contender for Clark, although saying so is probably to undervalue Scherr's talent: for example, she clearly outplayed Van Lith in a recent head-to-head matchup. But whatever else one might say, Graves is clearly recruiting winners: Parrish, Dugalic, and Scherr all led their respective teams to state championships, and, in each case, the title was the first for all three schools. If Oregon is fortunate enough to land Watson, that will make four, with all of them players of the year in their respective states, and all ranked in the top 25 in the most recent Hoopgurlz listing.

Don’t forget Holly Winterburn arriving from England in the 2020 class. She has had a very impressive season playing in England’s WBBL against much older players. With her there will now be six guards on the roster for the 20-21 season (not counting Parrish as a guard) so I also expect Kelly is full at the two guard spots and is still looking for one big plus possibly a grad transfer to add for next year.

 

[DaBball]

Interestingly enough both Graves and Rueck have started to get talent from the east. Of course Graves has gone to Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky for his 2020 class.

Rueck added Aquino, who was recruited out of New Jersey, as well as Kansas and Texas in his 2019 class.

 

[DeeHusky]

Just like A’ja Wilson did for SC...

I think that’s why so many in Minnesota were upset when PB chose to go elsewhere. She and Whalen could have done something special to turn the Gophers (but, selfishly, I’m thrilled she’s coming to Storrs).

Like Skylar did for Notre Dame as well. For a while they had been unable to compete with UConn in the Big East. When Skylar decided to stay home in South Bend, she got the program back to it’s Riley, Ivey days and recruits started wanted to flock there.

 

[j66kicker]

It'll be interesting to see how Graves divvies out playing time for all of these top recruits, or if Oregon will start to be plagued by transfers, too.

Graves lost 4 transfers last year, but I wouldn't call them "plagued" - they seemed to survive it OK.

 

[willtalk]

Graves lost 4 transfers last year, but I wouldn't call them "plagued" - they seemed to survive it OK.

Losing Anneli Maley G/F from Australia only ended up hurting their depth, but the real loss was Aina Ayuso the backup PG who many said was going to be better than Cazorla. But she was not a transfer but rather chose to go professional. In comparison, McGwire was going to see her playing time diminish even more with the addition of the other Sabally the younger. Of course she MG didn't know at the time that Sabbally would get injured. Even in the 17/18 season, as soon as Satou's got acclimated, her skill set sort of made McGwire mid-range game obsolete. McGwire was never really a low post player. She was a stretch in the body of a post. She made a good decision leaving.

 

[jonson]

From a local (Oregon) story on the commitment (and distance):

Maddie Scherr knew deep-down that Oregon would wind up being the pick for a while. The biggest obstacle standing in her way was the 2,400-miles between her home in Florence (Kent.) and Eugene. Since both her older siblings attend Northern Kentucky University, about 15 minutes from the family home, the idea of going to college so far away was admittedly hard for the family to wrap its head around.

“It wasn’t as much me as it was my family," she said of the issues with distance. “I knew Oregon was the place I needed to go, and although it’s the furthest, it gave me the best support system for my home away from home. . . . The decision came down to four schools: three nearby schools in Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana and the west coast Ducks. The final choice was between Oregon and Louisville, and after a "back-and-forth" couple of weeks, the relationship with Graves pushed them over the top. Graves began recruiting Scherr when she was in eighth grade.

“He’s not just a crazy head coach who is pushing his players all day and then off the court he’s not worried about them," she said of Graves. "It’s more than that, and that was important for me because I’m more than a basketball player. I’m going to be a student-athlete for four years.

“When I go to college, I want to come out the best basketball player I can be, so going where I know I’ll be pushed and I’ll have to work really hard, and hopefully we can win, I’m a competitor and I want to win games, those were all important factors too."

Scherr referenced the Player Tribune piece penned by Sabrina Ionescu to announce her return last month, which stated: "Something is happening here. We’re building a program — and not just any program. We’re building a program that wins national championships."

"That was super awesome to read because that’s just the vibe there," she said. "That’s what they’re about. The goal is to win a national championship. That’ll be the goal the minute we get there. We’ll have hard-working players. Hopefully, we can capitalize off of it and win a national championship."

Link: Maddie Scherr explains decision behind her Oregon commitment

 

[Charliebball]

I wonder what this mean for Hailey Van Lith. Will she stay out west or will she go to Waco? I know Baylor has been all over her recruitment these last few months.

might be case where she overplayed her hand if she was seriously considering UConn and Oregon...............I often wonder why these top recruits wait so long before making a verbal commitment........