LEXI GUSSERT TO SPARTANS

[HGN]

The Detroit Free Press states that Lexi Gusssert has given a verbal to the Michigan State Univ. Spartans over the UConn Huskies and Tennessee Vols.

 

[EricLA]

This was mentioned in a long thread that was started a while ago when it was clear we were recruiting her. Still, some may have missed it. Nice pick up for the Spartans. She looks like a good player...

 

[Icebear]

LEXI GUSSERT THREAD LINK

 

[alexrgct]

This was mentioned in a long thread that was started a while ago when it was clear we were recruiting her. Still, some may have missed it. Nice pick up for the Spartans. She looks like a good player...

She is a good player and would have been highly marketable in any WCBB program. This really is a shame. The future of the Uconn program wasn't riding on her recruitment like it was KML, Breanna Stewart, or A'ja Wilson, but it is too bad that she isn't coming to Storrs. It's a big story and shouldn't be sugar coated. Yes, Uconn has a supremely talented roster and great talent coming in already slated for 2014, but it's still not a good thing. How could Lexi eschew Geno for a mediocre program like Michigan State? Doesn't make sense to me. Sure, there's less depth, but playing time at a mediocre program isn't the same as having the opportunity for playing for a national championship and for the best coach in WCBB.

Best of luck to Lexi, but she's made a poor decision.

 

[alexrgct]

One note: if she wants to be in Michigan, UM seems like it would have been a better decision. KBA is an accomplished coach, Ann Arbor is a better college town, and UM is a superior school academically. What on earth does MSU have to offer? It's second rate academically, Lansing is a hole, and absolutely nothing has been accomplished in terms of WBB. Tom Izzo is a great coach on the men's side, but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat. Why would you choose this over freaking Uconn? I mean, they've only won eight NCs and have chance to win more as long as Breanna Stewart is on the team. I'm flabbergasted that someone would decline a Uconn offer for Michigan State. It really is a loser of a decision. Yes, we should be classy and wish her the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't make any sense.

 

[Zorro]

Uh...That's two notes, actually.

 

[UConnCat]

One note: if she wants to be in Michigan, UM seems like it would have been a better decision. KBA is an accomplished coach, Ann Arbor is a better college town, and UM is a superior school academically. What on earth does MSU have to offer? It's second rate academically, Lansing is a hole, and absolutely nothing has been accomplished in terms of WBB. Tom Izzo is a great coach on the men's side, but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat. Why would you choose this over freaking Uconn? I mean, they've only won eight NCs and have chance to win more as long as Breanna Stewart is on the team. I'm flabbergasted that someone would decline a Uconn offer for Michigan State. It really is a loser of a decision. Yes, we should be classy and wish her the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't mhe dake any sense.

Well, we sure know it's not about the weather in Storrs. She declined making a trip to UConn to receive an offer (I think that's where things stood; Geno wanted her to make a trip to campus before extending an offer). She mentioned representing Michigan as being important to her and her mom. Whatever one might think of E Lansing (I've been there plenty), she lives in the Upper Peninsula.

After EDD, nothing surprises me.

 

[cannon]

She is a good player and would have been highly marketable in any WCBB program. This really is a shame. The future of the Uconn program wasn't riding on her recruitment like it was KML, Breanna Stewart, or A'ja Wilson, but it is too bad that she isn't coming to Storrs. It's a big story and shouldn't be sugar coated. Yes, Uconn has a supremely talented roster and great talent coming in already slated for 2014, but it's still not a good thing. How could Lexi eschew Geno for a mediocre program like Michigan State? Doesn't make sense to me. Sure, there's less depth, but playing time at a mediocre program isn't the same as having the opportunity for playing for a national championship and for the best coach in WCBB.

Best of luck to Lexi, but she's made a poor decision.

One note: if she wants to be in Michigan, UM seems like it would have been a better decision. KBA is an accomplished coach, Ann Arbor is a better college town, and UM is a superior school academically. What on earth does MSU have to offer? It's second rate academically, Lansing is a hole, and absolutely nothing has been accomplished in terms of WBB. Tom Izzo is a great coach on the men's side, but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat. Why would you choose this over freaking Uconn? I mean, they've only won eight NCs and have chance to win more as long as Breanna Stewart is on the team. I'm flabbergasted that someone would decline a Uconn offer for Michigan State. It really is a loser of a decision. Yes, we should be classy and wish her the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't make any sense.

It's not that serious dude.
I play soccer & turned down "the soccer school" so I literally got letters from three crazies that sound like you........umm not everybody has the same goals nor does everyone care about the same stuff
For you to say that she made a poor/loser decision is beyond dumb, because you have no clue what qualities in a school/program she was looking for.
& she obviously doesn't give about "playing for a national championship and for the best coach in WCBB."

 

[Raoul]

One note: if she wants to be in Michigan, UM seems like it would have been a better decision. KBA is an accomplished coach, Ann Arbor is a better college town, and UM is a superior school academically. What on earth does MSU have to offer? It's second rate academically, Lansing is a hole, and absolutely nothing has been accomplished in terms of WBB. Tom Izzo is a great coach on the men's side, but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat. Why would you choose this over freaking Uconn? I mean, they've only won eight NCs and have chance to win more as long as Breanna Stewart is on the team. I'm flabbergasted that someone would decline a Uconn offer for Michigan State. It really is a loser of a decision. Yes, we should be classy and wish her the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't make any sense.

You obviously know little about the state of Michigan or Big Ten women's basketball. I'm a Michigan fan, so I hate to admit this: MSU has been one of the top programs in the conference for some time. So there's little shame—or even surprise—in an in-state player deciding to go there.

And as far as the state goes, many people here grow up fans of either Michigan or MSU. Outside southeastern Michigan, more people are MSU fans than Michigan fans. So there's a reasonable chance that Gussert, being from the Upper Peninsula, grew up an MSU fan.

By the way, I have to note that while that Free Press writer flatly declares her to be the #1 player in the state in the 2014 class, that's far from universally agreed on. The local recruiting gurus tend to put Asia Doss, a point guard from Detroit Country Day, at #1.

 

[alexrgct]

It's not that serious dude.
I play soccer & turned down "the soccer school" so I literally got letters from three crazies that sound like you........umm not everybody has the same goals nor does everyone care about the same stuff
For you to say that she made a poor/loser decision is beyond dumb, because you have no clue what qualities in a school/program she was looking for.
& she obviously doesn't give about "playing for a national championship and for the best coach in WCBB."

Yes, not playing for an NC and having the best coach- clearly those are things not to care about. Her priories are definitely in good order.

Sorry, Michigan as a state sucks, and MSU is second rate academically. No I don't know what her priorities are..but I do know what they should be.

 

[rocky rococo]

It's all about what the student and her family want. For example, if your objective is to be team leader, there's much more room for that ambition at MSU than UConn.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The kid obviously did not have enough fire in her belly to want to be in the UConn program. Geno and Co. sniffed it out. Well done. No offer wasted.

 

[Forty_four]

If we get Wilson and Calhoun we wont miss Lexi.

 

[pinotbear]

Yes, not playing for an NC and having the best coach- clearly those are things not to care about. Her priories are definitely in good order.

Sorry, Michigan as a state sucks, and MSU is second rate academically. No I don't know what her priorities are..but I do know what they should be.

Alex, one too many Red Bulls today, maybe. It's pretty over-the-top for you, me, or anybody to say that we know what somebody else's priorities should be, much less a high school kid. If you had left it at, "if she wants to play for the best program, she chose the wrong school", I don't think many folks here would disagree at all. But, there's a whole lot more that goes into choosing a college than just the basketball program. I won't bore everybody by going through an Admissions-brochure list, but, not everybody puts basketball at the "top-of-the-list, and nothing else really matters" priority. I simply think it's very presumptuous for any of us to say that we know her priorities better than she does. I can only imagine what I would've said - and, likely, you, since you are a person of strong opinions - if somebody had said to me that they knew what my priorities ought to be, better than I did. I would've gotten ugly in a hurry.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Alex, one too many Red Bulls today, maybe. It's pretty over-the-top for you, me, or anybody to say that we know what somebody else's priorities should be, much less a high school kid. If you had left it at, "if she wants to play for the best program, she chose the wrong school", I don't think many folks here would disagree at all. But, there's a whole lot more that goes into choosing a college than just the basketball program. I won't bore everybody by going through an Admissions-brochure list, but, not everybody puts basketball at the "top-of-the-list, and nothing else really matters" priority. I simply think it's very presumptuous for any of us to say that we know her priorities better than she does. I can only imagine what I would've said - and, likely, you, since you are a person of strong opinions - if somebody had said to me that they knew what my priorities ought to be, better than I did. I would've gotten ugly in a hurry.

Yes, not playing for an NC and having the best coach- clearly those are things not to care about. Her priories are definitely in good order.

Sorry, Michigan as a state sucks, and MSU is second rate academically. No I don't know what her priorities are..but I do know what they should be.

Alex, my friend...perhaps wisdom from Lord Chesterfield might apply here...if I may paraphrase, "question most strongly that which you believe in most strongly”...passionate opine is easy, an open mind not so easy.

 

[dtbtbtb]

I don't see it as such a loss for the simple reason that while she seems like a very good player I don't see her that much different than the 3 players UConn have committed for 2014. UConn needs some height

 

[chrissaran]

It's not a losers decision. She probably figured she wouldn't get much playing time at UConn for her first two years. Why not go to another school and get playing time. Nobody gets drafted by the WNBA sitting on the bench. I hope Lexi does well. It will have no affect on whether or not UConn wins more championships.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

. . . but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat . . .

That 2005 MSU team gave UConn one of its worst beatings in the last 20 years (and at UConn
if I recall correctly).

UConn lost a number of games that year, but except for the MSU game, in each of those losses
I had the feeling that UConn might come back and win. Against MSU, UConn lost every quarter.
They were never in it.

 

[EricLA]

I don't see it as such a loss for the simple reason that while she seems like a very good player I don't see her that much different than the 3 players UConn have committed for 2014. UConn needs some height

Plus, when you consider Ekmark, Edwards and Williams are all ranked higher than her, and it seems they play similar positions, not to mention Chong a year ahead of her... Frankly I wondered why they were recruiting her in the 1st place. Calhoun, Wilson, Belton, Rooks and Westbeld all seem like higher priorities. It seems Calhoun, Ekmark and Gussert all play similar potions or have overlaps. Gussert was listed as a 6'0" wing...

 

[Sonny44]

I don't see it as such a loss for the simple reason that while she seems like a very good player I don't see her that much different than the 3 players UConn have committed for 2014. UConn needs some height

Agree.
Wilson.

 

[Bestiarius]

One note: if she wants to be in Michigan, UM seems like it would have been a better decision. KBA is an accomplished coach, Ann Arbor is a better college town, and UM is a superior school academically. What on earth does MSU have to offer? It's second rate academically, Lansing is a hole, and absolutely nothing has been accomplished in terms of WBB. Tom Izzo is a great coach on the men's side, but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat. Why would you choose this over freaking Uconn? I mean, they've only won eight NCs and have chance to win more as long as Breanna Stewart is on the team. I'm flabbergasted that someone would decline a Uconn offer for Michigan State. It really is a loser of a decision. Yes, we should be classy and wish her the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't make any sense.

In defense of MSU, it's not as bad as you're making it sound. UofM's reputation is mainly based on it's graduate school. The MSU campus is gorgeous and campus life doesn't depend on Lansing, or even East Lansing where the school is located. About half of the students live on campus and over 90% of freshmen return the next year, so it must have some appeal.

 

[Vowelguy]

Yes, not playing for an NC and having the best coach- clearly those are things not to care about. Her priories are definitely in good order.

Sorry, Michigan as a state sucks, and MSU is second rate academically. No I don't know what her priorities are..but I do know what they should be.

How fortunate this board is to have someone who can tell us what teenage girls' priorities should be.

 

[Vowelguy]

One note: if she wants to be in Michigan, UM seems like it would have been a better decision. KBA is an accomplished coach, Ann Arbor is a better college town, and UM is a superior school academically. What on earth does MSU have to offer? It's second rate academically, Lansing is a hole, and absolutely nothing has been accomplished in terms of WBB. Tom Izzo is a great coach on the men's side, but other than an abortive trip to the finals in 2005, the women's team has accomplished diddly squat. Why would you choose this over freaking Uconn? I mean, they've only won eight NCs and have chance to win more as long as Breanna Stewart is on the team. I'm flabbergasted that someone would decline a Uconn offer for Michigan State. It really is a loser of a decision. Yes, we should be classy and wish her the best, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't make any sense.

Thank God you weren't advising Rebecca Lobo on her college choice.