2016 recruiting

You said I was from Baylor trolling that's offensive. I'm actually from South Carolina. I don't bleed burnt orange or Green and gold. I'm about as impartial as they come.

 

Folks can speculate all they want as to why Cox eliminated Texas; we will most likely never know.

If you revert back to some early articles on her, she went on record as saying she wanted to play in the Big 12. She attended one summer camp, and it was at Duke (who was eliminated from Cox's list in the prior round). She has since made out-of-pocket trips to view games in person at Notre Dame and Louisville, and maybe one other school. Her last visit to Texas may have been to watch us host Tennessee; not sure she came to watch us host Baylor. She did attend the Big 12 tourney.

Based on her list, she has a 1-6 chance of playing in the Big 12. So, her early ambition of playing in the Big 12 no longer seems that important. After Baylor, her closest school under consideration may be Tennessee, who is in the Eastern time zone, I believe. In fact, all the other 5 schools are in the Eastern time zone. Other than Notre Dame and Baylor somewhat, none of the schools she is considering have high academic reputations. So, she is deciding mainly based on the basketball program; that is fine. All those other schools have made the Final Four recently. Growing up as a youngster, she most likely watched UConn, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Baylor, and Louisville play in the Final Fours. We probably weren't a team she was watching on TV and having success; hopefully, we are on our way so the up-and-coming recruits start seeing Texas as their favorite team growing up.

With Breanna Steward graduating in 2016, it is probably a very realistic thought that she could step right in for her, and Geno would use her in the same manner; that's a huge selling point, IMO, for UConn. Rumors have been that she really likes Notre Dame and Louisville, and that would make sense since she visited them this Spring. I don't see her picking USC or UTK, but you never know.

As I said before, I'd rather our staff finding out now versus on NSD. In recruiting, it really doesn't matter if you finished 2nd or 22nd for a recruit; the outcome is the same.

 

Well, she's (Lauren) is not coming unless she has a change of heart. She has been pretty methodical about narrowing her list down. Time to move on and focus on the others still considering Texas.

 

I've said before and continue to say, I believe Louisville is her favorite.

 

I'll get blasted, but I have to disagree with Mooooo about Baylor's academic reputation. No better at all than the other schools on the list, except N.D. Obviously, that is not a factor in Cox' choice or she would be looking at places like Stanford and Princeton. I have no idea why she's not coming here and no one ever will, unless she explains. Of her six choices, I like Notre Dame's program. Greatest threat to Uconn over the last few years, a coach as good as UConn's but classier and nicer than low-life Mulkey and arrogant Geno. Cox must be something special the way UConn seems obsessed with her, but I can forget about her quickly. I haven't seen her or Holmes, but I think Holmes' athletic talent and the game she is developing sounds potentially more exciting and like a good fit for us. And if she doesn't come, we'll find other players to get excited about.

 

JoeD, no reason to blast you. What I stated about the academics was "Other than Notre Dame and Baylor somewhat"; the "somewhat" was for Baylor. ND has a good/great reputation for academics. I would say Baylor's is better than the other 4 schools on her list, but not positive.

Chou on the other hand, from what I've read, is a very good student, and academics will play a huge role in her decisiion. I forget her long list of schools, but I believe Berkeley, Stanford and Duke were listed, in addition to Baylor, UConn, Louisville, Texas, etc.

 

Mooooo, I wasn't expecting the blast to come from you. Chou is an intriguing player. I hope she takes a good luck at us.

 

Just a reminder that as of this writing, Texas has two top 50 recruits for 2016. Sutton and Underwood are currently 22 and 23 respectively per Prospects Nation. Sutton sounds like a great fit. She has good size for a pg or combo guard at 5'8"; she is described as athletic and aggressive with the ability to go to the rim, shoot the mid-range shot, and having a "sweet" stroke out at the three point line. Underwood is an athletic player. It sounds as though she is more of an undersized 4 right now, but has most of the tools to move to the three. She lacks the outside shooting one wants at that position as of her most recent evaluations.

 

Speaking of Alecia Sutton:

4 days ago
Easily one of the most dynamic players on hand was Texas commit Alecia Sutton of the Missouri Phenom. The explosive 5-9 point guard is already among the elite in the 2016 class and her play this weekend did nothing to dispel her lofty status. Utilizing her speed and quickness she was able to develop looks for both herself and her teammates time and again. She can get to the rim or create plenty of separation with an almost impossible to defend step back. The elevation on her jumper and pull up gets her clean uncontested looks and she maintains her form even leaning back into her shot. The ballhandling is sharp and the crossover serves her well. Off the drive she’s good among the bigs but can deliver the sharp interior passes as needed. The tools are there to be an

 

moooooo, that writeup on Alecia sounds great. I really think with Brooke, Lashann and Alecia, PG is going to be a position of strength for the Horns for the next few years.

 

She's a very exciting player, I've watched a lot of the highlight tapes of her and the game film of her. And the more I watch, the more I like her. Hopefully she will continue to improve her three point range. What I like about her the most is that she has very good size and athleticism for the point guard position which is exactly what we need. Also the fact that she makes her teammates better.

 

L.C. is rated as the #1 player in the 2016 class for a reason and just because you watched one game that you claim, Holmes outplayed LC, doesn't make it so. LC is widely believed to be women's basketball answer to Lebron James, which by the way, said she's awesome and gave her a shout out via the media/social networks. Don't recall Holmes getting Hollered at by any NBA stars, just saying.

 

lzak96, thanks for reading my post. You're absolutely right, one game does not make one player better than another. How about a series of games. There's a reason why Joyner Holmes was awarded the All-FIBA Tournament Team and Lauren Cox was not. The upside for Joyner Holmes is so much higher than Lauren Cox because of her freakish athleticism. She's faster, quicker, leaps higher, than Lauren Cox.

Don't get me wrong, Lauren is a fantastic player, all I'm saying is I think Joyner is a better player and recruit, and has a higher ceiling and given an either or, I'd choose Joyner.

Once again this year, Joyner Holmes, led Cy Fair in the destruction of Texas United by more than 20 points.

 

You mean Joyner Holmes, Ray Caldwell has compared her to a female version of Lebron. Lauren Cox and Lebron are two totally different kind of players. In my opinion both well be good players, but Joyner Holmes has the ability to be a transcendent player in college, if she is used the right way. Wherever she goes, I hope the coach doesn't just put her in the post because she's 6'4. She's a play making guard in a power forwards body, just like Lebron. Barring injury, Joyner Holmes will be the number one pick in the wnba draft after her college career.

 

Recruiting rankings are subjective. I remember when some services had Erika Arriaran #1 while others had Courtney Paris at the top spot. One game into their freshman seasons, it was clear Paris was #1 by a long shot.

BlueStar ranks Joyner Holmes as their #1 player for 2016:

http://www.bluestarbb.com/index.php?rankyear=2016

All others rank Cox #1 and Holmes #2. Time will tell which service, if any, were correct.

 

I know we didn't make her final six but this made me laugh as it brought back memories of being lost.

 

[QUOTEThe explosive 5-9 point guard is already among the elite in the 2016 class[/QUOTE]

Love Alecia's height at the PG position. Add in Lashann this fall and Brooke and Celina and Texas is loaded at the PG position for the next few years.

 

Story on Nancy Mulkey and Joyner Holmes. Says Joyner has a final four, but doesn't disclose them.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/highschool/dp-spt-boo-girls-monday-20150426-story.html

 

Eval from a couple of weeks ago:
http://prospectsnation.com/story/rockin-hardwood-2015

 

Great story about two of the best in Texas in 2016. It's difficult at times not to just look at them as players and not forget that they are still kids still growing up.

 

Including Ciera Johnson update here, as well:

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...iera-johnson-talks-good-game-plays-great-game

 

Someone on the Tech board noted that Amber Ramirez was now considering Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, and Washington. They linked ProspectNation.com, but I couldn't find anything with that info.

 

We could really use her 3 pt skills; she's made as many as 10 treys in a single game, and set a UIL record for most in a state tourney contest with 8.

 

I like the direction of recruiting. Long athletic players with skill. That all leads to matchup nightmares for opponents. Amber Ramirez would be a great fit.

 

If I'm calculating correctly based on the new roster, after departures of Nekia and Lilley and addition of Hattis, we have 5 scholarships for 2016, and have used 2 for Sutton and Underwood. That leaves 3 openings, with the following 8 in the mix to fill those spots.... Holmes, Johnson, Chou, Ramirez, Mack, Aiyeotan, Zandalasini and JUCO transfer Akhator. And if it turns out Aston's recent tweet was in reference to a recruit instead of a new assistant, we might already be down to just two spots remaining for 2016.

 

Aaliyah Wilson, 5-11Wing, Muskogee HS, Muskogee, OK.
Phat McElroy, 5-11 Guard, Richardson HS, Dallas, TX
Bre Wickware, 6-1 Forward, Denton Guyer HS, Denton, TX

 

In case you want to look at some of the other players:
http://www.dfwelitebasketball.com/

2018 Zarielle “Zay” Green, G, Duncanville is most likely another one of those eight the Horns are looking at as is 2017 Alexis Morris (Legacy Christian Academy/Beaumont, Texas), both of whom have been invited to the USA U16 trials along with Texas 2018 commit Sedona Prince.

2017 Deauzya “DiDi” Richards and 2018 Charli Collier, both of whom recently decommitted from Texas are also among the invitees.

http://www.usab.com/news-events/news/2015/04/2015-wu16-trials-invitees.aspx

 

Per Twitter it appears Audrey Ann, sister of Khaleann, will join Texas after her year at a JC. Looks like we only have 1 scholarship to give. This makes me nervous on where we stand with Holmes. I was hoping for Holmes or a true center and a sharp shooter (ie Chou or Ramirez). I suppose we still could take more with the option of others transferring.

 

Ditto - Saw the tweet about Audrey-Ann and it made me nervous about where we are with Holmes.

 

with the addition of Khaleann (and probable addition of Audrey-Ann), we get players that can play inside, handle the ball and shoot the 3 ball. Right now, I am just wondering who decides to come join the party. I think Holmes is a strong possibility but this staff is as likely to pull off a signing of a player none of us really were considering.

FWIW, I think the top priority is a true post player like Ciera Johnson or Natasha Mack or a similar type post. Still hoping that Lauren Cox will reconsider coming to Texas but that's a very long shot.