2019 Recruiting - WBB

Don't recall seeing this posted.
Congrats to Celeste for being on the 2019 Naismith High School Girls’ Watch List.

Several other Texas recruiting targets on the list as well.
2019 Naismith Trophy Girls High School Player of the Year Preseason Watch List

 

There you go @kurupt . Mississippi State got Rickea Jackson's commitment. She should do well there.

 

Also, they picked up Anriel Howard as grad transfer from A&M.
MSU is getting scary now and in the future.

 

Yeah. Although they’ll have to replace their talented center they’re going to be a problem in the future. Especially on the defensive end with the athletes coming in next year. We all know that Vic can really coach and does a very good job of developing talent.

The most important thing that he does IMO is that he recruits to his system. Which is something that we talked about coach Aston needing to do better if she wants to continue to play an aggressive man to man defense and also run on ball screens on offense. Fit is very important and she FITS his system to a tee. Barring injury she’ll be first team All conference/All American, and a high WNBA draft pick.

 

I was looking to see if Vic had "cleared the decks" by having players transferred out and was surprised only one left - a good sign. But what was shocking was being reminded how Ole Miss has their roster fleeing:

 

ND is evidently out of the running for Jones and Boston. I hope Jones decides to stay in California and attend Stanford.

 

Patterson is gone. We lose Higgs and Williams after this season, then Sutton and Underwood in 2020. I think we need another good point guard to work into the system. I tend to think of Routt as kind of a legacy, but maybe I underestimate her. She wasn't top ranked. If we don't get a magic last minute addition this year, that leaves the transfer/junior college alternatives, or the hope we strike it rich in 2020 freshmen.

 

I do expect Aston to bring in a player or two in the spring or summer. If every player with remaining eligibility returns to the team next year, the roster will be 11 players. I can't see Aston being comfortable with that. Whether Aston particularly targets a point guard, I do not know. We have yet to see where all the young players fit best.

 

Would really like to see us add a 2019 PG, and it would be great if we could find an unknown gem. Ran across this today on twitter:



Anyone know anything about the player, or this Sleeper Report resource?

 

I don't believe a Program has to get all Ranked Recruits to be Successful.

 

Excellanxt Greer in 2016 training video:


Athlete of the Week interview, impressive:


2018 Think Pink Tournament highlights:


Wonder if our staff has ever heard of her or seen her at a tournament. Her training coach is very high on her.

 

Agree on this DINO22, especially after last season. I like the balance between “ranked and unranked” players in this 2018 class, and I hope that’s a trend that continues, as long as, ranked or unranked, the players fit the Longhorn system on multiple levels.

 

Also still unsigned from Coach Aston's old stomping grounds in Arkansas:
Kennady Tucker, 5-8/5-10 PG from Little Rock, Arkansas. Height depends on which recruiting site you are on. She decommitted from Miss. State.

 

Aston is putting all her chips in to Sarah Andrews being her point guard of the future.

 

I highly doubt it. It wouldn’t be smart if she did.

 

Still need a backup true PG. Or, two.

 

I doubt it.

 

Ellis21d --- is that from a knowledgeable source, a hunch, or can you say?

 

Joe I just feel Aston has not put an emphasis on getting a true PG in the 2019 class and she and her staff covet the talent available in the 2020 class. Especially Sarah Andrews who is the best in the State. She will have 7 scholarships available and I expect a big recruiting class this cycle.

 

From my sofa, it appears that Coach Aston, having all basic positions covered, swung for the fence in 2019. She recruited guards Jordan Horston (Tennessee,) who dropped Texas around summer, and Zia Cooke who made an official visit before committing to South Carolina with its much higher home game attendance and a recent national championship. She also, of course, recruited elite wing, Rickea Jackson. They struck out on the elite US players except for Celeste Taylor, a 2-time USA team member for her age group. 2020 now looms large as the team loses Holmes, Sutton and Underwood after next season.

 

That's an accurate assessment of our 2019 recruiting. We also got a visit from the #1 recruit in the nation, Haley Jones, who is scheduled to announce her commitment today.

IMO, for 2020, there's enough talent within the State of Texas that we should not have to cast such a wide net nationally for recruits. Aston will always recruit nationally but 2019 seemed extreme.

 

Are you all saying Karen should have recruited more in state, perhaps not as highly ranked, players? How do we know that she didn't? (I never know who she is recruiting until I hear someone is coming for an official or unofficial visit.) I think it made sense to recruit all the above mentioned (Haley J., Jackson, Cooke, Horston). We got visits from 3 of those 4. At some point, though, it seems like we need to make a final four (or better) to keep up our recruiting mojo. I can't wait till we're out of the FEC, where even a halfway decent crowd looks like there is no one there.

 

@JoeDallas, I don't know if your question is directed to me or to Hoopsalot, but I have no criticism of Aston's recruiting strategies as she's one of the best recruiters in WBB. In fact, I respect that she "swings for the fences" as Hoopsalot described.

All I was saying (or was trying to say) is that the in-State talent for the class of 2020 is exceptional. I'm very impressed that Azzi Fudd has been on campus this year. Karen has and will land elite OOS recruits but I think our bread and butter will always be Texas recruits.

I agree with you that we've got to go further in the tourney in order to boost our national stature and get into a better facility for basketball.

 

I am not making any judgment at all about what Aston should have done, just observing. And, as you correctly noted, Aston may have recruited many other players that I know nothing about. My view from the sofa is limited. For example, I knew about Audrey Warren ahead of her commitment only because she attended a Texas camp. Her recruitment was not "news" on the world wide web. Coaches and fans are happy that Warren is a Longhorn.

 

From the UConn board the news is that Aliyah Boston has committed to the South Carolina Gamecocks. Add her to Zia Cooke, Laeticia Amihere, Brea Beal and Olivia Thompson and Coach Dawn Staley is going to have a great class. She could also still add Haley Jones.

UConn, meanwhile, is left waiting for Jones as they could end up looking at a one player class if Jones goes elsewhere.

 

H. Jones will go to either Oregon or Stanford.

 

The dirty little secret is that Geno hasn’t won a championship without a transcendent talent since 2000. And although he currently has some very good players, none of them are what you would consider as having the potential or the ability to be transcendent. I also wonder how long he will continue to coach. As a Texas / women’s basketball fan I would much rather have great players going to South Carolina than to UConn. Because Geno is usually going to get the most out of great players. Dawn’s obviously a good coach but not on the level of Geno IMO.

 

With that group of recruits, Staley should be winning an NC or two, or at least be Final Four regulars, especially if Haley Jones goes there, too. I hope she doesn't. It's not fun when all the top players stockpile into one place. UConn posters are in mourning that Boston didn't go there. They will freak if they don't get Jones.

 

Expectations will be sky high in South Carolina (as they should be) to win a NC or two. Mack Brown had several years of landing top five recruiting classes, filled with super blue, five star players. It's been my experience from watching Mack's teams that one of a coach's biggest challenges with elite recruits is managing egos, expectations and with some, their sense of entitlement. With her experience as a USA BBall coach, I'm confident that Staley can handle the challenge, but there may be bumps along the way.

With that said, I'm certainly glad Texas isn't in the SEC and we don't have to compete with SC on a regular basis. As for UConn, it will be nice just to seem them become mortal and deal with the same issues that most teams have to deal with on a seasonal basis. As I've expressed in other threads, I'm hoping Haley Jones goes to Stanford.

 

Still a lot of variables, like injuries, etc to factor in but they should definitely be in the hunt for national titles over the next few years. Gotta wonder if Thompson will stay if Jones signs. It would be hard to get PT with those five in front of you.