Absolutely. I hope we can get more than just a visit. It will be very difficult to get her out of the Midwest but hopefully Coach Aston can do it.
Celeste's performance yesterday in the LuHi vs St Mary's game getting a little buzz from Mike Flynn/Blue Star Media.
Long Island Lutheran loses to South Shore. Was a ugly game for them give credit to coach of South Shore he used the no shot clock to his advantage and held the ball for an average of 2 plus minutes a possession. Seemed like Long Island Lutheran was made anxious and forced up shots which resulted in a lot of misses. Long Island Lutheran started to press and play man late in the third which helped but was to late. Celeste started out slow she was pressing, forcing shots. She showed some bad body language but she got it together late in the game. She finished with 18 was best player on the court. I would like to see how she responds tomorrow
There's sometimes an emotional let down after a big, emotional win. It makes is especially challenging if the opponent is playing a non-conventional style game. The St Mary's game was a good measuring stick for the LuHi team and hopefully they can go into their district games with a lot of confidence. I expect they will continue their winning ways and have a very successful season.
I can only stay for first game today other games are late and would get me home past my bedtime but as luck would have it early game is Long Island Lutheran vs national Christian academy it should be a good game. Nca likes to press get in transition which I believe Long Island Lutheran likes to do as well so I anticipate a good one. Both teams are coming off difficult loses so interested in seeing how they both respond.
Got home a little while ago. Long Island Lutheran won today they seemed like the lost never bothered them. Both teams came out with high energy but Celeste Taylor was to much for them they had no answer as she played on both sides of the ball. NCA seemed to be deflated early in the second half looked like they just gave up. I just posted on another site about Celeste teammate Alisha Lewis who is a Georgia Tech commit which is to bad because she fits what Texas does she loves to run the floor, finds the open teammate even when nobody else sees. She has great vision a true pass first PG which is hard to find these days, she can also hit the open jumper from anywhere on the court consistently as well as rebounds. Long Island Lutheran has two games next week one in Long Island which I can not attend to far and another at Philly University at the bluestar tournament which is very close to my house so I will be there. Seems like a kid from each of the philly Belles teams will be playing in this one with their high school teams so I will try and catch Kylie Watson- 20 Maddie Burke-20 as well as KiKi Jefferson-19. Thank you all for the great feedback on my post I enjoy this blog over others that I contribute to. Happy New Years to you all
Happy New Year Oakman! Glad you found us at Hornfans. You've been a great addition to our commentaries.
Thanks for all your updates and analysis, Oakman! Getting more and more excited about Celeste based on your comments on her play. Sure wish she was coming next season as her length (and skills, of course) could really help fill Ariel Atkins' void.
Nice write up from Title Ix tournament http://www.bluestarmedia.org/9th-annual-title-ix-holiday-invitational-conference-classic/
Thanks Oakman! I’m another Longhorn fan that’s getting very excited for the qualities that CT, our #LongIslandLonghorn, brings to the program. Happy New Year to you, and to everyone on the board here. #HookEm ks Oakman
For the Samantha Brunelle fans, I read on the UConn board that she visited UConn yesterday for their game with Memphis. Here are her stats for the first half of the season;
ESPN's Girl's High School Basketball Top 25 Rankings. http://www.espn.com/college-sports/...uiting/powerrankings?season=2017&rankingId=28 Of interest; #2 Archbishop Mitty (Haley Jones 2019 Recruit) #4 Duncanville (Hannah Gusters 2020 Recruit) #15 Detroit Edison (Rickea Jackson 2019 Recruit) #16 Long Island Lutheran (Celeste Taylor 2019 Verbal Commitment)
Hope everyone had a great weekend I was at bluestar tournament yesterday and saw a lot of great talent but I will keep it relevant to this board as far as how Celeste did but also some girls I think Texas should be on I’ll put the 20 kids on that thread. KiKi Jefferson 19- From last time I saw her in July she has grown from 5’11” to 6’1” with a long wingspan to boot. VERY athletic actually one of the most athletic kids in the gym with a high motor. She played hard on both sides of the ball from top off to the final buzzer went off. Dove for every loose ball, set hard screens, took charges, was engaged when on bench cheering for teammates but one thing I saw that I never saw in any youth basketball game was after game was over she followed the refs off the court to shake their hands and say good game and that was after a really bad call in overtime on a buzzer beater only to be called off for a travel violation that wasn’t a travel. Her team eventually won in 3 overtime’s. Her ball handle has improved but needs more work for the college level, her mid range has also improved. She shines in transition but has gotten better in half court sets. She clearly works on her craft so I expect her to improve even more. Her style fits Texas I don’t think the staff is on her but should be. Celeste Taylor 19- Texas commit She was again the best player in the gym today and that’s out of every kid I watched today she played both sides of the ball including a big day on the boards her team needed someone to bang and she did just that. One thing that stuck out to me was her passing ability she had a lot of great assists as well as some turnovers that won’t be turnovers on the college level reasoning is when you attack the middle of the defense the trailer is supposed to keep moving to the corner but high school kids stop moving thinking pass is not coming which in most cases it’s not but Celeste has such an high IQ which I haven’t seen to many times at this age she makes the college level pass and teammate is not where she should be. To be a critic of her she did force some bad shots which resulted in misses then caused some bad body language but credit coaches for making adjustment to have her attack the rim which she did that’s when she took over to help her team secure a big win and earning MVP honors which from what I heard she won back to back MVPs this weekend in two separate tournaments.
Samantha Brunelle names her top 9 schools and Texas is not on her list. This does not surprise me because there hasn't seemed to be much energy between Sam and Texas recently. Best of luck to Ms Brunelle.
Well, with Sedona and Charli coming in next year, she probably didn't see a fit for herself here. Or is she even a true post player, or a tall wing type player?
I have not been considering Brunelle an option for Texas for quite a while. She recently took unofficial visits to Notre Dame and UConn; so, that speaks volumes. I will be ecstatic if we can land one of Rickea Jackson, Haley Jones or Jordan Horston. But, until any of them visit Texas unofficially, I am staying only cautiously optimistic. Jackson has made unofficial visits to Ohio State and Tennessee, while Horston has tripped to Tennessee. Jones paid her own way from California to South Carolina. I agree with those who think stretch-four is her position in college. With Notre Dame's roster being so small right now, I will predict her choosing them and being an instant starter who gets a lot of minutes.
I feel pretty certain that Brunelle is a very strong UConn lean! She fits the profile of the type of player Geno's recruits! She's basically a local girl in his backyard. Hate that we missed on her but there are plenty of other elite players that Texas can focus on now.
I’ve watched Brunelle play many times: On the next level she will be a stretch four at least that’s where I would play her as far as her not having Texas on her list I wouldn’t be too upset if I’m a Texas fan. My reasoning is her style of play is not a good fit for the Longhorns, she is a half court set player that will depend on screens as well as offensive sets to get her open shots where Texas likes to run and play a lot of man defense. From everything I hear she is UCONN bound but Notre Dame will be a player. Rikea Jackson and/Jordan Horston would be better fits for the Longhorns.
I was just wondering where we stood with Taylor Jones as we've seen no mention in social media of anything recruiting-wise. When a player has both Stanford and Duke in her list of finalists, chances are she is very good academically. They are hard to beat in recruiting if academics are priority number one.
