2022 Recruiting - WBB

Looks like Amina Muhammad has arrived in Austin for her official visit (based on her Instagram story).

 

From a recruiting standpoint I believe our visitors were Jordana Codio, Amina Muhammad, and I believe that is Sammie Wagner in the back next to them

 

From Jr All Star:

Flaujae Johnson 5-9 G – Georgia – Flashy guard from Georgia who has a lot of flavor to her game. Her biggest transitional pieces will be when she gets to college what can she do with 8-15 shots per game inside of some type of offensive structure.

Freedom – #1 thing she will need in college is freedom – if a coach doesnt give Johnson the freedom to play her game it isnt going to work and she will be in the portal – now in the recruiting process everyone will TELL her that she can play her game but she needs to find a school who’s done it with a player like her in the past.

I think Johnson could be a pro – How well she extends her range and becomes more efficient will decide that – but we can tell the talent is there. Johnson has to play early to get those reps to prepare her for the pro level and continue to improve.

Question is: Is this eval accurate? But I agree with the author that the media evaluations often miss the "bigger picture." Although, I think I would have used the word "nuance" -- something that can not be measured by stats.

 

That article has several valid observations. These two stood out to me:

Her biggest transitional pieces will be when she gets to college what can she do with 8-15 shots per game inside of some type of offensive structure.

Freedom – #1 thing she will need in college is freedom – if a coach doesnt give Johnson the freedom to play her game it isnt going to work and she will be in the portal – now in the recruiting process everyone will TELL her that she can play her game but she needs to find a school who’s done it with a player like her in the past.

The second paragraph reminds me of the Chennedy Carter situation at A&M. Carter was a star at A&M but Gary Blair centering the offense around her disrupted team chemistry and caused internal strife within the team. I don't know if that would be the case with Johnson and I would think the coaches recruiting Flau'jae will be able to balance her skills and big personality within the team dynamics.

Flau'jae also has legitimate talent as a hip-hop musician. For those who haven't followed her, Flau'jae writes songs and has an album/music listed on Apple Music. She also recently made a music video. As we know, being a student-athlete in college is demanding. In addition to Flau'jae balancing the demands of being a student-athlete, she will also need to attend to her pursuit of being a hip-hop artist. There will be a lot on her plate after she enters her freshman year of college.

If Flau'jae doesn't commit to Texas, I will continue to follow her journey as a college player. I am very interested in how she develops as a college athlete.

 

Jordana is listed as 6'1". Her family is blessed with the tall gene. Looking at the photo, her dad must be at least 6'4' and her mom is close to 6 ft. Her younger brother looks to be about 13-14 years old and will be 6 ft tall in the near future. Not important, just an observation.

 

Texas might be recruiting her little brother in the not too distant future. From what I’ve read he’s a very promising baseball prospect.

 

Notwithstanding the shorties, Rori and Kyndall, the average height of this team sure has increased.

 

Big blow to Baylor's potential 2022 recruiting class; but, we'll probably face her 2-3 seasons at LSU. I think this recruiting decision really confirms that Baylor without Mulkey is just Baylor (with one more season of seniors recruited by Mulkey) . . .

 

Excited about the players we already have in this class, I don’t think we need the addition of Flaujae. We can find a transfer or other freshman if needed that would be more suited to his style of play; Coach Vic doesnt center play around one “star”, he builds a cohesive unit that utilizes everyone on the court almost every play.

I think that’s a pretty telling description of the kind of player she will be - ‘will end up in transfer portal if coach doesn’t let her play her game’ - Vic will play his game, not an athletes’. if she chooses us, depending on the accuracy of this evaluation, she probably would transfer out. After reading this article I would go after a grad transfer, or someone with some kind of P5 experience when the time comes.

I don’t want a Chennedy Carter like Aggies had situation that causes strife on the team and other players to transfer. I want our current players much more.

Also, Jordana Codio is absolutely beautiful!

 

Couldn't agree more. If she commits I mean you won't hear any complaints from me but just going off the evaluation, she will most likely end up in the portal. Vic wants buy in from all his players and there won't be any one player who changes that. Based on her top schools she put out, not one of those coaches will adjust their style of play so a player can have freedom especially Mulkey and Vic.

Now I'm in no way judging her or speaking negatively because, the evaluation could just be wrong since it's sort of based on opinion. Maybe she understands that at the college level she will need to adjust her style of play to fit what her coach wants. Either way it goes if she commits then I'll gladly take her but if not I still wish her the best and I'm definitely rooting for her to win.

 

I'm thinking the evaluation is pretty acuutate/inside source if they are willing to write such a crass statememt about her ¿inflexibility? We shall see. I think we are set for guards in the next couple years. Will have to see if anyone transfers out after this season to really know what we are gonna be lacking. We have everything we need right now imo.

 

Personally, I don't think Vic would have recruited and brought in Flau'jae for an official visit (a couple of months before the early November signing period) if he didn't believe she would be a fit in his program and style of play.

 

That was my initial thought also, i could see him reading this article and possibly losing some interest though to be honest. That is not something the type of players he recruits say. Time will tell!

 

I think people are placing undue emphasis on one anonymous evaluation versus the collective knowledge of the coaching staff and the opinions of numerous contacts in the business. Not to mention conversations and understandings with the young lady and her family themselves.

Trust the staff if this commitment goes down. If it doesn't, best of luck to her.

 

She's not Carter, due to the simple fact that she's not as good. But she fits Vic's style of play and would thrive. I think wherever she goes she will be successful because the schools that she's considering have coaches with track records of allowing the player to "play". I don't think Texas gets her, but they need a versatile guard with length, size, and athleticism. Right now they're small in the backcourt.

 

That's exactly why I said I'm not judging her or being negative because, Vic prides himself on recruiting to fit his system. I welcome her with open arms if she comes to Texas but at the same time I do believe there will be a transition piece that will be very important to her game and her success at the next level. I believe the article is going off of her AAU presence because, I have watched her play plenty of times and she does have that "freedom" on her teams. It's not really structured play it's more of showtime play but she is very talented nonetheless. It will be interesting to see her in a structured system to say the least and hopefully it's in Vic's system.

 

I agree to an extent, but we will have those backcourt players we need by the time she would arrive, much taller ones than her at that

 

Baylor gets their first 2022 verbal commitment:

 

They got S’Maya Smith today as well

 

And another player is signed to this class Also. They have 3 commits now

 

LSU did

 

Here’s a twist, Maggie Mendelson has decided to reclassify and will graduate with the class of 2022. Calamity liked her announcement.

 

So, looking at the scholarship numbers for 2022. We have 13 players on scholarship this year; and, 3 seniors (Audrey and Joanne not expected to return; Ebo's status doesn't seem for sure). We have 3 verbal commitments for the class of 2022. So, even if Ebo returns, we have one 'ship available; two available if Ebo does not return next season.

 

So, Littlepage-Buggs, Flaujae and now Maggie M. Do we see these three as the main possibilities for the single scholarship? Probably need Maggie's height more than the other two, but what about volleyball?

 

I don’t ever see volleyball working for Vic Schaffer. He would expect Mendelson’s full commitment. Part time players under his system just don’t work.

 

We didn't make Littlepage-Buggs final four list so we are out of consideration for her commitment. We may end up with extra scholarships to use for next year, which can be a good thing. If we build on our success from last season, then recruiting will get easier as we will be winning more recruiting battles for the elite players.

 

Was not expecting Oldacre to choose Miami (over NC State, Tennessee, and Florida State). Perhaps the 'Canes are more of a threat for Flau'jae than I gave them credit for.