I've scoured a few other boards and two contributors from the Northwest on the Boneyard have added some factoids/opinions.
- Some of this information is based on other commits hoping Clark will come.
-- "A week ago the Portland Oregon newspaper posted audio of an 8 minute interview with Sydney Parrish where she said clearly she’s working hard to get Clark to Oregon but Parrish acknowledged that Clark wasn’t there yet."
-- Te-Hina PaoPao: “I’ve been hearing Caitlin Clark [ESPN's fourth-ranked overall player] might commit," she said. "That would be really exciting to have her with us. But, I’ll play with whoever comes to Oregon."
- Rumor on What's Next:
-- "The most recent (presumably informed) information coming from Eugene is that Clark will likely make official visits to both Oregon and Notre Dame, and then commit sometime in the fall."
This fits in with what Clark has said herself: that she wants to take some official visits (OV's) then make up her mind, preferably before the next (High School) basketball season starts.
BTW, in between that time, she's headed to Thailand with a fellow point guard she might spend two years with, Jordan Nixon. For worse or preferably better, perhaps Jordan can share some information and/or they, too, might get to like/respect each other and their games.
Stay tuned....this cycle is not complete yet. It has seemed surprisingly and disappointingly hard to land some recruits, given ND's return to the final fours, a national championship and the mostly positive publicity the Irish have gotten from Arike's on-court heroics and Muffet's principled stands.
But, as someone pointed out, the endgame is, who says "yes." I really like Alli Campbell (off guard, maybe wing) and Nat Marshall (a 6'5" forward/post) for ND (and obvioulsy Irish coaches do, too). Let's see how Clark, Kelly and Westbeld pan out.
If not, let's blanket that 2021 class....
to the Championship game plus all of the positive publicity what is your take on why it has been so difficult to land some of these recruits?
Here are the players we have coming back right now (Class listed for next year):
Mikayla Vaughn: Junior (possible 3 years) McDonald's AA
Jordan Nixon: Sophomore McDonald's AA
Abby Prohaska: Sophomore who was one of the top players off the bench last year
Dannielle Cosgrove: Sophomore
Katlyn Gilbert: Sophomore (possible 4 years) McDonald's AA
Sam Brunelle: Freshman (Top 3 recruit)
Anaya Peoples: Freshman McDonald's AA
Not considering the incoming grad transfers (who would only be at ND one year, which is why I didn't list them), if Vaughn were to choose to take her 5th year all of the players at ND next year would be at ND for at least 3 years.
McDonald's AA (see link). I think you're confusing her with Dani.
Vaughn's rankings:
25th on Blue Star
56th on ESPN Hoopgurlz
150th on Prospects Nation
Also, Sam is not a top 3 recruit:
4th on Blue Star
5th on Prospects Nation
6th on Hoopgurlz
Muffet has some work to do.
It seemed to happen after the 2001 championship as well.
You would think the success over the last few years coupled with the players that are going into the WNBA some top picks why can't we get the recruits to make elite 8 & Final 4 every year? We seem to go in spurts and instead of reloading we rebuild which takes time
And then reposted.
Basically, the gist of it was that back in 2001 ND had made one Final Four and one NC both with senior laden teams, so it was viewed more as "ND was successful because of how the classes worked out."
Plus the year that ND won the NC, they had a huge class (6 recruits!). That can kill some initial momentum.
Add in that it often takes time to "get in the heads" of recruits, and if you can't stay on top consecutive years, it can look like a "lucky shot" instead of consistent excellence.
BTW, we have "made the elite 8 and Final 4 every year for 8 the last 9 years (and made the Final Four 7 of the last 9 years. For some perspective on that, only 5 programs have more than 5 Final Fours. Not coaches...programs!).
There are still players out there, as Dillon points out. Plus, we've been hit by the transfer bug.
and we've made the Elite 8 8 of the last 9 years, so we have been making the Elite 8 and Final Four every year.
there was a drought after 2001 until Skylar got there then recruiting turned and we went on a run but the post 2001 drought lasted awhile. My concern is we should be a decent team but I just don't want to see another "drought" last a few years
...in ND's history?
Yeah, it turned out that it took a while for McGraw to get a consistent product. And I don't think you realize just how hard it is to get to a Final Four.
Of all the programs out there, only 5 have been to more than 5 Final Fours. UConn, ND, and Stanford have been to them recently. UT's last one was in 2008. La Tech's was in 1999.
There are only 3 other programs that have been to 5 (UGA, Maryland, and LSU)and two others who have been to 4 (Duke and now Baylor).
Quite a few of the "3 Final Four" teams bunched theirs together (and LSU's 5 were all consecutive): Auburn: 1988-90, USC (1983-85), and UVA (1990-92) or had two of their three with many of the same players: UNC (2006-07), ODU (1983, 1985), Oklahoma (2009-10), Purdue (1999, 2001), Texas (1986-87), and W. Kentucky (1985-86).
With the two teams with 4 Final Fours, half of Baylor's came with Griner and half of Duke's came with Beard.
that we would have landed some more of our top 10 ranked targets. I just don't want them to hit what I considered some rough sledding from the 2001 season thru the 2010 season where in those 9 years we were eliminated in the sweet 16 4 times and didn't get past the 1st or 2nd round the other 5 times. I had hoped we had turned thee corner so to speak and would build off of that 2001 championship which I didn't think we did. I realize how tough it is to make a Final 4. I guess I have been spoiled by the success of the program the last 8 years and was hoping we could continue it. I'm a soon to be 70 year old season ticket holder and at my age one tends to "panic" LOL. Appreciate you & dillons posts along with some others who are really terrific posters.
in a great position to win her commitment. I was surprised that Watson did not take her ND visit, but it was better (as always) for ND to learn sooner, rather than later, where a recruit has decided to go.
On Twitter she seemed to be tight with Parrish and Watson.
But with such a loaded roster they are going to have transfers in the future. Only so much playing time.
..to having folks transfer. Only 200 minutes in a hoops game and these are five star players coming in who are used to being on the court any (amount of) time they want.
I agree with the transfers. But the bigger question will be about future
recruiting. What about next year. They will get more national attention
so recruits will see there will be little playing time available. Plus
getting 6 of the top30 players in the country to play as a team. Not many
coaches can and have done that. If Catlain does go to Oregon I will be
happy if we get kelly.
SEG/Chief
I know we have landed some quality players the last couple of years but it seems like we cannot fill out the roster. If memory serves me right we had quite the down period for awhile after the 1002 championship and it seems like we are doing it again. Talk me off the ledge please
It's only May and we have two top-35 commitments for 2020.
Sure, it's not Oregon who has 5 already. But we've been at the top for a while. We're not the new, hot trendy program like Oregon.
I will save my panicking for later in the year. Until, then I'm going to wait to see how the 2020 class is completed. Campbell and Marshall is a really nice start.
I'm sure you know the distinction but I think when you say "ND WBB" tweeted something, most will assume you are referring to @NDWBB, the official team account.
Obviously, the official team account can't comment on recruits.
This is just something an observer focused on recruiting read on a pay site.
It's also something I could have told you for free months ago.
The sidewalks must be made of sugar and the trees made of lollipops.
and for three of the players on offense, all you do is stand behind the three point line waiting for someone to pass you the ball. Kids must love it.
sorry for the error.
That would really surprise me - seems like that class is really full as it is.
Seems like Deja Kelly is linked positively to ND. Really need one of her or Clark and then hopefully Westbeld too.
If one was to look at our update for 2020, you'd see a lot of "COMMITTED TO someone else." And a lot of times, that name is Oregon.
- As Orangutan has pointed out, Ionescu, Graves & Company have made Eugene a fun, exciting place to come play and watch offense-oriented hoops. Plus, Graves has a reputation as a player-friendly coach (not that he's soft, but we're not talking MM or Geno.)
- So is it time to panic? Well, we've got two darn good players in Alli Campbell and Nat Marshall. Let's not forget that Nat is 6'5" and will only get stronger. And Alli is a 6' guard....nice.
- We've got a lot of young guards on the roster: Anaya Peoples, Katlyn Gilbert, Abby Prohaska, Jordan Nixon and two vets to help them out.
- And Nixon, who admittedly had a tough frosh year, is still good enough to have overcome really tough competition and make the U.S. National Team, as did -- cymbal please -- Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers. Someone thinks she's got talent.
- So, while I'd still love to get Caitlin Clark, we'll hopefully see Jordan improve markedly this season, helped by Marta Sniezek. And hopefully, either Deja Kelly or Caitlin Clark will be coming in 2020.
- But, if Jordan improves, she's got two more years after that. Anaya and Katlyn could spell her in 2020-21. And there's a heck of a lot of good point guards in that class, too: Olivia Miles (another Philly Belle product) and Ari Wiggins (from Heritage Christian).
- My biggest concern right now is hoping we've got some bigs lined up, now that Watson is left-coast bound, too. Maybe the staff will look at Jayla Kelly, the 6'3" post from St. Louis. Not highly rated, but supposed to be a banger.
- So, let's split the difference and go hard after Maddy Westbeld. Even though she's more of a wing than her sister, she's 6'2" and will assuredly do what it takes.
has anyone seen any evidence that either we are after Westbeld or Westbeld is interested?
I was thinking the same thing. We are making the same mistakes in
recruiting we did a few years ago when we ended up getting Mik and Dani.
As greagt as MM is. We need to make adjustments to stay where we are. If we
do not get another post until next year in recruiting. That will be 1 post
player inn 3 years. That is not going to work.
Without question, we have to get Fudd next year.
SEG/Chief
wore an ND sweatshirt that evening. We know that Kathryn had a positive experience at ND.
Kat and Maddy's mom seemed to applaud enthusiastically when the ND coaches entered the arena. Hopefully the parents have a good feeling about ND and value the education their daughter received.
..in which she listed a number of schools that interested her and she noted that, "of course," ND is among them.
Yes, it's been under the radar, but it possibly can afford to be.
My only concern is that Maddy might be part of some plan related to Clark and/or Kelly. I sometimes get that, but she strikes me as the "right" kind of player and person to get in the program.
Who ever expected Kat to have such a long tenure in the starting lineup? Once she was in, it became apparent we played better with her....all the way to a national championship.
That is "expected Kat to have a long tenure in the starting lineup."
I remember her freshman year when everyone was talking about Turner (rightfully so) and I thought "Yeah, but I notice that Westbeld is not playing like a freshman either. She has a lot of basketball smarts."
If we do not get Maddy this will be real bad. I do not think we are in on
many other 2020 recruits. This we have to change.
or
...Break out the passports. I believe this is a good time to go
international. We are still very popular and well known. So it cost us a
couple extra thousand dollars. It is not like ND can not afford it. We have
to change with the times. Geno is.
SEG/Chief
Would sure like to get Clark though
I thought I read on this board she maybe a heavy UCONN lean.
...If we do not get another post this year. 21 and 22 seem loaded. I believe
a couple are even in our back yard. Frequent flyers to NDWBB games.
...Plus do not forget Fudd is the following year 2021. Do not think Oregon
will have room for her.
...Plus we can not forget about transfers especially grad transfers. I am
also hoping MM will get on the international band wagon. With so many
catholic and private schools in Europe. We should do okay.
...I just hope this year is a wakeup call to ND and change the way they
recruit a little. Need to be stronger on the Posts.
SEG/Chief
and stronger Jordan this year. Muffet and Niele know a point guard when the see one. They wouldn't have recruited Jordan unless the were certain they were getting the point guard they wanted.
Jordan didn't shoot much last year, but she hit 42.9% of her field goals, 37.5% of her threes, and 84.2% of her free throws. And every so often we saw first-rate quickness. She's is going to be just fine.
As fans, we need to remember she fought injuries all year including a
concussion. You just do not have an a game after a concussion. We are lucky
we had her at all.
SEG/Chief