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WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 08-16-2012

I thought I would sum up in one thread what we might know about 2013 recruiting, based on public knowledge (Googling names and perusing Hoopgurlz and other sites.)  From what I can tell, there have been 4 (or more) young ladies under consideration in addition to the two who have recently committed.  I have no idea if any one of these is still under active consideration, but I imagine at least two still are, maybe more.  However, some of the stories are a few months old and recruiting is probably fluid.  (As we just learned, our coaches seem to be able to pull out pleasant surprises that go under the internet radar--like Lili Thompson, who was not predicted nor mentioned as under consideration by any of the sites I saw.)  Now, with all the caveats out of the way:

1. Erica McCall. 6'3" forward from Bakersfield.  She has visited Stanford and Connecticut.  On August 4 she announced she had narrowed her list to Stanford, Duke, UConn, UCLA and CSU Bakersfield.  Hoopgurlz has her as a 5 star, 96 rating, #11.  For her high school team she has averaged 26 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 blocks a game.  Her father is CSU Bakersfield WBB head coach.  (Now I’m thinking about last year’s Bakersfield game in a different light.)  Her older sister was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury. 

2. Oderah Chidom has been discussed here before.  She is a 6'3" or 6'4" post from Bishop O’Dowd.  She is considering Stanford, the college near a BART station, and Duke. Hoopgurlz has her as a 5 star, 96 rating, 10th overall.  Her high school teammate was kal's Mikayla Lyles and she reportedly attends a lot of kal games.  Right now she is on the USA U17 team and will be playing in international tournament for the US (in the Netherlands) beginning August 17. She is getting some wonderful experience playing with and against the very best.  She has been developing a mid range game. She is lanky with very long arms and when on defense alters shots.  Like certain other Stanford players, her father is from Nigeria, came to the U.S. for school, and stayed.

3. Kailee Johnson.  6'3" forward from Portland Oregon.  Scouts say she is the prototypical forward.  She is equally adept in the low and high post, can dribble well, and creates her own shots.  Her birthday was on the wrong side of the U16 cutoff and an ankle sprain right before her club’s NCAA viewing period has kept her somewhat out of the recruiting spotlight, unlike her teammate Mercedes Russell.  But she is very academically oriented and is considering Ivies as well as numerous Pac-12 schools and was planning to visit the college near a BART station, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA and Washington.  However, she plans to study business management or marketing.  Hoopgurlz has her as a 4 star, 95 rating, #20.  A July article in Oregon live said this:

Quote:Johnson (6-3) has pared her list to Stanford, the University of South Central, UCLA, Washington and Oregon.  “I want to stay on the West Coast. I’ve definitely decided that,” Johnson said. “I hope to decide before basketball season and sign in November.”  If Johnson is accepted into Stanford, Abraham said, “I think that would be at the top of her list.”

4. Jordan Reynolds is Kailee Johnson’s (and #1 prospect Mercedes Russell’s) teammate.  She is 5'11" point guard (possibly convertible to a 2 guard) also from Portland.  Hoopgurlz has her as a 4 star, 95 rating, #42.  Also from the Oregon Live article:
Quote:Reynolds (5-10) is getting more interest from colleges after a sterling junior season in which she transferred from Jefferson to Central Catholic and became the Class 6A player of the year.  She plans to visit Tennessee and Duke and also is interested in Stanford. She visited the University of South Central with Johnson and has been to Oregon, Oregon State and Washington.  “I’m going to narrow it down in August,” Reynolds said.  Abraham raves over the play of Reynolds, the MVP of the End of the Trail Shootout last weekend as Team Concept cruised to the tournament title at Oregon City.
“If she’s not the best point guard in the country that’s left uncommitted, she’s probably among the top two or three.”

All this is not to say that we are not considering others.  And perhaps our recruiting has changed in light of the two recent commits.  About half a dozen players I know of who visited Stanford, though, have committed elsewhere (some probably when offers were not forthcoming), while these four still seem to be actively considering their choices.






Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - ebarws6 - 08-16-2012

I can talk to Oderah when school starts next week.

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - CompSci87 - 08-16-2012

McCall's older sister is DeWanna Bonner, right? Quite a player!

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 08-17-2012

Yes, that is her sister. 

Geno apparently took time out of the season (in February) to travel to Bakersfield and watch Erica, so the competition to recruit her is intense.  A couple of fans on the UConn WBB boards think McCall is probably leaning toward Stanford, but this mindreading game gets to be ridiculous.

Oderah's teammate Kendall Waters just committed to kal.

Oderah played for the same club team (Team Taurasi)  as Aly Beebe.

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - BobK - 08-17-2012

Excellent 81 thanks for all the work.  I would guess with commits from 2 guards we are not after another guard.  We always lose people in the recruiting process at the point where Stanford isn't for everyone / academics.  And we went this far because the recruit is an excellent student but just not excellent enough. 

At the Bakersfield game I heard McCall announced as coach and knowing Erica was a prime recruit I googled and yes her dad which answered why play Bakersfield.  :)

Johnson is more like Kayla than a post.  She's a 3-4.  I saw her make 9 steals in a game at the End of Trail a year ago 7-8 in the open court.  McCall is a post.  And I do believe we are still recruiting both hard.  Wish I knew if either or both accepted. 

Chidom has been to Stanford a number of times. 

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - Griffins78 - 08-17-2012

(08-17-2012, 08:56 AM)BobK link Wrote:Excellent 81 thanks for all the work.
Yes! Great research and write up. That Portland team must be pretty good.

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 08-17-2012

(08-17-2012, 12:19 PM)Griffin78 link Wrote:[quote author=BobK link=topic=6219.msg45905#msg45905 date=1345219010]
Excellent 81 thanks for all the work.
Yes! Great research and write up. That Portland team must be pretty good.
[/quote]Thanks, Griffin.  Yes that team is loaded.  I did not mention Jaime Nared since she is in the class of 2014, but she is a 5'11" guard on the team who plays alongside Mercedes Russell, Kailee Johnson, and Jordan Reynolds.  According to the article mentioned above, Nared
Quote:has many suitors; Stanford, USC, UCLA, Notre Dame and Tennessee are among them.  “I haven’t narrowed it down yet,” Nared said. “I don’t want to decide because I know people make their decision too early. So I want to take my time, go on official visits and unofficial visits.”


Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - BobK - 08-17-2012

81 have you seen Team Concept with Russell, Johnson, Reynolds and Nared?  I last saw them a year ago about 6 times , but they have played at the end of July the past 2 years in Bekeley.  I had to missed them this year and Russell was not here.  Wonder if you went?

Nared's sister plays at St Mary's. 

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 08-17-2012

No, Bobk, I have not seen them.  My knowledge is based strictly on press reports.  It is rather stunning though to think that four of the most highly regarded recruits are all playing on the same team.  Their coach seems understandably wistful that they will all go off to play for powerhouse programs and his life will return to normal.

Bob, in your other post were you referring to the "Inside the Pac-12" column over on the Fast Break Club?  Is that your column?  I've found it very interesting and helpful to get to know the other teams.  Such a tragedy about Kate Collier.  It seems like there is a very high rate of injuries in WBB and that is the one thing that really detracts from the game for me. 

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - BobK - 08-17-2012

Yes that is me on the Fast Break site. 

ACLs will not go away for women sadly. 

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - Griffins78 - 08-18-2012

(08-17-2012, 10:18 PM)BobK link Wrote:Yes that is me on the Fast Break site.
Really great write ups. Always read and get so much info and insight. Thanks for doing!

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 09-15-2012

I just came across this article on Erica McCall:

http://elmcitytoeaglevillenhr.blogspot.com/2012/08/add-erica-mccall-to-list-of-first-night.html

Stanford and UConn are locked in a fierce competition for her.  According to the article, she should be visiting Stanford this weekend--probably here today--which makes sense since WBB first team meeting is today (September 15.)  Her dad says her paperwork for admission has been completed and rumor has it that she has been admitted--but that might just be because her coach says she is a superb student.

McCall is scheduled to visit UConn on October 12.  Her Dad says she will decide and announce her decision soon thereafter, that there will be no reason to drag out a decision.   

The UConn board is trying to keep up hope, but they are clearly worried.  They hope that McCall has in fact already been admitted to Stanford, in which case the fact that she has not already committed would be taken as a good sign by them.  I think that might be wishful thinking.  I suspect that her dad simply wants her (and himself--he's a head basketball coach, after all) to enjoy the process of the two visits before deciding even if she might be pretty sure where she will go.

Tara has won a lot of recruiting battles with Geno, and I have a hunch that Chiney will be an important influence.  One WBB board claims that they did a tally of  recruits that had declined formal offers from Stanford since Tara was hired and they came up with 7 over her entire tenure--putting her at 96% success after reaching that stage.  In short, she loses recruits to admissions, but very rarely does a student who is offered a full Stanford scholarship and admission go elsewhere.  Our recruits are very bright and academically inclined, and they know the epidemic of injuries in their sport, and they know that a Stanford degree is for a lifetime of success.

So...here is hoping that our folks make Erica feel very welcome today.  Perhaps she will have a chance to enjoy the SC game with the WBB team.  And here is hoping we will be able to enjoy watching her play here regularly, and not just once every two years!

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 09-15-2012

Update on Oderah Chidom.  The Bear Insider board is optimistic based on Stanford admissions requirements that kal has a better chance to land her.  No idea if they actually know anything or not.  Even if Oderah does not come to Stanford, Duke is in the mix.

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - BobK - 09-15-2012

All 4 of our main recruits were at the wvb game last night and here for their officials.  Commits Samuelson and Thompson with we hope to commit Johnson and McCall.    Several current members here last night including Chiney.  First practice today. 

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 09-15-2012

Update on Kailee Johnson.  Kailee is visiting this weekend too, says Chris Roemer.  It looks like two of our top recruits are on campus for the first WBB team meeting.  The team is planning to attend the SC game.  Now we have an even bigger reason to root to beat SC--our WBB recruiting is counting on it!

One of Kailee's coaches let it be known that Stanford was her first choice.  I think for her it is a matter of admissions.  I hope that has gone well and the visit today is more on the order of "welcome to your home for the next four years."

If Kailee and McCall both come we will have had a very successful class.

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 09-15-2012

(09-15-2012, 08:43 AM)BobK link Wrote:All 4 of our main recruits were at the wvb game last night and here for their officials.  Commits Samuelson and Thompson with we hope to commit Johnson and McCall.    Several current members here last night including Chiney.  First practice today.
That is great!  How often is is possible to line up all recruits at the same time for their visits?  Samuelson no doubt knows a lot about Stanford given her big sister, but it is really nice to get these girls together and start some friendships forming a year before they come.  My only concern is that the visits are happening before the semester has begun.

Speaking of volleyball, Kailee Johnson is a superb volleyball player.  Is there talk of her doing two sports?  Another Kristin Folkl?  Well, let's not get too optimistic ;)

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - Griffins78 - 09-15-2012

Thanks for the great info. Thrilled!

We were at the VBall game last night. Didn't think to look for the WBBall players/recruits. Team looked really good against USF.

We have an amazing freshmen class (hopefully they help influence a commitment too). They are so mature, smart, articulate. They talked to the fans after the match.

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - BobK - 09-15-2012

Not up to admissions :) :D 8)

Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 09-18-2012

More and more clues are emerging that Oderah may not be in the mix.  The fact that she did not appear with the other four recruits last weekend, and this:

Quote:Looking ahead, the highly recruited athlete will be taking official visits to the University of Washington, UCLA, Cal and Duke. “My goal is to sign during the November signing period,” she said.
http://www.bishopodowd.org/admin/?p=3843

Obviously if our four public recruits all accept (two have so far) there would not be room for a fifth.  But I wonder what happens if McCall goes to Connecticut?  Will Tara offer to Oderah or another recruit who has been under wraps?  Will she save a scholarship for Mikaela to redshirt?  Will Mikaela even want to redshirt? 

Oderah, by the way, reputedly has a 3.5 gpa according to that article.


Re: WBB: 2013 recruiting round up - 81alum - 09-20-2012

I am not finding anything new on Kailee Johnson.

Chris Roemer reports that Erica McCall is scheduled to visit UCLA on October 19, which means her UConn visit would not be her last visit after all.

I found this very nice article on Erica:

http://www.fullcourt.com/kelly-kline-fullcourtwbball/8391/erica-mccalls-game-will-make-you-smile

Among other flattering things, it mentions that she has a 4.0 gpa.