FWIW, there is no evidence Akunwafo was ever offered by Stanford; in addition to U$C, her list of known offers included Duke, Michigan, UCLA, and Miss. St. Maybe BobK or others in the know can correct this impression if they know more?
More generally, I think we need take a step back and put our recent history into perspective: prior to 2020 #3 recruit Cameron Brink's commitment (which, oddly enough, predated Haley Jones's), the last top 5 recruit we inked was #1 2010 recruit Chiney Ogwumike in 2009. So in the intervening 12 years, we had zero top 5 recruits, and one consensus top ten recruit (Kiana Williams).
Since Brink's commitment in October 2018, we had 2019 #1 recruit Haley Jones commit a few weeks later in November 2018, and then 2021 #4 recruit Brooke Demetre commit in June 2019. That's three top 5 recruits in less than a year.
Yes, we obviously want as many top recruits as we can get. But remember, top recruits come expecting significant playing time, want to start early in their college careers, and are ultimately looking to go pro, so the 40-year decision is slightly less important. And no team, even Stanford, can manage a bench of 15 D1 starters and keep them all happy with playing time.
And in addition to those three, over the next 2-3 years we can expect starter-level contributions from Lexie, Prechtel, Belibi, and van Gytenbeek, if not others who step up.
So I think we are probably at close to a high water mark in terms of top recruits, and I honestly don't think we could sustain many more top players and keep everyone's playing time expectations satisfied. Top 30-70 role players like Harriel and Jump, for whom Stanford was their dream school and who have ambitions beyond basketball, are just as important for us, because Tara wants to fill all her scholarship slots, and it's just not sustainable to do that with exclusively top recruits.
More generally, I think we need take a step back and put our recent history into perspective: prior to 2020 #3 recruit Cameron Brink's commitment (which, oddly enough, predated Haley Jones's), the last top 5 recruit we inked was #1 2010 recruit Chiney Ogwumike in 2009. So in the intervening 12 years, we had zero top 5 recruits, and one consensus top ten recruit (Kiana Williams).
Since Brink's commitment in October 2018, we had 2019 #1 recruit Haley Jones commit a few weeks later in November 2018, and then 2021 #4 recruit Brooke Demetre commit in June 2019. That's three top 5 recruits in less than a year.
Yes, we obviously want as many top recruits as we can get. But remember, top recruits come expecting significant playing time, want to start early in their college careers, and are ultimately looking to go pro, so the 40-year decision is slightly less important. And no team, even Stanford, can manage a bench of 15 D1 starters and keep them all happy with playing time.
And in addition to those three, over the next 2-3 years we can expect starter-level contributions from Lexie, Prechtel, Belibi, and van Gytenbeek, if not others who step up.
So I think we are probably at close to a high water mark in terms of top recruits, and I honestly don't think we could sustain many more top players and keep everyone's playing time expectations satisfied. Top 30-70 role players like Harriel and Jump, for whom Stanford was their dream school and who have ambitions beyond basketball, are just as important for us, because Tara wants to fill all her scholarship slots, and it's just not sustainable to do that with exclusively top recruits.