[ColoradoTree]

Are we recruiting Joint?

No idea. I generally assume Lele has made at least some contact with every blue chip (or their coaches) to assess their interest and whether they've done the work academically to put them in the mix. But as the winner of half of the NCAA championships in this sport, it does seem like top players tend to try and seek us out to get on Lele's radar. 

The blue chips in the Class of 2023 have mostly made their verbal commitments, with none picking Stanford so far, but there are a handful of blue chips yet to commit, with the most interesting being Eleana Yu from Ohio, who has been the #1 recruit for a few years (but who is currently ranked #11 due to a light schedule), and Priya Nelson from Sacramento (currently #7, as high as #5). 

The tremendous recruiting over the last couple of years starts to be a problem, as the likelihood of playing high in our lineup from the beginning dips. 

I mean, think about the 2023-24 depth chart if you're a top rising HS senior:

1. Ma (Jr.)
2. Yepifanova (Jr.)
3. Xu (Jr.)
4. Blokhina (So.)
5. Geller (Sr.)
6. Houghton (Sr.)
7. Sun (So.)

That's a tough lineup to crack. Of course, it's always a tough lineup to crack, and we still manage to bring in great talent every year, but we sometimes see a slight dip in recruiting--by our standards--after two consecutive highly ranked classes. We had the #1 class in 2009 (M. Burdette, Tan) and then the #2 class in 2010 (Gibbs, Ahn), and then #7 and #5 the following years. We had the #1 class in 2013 (Davidson, Doyle, Zhao), and then not a single recruit in 2014 before being #1 again in 2015 (Lord, Lampl, Yee) and #2 in 2016 (Higuchi, Arbuthnott), and then #4, #9, #9, and #7, before being #1 with a bullet last year (Ma, Yepifanova, Xu) and #2 this year (Blokhina, Sun). 

So, don't be shocked if we don't get a whole lot out of the Class of 2023. The recruiting dips happen. But what differentiates the good years from the great is how short those dips are. We won a title in 2013 behind that 2010 class and Tan from the 2009 class. We won in 2016 with that 2013 class leading the charge and the 2015 class as freshmen, and we rode that 2015 class to four straight appearances in the national championship match, with three titles. But since they left, we have unquestionably fallen off. I have a good feeling that this year sees a return to form and a deep run at NCAAs.

[ColoradoTree]

Are we recruiting Joint?

No idea. I generally assume Lele has made at least some contact with every blue chip (or their coaches) to assess their interest and whether they've done the work academically to put them in the mix. But as the winner of half of the NCAA championships in this sport, it does seem like top players tend to try and seek us out to get on Lele's radar. 

The blue chips in the Class of 2023 have mostly made their verbal commitments, with none picking Stanford so far, but there are a handful of blue chips yet to commit, with the most interesting being Eleana Yu from Ohio, who has been the #1 recruit for a few years (but who is currently ranked #11 due to a light schedule), and Priya Nelson from Sacramento (currently #7, as high as #5). 

The tremendous recruiting over the last couple of years starts to be a problem, as the likelihood of playing high in our lineup from the beginning dips. 

I mean, think about the 2023-24 depth chart if you're a top rising HS senior:

1. Ma (Jr.)
2. Yepifanova (Jr.)
3. Xu (Jr.)
4. Blokhina (So.)
5. Geller (Sr.)
6. Houghton (Sr.)
7. Sun (So.)

That's a tough lineup to crack. Of course, it's always a tough lineup to crack, and we still manage to bring in great talent every year, but we sometimes see a slight dip in recruiting--by our standards--after two consecutive highly ranked classes. We had the #1 class in 2009 (M. Burdette, Tan) and then the #2 class in 2010 (Gibbs, Ahn), and then #7 and #5 the following years. We had the #1 class in 2013 (Davidson, Doyle, Zhao), and then not a single recruit in 2014 before being #1 again in 2015 (Lord, Lampl, Yee) and #2 in 2016 (Higuchi, Arbuthnott), and then #4, #9, #9, and #7, before being #1 with a bullet last year (Ma, Yepifanova, Xu) and #2 this year (Blokhina, Sun). 

So, don't be shocked if we don't get a whole lot out of the Class of 2023. The recruiting dips happen. But what differentiates the good years from the great is how short those dips are. We won a title in 2013 behind that 2010 class and Tan from the 2009 class. We won in 2016 with that 2013 class leading the charge and the 2015 class as freshmen, and we rode that 2015 class to four straight appearances in the national championship match, with three titles. But since they left, we have unquestionably fallen off. I have a good feeling that this year sees a return to form and a deep run at NCAAs.