05-11-2023, 10:09 AM
Haven't posted or commented in this thread for a long time and there's a reason why -- having nothing to do with who specifically is or is not committing to the Card. I continue to be interested in who does sign on, but not in the way I was in the past. Seems to me that with the advent of such an active transfer portal (and market), who decides to go where as a first year is much less relevant that it was in past years. Thus I just can't get as excited by the news that a top player has committed to Stanford, or elsewhere. Will she stay for 4 years and be a part of an exciting, evolving team? That's no longer a given.
But there are other aspect of the recruitment process for Stanford that do occur to me that are relevant for 2024 and beyond. Stanford can now say to prospects, if you come to Stanford, you can have a high level confidence that as you grow and improve, we won't be bringing in someone through the transfer portal to replace you before you're ready to step into a major role. There's another new argument in the recruiting wars that some coaches can use -- come to X school and give us a try. If you're unhappy, you can always move on elsewhere. I don't see Stanford using that one much, if at all, but it's there as a subliminal element of recruiting today.
So, bottom line, I care about who signs on with the Card, but not in the way that I did before the past year. The world has just shifted too much -- and in a critical way relevant to recruiting out of HS that I haven't seen addressed adequately, on this or other thread on the Cardboard, or elsewhere as well in the things that I read.
But there are other aspect of the recruitment process for Stanford that do occur to me that are relevant for 2024 and beyond. Stanford can now say to prospects, if you come to Stanford, you can have a high level confidence that as you grow and improve, we won't be bringing in someone through the transfer portal to replace you before you're ready to step into a major role. There's another new argument in the recruiting wars that some coaches can use -- come to X school and give us a try. If you're unhappy, you can always move on elsewhere. I don't see Stanford using that one much, if at all, but it's there as a subliminal element of recruiting today.
So, bottom line, I care about who signs on with the Card, but not in the way that I did before the past year. The world has just shifted too much -- and in a critical way relevant to recruiting out of HS that I haven't seen addressed adequately, on this or other thread on the Cardboard, or elsewhere as well in the things that I read.