Akhator Commits to Kentucky

#1
H

Hoya Saxa

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#1
Reports on twitter that she has committed to Kentucky. The Vols miss out on another post player. She would have been a valuable piece to the team next year.
 
#2
#2
oh my, that's a bad decision. Kentucky? A team that has never won anything in women's BB and never will. I'm shocked but maybe PT was an issue.
 
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#3
#3
Well that sucks! Hate it cuz we could have really used her but if she doesn't wanna be a LVFL then so be it. Best of luck to her. On to next year's recruiting class...
 
#7
#7
I'm hearing that the Nigerian Assistant Coach for Kentucky sealed the deal. Akhator was very comfortable with him. All we can do is move on to the 2016 class.
 
#8
#8
It's not surprising actually. Kentucky has a new 1st year male coach from Benin, Africa & with Evelyn being from Nigeria, there was a definite comfort level there.

She also wanted assurance of a starting position, which Tennessee, Texas, nor Florida State could give her. Kentucky did.
 
#10
#10
mtsuraider06 said:
Not necessarily trash, but the mantra of "You won't play at Tennessee behind Russell, Graves, & Jones" is being told to every single recruit.
Click to expand...

Heh. I live in Kentucky and have worked with two different softball teams in the area with hitting. So while I've never had direct experience, sometimes the recruiting chatter blends through different sports and the word is a certain coach who feels threatened to his West and South seems incapable of selling on positives rather than tearing down the other. Not heard UT as much but definitely regarding the school to the West. I think his problem in seemingly being unable to crack the top top recruits more than anything right now is his facility. You take a recruit to the Yum or Thompson Boiling and then to Memorial. The difference is striking.

Its fascinating to watch especially from a softball angle as coaches in the SEC are notoriously friendly with each other. Ralph/Karen have a really good relationship with Rachel Lawson and have pointed talented kids from Tennessee in her direction if we didn't have the scholarships available. Different world I suppose.
 
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#11
#11
Her coach from Chipola was from Kentucky as well. A tough blow for us as we need an extra post player but we move on. Hopefully Jones and Russell can play a season without injury.
 
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#14
#14
Well not the news i wanted to hear, now we must really move on and focus on the posts from the 2016 class.
 
#17
#17
No way we are suppose to lose a recruit to KY, the difference is night and day. Her only real competition for a starting spot would have been Graves at the 4, Jones is a tweener.

I will continue to listen to comments like:
1.Moving on
2.Not a true LV
3.She would not get PT
4.etc

Instead of tackling the real issue here :whistling:
 
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#18
#18
Darth...and what would you have done differently...specifically...to ensure she would have signed with UT?
 
#19
#19
volbabyvol said:
No way we are suppose to lose a recruit to KY, the difference is night and day. Her only real competition for a starting spot would have been Graves at the 4, Jones is a tweener.

I will continue to listen to comments like:
1.Moving on
2.Not a true LV
3.She would not get PT
4.etc

Instead of tackling the real issue here :whistling:
Click to expand...

Just curious...what is the real issue? It can't be because Mitchell is viewed as a better coach than Holly...we beat them all THREE times we played them last year and 1 and 1/2 of those games were without Izzy. And it can't be because KY has a better chance at a NC than us...see their 2nd round NCAA loss to our Elite 8 one. She wanted to go to KY...plain and simple. I could be mean and say I hope she enjoys getting beat by UT for the next 2 years but I won't. I wish her well and move on.
 
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#20
#20
volbabyvol said:
No way we are suppose to lose a recruit to KY, the difference is night and day. Her only real competition for a starting spot would have been Graves at the 4, Jones is a tweener.

I will continue to listen to comments like:
1.Moving on
2.Not a true LV
3.She would not get PT
4.etc

Instead of tackling the real issue here :whistling:
Click to expand...

And what do you imagine "the real issue" to be?

Akhator didn't select Tennessee because UK has a coach with a culturally-similar background and she was essentially told she would be a starter there. Tennessee would not/could not guarantee the same.
 
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#21
#21
I wanted Akhator more than Brown or Mompremier. Sure hope TN can get Kasi Kushkituah.
 
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#22
#22
Volbabyvol wrote "I will continue to listen to comments like:
1.Moving on
2.Not a true LV
3.She would not get PT
4.etc

Instead of tackling the real issue here"

I too get sick and tired of hearing the excuses. But what do you think is the real issue?
 
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#23
#23
volbabyvol said:
No way we are suppose to lose a recruit to KY, the difference is night and day. Her only real competition for a starting spot would have been Graves at the 4, Jones is a tweener.

I will continue to listen to comments like:
1.Moving on
2.Not a true LV
3.She would not get PT
4.etc

Instead of tackling the real issue here :whistling:
Click to expand...

ChattyVolfan said:
Darth...and what would you have done differently...specifically...to ensure she would have signed with UT?
Click to expand...

ChattyVolfan said:
Just curious...what is the real issue? It can't be because Mitchell is viewed as a better coach than Holly...we beat them all THREE times we played them last year and 1 and 1/2 of those games were without Izzy. And it can't be because KY has a better chance at a NC than us...see their 2nd round NCAA loss to our Elite 8 one. She wanted to go to KY...plain and simple. I could be mean and say I hope she enjoys getting beat by UT for the next 2 years but I won't. I wish her well and move on.
Click to expand...

ivyleague said:
And what do you imagine "the real issue" to be?

Akhator didn't select Tennessee because UK has a coach with a culturally-similar background and she was essentially told she would be a starter there. Tennessee would not/could not guarantee the same.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm anxious to learn new and secret things, too. So................everyone patiently waiting for the answer volbabyvol and Darth_Vol.
 
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#24
#24
Everybody take a deep breath. Did we want this player? Sure. But lets not act like this girl is the second coming of Candace Parker.

Adding her to our roster probably doesn't give us any significant advantage over South Carolina going into next year. Nor is her addition at UK going to suddenly make them a top 10 or preseason SEC pick.
 
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#25
#25
When you haven't been in the national title picture in a decade, and fold in the sweet 16 every year, you tend not to get the recruits you used to get. Was that a factor with this prospect? I don't know--but that generally has become an issue for us. We would have never lost recruits to kentucky, south carolina or louisville or others in the past (three programs that have never won squat), but then this is the present--boom.
 
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