A bit of a lift

#1
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mcannon1

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#1
After the disappointing recruiting news

Women's basketball rankings: South Carolina back at No. 1, Tennessee leaps in Week 9's Power 10

This is the best part, especially the last sentence, second paragraph!

6. Tennessee (10) — The Vols muscle their way up in my Power 10 after an impressive week taking down No. 25 Texas A&M and a gritty Ole Miss team. Jordan Horston has owned the moment all season long, especially against ranked opponents, as Tennessee's top scorer led the way in both matchups. Now 15-1, Tennessee is having its best start since 2017-18 when the Vols went 15-0. Its first and only loss comes against Stanford earlier this season. After seeing Tennessee continuously dominate and watching other upsets take place in the lower half of my Power 10, it was a no-brainer to give Tennessee a major push in my rankings.


7. UConn (6) — After four postponements, the Huskies return with a victory over Creighton to start 1-0 in Big East play. Caroline Ducharme continues to show out in her freshman campaign, leading the way with 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Despite playing without its backcourt depth and reigning National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers, I believe the Huskies are going to be just fine. UConn has plenty of talent on its roster but will have to find its rhythm of playing without its lead scorer. However, I did drop UConn one spot considering Tennessee's record and dominance.
 
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#2
#2
While their drop was due mostly to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control, it isn't lost on any of us here how absolutely certain their fans were that they'd never, ever see Tennessee ranked above them again -- or even ranked in the top 15 -- at the lowest of our "low times."

Well, ISH HAPPENS. We know better than anyone how it can. They should all understand that now.
 
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#3
#3
mcannon1 said:
After the disappointing recruiting news

Women's basketball rankings: South Carolina back at No. 1, Tennessee leaps in Week 9's Power 10


6. Tennessee (10) — The Vols muscle their way up in my Power 10 after an impressive week taking down No. 25 Texas A&M and a gritty Ole Miss team. Jordan Horston has owned the moment all season long, especially against ranked opponents, as Tennessee's top scorer led the way in both matchups. Now 15-1, Tennessee is having its best start since 2017-18 when the Vols went 15-0. Its first and only loss comes against Stanford earlier this season. After seeing Tennessee continuously dominate and watching other upsets take place in the lower half of my Power 10, it was a no-brainer to give Tennessee a major push in my rankings.


7. UConn (6) — After four postponements, the Huskies return with a victory over Creighton to start 1-0 in Big East play. Caroline Ducharme continues to show out in her freshman campaign, leading the way with 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Despite playing without its backcourt depth and reigning National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers, I believe the Huskies are going to be just fine. UConn has plenty of talent on its roster but will have to find its rhythm of playing without its lead scorer. However, I did drop UConn one spot considering Tennessee's record and dominance.
Click to expand...

This is the best part, especially the last sentence, second paragraph!
What disappointing recruiting news? What did I miss?
 
#8
#8
One has to wonder how much lower UConn would be if their games hadn't been postponed. DePaul was a very possible (probable) loss. Don't know as much about the others, but they are fortunate to have held on their ranking while not playing for a few weeks.
 
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#11
#11
mcannon1 said:
I am big time bummed.
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It is a miss, though I think people may have read too much into her visits, as it turned out she visited a number of places in person (based off photos people have shared) on multiple occasions. I think folks are a bit prone to believing things said here without having any firsthand proof, and in recruiting, that is a big gamble. It is a little bizarre. Tennessee has the facilities, has a track record of commitment, and has shown improvement. One cannot help but think that, to many of the "big time" recruits, the proof is in making the Final Four. Certainly hope Tennessee can get there, especially if it results in less Shade situations.
 
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#12
#12
Voltopia said:
It is a miss, though I think people may have read too much into her visits, as it turned out she visited a number of places in person (based off photos people have shared) on multiple occasions. I think folks are a bit prone to believing things said here without having any firsthand proof, and in recruiting, that is a big gamble. It is a little bizarre. Tennessee has the facilities, has a track record of commitment, and has shown improvement. One cannot help but think that, to many of the "big time" recruits, the proof is in making the Final Four. Certainly hope Tennessee can get there, especially if it results in less Shade situations.
Click to expand...
I don't follow anyone on social media, but some posters have said that several teams, including Tennessee, stopped following her. Also, there is a pay site from Maria Cornnelius that is usually a good source for Tennessee info that took her off their recruiting list for Tennessee. Also, the only high school players currently followed by UConnWBB's IG account are Ayanna Patterson, Ice Brady, KK Arnold, all signed or verballed. And now Ashlynn Shade. Take that for what it's worth.

I'm not one to believe anything until the player themselves say it.
 
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#13
#13
The main benefit I can see the current "powers" using as a recruiting tool is getting to practice daily against some of the most talented players. Certainly, some of those schools are not going to be challenged much in-conference. When your own fans are posting they're looking forward to getting deep into their conference schedule to play "teams a good high school team could beat," that says it all. You better have a rigorous non-con schedule and be challenged in practice.

Of course, playing on all-star squads usually translate into championships, and those programs usually have more pro and Olympic names to tout, so the publicity machine keeps feeding itself. Remember that we were still pulling in top-ranked classes even as the cracks were starting to show publicly.
 
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#16
#16
Bballnut1952 said:
I don't follow anyone on social media, but some posters have said that several teams, including Tennessee, stopped following her. Also, there is a pay site from Maria Cornnelius that is usually a good source for Tennessee info that took her off their recruiting list for Tennessee. Also, the only high school players currently followed by UConnWBB's IG account are Ayanna Patterson, Ice Brady, KK Arnold, all signed or verballed. And now Ashlynn Shade. Take that for what it's worth.

I'm not one to believe anything until the player themselves say it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't really debating her status. If they're all taking her off the board then she's off the board. I don't have any reason to doubt that news. And if she decided to accept that school's offer, well, whatever. I don't particularly care where she goes if it's not Tennessee. I only care that Tennessee finds a way to win some of these top 10 battles.
 
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#17
#17
First, having watched a couple of games this season, I don't follow the lady vols that closely, nor do I follow women's high school guard prospects, nor do I know who all we are in on, who we are not in on, etc.
Second, the fifteen seconds of watching her work against air and shoot were not that impressive to me. I didn't particularly like her shot and I am not sure that it is fixable.
To each their own regarding shooting style to some degree, but that seemed unusual and difficult to get off with people guarding you tightly.

I do however like those hokey post game coaches/player celebration parties - it seems like it would be great for recruiting - generating some buzz around a program that could use some buzz, creating some buzz around a coach that
could use some buzz.
 
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#18
#18
Fullfillmer said:
First, having watched a couple of games this season, I don't follow the lady vols that closely, nor do I follow women's high school guard prospects, nor do I know who all we are in on, who we are not in on, etc.
Second, the fifteen seconds of watching her work against air and shoot were not that impressive to me. I didn't particularly like her shot and I am not sure that it is fixable.
To each their own regarding shooting style to some degree, but that seemed unusual and difficult to get off with people guarding you tightly.

I do however like those hokey post game coaches/player celebration parties - it seems like it would be great for recruiting - generating some buzz around a program that could use some buzz, creating some buzz around a coach that
could use some buzz.
Click to expand...
I like a good buzz....
 
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#19
#19
mcannon1 said:
Read that a projected TN lean, ESPN #5 IN 2023, Ashlynn Shade, is not signing with TN. Was REALLY hoping she'd be a Lady Vol.
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60wmyp.jpg
 
#22
#22
stlvolsfan said:
Wonder what happened? She was impressed by UConn’s 8 pt win over Creighton?
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I don't think UConn has any guards on their bench. If they don't pick up some from the portal in the offseason, they will only have Muhl coming off the bench. No backup for Fudd or Ducharme. There will be a lot of playing time available for Shade as a freshman, and if they don't lose any more players to transfer, they will also probably be one of the clear favorites for the NC that year. Tennessee is a bit of an enigma for the next two seasons with the lack of recruits. They'll have to mine the portal hard after this season, with 3 (potentially 4) players leaving, and then Key/Horston leaving before Shade's freshman year. There's a degree of "leap of faith" that they'll need to convince players to come into what would likely be a rebuilding season. They need some good 2-year portal signings to entice the top '23s, IMO.
 
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#25
#25
Amb3096 said:
I don't think UConn has any guards on their bench. If they don't pick up some from the portal in the offseason, they will only have Muhl coming off the bench. No backup for Fudd or Ducharme. There will be a lot of playing time available for Shade as a freshman, and if they don't lose any more players to transfer, they will also probably be one of the clear favorites for the NC that year. Tennessee is a bit of an enigma for the next two seasons with the lack of recruits. They'll have to mine the portal hard after this season, with 3 (potentially 4) players leaving, and then Key/Horston leaving before Shade's freshman year. There's a degree of "leap of faith" that they'll need to convince players to come into what would likely be a rebuilding season. They need some good 2-year portal signings to entice the top '23s, IMO.
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If Shade does committ to UConn, she will arrive with the No. 8 recruit, guard KK Arnold in 2023, so I believe they will have Bueckers, Muhl, Fudd, Ducharme, Arnold and Shade. But you are correct that they have to hit the transfer portal with Williams and Westbrook leaving. They will be in need of a guard or two.
 
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