But she’s going to UConn. At least it’s not Tennessee. Or Moo U.
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018 … -surprise/”>http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/mar/25/nation-s-top-player-gets-added-surprise/</LINK_TEXT>
Corliss Williamson and Mitch Mustain were also Gatorade Players of the Year.
And the school she’s going to attend blew out the defending national champs by 29 tonight in the Elite Eight.
As Notorious likes to say, mercy.
Everybody else is just coaching for second place as long as Geno Auriemma is riding herd in Storrs. He gets who he wants, coaches the hell out of them and beats a 29-win South Carolina team by 29.
The Hens aren’t nearly as good as they were last year. Moo U is probably better. But Moo U isn’t going to beat UConn again. I expect a woodshed job on Vic Schaefer’s Lady Leghumpers.
I guess going out of state to play in front of a bunch of strangers was more important than helping Coach Neighbors turn the Lady Hogs into an SEC power. Looking at his recruiting class He is going to be alright.
There’s a real good chance that she’ll get three or four national championship rings at UConn. I can see how that would be a lure. That, after all, is what Nolan thought he was creating in 1995 and thereabouts, a program that would contend for NCs for an extended period and basically recruit for itself (which Duke, UK and UNC have). And maybe he would have if he’d been willing to play some of the summer recruiting games (I’m not talking about funneling Adidas money to recruits).
I do think Neighbors will improve our program dramatically. He can recruit them, and he proved at U-Dub he knows what to do with talent when he gets it. But right now he’s trying to catch Moo U and the Chickens in the SEC. He’s not going to catch UConn until Geno hangs it up.
Geno may be hanging them up sooner than later. I read the ESPN.com article about him, and he sounded kind of tired of always having to chase perfection. He may coach another 10 years but at some point the imperfection is going to eat him alive.
As for our Gatorade Player of the Year, I hope she gets a ring or two. Don’t blame her for wanting to win. Can’t help but wish she’d stayed, though, to help the nationally ranked No. 3 recruiting class form the first of what could become a game-changer for the university.
I don’t follow women’s basketball except watching the Final Four. Are there any young men coaches in women’s college basketball? Another way of asking the question is, did coaches like Geno, Gary Blair and Mike Neighbors get their coaching jobs when women were not given opportunities to be coaches?
He’s 64 so he can keep at it awhile if he wants to do so. He makes $2 million a year. Mercy.
I am a hog fan who lives in Connecticut and follows the Lady Huskies pretty closely. The Lady Huskies draw large crowds, home and away, so she will get to play in front of a whole lot of “strangers.” Contrast that to the few hundred the Lady Razorbacks play in front of at home in the normal course (hopefully that improves over time). Also, her recruitment was essentially over before Neighbors took the Hog coaching job. It looks like Neighbors is setting things up to build us a winner at Arkansas. Go Ladybacks!
that article changed my view of him, I kinda like him now, either way it was a good piece
UCONN has always been my 2nd favorite women’s team behind the Razorbacks.have followed the women’s game for a while as both my daughter(now 37)and grand daughter(her niece)have played ball and still playing. if you ever want to get under a Tennessee Lady Volunteers’ skin…show up at the SEC Women’s Tournament dressed in UCONN gear and sit among them.the whole family(about 15 of us)have done it each time its been at Verizon Arena in NLR.
I don’t think there’s any question that men have taken away women’s jobs over the years. It would be really difficult to say that a woman should have been hired over Geno after he’s hung 11 banners in Gampel Pavilion. Could a woman have been hired here at any time after Blair left? Absolutely. And in the case of one ESPN refugee, probably anyone else would have been better of either gender, with the exception of Susie Whatsername.
Auriemma used to talk about Pat Summitt all the time during athletic luncheons here in Connecticut. Auriemma is quite cocky and self-assured.
Susie Gardner. John White called Pat Summitt (the competition) and asked for recommendations on who to hire for the next coach (brain fart). Actually Gardner had an impressive resume at the mid-major level (Austin Peay, I think). The wrong hire.
Auriemma only hires female assistant coaches and female administrators. That is his way of giving back.
Actually it was Bev Lewis who made the call to pat Summitt.
Neighbors will do great things here. He and his staff are aggressive recruiters, and that is one of the big components we have been lacking here.