2017 WBB Recruit Profile Index

[buffgal]

Bendu Yeaney St. Mary's Academy 17

 

[JackVcr]

Appears Annika Jank is going to be a Buff!

Annika is the 6'3 lefty I told you about.

 

[JackVcr]

As Jackvcr said, we have exchanged emails when he introduced us. I did tell her that my mother played basketball. This winter, there was a column in the small town newspaper where she grew up in the 75 years ago this week section where she had led her team in scoring to beat their big rival. The Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament is like no other. I was fortunate enough to Lappe play in two state tournaments and to be present when Shelley Sheetz was inducted to the Iowa Girls Basketball Hall of Fame.

I attended several state tournaments in Colorado after they started playing the two large school classifications in Boulder. Not like the tourney in Iowa at all.

Didn't realize you had Iowa ties, Mark.

Iowa and Tennessee is where it all started for women's basketball!

 

[JackVcr]

I saw that. If you don't see a player you like and who you think can truly contribute, do not offer them a scholarship. Saw some players during Ceal's tenure who were not DI players. Ended up staying 4 years and not really contributing to the team in games.

Will NOT happen under J. "Scholarships are too valuable to waste on someone to merely fill the bench, Dad."

 

[JackVcr]

Of course coaches can't discuss recruits that haven't signed, but they can give some generalizations, so here are a few things I picked up at the meet-and-greet:

• "Biggest" need right now is post players. But they want post players that can run the floor as they want up-tempo. Ideally these players would be 6-4 - 6-5. In the short run they may need to go with shorter players in the post to satisfy the need for pace.
• They could sign more than four in November, but I got the impression they most likely won't. As another poster stated, they won't "settle." JR used that term as well.
• Currently they have about 15 players they are recruiting (I assume that means for the class of '17), but they are playing catch-up as these players have been recruited for over a year. At this point it is a matter of building relationships and getting official visits.
• Their top recruit is also a very good volleyball player and will make her official visit during a weekend when the volleyball team is playing at home in September.
• JR promises buffgal she will recruit Iowa - seriously.

Okay Bebe, you're up again.

Annika Jank is a really hard worker who can "flat out run the floor" according to J.

 

[MarkW]

Didn't realize you had Iowa ties, Mark.

Going back to at least the Civil War and most likely a bit before. Grandparents met in Spirit Lake, both born an raised in different parts of the state. Grandmother went to Coe College, grandfather, mother and one sister went to Grinnell College. Some of my mothers relatives were big into basketball back in the 40's and 50's.

I too hope that CU is able to recruit another HS player from Iowa that will have the impact that both Sheetz and Lappe did on the program.

 

[buffgal]

Iowa and Tennessee is where it all started for women's basketball!

And Oklahoma.

Yes, scholarships are too valuable to waste. I have seen them wasted at CU in the past. If fans can see it, why was the player recruited? Sounds like that is in the past. I realize injuries and illness happen and that can totally change what a player contributes.

 

[buffgal]

Going back to at least the Civil War and most likely a bit before. Grandparents met in Spirit Lake, both born an raised in different parts of the state. Grandmother went to Coe College, grandfather, mother and one sister went to Grinnell College. Some of my mothers relatives were big into basketball back in the 40's and 50's.

I too hope that CU is able to recruit another HS player from Iowa that will have the impact that both Sheetz and Lappe did on the program.

I am now 90 minutes from Cedar Rapids and Coe College. I attended Simpson College, which is in the same D3 conference as Coe.

My mother played in the 40's and some of her sisters played in to the 50's. The first memory of my mom that my dad has is seeing her shooting the ball with her left handed shot in a district tournament game. They didn't officially meet for several more years.

 

[JackVcr]

Here is one I just found from back in 9/15. Mallory Vaughn, 6'4" 2017 Post from Collinsville High SchoolCollinsvilleOK received her 5th offer from U. of Colorado. She has since received more, including just this past week from Arizona (Coach Kelly , of course) and was visiting with former Buff commit, Annika Jank.

Ed, you may well know this already, but Annika Jank is not a 'former' CU commit (unless you mean she committed once to the previous CU coach). She is definitely coming to CU & excited to be a Buff and part of the turn around.

 

[JackVcr]

Of course coaches can't discuss recruits that haven't signed, but they can give some generalizations, so here are a few things I picked up at the meet-and-greet:

• "Biggest" need right now is post players. But they want post players that can run the floor as they want up-tempo. Ideally these players would be 6-4 - 6-5. In the short run they may need to go with shorter players in the post to satisfy the need for pace.
• They could sign more than four in November, but I got the impression they most likely won't. As another poster stated, they won't "settle." JR used that term as well.
• Currently they have about 15 players they are recruiting (I assume that means for the class of '17), but they are playing catch-up as these players have been recruited for over a year. At this point it is a matter of building relationships and getting official visits.
• Their top recruit is also a very good volleyball player and will make her official visit during a weekend when the volleyball team is playing at home in September.
• JR promises buffgal she will recruit Iowa - seriously.

Okay Bebe, you're up again.

Early Sept is going to start a big month. Three top flight players (2 from out of country) coming for visits on same weekend. The 3rd is the volleyball player who J says has a ton - "make that a Metric ton, Dad" - of upside.

 

[buffgal]

Jank had committed to the previous coach and then reopened her recruiting. J had to win her back to CU. We lost one of the players who should have been here this fall.

 

[MarkW]

Early Sept is going to start a big month. Three top flight players (2 from out of country) coming for visits on same weekend. The 3rd is the volleyball player who J says has a ton - "make that a Metric ton, Dad" - of upside.

Interesting. I didn't figure that at this point in time the new coaching staff would be heavily recruiting foreign players, but it makes sense. Foreign players most likely aren't getting scouted at young ages like in the US. Thus top level talent is available late in the recruiting game.

 

[buffgal]

They also can usually play right away. Remember we brought in Isabelle Fijalkowski for one season.

 

[JackVcr]

Jank had committed to the previous coach and then reopened her recruiting. J had to win her back to CU. We lost one of the players who should have been here this fall.

Aha. Thanks.

 

[JackVcr]

Interesting. I didn't figure that at this point in time the new coaching staff would be heavily recruiting foreign players, but it makes sense. Foreign players most likely aren't getting scouted young ages like in the US. Thus they are available late in the game.

Plus JR is fluently bi-lingual in French. Big advantage. Remember Ronny Turiaf at Gonzaga? He told JR about a 6'4 girl in Paris but said she was probably going to UCLA or Texas. J called anyway and the girl committed to Gonzaga on the first phone call. J asked why & she said, "You're the only one who even attempted to speak French with me and your French is flawless. Now where is Gonzaga so I can tell my mom where I'm going?"

 

[Buffnik]

They also can usually play right away. Remember we brought in Isabelle Fijalkowski for one season.

Before I decide whether to Like this post...

Did you have to look up how to spell her name?

 

[JackVcr]

Before I decide whether to Like this post...

Did you have to look up how to spell her name?

Now that's funny!!

 

[MarkW]

hey also can usually play right away. Remember we brought in Isabelle Fijalkowski for one season.

Of course I remember her! Unfortunately, she was in Boulder for only one season. Because she was 21 or so when she arrived in Boulder she was a bit ahead of where most newcomers would be.

Quick, who can name another CU women's basketball player from France?

Since JR speaks French she can cast a wide net when recruiting. Parts of West Africa, Quebec, etc.

 

[MObuff]

Quick, who can name another CU women's basketball player from France?

Virginie Delepine (sp?) We were in the same Biology class one summer.

 

[buffgal]

Before I decide whether to Like this post...

Did you have to look up how to spell her name?

No, I did not look up how to spell Isabelle's name. I actually think her last name is misspelled.

 

[buffgal]

Of course I remember her! Unfortunately, she was in Boulder for only one season. Because she was 21 or so when she arrived in Boulder she was a bit ahead of where most newcomers would be.

If I recall correctly, she had only one season of eligibility because she had played after university.

Ceal brought her in to help us win the national championship in 1994-95. Barely missed the Final Four. Isabelle played a couple of seasons in the WNBA. Excellent basketball player.

 

[MarkW]

Ceal brought her in to help us win the national championship in 1994-95. Barely missed the Final Four

I was in the Knapp Center - Des Moines - when CU lost in the regional final to Georgia. It was brutal to watch the final few minutes when CU was missing free throws and turning the ball over. 30-3 overall that season if I remember correctly. I really felt for Shelley as that was her final game for CU and it was near her hope town. Of course I was a little upset myself, to put it mildly .

Isabelle was good, very good. Without her they wouldn't have made it that far. I never got to see her play in the WNBA for Cleveland.

This reminiscing reminds me of something that I forgot to mention in an earlier post that another selling point for the program is attendance, or should I say the potential thereof. In the so called "glory years" CU WBB was averaging 4,000 to 5,000 per game. No reason that can't happen again should the team be ranked regularly. Yes, it will take a while, but I firmly believe it can happen again.

 

[BeBe]

I believe that I have read somewhere that Isabelle F. would not have been eligible to play in the NCAA under the current rules.

 

[jsmilkst]

I was in the Knapp Center - Des Moines - when CU lost in the regional final to Georgia. It was brutal to watch the final few minutes when CU was missing free throws and turning the ball over. 30-3 overall that season if I remember correctly. I really felt for Shelley as that was her final game for CU and it was near her hope town. Of course I was a little upset myself, to put it mildly .

Isabelle was good, very good. Without her they wouldn't have made it that far. I never got to see her play in the WNBA for Cleveland.

This reminiscing reminds me of something that I forgot to mention in an earlier post that another selling point for the program is attendance, or should I say the potential thereof. In the so called "glory years" CU WBB was averaging 4,000 to 5,000 per game. No reason that can't happen again should the team be ranked regularly. Yes, it will take a while, but I firmly believe it can happen again.

I've never forgiven Georgia. I thought that was our year.

 

[buffgal]

I was in the Knapp Center - Des Moines - when CU lost in the regional final to Georgia. It was brutal to watch the final few minutes when CU was missing free throws and turning the ball over. 30-3 overall that season if I remember correctly. I really felt for Shelley as that was her final game for CU and it was near her hope town. Of course I was a little upset myself, to put it mildly .

Isabelle was good, very good. Without her they wouldn't have made it that far. I never got to see her play in the WNBA for Cleveland.

This reminiscing reminds me of something that I forgot to mention in an earlier post that another selling point for the program is attendance, or should I say the potential thereof. In the so called "glory years" CU WBB was averaging 4,000 to 5,000 per game. No reason that can't happen again should the team be ranked regularly. Yes, it will take a while, but I firmly believe it can happen again.

Yes, 30-3 and I don't have to look it up. All the mistakes CU made and Amy Palmer had used a time out when she couldn't get the ball in. Coach Barry couldn't call a time out to stop the bleeding. I was very upset myself.

No, the team would not have made it that far without Isabelle. That is why Ceal brought her in--to get the team to the Final Four.

CU can average 4K to 5K again. Back then, they did a lot of promos to get people in to see the team. Once they had people coming to the games, they were able to stop that. Had a few sellouts then also. That was also when season tickets came to be. There had gotten to be too much fighting over "saving" seats. Lines when the doors opened were crazy and people went running for the best seats.

I've never forgiven Georgia. I thought that was our year.

I was so sure it was our year that I had tickets for the Final Four. I did go to Minneapolis and was lucky enough to go to the Kodak All American dinner. That was the best part of the weekend for me.

If memory serves, we would have played UConn in the first game and I do not think we could have beaten UConn.

 

[JackVcr]

The three recruits I mentioned coming early Sept are coming for the CU-CSU football game & will be on the field at Mile High when Ralphie comes out. The best of the two out of country girls is a top talent, under radar and has not had a nice life growing up. CU's competition is Rutgers & St Johns - both city schools. J hopes her staff & Boulder will be an attractive alternative to how this girl has grown up in a difficult city with next to no parental influence. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[buffgal]

Boulder is much more beautiful than the locales of Rutgers and St. Johns. Coach Stringer is well respected, but the program was down last year. Some were calling for her to be fired. Don't know much about St. Johns.

 

[Cardinal22]

At least Rutgers and St. John's have much more appetizing schedules. Heck, if you look at Princeton, they play George Washington, Seton Hall, Dayton, and Kansas State this year before Ivy Play.

I think that there's an opportunity for Colorado to step it up and find tougher regional opponents. When was the last time we played Gonzaga? South Dakota State? Santa Clara? BYU? Montana (I'm still so sad that Robin Selvig has retired.)? Heck, even South Dakota, Nebraska, Creighton, and others would add some luster to the schedule for me. If I was a parent, I'd be looking closely at how a team chooses to challenge itself. I recognize that the jury is still out on that this year, but moving forward, I would hope for more. Kentucky was a step in the right direction, now I want to see more of that.

 

[Buffnik]

At least Rutgers and St. John's have much more appetizing schedules. Heck, if you look at Princeton, they play George Washington, Seton Hall, Dayton, and Kansas State this year before Ivy Play.

I think that there's an opportunity for Colorado to step it up and find tougher regional opponents. When was the last time we played Gonzaga? South Dakota State? Santa Clara? BYU? Montana (I'm still so sad that Robin Selvig has retired.)? Heck, even South Dakota, Nebraska, Creighton, and others would add some luster to the schedule for me. If I was a parent, I'd be looking closely at how a team chooses to challenge itself. I recognize that the jury is still out on that this year, but moving forward, I would hope for more. Kentucky was a step in the right direction, now I want to see more of that.

One other thing that I didn't say in my reply to your other post is that it is hard to get home & homes for big programs to come to Boulder. Lot of travel for them and they see it as a trap game at altitude. It puts CU in the position of either having to be really good or really bad in order to attract opponents. Really good and a loss at Boulder doesn't hurt their RPI plus it's a televised event. Really bad and they can pencil in a road win against a Big 6 program that's going to bump up their strength of schedule & RPI due to the 18 games (plus Pac-12 tourney) we'll play against the rest of the Pac-12. Scheduling is actually pretty difficult for CU and other schools in the Mountain time zone.

 

[buffgal]

We definitely have to up the toughness of our non-conference opponents.

I remember when a Lappe team went undefeated in the non-conference portion of the schedule and then found out they had not played a decent team. Lappe liked soft non-conference schedules, but that did not bode well for either the Big 12 or Pac 12.