***WBB: 2025 Recruiting Thread***

Man, Texas is really killing it recruiting 2023, 2024, 2025
That should get them past The Elite Eight which they haven't exceeded since forever. (Yeah, they have a championship in the '80s and a Final Four around the turn of the century).
 
That should get them past The Elite Eight which they haven't exceeded since forever. (Yeah, they have a championship in the '80s and a Final Four around the turn of the century).

I have them pencilled in as a fav to make the Final Four if they stay healthy. They've had a lot of bad luck with injuries the last couple of years.
 
MRed…can you give us your informed opinion (update)?

what are the top remaining needs for this class?
Who seem to be the most likely to become commits at this point?
 
MRed…can you give us your informed opinion (update)?

what are the top remaining needs for this class?
Who seem to be the most likely to become commits at this point?

This opinion isn't super informed, but my guess is Okolo and Beaty are the remaining targets being recruited the most. Given that the only player we are losing (ignoring future transfers) is Emily Ryan, it makes sense to bring in another PG like Beaty. And you can never have enough wing-types like Okolo, especially when we only have two years of Harris and Hansford.

We got Okolo on campus in March and Beaty on campus in June, so clearly we're near the top of both lists. I don't know anything more concrete than that.

And to be clear, my opinion on Okolo and Beaty was made before I remembered that both had visited recently. Okolo is the only level 3 recruit on the list and Beaty was recently offered, so that was my primary reason for mentioning those two. The fact that both visited in the past few months just reinforces that opinion.
 
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Well for starters there are some good and great programs in there and the head coaches are coincidentally female
You missed the point…two subpar teams in Illinois and Arizona. Baylor is a program of players constantly moving in and out. I do see a minor point of female coaches…but there are sure some better out there than the three programs I mentioned.
 
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Baylor is a program of players constantly moving in and out. I do see a minor point of female coaches…but there are sure some better out there than the three programs I mentioned.
Interesting observation - Baylor has suffered three defections this offseason - non-factor players Denae Fritz, Lety Vasconcelos and grad x-fer Catarina Ferriera. Meanwhile they added Colorado's best player (Vonleh) and the JUCO Freshman of the Year (Jennings) in the portal. Oh, and Nicki Collen convinced Jana V and Sarah Andrews to return for their fifth seasons. They also have a good-looking freshman class.

In contrast, how many defections did ISU suffer this season (six, with three regular rotation), how many highly-rated transfers did we bring in (none) and how many fifth-year Seniors do we have returning from the five-player highest rated recruiting class in ISU history (one). There's seemingly even low-level concern there, as she hasn't been in Ames much since the season ended. We brought in two freshman guards, where we're already well-stocked.

I've stayed quiet and monitored from a distance for months, but had to take it off mute when you mention transfers and coaching quality. You don't seem to be viewing the issues objectively.
 
Interesting observation - Baylor has suffered three defections this offseason - non-factor players Denae Fritz, Lety Vasconcelos and grad x-fer Catarina Ferriera. Meanwhile they added Colorado's best player (Vonleh) and the JUCO Freshman of the Year (Jennings) in the portal. Oh, and Nicki Collen convinced Jana V and Sarah Andrews to return for their fifth seasons. They also have a good-looking freshman class.

In contrast, how many defections did ISU suffer this season (six, with three regular rotation), how many highly-rated transfers did we bring in (none) and how many fifth-year Seniors do we have returning from the five-player highest rated recruiting class in ISU history (one). There's seemingly even low-level concern there, as she hasn't been in Ames much since the season ended. We brought in two freshman guards, where we're already well-stocked.

I've stayed quiet and monitored from a distance for months, but had to take it off mute when you mention transfers and coaching quality. You don't seem to be viewing the issues objectively.
Wow…you’re way off kilter here. Defections this year? Zero starters. One role player who transferred in The year before and a freshman who was homesick and didn’t play much. That’s two losses of players. If you try to count Diew…don’t…she graduated. I suppose if you’re a bean counter you’d best take into account Dawkins and King. Oh my goodness…by your flawed math that’s FIVE players that left! Transfers in? Ratings are for chumps. Fennelly recruits players that FIT. And geesh…you need to let the defections from TWO years ago go…or get therapy. And yes…we brought in two outstanding guards one of which can play four positions. The other is depth at point where we lose one after this year. Seems pretty smart to bring someone in to learn under one of the best.

Any other questions?
 
If you try to count Diew…don’t…she graduated. I suppose if you’re a bean counter you’d best take into account Dawkins and King. Oh my goodness…by your flawed math that’s FIVE players that left!
Actually, Mary Kate King also graduated (a year early), so it's REALLY stretching things to include a walk-on grad-transfer in that count.

 
Interesting observation - Baylor has suffered three defections this offseason - non-factor players Denae Fritz, Lety Vasconcelos and grad x-fer Catarina Ferriera. Meanwhile they added Colorado's best player (Vonleh) and the JUCO Freshman of the Year (Jennings) in the portal. Oh, and Nicki Collen convinced Jana V and Sarah Andrews to return for their fifth seasons. They also have a good-looking freshman class.

In contrast, how many defections did ISU suffer this season (six, with three regular rotation), how many highly-rated transfers did we bring in (none) and how many fifth-year Seniors do we have returning from the five-player highest rated recruiting class in ISU history (one). There's seemingly even low-level concern there, as she hasn't been in Ames much since the season ended. We brought in two freshman guards, where we're already well-stocked.

I've stayed quiet and monitored from a distance for months, but had to take it off mute when you mention transfers and coaching quality. You don't seem to be viewing the issues objectively.
Iowa State is currently on a 4-game winning streak against Baylor which, according to the record book, is ISU's longest win streak against Baylor.

As for quality of transfers, Hannah Belanger was some D2 kid no one wanted and she turned out all right.
 
Iowa State is currently on a 4-game winning streak against Baylor which, according to the record book, is ISU's longest win streak against Baylor.

As for quality of transfers, Hannah Belanger was some D2 kid no one wanted and she turned out all right.

I think the "nobody wanted her" is slightly overplayed even though it's the official story. She signed relatively early on April 15. I think if ISU hadn't shown an interest that some Div I school would have later in the recruiting process, maybe the Badgers or a midwest mid-major. What I do agree with is that an offer from ISU was quite a good one for a Div II player.
 
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I think the "nobody wanted her" is slightly overplayed even though it's the official story. She signed relatively early on April 15. I think if ISU hadn't shown an interest that some Div I school would have later in the recruiting process, maybe the Badgers or a midwest mid-major. What I do agree with is that an offer from ISU was quite a good one for a Div II player.

I don't think any of this is overplayed. She had ZERO high-major interest (1) coming out of high school, (2) while attempting to transfer after her sophomore year, and (3) after entering the portal after her senior season until ISU approached her.

Portal was open March 15 - May 11, and it sounds like she entered it as early as she could. After around a month of nothing, she was planning to commit to a low- or mid-major school (not sure which) before ISU contacted her.

From this article: https://archive.vn/jrLlx

Coming out of high school:
But not everyone was sold on Belanger, who received interest only from NAIA, Division II and Division III schools. She was so intent on playing at the Division I level that Belanger reached out to some teams on her own.
No one was interested. Many of them ghosted her.

After her sophomore season at Truman State:
[Coach] Dean, who schedules exhibition games every year against high-major schools, talked to opposing coaches about Belanger when they played. He urged them to give her a chance. He reached out to a few others.
That didn't draw any interest, either.

After her senior year at Truman State:
Belanger entered the transfer portal following her senior season at Truman State. A few small Division I schools and a bunch of Division II teams reached out. But that’s not what she wanted. She wanted to play somewhere big.
...
Belanger once again emailed some high-major programs. They ghosted her again. Belanger went home to Wisconsin and worked out with high-level players. They constantly told her that she had what it took. She needed a chance. No one was offering.
“It definitely was defeating,” she said.
After a month, Belanger’s name was buried on the transfer portal list. Belanger was ready to move on and settled on a small Division I school. She was going to commit. But right before she did, Belanger got an unexpected message on Instagram from Emily Hatfield, Iowa State's coordinator of video and recruiting services.