St. Pius star one of five for POY Award
( We step away briefly today from current UofL WBB to look at one of the bright spots in the future for Jeff Walz's squad. If you catch Walz in sunglasses...it's because the future is so bright he has to wear shades...)
The senior point guard from St. Pius X High School in Atlanta adds another honor to her high school career in being named as one of five finalist for the Naismith Trophy Girls' High School Player of the Year award. She is the first player recruited by UofL to be selected for the top award in girls' high school basketball.
Durr, considered the #1 player in the country by ESPN and Prospects Nation, is also a McDonald's All-American and had 40 points last night in a St. Pius loss in the quarterfinals of Georgia's Class AAAA quarterfinals. Joining Durr in the finalist slots are Napheesa Collins (UConn), Tea Cooper (Tennessee), Lashann Higgs (Texas) and Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn).
St Pius fell to Buford in a rematch against a team they had sent to the sidelines the previous two year in Georgia State Tournament play. Durr fouled out of the contest with 23 seconds left and St. Pius down by two. Buford coach Gene Durden had this to say about Asia:
" Asia Durr is everything as advertised. I've been around 27 years coaching girls basketball and the only girl I can say who is close to her is Maya Moore. Asia is a complete player. She's an absolute fierce competitor. They (St. Pius) run everything through her."
Durr had 52 and 44 points in the first two playoff games.
Watch the many videos out there online that feature her. Break down her play and watch her "wow" factor. The Cards are getting a point guard that works harder than anyone on the court while making it all look easy. Her sense of court awareness, scoring creation and basketball IQ equal that of the top seniors in college basketball at this point in her career.
The scary thing is that she's only going to get better with four years under Jeff Walz. A noted WNBA coach commented about her play:
Pretty heady stuff for a high school senior. And, she's in Atlanta. Plenty of opportunities to connect with two other UofL stars that have made a pretty good name for themselves in their careers.
Shoni...Angel...meet Asia. Get her ready for the show that is KFC YUM! Center WBB. Asia Taylor...drop by and talk to the next Cardinal Asia.
And get ready...fans...for pure Durr.
paulie
Paulie, great article.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading and viewing everything I can find about Asia Durr ever since I heard that Louisville might be able to sign her. She is an amazing talent, and is also very personable and humble. She works her butt off in the gym.
She was double-and-triple teamed all season. She shot 51% from the field, 46% from deep and 84% on free throws.
A WNBA coach is quoted as saying she could earn six figures in Europe today --- yet another reason I'm glad there's not a one-and-done in WBB.
Lauren Cox, Tori McCoy and Kylee Shook - c;mon down...think how many times you'll be open in the post with Durr out front, Mooro on the wing and "E" / Hines-Allen, DeGrate and Feuhring sharing the paint.
Nice read on Durr. She'll be of immediate assistance with Jude/Bria departing. Does Walz start he right away or have her in off the bench and give the start to Carter?
ReplyDeleteBlue Lou
She starts from Day One. And I wouldn't be surprised if Taja Cole starts along with her in the backcourt, at least early on. Carter will have the experience advantage, but Durr and Cole are extremely talented. Walz started Moore and Hines-Allen so he has no qualms about throwing freshmen out there.
DeleteShe seems like a great person and a great baller. A gracious young lady who can also knock down the three! Walz always goes for character and skill as a package and I think that's why he's been able to grow the program.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've looked at Durr's videos. I agree with Mike. She's "instant coffee" next year at the point. No question. I really like Carter but she just hasn't been able to capitalize on the minutes she's been given this year. That said I hope she comes out during the tourneys this year and crushes it. We need a strong backup at the point next season. Jude has worked hard to bring her along.
The staff did a fine job recruiting over the last two years and it shows. Jeff has always "overdelivered" based on the skills of his ballers. Now that he's getting top tier talent the sky is the limit for this program going forward.
I agree with some of the comments from yesterday that in general "taller is better" in basketball. That said we outrebounded ND and still lost. To me it is the coaching staff understanding the skill sets of their team in a given year and coaching to it's collective strengths. This year is a great example...I don't know anyone that thought these kids would have done what they've done. It's pretty amazing and I think they're going to have a great run in the tourneys.
Looks like Megan Deines is the only senior next year and I doubt that she'll rotate to a starting spot so next year's starting five will be together for at least two years. The following year we'll only be losing E and Walton and by then we should have brought along the bigs from this year's recruiting class.
Good Stuff
I am concerned about next year. I am not sold on DeGrate. She is a space eater but not all that good. Fuering I haven't seen on video but what I've heard she is a scrapper. What concerns me is these two are rated in the 40's or higher for the most part and usually for bigs that doesn't translate into quick impact players on the college level until at least a few years experience. So even though we get Durr, we still don't have the bigs
DeleteIt makes sense to be concerned but if Cortnee comes back totally healthy and capable of giving us 25 to 30 minutes of quality time I think we'll be OK with Hines-Allen and E filling most of the other minutes for the 4/5 slots. Hopefully that gives our new bigs some time to gain the experience they need. From my perspective I'll take an athletic 6'2" big that can box out, rebound and seriously run the floor over the typical 6'4" baller you see in WCBB. It looks to me like that is the type of kid Walz is recruiting.
DeleteIn my opinion Hines-Allen is one good summer of hard work away from being a serious force in the ACC. With her ability run the court assuming that she can fix herself on defense she has a unique package that could anchor us down low for the next three years. E is still a bit of a wild card but she's a great athlete with tons of upside also. E needs to improve as much over this summer as she did over last summer and she’ll be a force to be reckoned with. I’m a huge believer in all three of these kids next year as long as they are healthy. Potential injuries continue to be a risk and may push our new recruits into heavy action sooner than we want to.
So I think we’re well positioned for next year, particularly considering Walz’s track record of taking the kids he has and making them fit and win together. We don’t yet have a consistent top five program, but we have a top five coach. No WCBB coach has done more with less than Walz during his tenure at U of L. The real question is can he push the program to a consistent top five level now that he’s getting the quality kids he’s been chasing.
And in honor of Paulie's tag line here you go....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY
And I'm not just thinking next year. March is coming...dancing is fine but I'd rather Walz...
I see all the talk about Durr starting pg, but look at Taja Cole's you tube clips and tell me there won't be a battle going on for backcourt minutes. Two lefties going at it! And neither will be getting many of Moore's minutes at sg. Fuehring will be battling for minutes also. Nice to have this kind of problem for a change. UConn, we coming for ya!
ReplyDeleteAsia Durr starting next year is just about a lock. And I think she will be starting at the 2 position. The battle will be between Cole and Carter at point guard.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. It didn't occur to me Durr would be a 2 guard. I guess everyone will be interchangeable anyway. I hope Arica can pick it up and improve leaps and bounds into her sophomore year. We will need her . I'm tired of our point guards/guards right now. Jude gives everything she has and Bria is mentally shellshocked at this point.
DeleteI don't know if I see Durr at the two guard but I could see Walz running a legit two guard set which would make them pretty much interchangeable.
DeleteI personally don't see a battle between Cole and Carter to start unless things end up being different than they look right now.
Just wanted to drop a note in here that Walz met with the media today at 11:30 a.m. Cardinal Couple did not have a representative at it, but you can check out our buddy Charlie Springer's report on the conference at his fine website:
ReplyDeletewww.uoflcardgame.com
Paulie
You guys need to be on top of those :)
DeleteYeah...woulda loved to. Still in that 9-5:30 M-F working world. Thoughts about getting Walz to stop by during my lunch and recreate the presser....
DeleteYeah...
Read Charlie's write up.
Paulie
Durr is actually rated #2 by ESPN behind Samuelson. Not that there is much of a difference between the top two. ESPN even had Durr rated first for a long time.
ReplyDelete