WELCOME TO TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:
(We're keeping this one up here until we know the decision)
SARA HAMMOND TO ANNOUNCE TUESDAY 10 A.M.
Prized basketball recruit Sara Hammond from Rockcastle County High School has announced that she'll announce her college choice
Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.
Hammond has narrowed down her college choices to the University of Louisville and the University of Connecticut. She has visited both campuses and received in-home visits from each school last week.
Hammond is considered the front runner for Miss Basketball in Kentucky for the 2010-11 season and was a top player this summer for Kentucky Premier 17U AAU Select team. She played on the team with other UofL targets Kyvin Goodin-Rogers and Makayla Epps.
Hammond is a versatile 6'2" front line player with excellent rebounding skill and has great outside shooting range. She led Rockcastle County to a final four appearance last year in the Ky. State Girls' High School tournament and has been ranked as high as the #12th best player nationwide in the class of 2011.
WE have been supremely confident for quite sometime that Hammond is headed to be a Cardinal and that confidence isn't waning as decision day draws near. We know that UConn has really turned up the juice in their recruiting effort over the last several months...but Hammond has been considered a Louisville lean for several years and we don't see that changing.
Louisville offers several things that she has stated in the past are important to her in her college choice.
-She wants to chose a school where her parents, family and friends can see her play.
Louisville is 2 hours away, Connecticut considerably further.
-She's looking for a school where she'll see playing time and eventually get a chance to start. Louisville has needs in the front court areas and Hammond is tailor-made to fill those.
-Connecticut has an all star list of players either on campus, as returnees or freshmen and several more candidates in the class 0f 2011.
-Hammond is looking for a college that she'll feel comfortable at. She described her Labor Day weekend visit to Louisville as "the best weekend of my life."
-Hammond also has a strong source of commitment to the Rockcastle County and Mt. Vernon, KY. area and it just makes sense that she'd pick a school where those friends and fans would be able to see her play in person. The UofL basketball program under Jeff Walz, in his fourth year as Cardinal skipper has also played Tennessee, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay. These campus are also close to Mt. Vernon as another chance for her fan base to see her in action.
-Hammond wants to attend a college where she can get a degree in her field of study. We're not sure what that is...but Louisville has a medical school, dental school, law school, engineering school and business school...as well as an arts and sciences school. Covers about everything.
The lure and siren song of the UConn basketball is a strong one. To be considered by them is quite an honor. But, it doesn't always work out there. (Note: the comments previously here in the original article have been removed after editorial review and reader request.)
WE think it is an obvious choice. WE'LL update you when she announces. WE'RE confident that it will be an announcement that will make a lot of people in RED and BLACK happy. WE'RE calling it "Cardinal."
Great call! Will be a great get for Louisville!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for tomorrow morning!
ReplyDeleteGo Cards! I hope you get Sara!
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping your right...your credibility is counting on it. :p J/K
ReplyDelete100,000 fans a season, Seven NC, national players of the year, first team all-Americans, WNBA all-stars, and WNBA MVP... I like the BORG! The only thing cold is the weather. Good luck to Sara wherever she goes. UConn only wants you if you want them... It isn't for everyone. Peace!
ReplyDelete(The staff and editors at CARDINAL COUPLE are not under the opinion that any current, present or future Connecticut players resemble the treacherous Borg from the Star Trek shows. In fact, we've always thought that Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi were attractive young ladies. Even Tina Charles...who might fit in well with the Klingon nation...doesn't seem to have any Borg qualities. WE just thought the comparison was an interesting visual. Borg are too slow and mechanical to play good hoops, anyway)
ReplyDeletetypical uconn fan coming here and displaying their arrogance. lets just kick their butts in football first. do it again in mens hoops . two out of three aint bad.
ReplyDeleteTommy
Based on the quality of the journalism, I have to assume you are about 12 years old. A couple of comments:
ReplyDelete1. You say: "UConn transfers are numerous over the years and the program has been described in the past "as a cold, unfeeling machine...'Borg' like in the production of clones single-minded in purpose..the success of Geno Auriemma." Unfortunately you fail to cite the source - even though you claim it has been said in the past. It's interesting that a google search turns up none of those phrases as ever having been used to describe UConn or Auriemma.
2. You talk about UConn transfers, but UConn has actually had a very low transfer rate over the years - lower than that of Louisville for example.
The Cardinal couple is making this sound like politics as usual. Smear your opponent. Uconn is not cold, and the group of girls there are all like family. By the way, who were all the girls that have transferred from Uconn. Della Donne, (my head is messed up), only one I can remember. Passing up Uconn for Louisville, like passing up a Rolls Royce for a Ford...
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how UConn basketball - men's and women's, thanks - has "morphed" into the hated enemy, the Big Dog kicking the puppy away from the food bowl, or the Godfather squashing the families who won't buy in.
ReplyDeleteNewsflash: Just a few years ago, Storrs, Conn., was known more for being home to the state school with the dairy program lazily placed in the middle of green pastures and colonial neighborhoods.
If Ms. Hammond wants UConn, she can have UConn. If Ms. Hammond wants to stay home, good luck to her. Geno will probably say hi and give her a hug when the two teams meet, and then return to the bench to instruct the 11th-best school girl baller in the nation to "not allow Hammond to breathe, let alone shoot, out there."
Lighten up people...I seriously doubt the Cardinal Couple are trying to win a Pulitzer Prize! I am just grateful that someone is dedicated to covering women's sports in Louisville. I am pretty sure most UofL fans respect UConn and Geno for the impact they've had on women's sports. This site has been mostly free from these types of childish arguments until now. If you disagree, there are plenty of sites out there dedicated to covering the glory of Uconn Women's Basketball!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. We enjoy input of all types here and welcome the diversity. As we stated earlier, the comment about the UConn women's team was not ours...just an interesting comment we found and decided to share.
ReplyDeletePaul
Well, no surprise, Sara is staying in Ky. And Uconn did not miss a beat without Della Donne, and they will survive. She may be a star at Louisville, and playing close to home was more important to her, than the big stage. Good luck Sara.
ReplyDeleteUconn is the best starting five in basketball,next top five are on the Uconn bench,hope we get her it will be good for both,Uconn is,was,and always will be a family affair,Geno doesn t need more accolades hes got enough
ReplyDeleteAs of shortly past 10 a.m. this morning, Hammond announced that it is Louisville. But thanks for checking in, check into getting a new watch and you're absolutely right about the Huskies and Geno. The best. WE don't dispute it and fully agree with it
ReplyDeleteFor now.
Geno is pure trash! She made the right choice! Geno would have ruined her anyway. You see Delle Donne hauled ass! LOl at the comment about Tina Charles looking like a Klingon, that was priceless. Correction though, Diana Taurasi is not cute at all, she looks like E.T.!
ReplyDeleteAw, I don't know about Taurasi and the E.T. reference. She's got that cute, kinda tomboyish look to her. Can't go with Geno being trash either. I think he might have made a good character in The Sopranos, though. And, Sonja thinks he's gorgeous. Of course, she likes Viggo Mortensen also. Don't know if he can coach or not. Thanks for checking in!
ReplyDeleteSonia and Paul, you said,
ReplyDelete"...the comment about the UConn women's team was not ours...just an interesting comment we found and decided to share..."
The majority of your readers, I hope -- whether we favor UConn or favor Louisville -- know that both coaches and both teams are class acts. Your negative comments about Auriemma and UConn were unnecessary, and really out of place in an otherwise good article.
Thank you for your comments. I have decided to remove the part of the article that several readers have objected to. We mean not to antagonize or offend here...we're just a non-profit UofL women's sports blog. And life's too short to go around creating 'haters'.
ReplyDeleteSonja