WALZ, STAFF HIT THE ROAD
(Click the link to hear this classic CCR song):
LONG AS I CAN SEE THE LIGHT
You see...they're in the midst of another of those 10 day recruiting/evaluation/different hotel and mattress each night/what's for breakfast periods.
They've got an agenda and they're in pursuit of it...it features some of the best names in the high school girls' game.
2017 Destiny Littleton, Dana Evans, Evina Westbrook, Victoria Sax, Rennia Davis and Lindsey Duvall are some of the 2017 prospect that UofL is scouting...along with commit Loretta Kakala (you have to let the on-board already know that you're still there). 2018 verbal Seygan Robins got a visit. Our buddy Chris Souder probably did too. Victoria Saxton is another out of the 2018 class that is meriting attention. 2019 Nyah Green will (or has already) be talked with and seen.
If anyone could have ever found Gilligan, the skipper and the castaways...it most likely would have been Walz or one of the staff.
I used to be blase about recruiting. I'm slowly coming around. The theory of who finishes a career at a place instead of who starts a career still holds more merit for me. I do, however, realize the importance of getting quality players on campus. Nightmares of the 2009-10 season still exist. Travel well, coaches. See and be seen. Happy hunting on the road trips. And, stay cool.
paulie
xxxxx
Megan Walker no longer considering Louisville?
ReplyDeleteShe hasn't been in the Cards camp for several months now.
DeletePaulie
Her name not popping up with Louisville anymore. Probably related to Cole leaving
ReplyDeleteAnother nice piece...The entire club ball / early recruiting / overpromising by schools and the inevitable pre-adult angst when college sports reality sets in thingy gets a bit tiresome not only in WCBB but all college athletics.
ReplyDeleteMost of us thought we were the smartest people on the face of the earth when we were 17 or 18. It kinda comes with the territory. Unfortunately when you have poorly trained, financially motivated club ball activities setting up the recruiting of talented and semi-talented kids as early as the eighth grade it kinda guarantees a bad outcome, particularly when you combine it with the increasing cost of a college education and the general inability of most parents to implement a financial plan to fund their kids' educations.
It seems that it frequently gets lost in the translation but the most important lesson all young athletes should learn from their parents and / or their coaches / athletic mentors is that as much as you love your sport eventually you won't be good enough to go to the next level. That may sound harsh but it is the obvious truth. The real benefit everyone should get from playing organized ball is the life lessons it teaches in striving and working towards a worthwhile goal and not giving up when you temporarily get your ass kicked. Ideally it should set a kid up for future life success. It sounds corny but what kids and their parents should be focusing on isn't necessarily college playing time or potential WNBA exposure but landing at a school that offers the kid a major in a field that adds value to their lives long term and positions them for future financial success, regardless of their field goal percentage or ability to play shut down one on one defense. Too many folks get seduced by the real or imagined glamor of being "famous" instead of focusing on proven objectives of successful people that will make their lives better.
I was lucky. I was good enough to get a scholarship but clearly not good enough to go to the next level. That reality helped me focus on what I needed from my college education. It sounds strange but I was fortunate I wasn't better. With even half an ounce of encouragement I might have tried to hang on in Europe ball for a couple years. Thankfully I didn't. I leveraged the value of athletics to help me succeed in life.
WCBB is tough, particularly at UL. Walz makes almost a million bucks a year and has 15 scholarships thanks to Title 9. It's serious business. Pretty much guarantees massive disappointment with many kids if they're filling all 15 slots. It's a brutal business and not for the naive or weak of heart.
I only follow ULWBB and wish for nothing but the success of the program, unfortunately the "sausage making" is frequently not a pretty sight and some folks get run over in the process. Wish it was different.
Good points, Burn. I had it explained to me this way a while back by someone who has been through it. Not a UofL coach but someone I still respect quite a bit.
DeleteThe ideal scenario is to have three kids graduate each year and three kids come into the program. that way, you stay at an even keel of 12-15 players, depending on how many red-shirts you have. One or two walk-on's help a lot. Especially if they stay four years.
Of course, a Gibbs Rule from NCIS is that you don't waste good. Sometimes you take five. Sometimes one or two leave. Sometimes more. Witness Louisville WBB over the past several years.
The bottom line is that you are recognized enough, you're doing well enough and you do a good enough selling job to the recruits where they still continue to want to be there year after year. Then, competition and skill tends to weed out a few.
I'd utterly be shocked if there WASN'T a year in the future where NO ONE transfers.
Paulie
I agree. Transfers are necessary and good to keep maximizing the talent pool. With a 12 player roster count on minimum of 2 transfers and if Walz carries a roster of 15 we will get 4 transfers on avg a year
ReplyDeleteLook at this year - 3 transfers and a walk on/scholar player not invited back
Kids aren't going to stick around if they're not getting minutes and we have 15 on roster.
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ReplyDelete