What Was the Deal with C. Walker

[cowboysooner]

Speaking of Courtney Walker, if memory serves me, she committed to OU and then ended up going to A&M. Does anyone remember why she decommitted and chose the aggies? Just wondering.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I was told by a high school coach that Courtney said the OU coaching staff stopped contacting her. But, who knows for sure.

 

[Mac]

Sherri was recruiting a lot of guards that year after the Walker commit, Nicole Kornet, Maddie Manning, Nirra Fields, and Peyton Little. And all the guards I named visited OU at some point... Walker could have felt like she was being over recruited or maybe Sherri didn't think she was a good fit.

 

[badger]

Why do I suddenly hear "SEC" chants in my head

 

[Mark]

I was told by a high school coach that Courtney said the OU coaching staff stopped contacting her. But, who knows for sure.

If that's true Sherri made a huge mistake Courtney better than every guard on our team not name Aaryn.

 

[MisterF]

The way I understand the story. CW 'twas committed. She committed early. Loved OU. However coming down the recruiting stretch her family told Sheri CW wanted to take a recruiting visit. Coach said fine , but you are not committed here now.... And stopped recruiting her. May not be exactly right, but close according to what I was told. I was a huge CW fan. I wanted her at OU. Great player and great kid.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I do know that Danni Williams liked OU a great deal. The Williams family came to Norman on an unofficial visit and had a great time. Shortly thereafter, Sherri stopped contacting Williams and the family.

Since then, she has received offers from Tenn, Stanford, A&M, Duke, and many other schools.

 

[Soonerbay]

I was told that something similar happened with a California recruit from 2009 class...DeNesha Stallworth who is currently a senior at Kentucky. She originally signed with Cal, then transferred a few years ago. Supposedly, DS wanted to attend OU in the footsteps of the Paris twins. Hansmeyer was recruiting her and had a great relationship with her, but SC would not talk to her. Go figure!

 

[gwydion]

The way I understand the story. CW 'twas committed. She committed early. Loved OU. However coming down the recruiting stretch her family told Sheri CW wanted to take a recruiting visit. Coach said fine , but you are not committed here now.... And stopped recruiting her. May not be exactly right, but close according to what I was told. I was a huge CW fan. I wanted her at OU. Great player and great kid.

I was told this exact same thing. But story also included that Sherri had her in tears on the phone when told if she took the trip the offer would be revoked. Mom then got on the phone and told Sherri her daughter would not be attending OU. The girl hadn't taken any recruiting visits and just wanted to go on one for the experience and informed Sherri that was all it was, taking advantage of a free trip. If true, I hope Sherri learned from the experience. There is always a chance a recruit can change her mind, but if you treat them poorly and threaten them by saying you'll revoke their scholarship, well you're probably going to lose them anyways.

 

[sybarite]

Does that really sound like Sherri, or is it more likely that it is the story of someone who wants to feel important, like he has inside information? For me to believe him, I have to be shown something in Sherri's character that I have never seen before.

 

[garyeb2]

Does that really sound like Sherri, or is it more likely that it is the story of someone who wants to feel important, like he has inside information? For me to believe him, I have to be shown something in Sherri's character that I have never seen before.

It sounds exactly like Sherri. And I'm guessing the poster could care less whether you believe him or not.

 

[sybarite]

It takes something to make my ignore list. That's enough.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I think most coaches have a side the public doesn't see or doesn't want to see. Sherri is no different. She has buttons players or recruits better not push. Ask Jenny Vining.

If I were a coach and a committed player told me they wanted to take another visit, I would say, "I hope you know that we want you at OU and we believe you will still want to come here when you get home. Have a great time and while you are there, if they have any recruits as good as you, try to talk them into coming to OU too!"

There is no reason to get upset because these are mostly 16-18 year old girls who are trying to make the biggest decision of their lives. Don't blame them for being confused and wanting to be sure they are making the right decision for them. You just have to take lemons and make lemonade.

 

[35TangoTango]

Of course all we ever hear is the players' side of these situations. And most often they are after the fact justifications for players' actions. I remember the short career of Stephanie McGhee. After her departure, her father made some public statements that were very uncomplimentary about Coach Coale (and were far removed from the truth). Coach Coale and the staff showed a great deal of class by not replying to these statements with the truth, which would have hurt the player. That seems to be the way these things are done.

 

[badger]

Verbals are non-binding both ways. Coaches have been burned many times by recruits that commit early, then change their minds later. In basketball, there's very few scholarships a coach can offer each season and when they do, I think it's perfectly acceptable to expect a commitment from a player in return.

I've heard of many football coaches that have the same stance that if you take visits elsewhere, you're not truly committed to the program you gave a verbal. Michigan's Brady Hoke comes to mind. I think Texas-ex Mack was also big on early commitments not taking visits elsewhere

It sounds exactly like Sherri

Meh, I imagine dealing with indecisive teenage girls on something that has nothing to do with coaching basketball can be very frustrating for all college coaches. It could very well be a story at any major program. We're OU/We're UConn/We're Stanford/We're Baylor/We're Tennessee. We aren't someone's second choice. Stick with your commitment, or we'll both be moving on.

 

[gwydion]

Does that really sound like Sherri, or is it more likely that it is the story of someone who wants to feel important, like he has inside information? For me to believe him, I have to be shown something in Sherri's character that I have never seen before.

Of course she has never shown that side to the public, she knows how to to talk to the media and the public as a whole. But I've seen a snippy side of her one on one and I wouldn't be surprised if in trying to talk a recruit out of taking a free visit Sherri did get agitated with her. It may not take much to bring some recruits to tears. And no, this person wasn't trying to be important we were just talking and it got mentioned.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Verbals are non-binding both ways. Coaches have been burned many times by recruits that commit early, then change their minds later. In basketball, there's very few scholarships a coach can offer each season and when they do, I think it's perfectly acceptable to expect a commitment from a player in return.

I've heard of many football coaches that have the same stance that if you take visits elsewhere, you're not truly committed to the program you gave a verbal. Michigan's Brady Hoke comes to mind. I think Texas-ex Mack was also big on early commitments not taking visits elsewhere


Meh, I imagine dealing with indecisive teenage girls on something that has nothing to do with coaching basketball can be very frustrating for all college coaches. It could very well be a story at any major program. We're OU/We're UConn/We're Stanford/We're Baylor/We're Tennessee. We aren't someone's second choice. Stick with your commitment, or we'll both be moving on.

But, we really don't seem to mind being someone's second choice as long as they end up at OU...Peyton Little and Chelsea Dungee.

 

[AustinTXSooner]

If a recruit is taking visits, that shows a lack of commitment.

I don't know if these are Stoops exact quotes, but I know he said something along these lines:

"It's like me telling my wife, 'hey, we're going to get married in February,'" Stoops said. "But until we do, I'm going to date these other three girls all through September, October and November until we get married. That doesn't work.​

​
"A kid is not committed if he's taking visits. We tell them that. We tell them, 'if that's the case, we don't accept your commitment and we'll keep recruiting guys at your position.'"​

 

[Mac]

But, we really don't seem to mind being someone's second choice as long as they end up at OU...Peyton Little and Chelsea Dungee.

I guess it works both ways... though she didn't turn out very good, Alyssia Brewer started at Tennessee but wanted to come to OU after 3 seasons at Tennessee and she was told there wasn't any room, she ended up at UCLA.

Does anyone know what school Walker wanted to visit/ how many Visits did she take?

 

[soonerstar]

The player needs to be 100 per cent sure that they are making the right choice. If not, they will be miserable and second guess themselves and if they transfer, they sit out a year. On the contrary, a coach can break their contracy and jump to another school without missing a beat.