I'm absolutely dumbstruck that Aaryn Ellenberg didn't get selected in the draft. There truly must be something going on behind the scenes. If I were a potential player, I would be very hesitant. I wonder what the issues are.
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And only 3 players from the Big 12.
Elenberg not being drafted= Which is exactly why we miss out on the Bigtime recruits. You all are talking about recruits out of OU's. I highly doubt OU will sign the #1 or 2 player in the nation. 1-10 matter fact. You have to start out on a solid foundation. Get your local talent and build on top of it. Which is exactly why we got lucky with the Paris twins and another successful class after that.
SoonerNorm
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8 out of the first 12 players drafted this year were ranked in the top 12 when they were recruited in 2010. Recruiting rankings do have significance.
Truth bomb
SoonerNorm
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You are exactly right. Not having players drafted hurts recruîting when it comes to the elite players.
One More Rebound
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I remember OU being in the running for #8 draftee Shoni Schimmel. I also remember OU being in the running for #18 draftee Inga Orekhova. In both cases, we did not close the deal, which has become a running theme for OU's recruiting.
Sooner Cal
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Nonsense. First, the women's game is still immature. Any sport dominated by a single team year after year is immature. It is slowly developing, but has a ways to go. Tennessee dominated, now it is UConn. Stanford and Notre Dame are consistently good, but not quite good enough. Several others have occasional good years, but then disappear.
Women's soccer followed the same path. North Carolina dominates. Notre Dame has done very well, but they are far behind UNC.
I think it has a lot to do with poor coaching at the high school level. The average soccer coach doesn't know the fundamentals and if he does, he doesn't coach them. When I watch college soccer I often see poor execution of basic skills. When a good athlete can't execute a fundamental skill under modest pressure, you know she never had a good coach.
So say what you want, but until there are more than a few really great players coming out of high school every year, UConn, Notre Dame and Stanford will get the lion's share. The rest will have to settle for landing one every so often.
Women's soccer followed the same path. North Carolina dominates. Notre Dame has done very well, but they are far behind UNC.
I think it has a lot to do with poor coaching at the high school level. The average soccer coach doesn't know the fundamentals and if he does, he doesn't coach them. When I watch college soccer I often see poor execution of basic skills. When a good athlete can't execute a fundamental skill under modest pressure, you know she never had a good coach.
So say what you want, but until there are more than a few really great players coming out of high school every year, UConn, Notre Dame and Stanford will get the lion's share. The rest will have to settle for landing one every so often.
OU was in on several others, as they were in last year's draft. OU did close on several a few years ago. Right now, our best recruits have either not been what they could have been, or they have been injured. We are not UConn, ND, Stanford, Duke, or Tennessee. The fact that we have been almost to that level is an achievement. We need health to get back there.
SoonerNorm
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There are more really good players than ever before. It is also true that other college coaches are stepping up their recruiting such as UNC, UCLA, S. Carolina, Texas, etc. While I don't think it is likely UCONN will be kicked off their throne any time soon, I believe we are going to see other teams compete with Tenn, ND, Duke, and Stanford and I believe it will happen soon.
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Tulsa also got Jordan Hooper from Nebraska in the 2nd round. It will be interesting to see if she pans out at the next level. Seemed like she played about 8 years at UN.
SoonerNorm
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Jordan was a really good college player. I agree that it will be interesting to see how well she does in the WNBA.
From the OU side I checked some twitter accounts including AE's and no one has said anything. I am beginning to think more and more there were some serious chemistry problems between Seniors and the rest.
If I were an under classman and I thought that one of my Senior teammates got the shaft I would say something. Plenty of ways to do that today.
If I were an under classman and I thought that one of my Senior teammates got the shaft I would say something. Plenty of ways to do that today.
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MsProudSooner
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I didn't watch every bit of the draft, but it seemed to me that most of the 2 guards drafted were bigger than Vegas. Even if they were under 6 feet, they were more muscular than she is.
SoonerNorm
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Aaryn is small for a SG and her ball handling is a weakness. She can make some money overseas if she chooses to do so.
Aaryn came to OU a point guard who could shoot 3's and wouldn't defined. She left a small 2 guard who can now get to the rim, but her game didn't get much better while she was here, often times I hear other fans say how OU doesn't develop players, it seems very true at times.
Players have to want to develop. DRob came in as a quick guard who didn't know anything about offense or defense. She learned pretty well. Nyesia came in as a high jumper who was a basketball novice. She learned to shoot.
When someone makes the same mistakes that they made as a freshman, do you say that it is the program that doesn't develop them, or is it the player who doesn't commit to learning not to commit the mistake?
Aaryn may have been a point in highschool, but it was obvious that she would never be a D-1 point after her first few games.
When someone makes the same mistakes that they made as a freshman, do you say that it is the program that doesn't develop them, or is it the player who doesn't commit to learning not to commit the mistake?
Aaryn may have been a point in highschool, but it was obvious that she would never be a D-1 point after her first few games.
Indeed. We have had an unlucky string of injuries. That does impact others' likelihood of getting drafted (like Aaryn) because of team rankings. Aaryn has two major weaknesses: relatively poor ball handling skills, and poor on-ball defense. She can shoot the gaps well and get some steals every once in a while, but in the league, you have to be able to defend. Offense isn't as big of a concern for Aaryn, in my opinion. I hope she signs somewhere. She must be devastated. I didn't realistically expect Morgan Hook nor Nicole Griffin to land.
Yes, she does have a small frame and build compared to the others. Tiffany Bias (PG) did go relatively high to Phoenix, but she handles the ball relatively well. Meighan Simmons (TN), also went rather late (3rd Round, 2nd pick).
