A Few Tidbits

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MikeADore
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A Few Tidbits

Post by MikeADore »

Agata Makurat
Agata Makurat, younger sister of former UConn player Anna Makurat,, had an official visit over the weekend. She’s a 6’2” shooting guard from Poland with a game similar to Katie Lou Samuelson, according to the UConn fan that found this photo, I’m assuming on Instagram or Facebook. I have neither. Anyway, Agata (class of '23) is one of the top-rated players in Europe in her age group. She is said to be visiting Georgia Tech, but I’m not sure who else. Her older sister left UConn in spring of 2020 due to the outbreak of covid. She decided to stay in Poland and play professionally. Another sister, Ola, played at Utah.

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Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson is the number-three ranked player in Class of ’24. She’s a 6’0 guard from Minnesota with outstanding passing, ball handling and shooting ability. Joyce Edwards and Jaloni Cambridge, who are also Vandy targets, are ranked ahead of her in the class, but Olson is hands down my favorite to watch. I think it’s fair to say she can literally play anywhere in the country she wants to play, including UConn (Geno has personally been to see her), so it will be tough to reel her in, but at least she gave us an unofficial visit. She was at UT a few days later, so it sounds like she was on a bit of a tour while she was wearing the boot on an injured foot that kept her from summer league play.



Kennedy Ume
Kennedy Ume has lots of offers, including South Carolina. She and her father are borderline worshipful in their twitter responses to Dawn Staley, so I’m not hopeful. Depends on whether Staley goes hard after her or considers her a “just in case” prospect. By the way, the kid is a very talented artist in addition to her considerable basketball skills. She got an official offer from Vandy in recent days.



Olivia McGhee
Olivia McGhee from Virginia (’23) has a Vandy offer. Haven’t heard much about her, but she is rated in ESPN’s top 50.

http://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-b ... via-mcghee

Mjracle Sheppard
I watched the semi-finals of the Geico National Tournament recently to see Chloe Kitts play (she's really good), and, much to my surprise, I learned of a player with a Vanderbilt offer. She is Mjracle (pronounced Miracle) Sheppard, a 5'10 junior guard for Montverde Academy, the team that eventually won the tournament. Sheppard plays with and is overshadowed by Janiah Barker. Also, junior guard Cori Allen is a teammate and an ESPN top 50 player, though Sheppard actually starts ahead of her. Montverde features other D1 prospects as well.

She's a high-motor player with good but not necessarily flashy skills. Against Kitts' DME squad in the semi-finals, Sheppard had a fantastic first half: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as Montverde took a 37-24 lead. For that half, at least, she was the best player on the floor. She ended with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block.

In no way am I trying to say she is equal to Barker and Kitts or perhaps even some of the others as a prospect, but she did show flashes, and she obviously has caught coach Ralph's attention. She has offers from Vandy, Florida and Western Kentucky. Her coach told announcers that her recruitment has started to pick up. Still, for a player at the end of her junior year, that's a fairly modest list.

Avery Strickland
This one breaks my heart a little bit. I really wanted to see us sign Knoxville Farragut’s Avery Strickland for the class of ’22, but, alas, we lost her to….Pitt? Yep. Pitt. (In fairness, Pitt offered her immediately after she de-committed from West Virginia along with another recruit that de-committed the same time as Strickland. Both wound up accepting Pitt’s offer, but Strickland didn’t visit there until late April).



This 31-point performance in the state semi-finals is one of the reasons I’m so disappointed:



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Last edited by MikeADore on Wed May 18, 2022 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.


vandyfan52
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Re: A Few Tidbits

Post by vandyfan52 »

Exciting news about Makurat! Also, I think both McGhee and Sheppard were offered by the previous staff? Is there confirmation that they hold offers from the current staff? Furthermore, it does look like we recently offered Julianna LaMendola, a 6'1 G/W out of Coppell, TX.
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Re: A Few Tidbits

Post by abvandy »

Many thanks for this recap ! Good to see some news.

CONQUER!!..., and PREVAIL!!!
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Re: A Few Tidbits

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vandyfan52 wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 5:57 am Exciting news about Makurat! Also, I think both McGhee and Sheppard were offered by the previous staff? Is there confirmation that they hold offers from the current staff? Furthermore, it does look like we recently offered Julianna LaMendola, a 6'1 G/W out of Coppell, TX.
I can't recall the announcers' exact wording about Sheppard to Vandy. I even went back this morning to rewatch, but, unfortunately, they've chopped up the game to include only scoring plays. Almost all the commentary is gone, and the game is less than 14 minutes long. I do recall they specifically mentioned coach Ralph and Sheppard having the opportunity to be a part of what Ralph is building at Vandy. That could have been just an assumption on their part, but this was on the same day as this year's NCAA final four, almost a year after White was fired, so they, and especially the Montverde coach who provided the info, should have known better. Montverde is loaded with D1 prospects, so the coaches would be aware that a year-old offer from a previous staff holds no meaning if the new staff doesn't follow up, and they still told the announcers she had a Vandy offer. So, I figured if meant from the current staff.

The bottom line is I can't say for sure she has an offer from Ralph, but that was the definite impression they gave.

As for McGhee, I somehow stumbled upon her ESPN Hoopgurlz page where the schools she is considering are listed. It's sort of odd, actually, because I didn't find any other prospects with a list like that on the profile page. No clue when the offer was made.

I would think we have a good shot at Makurat. Olson could be more in the pipe dream category, but I have to admit I was excited to see her at least give us an unofficial visit when just about every school in the country would be thrilled to have her.

Nice to talk to you again. I'll have to find some highlights of LaMendola.
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Re: A Few Tidbits

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vandyfan52 wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 5:57 am Furthermore, it does look like we recently offered Julianna LaMendola, a 6'1 G/W out of Coppell, TX.
Right on the money.

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Re: A Few Tidbits

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Makurat now moved on from Georgia Tech to Miami.
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Re: A Few Tidbits

Post by charlestonalum »

Great stuff - thanks for updates.
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Re: A Few Tidbits

Post by MikeADore »

The staff, along with just about every other staff in the country, I'm sure, was on the recruiting trail this weekend. Tom Garrick, Ashley Earley and Kevin Demille were working tournaments in Dallas and Frisco, Texas. Demille was also in Atlantic City, N.J., and Earley was in Louisville in addition to the two Texas locations. Oddly enough, no word on where coach Ralph was. The last time they all went out a few weeks ago, her itinerary was included along with the rest. Could just be an oversight by the website.

While I'm here, a word to the basketball gods: I want this one, please.

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Re: A Few Tidbits

Post by MikeADore »

vandyfan52 wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 5:57 am Furthermore, it does look like we recently offered Julianna LaMendola, a 6'1 G/W out of Coppell, TX.
Well, crap. That offer didn't stay afloat very long.

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