All Over?

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Mon, 11/05/2007 - 11:10 Does landing the last remaining impact player in 2008 clinch the national recruiting title for Tennessee?

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STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Tennessee has put itself in position to repeat as HoopGurlz.com's mythical national recruiting champion after landing a verbal from Glory Johnson.

Johnson, the No. 3 prospect in the HoopGurlz Hundred who lives right in the Lady Vols' backyard in Knoxville, Tenn., announced her commitment at the Webb School on Monday morning.

HoopGurlz.com considers the top three prospects in its top 100 for 2008 - Johnon, No. 1 Elena Delle Donne and No. 2 April Sykes - to be recruiting equivalents of NBA "lottery picks," meaning the schools landing one of the three have the inside track on the No. 1 recruiting class ranking. Delle Donne previously pleged to Connecticut and Sykes committed to Rutgers.

"Glory Johnson is in the absolute top echelon, the top tier of the 2008 class," said Chris Hansen, the National Director of Scouting for HoopGurlz. "There are some typical groupings, like the top 10 or the top 25, that a lot of people use to designate the impact players in any class who can change the face of their respective collegiate teams immediately. There are only a few in 2008, and Johnson is one of them. I’d say Delle Donne, Sykes and Johnson are those three. You could make a case for any of the three being the No. 1 player.

"For Glory that case starts with her combination of size and athleticism. Even more is her aggressive style of play and that she maximizes both her size and her athleticism. Her leaping ability and strength stand out as she can get to the basket and finish near the rim, in traffic, and against taller and wider opponents. She can play uptempo and create havoc in transition or slash to the basket or post up in the half court. Defensively, she covers so much ground with the length, and add spectacular speed, and she can probably guard at least four positions on the floor and, in high school, easily all five."

Johnson gives the Lady Vols the Nos. 3, 4 (Amber Gray of Cincinnati, Ohio), 8 (Shekinna Stricklen of Morrilton, Ark.), 15 (Alicia Manning of Clarkston, Ga.) and 20 (Alyssia Brewer of Saplulpa, Okla.) prospects in the 2008 class, a spectacular collection of wing-forward types. Last year, Tennesee signed the Nos. 2 (Angie Bjorklund of Spokane, Wash.), 5 (Vicki Baugh of Sacramento, Calif.), 12 (Kelley Cain of Atlanta, Ga.) and 38 (Sydney Smallbone of South Bend, Ind.) prospects in the 2007 class.

On the other hand, Rutgers remains in the hunt for two of the 2008 class' best inside prospects - No. 14 Ayana Dunning of Columbus, Ohio, and No. 18 Liz Lay of Oklahoma City, Okla. - and landing either one, or even both, could give the Scarlett Knights a case for the No. 1 recruiting class. With Dunning, in particular, in hand, Rutgers would have a true post, plus four other players in Sykes, No. 9 Brooklyn Pope of Fort Worth, Texas; No. 26 Jasmine Dixon of Long Beach, Calif., and No. 36 Chelsey Lee of Miami, Fla., who are exceptional scorers from the boxes. All four also can create their own shots off the dribble, and Sykes and Pope have great accuracy from deep range.

The Scarlett Knights also recruited ballhandling and sprinter's speed in the backcourt, adding No. 27 Nikki Speed of Pasadena, Calif.

At 6 feet 1, Gray is the best low scorer in Tennessee's 2008 class. But Cain and Baugh already fill inside needs for the Lady Vols, who also didn't have to seek shooting, with Bjorklund and Smallbone already on campus.

The class ranking debate aside, one thing is clear: coach Pat Summitt delivered a major coup in keeping Johnson in the Tennessee state lines. The 6-3, scary-fast Johnson also made official visits to Clemson, North Carolina and UCLA.

"The only real knock on her is her shooting range," Hansen said. "She has so much elevation on her jumper, though, that she shoots a decent percentage even though she doesn’t square her feet and shoulders. I expect she’ll hit the court next year in college and push for starting minutes regardless of the existing personnel. She is a different style of player. She bursts out with her first step and enjoys the contact of the defender and likes to get after in and play physical on both ends. She’s also got the intangible of knowing how big of a mismatch she is for people. She exploits the weaknesses in her opponents like a shark smelling blood in the water. She is definitely a Wow player and like Delle Donne and even last year’s class darling, Maya Moore, she is the next evolution in the women’s game."

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Glenn Nelson is the founder and publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He is a member of the McDonald's All-American Selection Committee and SportsShooter.com (Click for Porfolio), Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, National Press Photographers Association and Online News Association. Glenn also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams and previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. Glenn can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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