Prospect Watch - 10/12

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Fri, 10/12/2007 - 10:55 Jolette Law's "Fab Five" concept for Illinois, plus our usual look around the country, packed this week with commitments.

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STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

During the course of recruiting some of the nation's elite prospects, first-year Illini coach Jolette Law hit upon an idea that, if executed, could instantly put Illinois on the women's basketball map.

Instead of pitching Ayana Dunning, Chelsey Lee, Samantha Prahalis, Amber Stokes and April Sykes as individuals, Law sold them as a package and dubbed them the "Fab Five" in hopes of duplicating the renowned Michigan men's recruiting class of 1991. That Wolverines class included Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber. Howard, Rose and Webber went on to significant NBA careers.

Dunning (No. 14 overall), Lee (36), Prahalis (30), Strokes (63) and Sykes (2) all are ranked in the HoopGurlz Hundred for the 2008 class.

Law's idea actually grew wings as a core of the group, which got to know each other at the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival and Nike Skills Academy, discussed over their mobile phones the possibility of joining forces in Champaign, Ill. Law, who was one of the top assistants in the game while at Rutgers, plans to get up and down the court at Illinois and the group she had percolating seemed ready-made for that approach.

The concept, at least in "Fab Five" form, died when Prahalis broke ranks and committed to Ohio State earlier this week.

"It could have been exciting," Prahalis explained. "But it was a risk. I couldn't be sure that everyone would go through with it."

This isn't the first time something like this has come up, and likely won't be the last. Last year a group of very elite prospects cooked up a similar idea on their own and buzzed about it throughout the summer. Yet it never happened.

Three schools this year have come close with "Fab Four" classes, though none was orchestrated in the way Illinois tried. Connecticut has commitments from Elena Delle Donne (No. 1 overall), Caroline Doty (10), Tiffany Hayes (11) and Heather Buck (33); Tennessee has Amber Gray (4), Shekinna Stricklen (8), Alicia Manning (15) and Alyssia Brewer (20), and LSU has LaSondra Barrett (12), Taylor Turnbow (55), Crystal Riley (59) and Courtney Jones (69).

The Lady Vols come the closest to a "Fab Five" class with highly regarded, though unranked Briana Bass. Pat Summitt's class could be truly fabulous is Tennessee native Glory Johnson, ranked No. 3 in the 2008 class, stays home. Van Chancellor has a real shot at landing a "Fab Five" class if No. 2 Sykes or No. 14 Dunning verbals to LSU. Both may.

The logistics of orchestrating a five-elite-prospect class are daunting. First, find five players open to the idea. Next, find a school with five open scholarships. Moreover, find one that is not too far from each of the five players. Finally, get five highly driven young women with varying agendas on the same page.

Ultimately, prospects will make choices that are best for them. Still, the concept makes for excellent speculation and day dreams.

RIM SHOTS

Shenise Johnson, of Henrietta, N.Y., ranked No. 16 overall in the HoopGurlz Hundred for 2008, told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that she has committed to Miami. At 5 feet 11, Johnson is a physically punishing and explosive guard who could herald a change of fortune in women's basketball for the traditional football powerhouse. In fact, all erstwhile Sunshine State football factories - Miami, Florida and Florida State - have been making positive impressions on the nation's elite prospects. ... It's early for the 2009 prospects, so it's not so atypical that the school list is long for Skylar Diggins, of South Bend, Ind., who is No. 4 in the HoopGurlz Super Sixy.

Diggins' list includes Baylor, Connecticut, DePaul, Duke, LSU, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee and Texas. ... D'Frantz Smart, whom we've been calling the best 5-1 point guard in the country, actually is 4-11, so she's obviously the best sub-five-foot guard in America. Smart this week committed to Rice over Bowling Green, which did not offer her intended major. Smart has been a three-time all-city player for Chicago's Whitney Young High School, one of the state of Illinois' stronger programs. ... Tia McBride, a 6-1 forward out of Cincinnati, Ohio, joined Alexa Roche of Brooklyn, N.Y., is committing to Georgetown. ... LaTasha Laws, a 5-8 guard who is one of the best players out of the emerging basketball factory that is Memphis, Tenn., has committed to Mississippi. ... Ole Miss also got a verbal from Nikki Byrd of Brookhaven, Miss. As a junior, Byrd averaged 16.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.1 blocks in helping lead Brookhaven High to the Class 4A state championship game. She chose Mississippi over Alabama-Birmingham. ... Sasha Goodlett, a 6-4 post out of Clinton, Miss., adds to another strong class at Georgia Tech. Goodlett averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game as a junior. She also considered Kansas, Mississippi, Southern Mississippi and Western Kentucky. ... Tyeasha Moss, a 5-9 guard out of Columbus, Ohio, has committed to Xavier. ... Kate Popevac, a 6-4 post out of Canfield, Ohio, has committed to Pitt. ... Midnite Madness at Texas A&M has been a sight. The past couple years, the Aggies have built a faux court on the 50-yard line at Kyle Field and drawn upwards of 30,000 fans. This year, "Maroon Madness" moves back to Reed Arena. Besides the women's and men's teams, the attraction will be hip-hop artist Soulja Boy, whose recent clean-lyric'd release has created quite a buzz. ... Speaking of Midnite Madness, the concept has spread to the high-school ranks. Midfield High School in Midfield, Ala., home to LSU commit Courtney Jones and Georgia commit Meredith Mitchell, is holding its ceremony on Sunday at 11 p.m.

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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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