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Post by hwnstunner on Mar 10, 2007 7:14:42 GMT -5
WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Wahine bring in project to develop By Cindy Luis cluis@starbulletin.com
A diamond in the rough and a gem of a person. That's Mick Haley's take on Stephanie Ferrell, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter who has orally committed to play volleyball for Hawaii next season.
Ferrell, who plays for Haley's Southern California Volleyball Club Nike 18s, is a senior at Locke High School in south central Los Angeles.
"Stephanie is extremely explosive and just a wonderful person," said Haley, the former U.S. national team coach and current coach at USC. "She lives to play the game and has a tremendous upside. In juniors, she's putting down about 50 percent of her kills, which is amazing. It's hard enough to get 50 percent when there's no one blocking you."
Ferrell has only been involved with volleyball for the past 2 1/2 years. She had been attending Manual Arts in Los Angeles, taking a majority of Advanced Placement classes, but transferred back to Locke for her senior year, according to Haley, because of the time involved in getting to and from Manual Arts by bus.
Because he had taken on a mentoring role with Ferrell, Haley said he didn't feel it was appropriate to recruit her. While he did not steer her toward Hawaii, "I did tell her I thought it would be a nice fit because of the great support."
Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji is not allowed to discuss recruits until they have signed. The late signing period for volleyball starts April 11.
Hawaii also is expected to add Stephanie Brandt, a 5-9 setter who started for UC Santa Barbara as a freshman last fall, to this fall's roster.
UH also has received an early oral commit for 2008 from Kamehameha Schools 5-10 junior hitter Kanani Herring, the two-time state Gatorade Player of the Year. Herring can sign her binding letter of intent in November.
Hawaii will host Arizona on Wednesday in an spring exhibition match at 7 p.m.
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Post by BeiBei on Mar 10, 2007 8:55:16 GMT -5
Hmm, would Haley feel inappropriate to recruit her if she is the number 1 recruit?
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Post by beachman on Mar 10, 2007 10:30:11 GMT -5
Hmm, would Haley feel inappropriate to recruit her if she is the number 1 recruit? Uuuuhhhh yeah....good ol Mick has this abolute stud bucket, can't miss kid, who is an even better person than she is a volleyball player and SHE AIN'T GONNA PLAY FOR HIM?? Hmmm, something is a little fishy here If she was THAT GOOD, he would have made a spot for her at U$C!!! ;D
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Post by Wolfgang on Mar 10, 2007 12:24:52 GMT -5
Haley (via Jerritt Elliott) did not mind recruiting a bunch of JNT kids a few years ago. What's up with that?
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Post by Wolfgang on Mar 10, 2007 12:34:27 GMT -5
Also, there are too many Stephanies in the Wahine roster. It might confuse people.
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Post by tsunami on Mar 10, 2007 13:39:32 GMT -5
Didn't they say that about Kim Willoughby? Explosive and extremely nice, raw talent. I think Hawaii just got another good one. Now, all they need is that Fonoimoana girl and they will be set.
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Post by inomothanu on Mar 10, 2007 16:04:59 GMT -5
I find it hilarious to think Haley is such a philanthropist. Is anyone foolish enough to think he coaches a top juniors team out of the goodness of his heart??? If he could have USED Ferrell to his advantage, you would not have seen her until AFTER she had committed to USC.
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Post by BearClause on Mar 10, 2007 16:12:29 GMT -5
I find it hilarious to think Haley is such a philanthropist. Is anyone foolish enough to think he coaches a top juniors team out of the goodness of his heart??? If he could have USED Ferrell to his advantage, you would not have seen her until AFTER she had committed to USC. It wouldn't normally be like me to defend Mick Haley. However - he did claim that his reason for coaching SCVC's 18 Nike team was because his daughter (Halie Haley if you can believe it) is on the team. This is supposedly a one year deal, as she's a senior.
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Post by Mix Breed-TEXAS,HI,LBSU on Mar 10, 2007 16:20:12 GMT -5
Didn't they say that about Kim Willoughby? Explosive and extremely nice, raw talent. I think Hawaii just got another good one. Now, all they need is that Fonoimoana girl and they will be set. I could'nt agree with u enough.....We got Ferrell, we got Herring and now we need Fonoimoana..........I am thrilled that she commit to Hawai'i now....Hawai'i will be a surprise this coming season, seriously..........Can't Wait to see me two teams in action TEXAS/HAWAI'I..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by hwnstunner on Mar 10, 2007 17:45:43 GMT -5
Isnt that Fonoimoana girl like ... a freshman or something like that? I think that's going waaaay ahead ... but then again, were dealing with commitments right? Is she even itnerested.
Anyway, I think the Wahine are gonna look very good a couple years down the line (trying not to disclude this upcoming year).
But Houston and Kaufman are going to be even better by their senior and junior years. Thomas will hopefully be healthy. Herring is an impact type of player. And Simmons (MB) and Ferrell (OH) are tall, athletic, talented --- and untapped. Not to mention Ka'aihue and Lee will be around in the backrow. The passing should also be much more stable down the road with Herring, Ka'aihue, Houston, Lee.
I read somewhere on this board that the Wahine will resemble a Florida type team of tall, athletic black girls. I thought that was funny to read, but it's true. And I've always been a fan of the Gators.
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Post by hwnstunner on Mar 10, 2007 17:46:41 GMT -5
One more thing ... can this Ferrell girl pass and play defense?
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Post by silversurfer on Mar 10, 2007 18:34:49 GMT -5
Honestly, it seems as though Haley has been trying to make sure that Ferrel went anywhere but the Pac-10. Perhaps USC was not an option. It's not grades because she's a really good student.
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Post by hawaiilocal87 on Mar 10, 2007 18:40:06 GMT -5
Also, there are too many Stephanies in the Wahine roster. It might confuse people. there would only be two stephanies if ferrell is a for sure thing, plus last season hawaii had three jamies. except one was kanoe but she was never called jamie through her whole collegiate career as a wahine, so there was jayme lee, and jamie houston. i doubt anyone will get confused between stephanie ferrell, and stephanie brandt.
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Post by roy on Mar 10, 2007 19:38:50 GMT -5
To add to the whole Haley debate, one thing to note is that Haley recruits kids very early. Heck, he's already signed one 2009 recruit and we haven't even started to the 2007 season. His 2007 recruiting class has already been set for a while. Someone can correct me if I am mistaken, but I don't think he has any scholarships to offer that were not already promised to other recruits. He returns 8 scholarship players and is adding 4 more to his 2007 class. That doesn't leave any room for Ferrell.
This might be one of those advantages other schools who don't recruit as early have. They have the luxury of seeing a "project" player develop. If she has only been in volleyball for 2 1/2 years, coaches like Haley and Cook who tend to secure commitments early will only see a player who may be in her first year of volleyball. Coaches who recruit later have the opportunity to see these players advance after an extra year or two of training and may decide there is some potential in these players.
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Post by Mix Breed-TEXAS,HI,LBSU on Mar 11, 2007 0:22:59 GMT -5
To add to the whole Haley debate, one thing to note is that Haley recruits kids very early. Heck, he's already signed one 2009 recruit and we haven't even started to the 2007 season. His 2007 recruiting class has already been set for a while. Someone can correct me if I am mistaken, but I don't think he has any scholarships to offer that were not already promised to other recruits. He returns 8 scholarship players and is adding 4 more to his 2007 class. That doesn't leave any room for Ferrell. This might be one of those advantages other schools who don't recruit as early have. They have the luxury of seeing a "project" player develop. If she has only been in volleyball for 2 1/2 years, coaches like Haley and Cook who tend to secure commitments early will only see a player who may be in her first year of volleyball. Coaches who recruit later have the opportunity to see these players advance after an extra year or two of training and may decide there is some potential in these players. Well said roy........
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