Fab 50 Recruits - for 04

[eastcoaster]

The Fab 50 recruits - and were they are going

www.volleyballmag.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20040301155110958

[Deleted]

What jumps out at me is that Kansas has two. It's VERY difficult for a team outside the traditional top 20 to have ONE, let alone two.

Whether this has to do with the best players going to the best schools or the best schools anointing the best players is open to debate.

[packitwithpurple]

Talk about "non-traditional top-20" schools getting some of the top 50 -- look at Duke getting 2 and Florida State getting one.

Is Duke now going to add Women's VB to their list of championships like Men's and Women's BB?

It is interesting that more and more top-10 academic schools are becoming all around top-10 athletic schools like Stanford, Michigan, etc. have been for some time.

Now, I am rooting for Cal-Tech, MIT and Carnegie Tech!!

;D

[uncfan]

I noticed that UNC did not sign a Fab50 this year.Last year,they signed two(Amy Beaver and Meg Eckert).What concerns me more is that they did not sign a setter(yet).If they don`t get a setter in 04,they need to sign one in 05 because Byrd will be a senior in 05.A setter signing in 04 or 05 will have a great chance to start for several years.

[Huskyfan]

Washington signed 2 Fab50 players this year: Christal Morrison and Alesha Deesing, after signing one (Courtney Thompson) last year. Although this seems to be no big deal for traditional powers like Stanford, USC, Florida, Hawaii etc., it is a great trend in the making for the Huskies. In the past (with very few exceptions) they only get raw athletes, many of whom took 3 years to get court time. Even those that eventually did really well didn't come in as top recruits out of highschool, like Makare Desilets and Paige Benjamin.

[eastcoaster]

I don't know if this is the best indicator of how this girls will perform at the college level.

Don't worry UNC fan, Carolina was very close to signing three of them, two chose other ACC schools, one went to big ten school - Carolina will sign a setter for the 05 class -

In my personal opinion Brittany Randle is every good as Ellen Orchard who is a fab 50.

Notes about the 2004 - the 2004 classes is one of the deepest classes -

[HoosierDaddy]

It's Brittany Randel.

[bucky415]

While it is good to have recruits who are highly touted, I agree that it isn't a guarantee of success. Wisconsin has had a lot of former Fab 50 players on the roster the last two years, and adds three more this year, but has still dropped from where they were in 2000-01. Michigan seems to have added some talent, but they will still really miss Erin Moore. Good all around middles are hard to find.

[SakiBomb25]

Huskyfan said:

Washington signed 2 Fab50 players this year: Christal Morrison and Alesha Deesing, after signing one (Courtney Thompson) last year. Although this seems to be no big deal for traditional powers like Stanford, USC, Florida, Hawaii etc., it is a great trend in the making for the Huskies. In the past (with very few exceptions) they only get raw athletes, many of whom took 3 years to get court time. Even those that eventually did really well didn't come in as top recruits out of highschool, like Makare Desilets and Paige Benjamin.

I am picking Washington as my darkhorse to win the Pac-10. Tomasovic is a great outside and Courtney Thompson is one of the best setters out there, despite her small frame. And Christal Morrison will be an impact recruit right off the bat. Washington has a lot to look forward to come Fall of 2004.

[USAFAN]

I am looking forward to seeing Washington as well. They are a strong team and the addition of Robinson will do nothing but boost their already potent attack. However, Pac 10 Champs I think not. The mighty USC Trojans will still have too much firepower.

[gstring]

where does the girls from hawaii rank amoungst these girls? where is moani nihipali going to school...i thought she was a very outstanding player...

[HwnStunner01]

Well...Nihipali is one of the better players in the state, and in the very beginning of HS she seemed like she'd be one of the best recruits from the westcoast, but she never really did get any better from her early years in HS. She hasn't commited anywhere...she could go to a mid-major college for volleyball or basketball.

This season their aren't any big time players. Roberts is going to Pepperdine and she's IMO, the top player coming out of the state.

[SakiBomb25]

USAFAN said:

I am looking forward to seeing Washington as well. They are a strong team and the addition of Robinson will do nothing but boost their already potent attack. However, Pac 10 Champs I think not. The mighty USC Trojans will still have too much firepower.

The problem with USC is that they lose their setter, their libero and their heart and soul of the team in April Ross. If the rest of the team doesn't gel with the setter, they will be in big trouble. It doesn't matter how great your middles are, but if you don't have the setter to deliver the ball, they are just going to be jumping around, doing nothing. Keao Burdine could take over for Ross in terms of leadership, but the libero and setter positions are big question marks. I know that some say Selheimer will be just as good or better than Davis, but she has yet to extensive time on the court in pressure packed situations.

[roy]

SakiBomb25 said:

The problem with USC is that they lose their setter, their libero and their heart and soul of the team in April Ross. If the rest of the team doesn't gel with the setter, they will be in big trouble. It doesn't matter how great your middles are, but if you don't have the setter to deliver the ball, they are just going to be jumping around, doing nothing. Keao Burdine could take over for Ross in terms of leadership, but the libero and setter positions are big question marks. I know that some say Selheimer will be just as good or better than Davis, but she has yet to extensive time on the court in pressure packed situations.

I think what makes USC more questionable is their passing. I don't know if Burdine was in the passing rotation, but with the loss of Ross and their libero, the passing is a big question mark. And with a rookie setter, it might be a big problem getting the ball to the middles. I am really going to enjoy watching how USC adapts this year.

[cbrown1709]

Burdine was a primary passer and Kimi did get some pretty good playing time for a freshman on a national championship squad.