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Recruiting NJ

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sammybb

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Jul 25, 2001
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I know there's a lot of thoughts about how much CVS did/did not recruit NJ, and how this needs to be a priority for Coquese Washington. Without a doubt, there were fewer NJ players on more recent teams (that being said, the two best players we've had recently--Arella and Diamond--were both from the tristate area). CVS also landed some great NJ players during her time--most notably Essence Carson and Matee Ajavon.

I looked at ESPN Hoopgurlz Top 100 for the past 5 years. http://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/rankings/_/class/2022

In that time, there have been 19 players from NJ in the top 100.

Of those 19 players:
  • 4 came from Blair Academy (1 to ND, 1 to UCLA, 1 to Duke, 1 to Princeton)
  • 3 came from Saddle River Day (1 to UNC, 1 to Duke, 1 to Michigan)
  • 2 came from Red Bank Catholic (1 to Tenn, 1 to BC)
  • 2 came from Manchester Township (1 to UNC, 1 to MD)
  • 1 came from St Johns Vianney, Gill St Bernard, Immaculate Heart, Mainland HS, Franklin, Gloucester, Manasquan, RU Prep
By colleges (this does not take into account transfers):
  • 3 Duke
  • 2 UNC
  • 2 Princeton
  • 2 Maryland
  • 2 Northwestern
  • 1: Tenn, BC, ND, UCLA, Oregon, Michigan, West Virginia, Pitt
Of these 19 players, 5 will be in the freshmen in the fall. Of the remaining 14, there are three clear standouts:

Olivia Miles (ND)
Diamond Miller (MD)
Leilani Correa (WV, St Johns, now FL)

I'm fairly certain RU recruited Correa and Miller, not sure about Miles.
 
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sammybb said:
In that time, there have been 19 players from NJ in the top 100.
Click to expand...
If these players were asked if they ever seriously considered going to RU, I'd bet they all would say "no".
You can kinda gauge that also, by looking at the top 25 type players, nationally, that we've targeted in recent years. We rarely, if ever, ended up in their "top 3 schools" list.
You can count our successes on one hand (Zippy, Maori, Diamond J).

Coquese, hopefully, will change this troubling trend.
 
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Miller unfortunately had been a Maryland lock since they won the NCAA tourney under Freese. Wish we could have swayed her being from Franklin but she never gave us a shot
 
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Looking ahead:

There are 3 NJ players in ESPN top 100 for 2023:

5. Hannah Hidalgo, Paul VI HS
33. Zoe Brooks, St Johns Vianney
76. Quanirah Cherry-Montague, Atlantic City

There's a top 60 for 2024:
16. Mikayla Blakes, Rutgers Prep
43. Aurora Sanchez Almon, Trenton Catholic
45. Tayla Thomas, Immaculate Conception

And a top 25 for 2025:
8. Mia Pauldo, Morris Catholic HS
 
Agreed, Coquese has work to do on the local, national, and int'l recruiting trails. Like they said yesterday, she has done it all before. Her time with Oklahoma, ND, and Penn State in a coaching capacity make her well qualified to get the job done. As a PSU poster stated, Coquese recruited in NJ while at PSU. She'll be more successful at it bringing them to RU and the new facilities.

Don't forget her pro career in Houston, Tx, also a year with the Liberty. Both hotbeds for talent.

On top of all that, she's from Flint, Michigan. Another region full of talent that she knows well.

She's has experience that allows for her to be well connected.
 
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sammybb said:
Looking ahead:

There are 3 NJ players in ESPN top 100 for 2023:

5. Hannah Hidalgo, Paul VI HS
33. Zoe Brooks, St Johns Vianney
76. Quanirah Cherry-Montague, Atlantic City

There's a top 60 for 2024:
16. Mikayla Blakes, Rutgers Prep
43. Aurora Sanchez Almon, Trenton Catholic
45. Tayla Thomas, Immaculate Conception

And a top 25 for 2025:
8. Mia Pauldo, Morris Catholic HS
Click to expand...
you already have a connection to Blakes if Bates stays and succeeds here

those rankings are strange. if you have seen them both play, give me Zoe Brooks over Hidalgo every day of the week. consistently get her right between the ears and she's a star.
 
After seeing her in action with her press conference I think we have a good one here. I know I posted yesterday the reaction of a couple high school and AAU coaches that I spoke. I think they will get on board on short order. I like what I see and hear.
 
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AreYouNUTS said:
Please don't make excuses for CVS not recruiting Jersey. I'm begging you.
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I don't think anyone offered any excuses. Reasons were given why she was not as effective at recruiting NJ in much of the last decade of her tenure.
 
Also noting there are obviously great players outside of a top 100 ranking.

One of them was Heather Zurich, who started 86 games throughout her RU career.
 
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Definitely need to pursue Blakes, Hidalgo, and Brooks.
We NEED to throw our name in the hat for Aaliyah Del Rosario. The trend has been that players have been transferring back close to home over the past couple of years. She left Trenton Catholic to play HS ball in Tennessee. If we can get a group of elite players from this region to decide to play together at RU, she could be a centerpiece. I think she grew up in NYC.
 
Mikayla Blakes, Rutgers Prep 2024 I read somewhere is best friends with our hopefully incoming Antonia Bates.
 


Coquese will have to follow up on the efforts of the last staff to bring Quanirah to RU.
 
RUcrazee said:
I don't think anyone offered any excuses. Reasons were given why she was not as effective at recruiting NJ in much of the last decade of her tenure.
Click to expand...
Please see the post I responded to. Full-blown excuse in the making.
 
AreYouNUTS said:
Please see the post I responded to. Full-blown excuse in the making.
Click to expand...
Not sure what post you're referring to. If it's the one that states, "different sport and style of play matters in basketball recruiting",....Those are reasons, not excuses, IMO.

Bottomline, ...CVS recruited everywhere there was elite talent, Jersey included. She just was not very successful over the last ten years at it (relative to the perennial elite programs). Lots of swings and misses. Her style of play was a part of it, for sure.
 
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RUcrazee said:
Not sure what post you're referring to. If it's the one that states, "different sport and style of play matters in basketball recruiting",....Those are reasons, not excuses, IMO.

Bottomline, ...CVS recruited everywhere there was elite talent, Jersey included. She just was not very successful over the last ten years at it (relative to the perennial elite programs). Lots of swings and misses. Her style of play was a part of it, for sure.
Click to expand...
Crazee many have been saying for years that CVS did very little to ingratiate herself with the NJ high school, grassroots and AAU communities. She and her staff did not recruit NJ effectively. Very little or no effort at all. 3 of the top girls high school coaches in the country in her own backyard came out publicly in the last couple of days stating the fact. Not sure it was a swing and miss as much as never stepping into the batters box.
 
Last edited:
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AreYouNUTS said:
Please don't make excuses for CVS not recruiting Jersey. I'm begging you.
Click to expand...
My comment was with the comparison with soccrer and not with Stringer's recruiting success in NJ.Some fans are always looking to start a arguement rather than accepting that different opinions is what this message board is all about.
 
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kupuna133 said:
Crazee I have been saying for years that CVS did very little to ingratiate herself with the NJ high school, grassroots and AAU communities. She and her staff did not recruit NJ effectively. Very little or no effort at all. 3 of the top girls high school coaches in the country in her own backyard came out publicly in the last couple of days stating the fact. Not sure it was a swing and miss as much as never stepping into the batters box.
Click to expand...
The question needs to put to those same coaches, If CVS aggressively pursued any of their elite athletes who had numerous offers from top 25 programs, would they have encouraged those players to go play for CVS? Did any of those elite players often express interest in playing for CVS?

You and I both know what the candid answers to those questions are. CVS knew those answers also. Doesn't that mean something when it comes to the energy that you expend in recruiting.

Think about it. It doesn't make sense that she and her staff would intentionally pass up talent in her back yard if she felt she could sign and win with them.
 
RUcrazee said:
The question needs to put to those same coaches, If CVS aggressively pursued any of their elite athletes who had numerous offers from top 25 programs, would they have encouraged those players to go play for CVS? Did any of those elite players often express interest in playing for CVS?

You and I both know what the candid answers to those questions are. CVS knew those answers also. Doesn't that mean something when it comes to the energy that you expend in recruiting.

Think about it. It doesn't make sense that she and her staff would intentionally pass up talent in her back yard if she felt she could sign and win with them.
Click to expand...
That’s not how recruiting works. You recruit the area and develop relationships with the staffs and organizations in the hopes that when they have a blue chip your university will be in play.
Think about it you can’t walk in the door of a gym you don’t know how to get to without GPS (even in your own state) and expect to compete with the blue bloods. Who by the way show up to those gyms even when there is no one or very little to recruit.

Its not like she had to travel far to see this talent. Many of the schools we are talking about are within 30 miles of the campus. It’s not a budget or time issue. She had the budget for ez pass Her staff had no problem getting on planes to recruit other people she had no chance in signing.
 
Always wondered about Lance Miller and his daughter and ties to Murdock. Brought that up in the past.
 
RUcrazee said:
Not sure what post you're referring to. If it's the one that states, "different sport and style of play matters in basketball recruiting",....Those are reasons, not excuses, IMO.

Bottomline, ...CVS recruited everywhere there was elite talent, Jersey included. She just was not very successful over the last ten years at it (relative to the perennial elite programs). Lots of swings and misses. Her style of play was a part of it, for sure.
Click to expand...
So it just so happened that her style of play wasn’t played anywhere in New Jersey over the last decade? I find that very hard to believe. Sorry, to me that’s an excuse, but time to move on and hopefully our new head coach can find success in state as well as out of state and internationally!
 
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kupuna133 said:
That’s not how recruiting works. You recruit the area and develop relationships with the staffs and organizations in the hopes that when they have a blue chip your university will be in play.
Think about it you can’t walk in the door of a gym you don’t know how to get to without GPS (even in your own state) and expect to compete with the blue bloods. Who by the way show up to those gyms even when there is no one or very little to recruit.

Its not like she had to travel far to see this talent. Many of the schools we are talking about are within 30 miles of the campus. It’s not a budget or time issue. She had the budget for ez pass Her staff had no problem getting on planes to recruit other people she had no chance in signing.
Click to expand...
I see your point. I still think that she and her staff went after those she felt would fit into her style and that she could land. The last decade she struggled to recruit elite talent nationally as well as in state.

Her name, and # of RU players in the W served as her best recruiting tools, working sporadically over the last decade. Those tools brought in Tyler, Maori, and Zippy amidst a ton of transfers. Add the new facilities and we pulled in Diamond's class. Those same tools weren't enough(over the past several years) to influence local kids to consider CVS and RU. Kids and their parents who, I'm sure heard someone around them say, "The game has passed her by".
 
RUJMM78 said:
Different sport and style of play matters in basketball recruiting.
Click to expand...
So, Jersey girls excel in soccer, but not in basketball? The answer is that Rutgers’ soccer coaches are active in youth development and promoting their sport In NJ. Perhaps, millionaire WBB coaches don’t spend as much time with community and high school athletes In NJ? Follow Schiano’s commitment to NJ young athletes.
 
AreYouNUTS said:
So it just so happened that her style of play wasn’t played anywhere in New Jersey over the last decade? I find that very hard to believe. Sorry, to me that’s an excuse, but time to move on and hopefully our new head coach can find success in state as well as out of state and internationally!
Click to expand...
Good point Nuts, would be very beneficial to go international route. Give it a shot least.
 
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Stringer recruiting or not recruiting NJ HS talent isn't the problem now.
There is a new HC that needs to connect with the NJ HS WBB Coaches and how she does that should be the main concern
If CVS didn't have a good relationship with the NJ HS coaching fraternity,that just another part of the mess CW needs to fix.
Trying to blame Stringer for not recruiting Jersey players is just bringing up out of date news.
Defending Vivian's no Jersey recruiting is meaningless since she's gone now.
Also, even if there were defections from the class of 2020, it was a highly rated one
In 2019 Rutgers recruited three players ranked among the Top 55 prospects in the country.

Lets leave the past in the past and check out if CW is going to try to build relationships with NJ HS
Coaches in a hope they will steer their better player to Rutgers and if CW hires a staff with at least one who has good NJ connections.

C.Vivian Stringer isn't the issue anymore, let's nt turn this recruiting thread into arguing over who Stringer recruited.
Now it's Coquese Washington time to shine in the recruiting game and overcome any perceived recruiting handicap she inherited
 
AreYouNUTS said:
So it just so happened that her style of play wasn’t played anywhere in New Jersey over the last decade? I find that very hard to believe. Sorry, to me that’s an excuse, but time to move on and hopefully our new head coach can find success in state as well as out of state and internationally!
Click to expand...
Honestly, ...to my recollection, CVS's offensive style was not being played anywhere else amongst the elite programs. That is the reason kids found other places more attractive(more offensive freedom). Hence our drop from the elite level.

Yes, I agree. It's time to move on and support our new coach.
 
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MADHAT1 said:
Stringer recruiting or not recruiting NJ HS talent isn't the problem now.
There is a new HC that needs to connect with the NJ HS WBB Coaches and how she does that should be the main concern
If CVS didn't have a good relationship with the NJ HS coaching fraternity,that just another part of the mess CW needs to fix.
Trying to blame Stringer for not recruiting Jersey players is just bringing up out of date news.
Defending Vivian's no Jersey recruiting is meaningless since she's gone now.
Also, even if there were defections from the class of 2020, it was a highly rated one
In 2019 Rutgers recruited three players ranked among the Top 55 prospects in the country.

Lets leave the past in the past and check out if CW is going to try to build relationships with NJ HS
Coaches in a hope they will steer their better player to Rutgers and if CW hires a staff with at least one who has good NJ connections.

C.Vivian Stringer isn't the issue anymore, let's nt turn this recruiting thread into arguing over who Stringer recruited.
Now it's Coquese Washington time to shine in the recruiting game and overcome any perceived recruiting handicap she inherited
Click to expand...
Just wanted to point out, the original post of this thread is about the question of whether CVS recruited NJ or not.

Valid topic of discussion for RU fans, but I'm with you Mad. At this point, I think we've exhausted it and, honestly, I'm ready to move on from CVS debates and keep the positive energy of yesterday's intro going.
 
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Yes, enough.

Vivian did not choose to expend a lot of effort recruiting in NJ. We were told by a player-related person year's ago that NJ coaches did not want to send their offensive stars to a system where they would be stifled, unless CVS indicated she might change her style. It always struck me as likely true.

Vivian did recruit players from the NJ area, mostly urban areas and not the Jersey shore. Some ultimately transferred out, of course.

Vivian could recruit "nationally" and she did. Whether that was a better choice than pursuing some local recruits is the question.

Hopefully Washington will - however, I do not expect to ever see more than a few NJ players on the team.
 
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yes, time to support new coach. but for the record, some of the NJ talent during the past 20+ years on the roster:

Jordan Wallace
The Jeune sisters
Briyona Canty
Sy Davis
Christa Evans
Shakena Richardson
Essence Carson
Matee Ajavon
Heather Zurich
Rashidat Junaid
Michelle Campbell

not to mention all the NYC, Philly, even Delaware talent.

And the team that went to the championship game only started players from NJ and NYC.
 
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rimsky said:
The women’s soccer team attracts a lot of Jersey Girls. Why not WBB?
Click to expand...
You can’t compare. O’Neill runs the pPDA where many of the girls come from so they have been coached by Rutgers coaches so of course we have the in with recruiting
 
richthedentist said:
You can’t compare. O’Neill runs the pPDA where many of the girls come from so they have been coached by Rutgers coaches so of course we have the in with recruiting
Click to expand...
Bingo, Rutgers’ WBB staff doesn’t invest (as does O’Neill) in Jersey Girls!
 
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Yes Please, Coach should have reached out already let's go.
Brooks plays with a chip on her shoulder she will compete at this level.
 
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