Hoopgurlz is a relatively small operation with very limited resources. That said, they usually make it to the larger events during the year including the big high school holiday tournaments and the numerous AAU tourneys during the Summer. But if a kid isn't travelling nationally, she's gonna fly under the radar. http://www.hoopgurlz.com/player/swayze-black
NoDakSt, agreed that a couple of JUCO players would be a perfect complement in this class to the HS commits. I'm sure we would like to smooth out the huge bubble class, although the silver lining in this case is that it's allowed VC to sell scads of playing time. It'll be interesting to see what happens next year, whether we can bring in any more high profile recruits. Obviously we won't be looking at signing many, with just 1 JR on the roster, pending any transfers or other losses such as Katie Anthony's decision.
I think there are a lot of things that make LSU attractive to new players and definitely Travis Mays is one of them. He's an established recruiter nationwide and has made the previous connect with most of these players. Other factors that were crucial were: 1) Not getting caught up in Pokey-gate. Despite anyone's feelings on the topic, LSU settled out the situation, said good-bye to Pokey and then quickly cut ties with Carla. And then stayed quiet on the topic. Very smart move. Despite Pokey's mentions to the press that she wasn't treated fairly (and she may not have been), she got her money and moved onward. Even if she does write a tell-all about this, the further she stays away from this situation the better for LSU. 2) Hiring Van and keeping Starkey. LSU went for star quality to fill its vacant slot, one who is affable, media savvy, and a proven winner. This sent the message that LSU was not going to mess around. Keeping Starkey also kept a valuable connection with the current players. If the current team stayed together pretty much through the turmoil, why wouldn't recruits be attracted to this situation. 3) Big turnover on the team. Everything will be up in the air after this year. The staff can really use this to motivate the new and returning players into friendly competition for playing time. This has to be a huge factor in pulling in players...an opportunity from Day One to play for a Hall of Fame Coach.
