The new era of "early" recruiting requires a lot of foresight by our coaches. Our staff hasn't finished its recruiting efforts for the 2017 class (with only one verbal commitment thus far), but still has to forecast what the program's needs will be for 2018 (and even 2019).
In state, the class of 2017 is rich in elite guards (especially point guards), but not many elite front court players. The class of 2018 is the opposite -- several elite post players, but not rich in guards. Now that we have a verbal commitment from 2017 PG Chasity Patterson, that (along with guard signees in prior classes) could affect whether we target any guards for the 2018 class . But, we lose 3 guards after the 2017-18 season; so, unless we take another guard in 2017 (like Chennedy Carter or Cara Ursin), chances are we take one guard in 2018. I could see Coach A trying to "balance" classes by having at least one guard per class.
At one point, we had 2018 verbal commitments from Charli Collier, Sedona Prince, and Shae Routt; so, that basically would have left room for possibly one more recruit. But, with two decommitments among those three early verbals and only SF Routt still committed, the other three slots are somewhat wide open, although I think the emphasis will be on getting two more front court players (from a group of Sedona Prince, Queen Egbo, Nalyssa Smith, among others).
I'm sure all of us want to our staff to continue signing nothing but All-Americans who are high on the subjective recruiting lists; but, that's jut not realistic as each player wants (immediate) playing time. Gone are the days when freshmen newcomers accepted that waiting their turn for a year or two was the norm. Granted, there are some players who want to attend their dream school no matter what the depth chart in front of them looks like on paper; those could be elite players or players who are not as highly-ranked, but still talented in their own right.
Tatum Veitenheimer did attend our summer camp in 2015, but don't believe she attended in 2016. Whether that means anything or not is uncertain. Seems like she plays at the highest level with her club team, and that probably gives her more exposure (and competition) than her 2A high school squad. But, the recruiting services do know who she is, as do the collegiate coaches. I'm sure she will have plenty of options when it comes time to selecting a college. She also is the setter for her volleyball team, plays softball, and run tracks. So, no doubt she is a very competitive athlete.
Once we complete our 2017 class (might not be until the Fall), that might dictate which positions (other than front court) become "need" positions for 2018. I'm sure our coaching staff is constantly updating their wishlist as players leave/join the program. As long as we keep winning, the player interest in our program will remain strong.
