2023 Recruiting

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"Congratulations to Sophie Burrows who has been selected in the Victoria Metropolitan Under-18 Women’s team for the 2021 Australian Junior Championships in April!
As well as playing in our Under 18 representative team, Sophie also plays in our Big V Youth Women’s team. Well done Sophie!" END QUOTE

I don't know anything about the 2021 Australian Junior Championships, but I did read that "Three 2021 World Cup silver medallists will return to the lineup!"

Congratulations to Sophie Burrows | Diamond Valley Basketball Association

dvbasketball.com.au dvbasketball.com.au
 

"The Deakin Melbourne Boomers are excited to announce Sophie Burrows as a development player for the 21/22 WNBL Season.

After starting off at Eltham Wildcats Basketball Association as a Junior, Burrows is coming to the Boomers off the back of a big couple of years in Under-18’s Victorian Junior Basketball League & NBL1 with Diamond Valley Eagles, as well as taking home the silver with the U18 Victoria Metropolitan Under-18 Women’s team in the 2021 Australian Junior Championships.

Burrows was excited to accept her offer to pull on the purple for Melbourne after Head Coach, Guy Molloy, reached out to offer her a position with the Boomers team.

“I am excited to learn and play with some of the best players and coaches in Australia.”

“Being only 16 (years old), I just want to develop my game as much as possible and learn from the professional environment that the Boomers have created and accepted me into.”

“It’s always been my goal to play in the WNBL, and after watching the Boomers as a junior, I am grateful and very excited to be on the court with them.”

Burrows was part of the Victorian National Performance Pathway (VNPP) program for 2 years (beside fellow Boomer, Tess Heal). The scholarship program selects the best country and metropolitan Under-16/Under-18 athletes to improve their skills and enhance their development."

wnbl.basketball

BOOMERS ADD SOPHIE BURROWS TO LINE-UP - Melbourne Boomers

The Deakin Melbourne Boomers are excited to announce Sophie Burrows as a development player for the 21/22 WNBL Season.
wnbl.basketball wnbl.basketball
 

Sophie Burrows is interesting. Burrows is technically 6 feet, which means usually listed at 6 1". Is one of the top youth players in Australia based on qualifying for a national under 18 team twice that is a qualifier for the World Cup.

Was listed before as playing power forward and center. Now plays guard. Plays for the Diamond Valley Eagles that is mostly adults! Burrows apparently played post in youth. Now is listed as a guard. That coincides with her signing as a development player for a pro team listed as a guard.

In 2022 for Diamond Valley Eagles (age 17) she scored 49 3-pointers for a 40.8% 3-point shooting percentage. Her average of 15.4 point per game was 23% of her team's scoring. Her assists were 13.4% of her team total. In that time, she generated 19.2% of the teams rebounds at 6.6 per game.

The year before that, "She averaged 11.83 points, 1.83 assists and 5.91 rebounds at just 16 years of age in 2021."

She is/was a second year development player starting at age 16 for the Melbourne Boomers that won the professional WNBL championship. Burrows is listed as a guard. The team just added Kristy Wallace of the WNBA Atlanta Dream (16th overall pick).

In the Basketball Australia 2021 Australian Under 18 Championship Game, she played for WA metro and scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and 3 assists, 2nd best production on her team.

Such a smooth long rang shot.

Named to the 2022 U18 Australia Gem under 18 national team apparently twice.

"This FIBA Asia Cup is a qualification event for the 2023 FIBA Under 19 Women’s World Cup, locked in for Spain next July. Australia has drawn in Division A, which will see them take on China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and host nation India.
https://australia.basketball/u18-womens-fiba-asia-cup-team-named/
TEAM:
Isobel Borlase – South Australia / CoE
Sophie Burrows – Victoria
Jayda Clark– Western Australia / CoE
Ella Gordon – Queensland / CoE
Summah Hanson – Queensland / CoE
Tess Heal – Victoria/ Santa Clara, USA
Isla Juffermans – New South Wales / CoE
Dallas Loughridge – Victoria / CoE
Rose Nelson – New South Wales
Jessica Petrie – Queensland / CoE
Nyadiew Puoch – Victoria / CoE
Saffron Shiels – New South Wales / CoE


She is consistently selected as one of the nation's top youth players for elite teams and development camps, including international medal competition for the national under 18 team.

Interesting story there. Experience as a forward, a good 3-point shooter, currently training/playing as a guard for selective teams and competition. Not really a headliner but consistently described as one of the best talents.

Sophie’s junior coach Andrew Young remembers her early years- ‘I have had the pleasure of coaching Sophie for many years across U8s, U10s and U12s in both Domestic and Representative. Sophie has always been one of those kids that just got basketball, even running around in U8s when I first saw her play you could see she just got the game. She has always been this long, athletic player that is just graceful up and down the court and has amazing vision and a Basketball IQ off the charts.”

“Sophie is one of those players that you just love to coach. She works hard, loves learning, loves feedback. I’m excited to watch her through her latest adventure." -Coach Dee Butler

An interesting player.

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U18 Women’s FIBA Asia Cup Team Named. | Basketball Australia

australia.basketball australia.basketball
 
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www.startribune.com

Tessa Johnson, Minnesota's top 2023 girls' basketball recruit, will announce college choice Wednesday

St. Michael-Albertville guard Tessa Johnson has Gophers as a finalist. St. Francis' Matthew Bothun picks North Dakota.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

The state's top-ranked girls' basketball recruit in the Class of 2023, St. Michael-Albertville guard Tessa Johnson, will announce her college selection Wednesday morning.

Johnson's coach, Kent Hamre, said she would reveal her decision at 8 a.m. Johnson has narrowed her list to three schools: Minnesota, Baylor and South Carolina. She is 25th in ESPN's HoopGurlz national ratings, 12 spots ahead of Hopkins guard 5-11 Nunu Agara, who has committed to Stanford.
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adamj95 said:
Come on Tessa. Stay home and make Minnesota a winner!
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Men received the commitment from 27th ranked Dennis Evans, would be phenomenal for the women's program to add the ~25th ranked Tessa Johnson.
 

Ragnor said:
Men received the commitment from 27th ranked Dennis Evans, would be phenomenal for the women's program to add the ~25th ranked Tessa Johnson.
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Their recruiting ranks are similar (on some lists), but their recruitments are very different. Evans is a late bloomer with an offer list that does not match his rank, whereas Johnson is a long-time highly ranked player with offers from at least several of the highest ranked and best recruiting programs in WBB.
 

BigTenGuy said:
Their recruiting ranks are similar (on some lists), but their recruitments are very different. Evans is a late bloomer with an offer list that does not match his rank, whereas Johnson is a long-time highly ranked player with offers from at least several of the highest ranked and best recruiting programs in WBB.
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Johnson's recruitment HAS been different because she has been recruited for many years.

However... the late blooming Evans held an offer from Kansas before eliminating them from consideration a few weeks ago and held offers from hometown UCLA, Texas, and Florida State. The 16-year old Evans played on the USA Basketball Men's U17 World Cup team which won the gold medal in Spain this summer.

I had been hoping that Johnson would wait until the start of the season to see this year's team in action. Let's hope that she has seen and heard enough from this year's players to see how she might fit in.
 

It’s hard to wait till the beginning of the season, because signing day is one week into the season. She needs to get her documents from her chosen school before that time, and have everything set up for her NLI signing.
 



I was just so genuinely impressed with her at the state tournament last season. A couple of guards and a post would be a perfect recruiting class. Then add a transfer or 2. My fingers are crossed for the next couple of days. Really want this one to be a gopher!!
 

ecoperson said:
Johnson's recruitment HAS been different because she has been recruited for many years.

However... the late blooming Evans held an offer from Kansas before eliminating them from consideration a few weeks ago and held offers from hometown UCLA, Texas, and Florida State. The 16-year old Evans played on the USA Basketball Men's U17 World Cup team which won the gold medal in Spain this summer.

I had been hoping that Johnson would wait until the start of the season to see this year's team in action. Let's hope that she has seen and heard enough from this year's players to see how she might fit in.
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Agree completely on hoping Johnson would wait to see the team and freshman playing. Hopefully she has seen enough to choose the Gophers.

Regarding Evans, neither Rivals, 247 nor On3 show a UCLA (or any other PAC-12) offer for Evans. Where are you seeing a UCLA offer for Evans? TIA

I’m excited for Evans and his upside. He is so young (turned 17 in July), and clearly has made huge progress in the last year. He already appears on some 2025 mock draft boards (2nd round). But as his USA basketball experience demonstrates, he is still a work in progress. He wasn’t much of a factor for the U-17 team. If the FIBA summary his accurate, he played 4 minutes in the quarterfinals, 4 minutes in the semifinals, and 1 minute in the finals. He has no stats for the Gold Medal game, but did score a total of 2 points, with 3 rebounds and 3 blocks in the combination of the quarters and semis. In 3 earlier games, he had combined total of 4 points, 2 rebounds and 4 blocks.
 

I wouldn't hold my breath for Wednesday to go Gophers way. Some context clues are that none of the gopher's coaches staff has liked any of the tweets around the announcement and also historically announcement ceremonies like this for home-state kids has hardly ever if ever worked out in Minnesota's favor. Tayler Hill, Maya Nnaji, and more. All four 2022s were social media posts.
 

bball_craz_26 said:
I wouldn't hold my breath for Wednesday to go Gophers way. Some context clues are that none of the gopher's coaches staff has liked any of the tweets around the announcement and also historically announcement ceremonies like this for home-state kids has hardly ever if ever worked out in Minnesota's favor. Tayler Hill, Maya Nnaji, and more. All four 2022s were social media posts.
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:(, I think the first point you made is probably the most, on the mark, for being indicative.
 


BigTenGuy said:
Agree completely on hoping Johnson would wait to see the team and freshman playing. Hopefully she has seen enough to choose the Gophers.

Regarding Evans, neither Rivals, 247 nor On3 show a UCLA (or any other PAC-12) offer for Evans. Where are you seeing a UCLA offer for Evans? TIA

I’m excited for Evans and his upside. He is so young (turned 17 in July), and clearly has made huge progress in the last year. He already appears on some 2025 mock draft boards (2nd round). But as his USA basketball experience demonstrates, he is still a work in progress. He wasn’t much of a factor for the U-17 team. If the FIBA summary his accurate, he played 4 minutes in the quarterfinals, 4 minutes in the semifinals, and 1 minute in the finals. He has no stats for the Gold Medal game, but did score a total of 2 points, with 3 rebounds and 3 blocks in the combination of the quarters and semis. In 3 earlier games, he had combined total of 4 points, 2 rebounds and 4 blocks.
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Sorry to clutter the Women's Board with Evans talk...

I can't find the UCLA offer for Evans this morning but it was some article of the dozen I read yesterday. I have seen a few reports on UCLA showing interest mostly on CA-based bball message boards. Here is one national reputable source.

https://www.si.com/college/2022/06/...iams-viral-dunk-college-basketball-recruiting

I also uncovered mentions of offers from Missouri, OK State, and USC for what thats worth.

Evans is definitely a work in progress. I would not hold his stats from the U17 against him. As a raw defensive talent, these sort of tournaments are not where a kid like him will shine. That he has been invited to participate in this and the NBA Top 100 Camp speaks to his potential.

I will look forward to watching him develop offensively but he should offer a defensive presence from day one. Someone mentioned Calvin Booth, former PSU player, as a comparison and this seems valid.
 

Ragnor said:
:(, I think the first point you made is probably the most, on the mark, for being indicative.
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I just looked at the likes on the announcement post and in addition to the lack of Gopher staff likes I don’t see any from Baylor or South Carolina staff either so maybe that’s just something coaches avoid until an official announcement has been made. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m still hoping for great Gopher news tomorrow.
 

When i heard she took an official to South Carolina I figured theyd be the favorite. Not only are they the best program in the country now, they also have a NIL setup where every player on the team gets $25,000 yearly. Tough for the Gophers to beat that.
 

whalenfan said:
When i heard she took an official to South Carolina I figured theyd be the favorite. Not only are they the best program in the country now, they also have a NIL setup where every player on the team gets $25,000 yearly. Tough for the Gophers to beat that.
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Tough for the Gophers to beat the preseason #1 team. The fake NIL stuff that I see at other schools is ridiculous. Too many schools are playing fast and loose with the lack of definition of NIL. The NCAA either needs to provide clarification or call this what it has become... pay for play.

If pay for play, then let's set up a salary cap that evens the playing field across the board. Then allow true NIL outside of pay for play.
 

whalenfan said:
When i heard she took an official to South Carolina I figured theyd be the favorite. Not only are they the best program in the country now, they also have a NIL setup where every player on the team gets $25,000 yearly. Tough for the Gophers to beat that.
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Did she take an official to Minnesota? I don't remember hearing she did. If not, Iron clad she is going to SC. Frankly, SC & Baylor on the list are some of the very last schools in the country I would consider, even with 25K.
 

Ragnor said:
Did she take an official to Minnesota? I don't remember hearing she did. If not, Iron clad she is going to SC. Frankly, SC & Baylor on the list are some of the very last schools in the country I would consider, even with 25K.
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She took her official here when the football team played Colorado.
 


www.startribune.com

Tessa Johnson, Minnesota's top girls' basketball player, chooses national champion South Carolina

Minnesota's top-ranked 2023 recruit, Johnson announced she'll play in college for the defending NCAA women's basketball champions.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

South Carolina

National champion has a nice ring to it.

St. Michael-Albertville senior Tessa Johnson, Minnesota's top-ranked girls' basketball recruit in the Class of 2023, announced Wednesday that she will attend South Carolina.

That's the defending national champion, its crown won in Minneapolis last April. The Gamecocks have won two national titles in the past six years under coach Dawn Staley, and they're ranked No. 1 in the preseason, unanimously, this year.

Johnson also had the Gophers and Baylor among her three finalists.

"I know it was a tough decision for Tessa," Knights coach Kent Hamre said. "She had a lot of great coaches and programs show interest.

"Shout-out to the Gopher staff here in Minnesota. I know Tessa has a great relationship with all of them."
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Only 2023 recruit for WVU was 4* Guard...from Wisconsin, I'd imagine she follows Coach P.

www.espn.com

grace-grocholski

High School Girls' Basketball Recruiting Grace Grocholski
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 

studentgopher94 said:
Only 2023 recruit for WVU was 4* Guard...from Wisconsin, I'd imagine she follows Coach P.

www.espn.com

grace-grocholski

High School Girls' Basketball Recruiting Grace Grocholski
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article, "The relationships are what mattered most to Grace Grocholski."

"Grocholski committed to the Mountaineers but also considered Wisconsin, Butler and Providence.

West Virginia is coached by West Bend native Dawn Plitzuweit, who was hired in March. She spent the previous five seasons at South Dakota where her staff recruited Grocholski during the couple months prior to her oral commitment to Arizona State.

According to Grocholski, Plitzuweit's team plays similar to her club team, the Wisconsin Lakers, running motion offense and rely on three-point shooting."

She had committed to Arizona State but then the coach retired so she decommitted and recommitted to Coach P.
 

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