A Few Tidbits
Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 7:14 pm
Agata Makurat
Agata Makurat, younger sister of former UConn player Anna Makurat,, had an official visit over the weekend. She’s a 6’2” shooting guard from Poland with a game similar to Katie Lou Samuelson, according to the UConn fan that found this photo, I’m assuming on Instagram or Facebook. I have neither. Anyway, Agata (class of '23) is one of the top-rated players in Europe in her age group. She is said to be visiting Georgia Tech, but I’m not sure who else. Her older sister left UConn in spring of 2020 due to the outbreak of covid. She decided to stay in Poland and play professionally. Another sister, Ola, played at Utah.
Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson is the number-three ranked player in Class of ’24. She’s a 6’0 guard from Minnesota with outstanding passing, ball handling and shooting ability. Joyce Edwards and Jaloni Cambridge, who are also Vandy targets, are ranked ahead of her in the class, but Olson is hands down my favorite to watch. I think it’s fair to say she can literally play anywhere in the country she wants to play, including UConn (Geno has personally been to see her), so it will be tough to reel her in, but at least she gave us an unofficial visit. She was at UT a few days later, so it sounds like she was on a bit of a tour while she was wearing the boot on an injured foot that kept her from summer league play.
Kennedy Ume
Kennedy Ume has lots of offers, including South Carolina. She and her father are borderline worshipful in their twitter responses to Dawn Staley, so I’m not hopeful. Depends on whether Staley goes hard after her or considers her a “just in case” prospect. By the way, the kid is a very talented artist in addition to her considerable basketball skills. She got an official offer from Vandy in recent days.
Olivia McGhee
Olivia McGhee from Virginia (’23) has a Vandy offer. Haven’t heard much about her, but she is rated in ESPN’s top 50.
http://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-b ... via-mcghee
Mjracle Sheppard
I watched the semi-finals of the Geico National Tournament recently to see Chloe Kitts play (she's really good), and, much to my surprise, I learned of a player with a Vanderbilt offer. She is Mjracle (pronounced Miracle) Sheppard, a 5'10 junior guard for Montverde Academy, the team that eventually won the tournament. Sheppard plays with and is overshadowed by Janiah Barker. Also, junior guard Cori Allen is a teammate and an ESPN top 50 player, though Sheppard actually starts ahead of her. Montverde features other D1 prospects as well.
She's a high-motor player with good but not necessarily flashy skills. Against Kitts' DME squad in the semi-finals, Sheppard had a fantastic first half: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as Montverde took a 37-24 lead. For that half, at least, she was the best player on the floor. She ended with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block.
In no way am I trying to say she is equal to Barker and Kitts or perhaps even some of the others as a prospect, but she did show flashes, and she obviously has caught coach Ralph's attention. She has offers from Vandy, Florida and Western Kentucky. Her coach told announcers that her recruitment has started to pick up. Still, for a player at the end of her junior year, that's a fairly modest list.
Avery Strickland
This one breaks my heart a little bit. I really wanted to see us sign Knoxville Farragut’s Avery Strickland for the class of ’22, but, alas, we lost her to….Pitt? Yep. Pitt. (In fairness, Pitt offered her immediately after she de-committed from West Virginia along with another recruit that de-committed the same time as Strickland. Both wound up accepting Pitt’s offer, but Strickland didn’t visit there until late April).
This 31-point performance in the state semi-finals is one of the reasons I’m so disappointed:
Agata Makurat, younger sister of former UConn player Anna Makurat,, had an official visit over the weekend. She’s a 6’2” shooting guard from Poland with a game similar to Katie Lou Samuelson, according to the UConn fan that found this photo, I’m assuming on Instagram or Facebook. I have neither. Anyway, Agata (class of '23) is one of the top-rated players in Europe in her age group. She is said to be visiting Georgia Tech, but I’m not sure who else. Her older sister left UConn in spring of 2020 due to the outbreak of covid. She decided to stay in Poland and play professionally. Another sister, Ola, played at Utah.
Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson is the number-three ranked player in Class of ’24. She’s a 6’0 guard from Minnesota with outstanding passing, ball handling and shooting ability. Joyce Edwards and Jaloni Cambridge, who are also Vandy targets, are ranked ahead of her in the class, but Olson is hands down my favorite to watch. I think it’s fair to say she can literally play anywhere in the country she wants to play, including UConn (Geno has personally been to see her), so it will be tough to reel her in, but at least she gave us an unofficial visit. She was at UT a few days later, so it sounds like she was on a bit of a tour while she was wearing the boot on an injured foot that kept her from summer league play.
Kennedy Ume
Kennedy Ume has lots of offers, including South Carolina. She and her father are borderline worshipful in their twitter responses to Dawn Staley, so I’m not hopeful. Depends on whether Staley goes hard after her or considers her a “just in case” prospect. By the way, the kid is a very talented artist in addition to her considerable basketball skills. She got an official offer from Vandy in recent days.
Olivia McGhee
Olivia McGhee from Virginia (’23) has a Vandy offer. Haven’t heard much about her, but she is rated in ESPN’s top 50.
http://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-b ... via-mcghee
Mjracle Sheppard
I watched the semi-finals of the Geico National Tournament recently to see Chloe Kitts play (she's really good), and, much to my surprise, I learned of a player with a Vanderbilt offer. She is Mjracle (pronounced Miracle) Sheppard, a 5'10 junior guard for Montverde Academy, the team that eventually won the tournament. Sheppard plays with and is overshadowed by Janiah Barker. Also, junior guard Cori Allen is a teammate and an ESPN top 50 player, though Sheppard actually starts ahead of her. Montverde features other D1 prospects as well.
She's a high-motor player with good but not necessarily flashy skills. Against Kitts' DME squad in the semi-finals, Sheppard had a fantastic first half: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as Montverde took a 37-24 lead. For that half, at least, she was the best player on the floor. She ended with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block.
In no way am I trying to say she is equal to Barker and Kitts or perhaps even some of the others as a prospect, but she did show flashes, and she obviously has caught coach Ralph's attention. She has offers from Vandy, Florida and Western Kentucky. Her coach told announcers that her recruitment has started to pick up. Still, for a player at the end of her junior year, that's a fairly modest list.
Avery Strickland
This one breaks my heart a little bit. I really wanted to see us sign Knoxville Farragut’s Avery Strickland for the class of ’22, but, alas, we lost her to….Pitt? Yep. Pitt. (In fairness, Pitt offered her immediately after she de-committed from West Virginia along with another recruit that de-committed the same time as Strickland. Both wound up accepting Pitt’s offer, but Strickland didn’t visit there until late April).
This 31-point performance in the state semi-finals is one of the reasons I’m so disappointed: