Women's Recruiting

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Figured this deserves its own thread...and if there were a previous one it would be under the previous administration.

Congrats to Coach Dorow for officially inking her very own VU recruit!

http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/news/2012-13/12435/womens-hoops-inks-isaac-to-national-letter-of-intent/


Aliyah Isaac
STATUS:  signed NLI (early period)
HEIGHT:  5'9"
POSITION:  off guard
FROM:  Richton Park, IL
ATTENDS:  Marian Catholic
AAU:  the Illinois XCitement (no wonder our kids text the way they do)
COACH DOROW SAYS:  "Aliyah is a lock-down defender and with Laura (Richards) graduating, we will be losing our most physical perimeter defender. Aliyah will not back down from her opponent. She will put pressure on people and keep them in front of her. Aliyah also handles the ball well, and she should be a perfect fit in our offensive system."

VIDEO:  from HS Cube  http://www.highschoolcube.com/students/aliyah-isaac

MARIAN CATHOLIC:  Practically in the Region, MCHS has produced a number of D1 basketball players--lately, they've been mostly women.  (For instance, MCHS '09 Kaila Turner of #2 Notre Dame!) Teammates Megan Walsh (Truman State) and Melanie Ransom (Davidson) have also signed, and there are more in this pipeline:  the team was ranked #1 preseason by the Southtown Star (in fact the team stars are actually underclass guards Teniya Page and Ashton Millender. ESCC Coach of the Year Annie Byrne has said ""It's probably easier to say which [B1G] teams aren't looking at Teniya"!). 
http://www.marianchs.com/athletics/womens-basketball/images/wbkb.jpg



Earlier this year the team put up 101 against Kenosha (WI) Tremper, led in that game by Isaac with 11.
http://seasonpass.suntimes.com/news_article/show/201984?referrer_id=681664

They were 4A Regional Champs (IL's largest classification), and more impressively, champions of the ESCC (East Suburban Catholic Conference) which produced one other 4A regional champ and 3 3A regional champs (one of whom was 2-7 in conference)!  Thursday night, MCHS won the sectional over conference rival Marist on a half-court (more like a step-back-NBA-three-distance, but who am I to spoil a great story) at the buzzer by Millender:
http://seasonpass.suntimes.com/news_article/show/230409?referrer_id=650026

Video is worth a watch.  Ransom is set to inbound, but switches out for Walsh at last second.  How often do you see that?
http://www.highschoolcube.com/highlight/oh-my-marian-catholic-s-aston--55053
This is why people love sports.  "Oh my" is right!

Video from other side of court with cool replays:  http://www.marianchs.com/athletics/womens-basketball/womens-basketball.php

(Aliyah is #23) At 30-1, they advance to Monday's Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional vs. Peoria Richwoods.

Unfortunately Isaac did not merit all-conference selection.  The ESCC credits her with 40 points, but surely that is merely the 9-game conference season.  She did not make a 3-pointer.  Isaac, however, keys the defense for a school that gave up 38 points a game over a grueling conference slate (while averaging 65 themselves).
http://www.eastsuburbancc.com/html/documents/wbkbscoring_001.pdf


SCOUTING:  MWRR, from the Montini Fall League wrap-up, 2011 (prior to her junior season):

Extremely athletic small forward is a high intensity player with an explosive first step allowing her to get easy shots in the lane. Displayed great fundamentals on the defensive end, with the lateral quickness to stifle opposing guards and the strength to body up with post players. Should work on releasing her shot at the peak of her jump and finishing through contact in the lane.

http://www.midwestrecruitingreport.com/news/article/54/Montini-Fall-League-Top-Prospect-1023.php
She was named one of 7 top performers on the day (MCHS the only school with 2).

UPSHOT:  This is a good pickup--playing where she does, she's not underscouted, and she's proven herself against tough competition for several years.  While she may never be an outside threat, or even a scoring force, she will be one of those girls who does whatever is needed on the floor without concern for glamour.  Offense wins beauty contests--defense wins championships.  Let's hope she can challenge for a rotation spot by her sophomore year and maybe even start as an upperclasswoman?  (feel free to shock us with earlier arrival dates, btw)

[valpotx]

I do look forward to Coach Dorow's recruits.  Hopefully she gets some height in the incoming class!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Aliyah Isaac and Marian Catholic advance to the IHSA Final Four this weekend after a big win over Peoria Richwoods.

http://www.marianchs.com/athletics/womens-basketball/womens-basketball.php

Not clear that she started; she scored 2 points.  They play perennial power Whitney Young Friday.

[IndyValpo]

This will be an interesting recruit. Based on what was provided she averaged about 4.4 points per game in her conference season so point production is not what she is bringing.  We have 5 (now 4 open spots) so some defense is always welcomed.

[valpotx]

Coach did mention her defensive attributes in her comments in that article, not really anything on offense, so it makes sense

[jack]

We need bigs, period. If we aren't careful, we are going to end up with a team of guards in 2 years.

[mgovalpo]

No worries. As I understand it, all the rest of the players being recruited are in fact post players.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I hope that's not fiction, and that it's ex-Post fact. OH!

[SadersofthelostArc]

I hope that's not fiction, and that it's ex-Post fact. OH!

First of all, LOL!  This was very well done, my friend.  You and I have a VERY similar personality, sense of humor and intellect.  Anyways, kudos to you.

Second, thank you for a fantastic overview of Aliyah.  She's a great kid and what has been written here is basically on the money.  Expect her to be the Eric Buggs of the women's team.  Coach is very excited about her and from what I've heard from some friends is that she is just starting to come into her own as a D1 level talent.  The word is, if her jumper continues to come along, we are getting a possible high major player here.

Well done Coach D!

[ValpoHoops]

No worries. As I understand it, all the rest of the players being recruited are in fact post players.

Very true. Hopefully there's news on this front soon...

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Nice article on the MCHS girls team headed to state.

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/illinois/marian-girls-headed-to-state/article_cdb69995-e1b7-5387-a92d-1834a0ba799b.html

Interesting fact to come out of story (ignore the worst typo-ridden sentence I've seen in a while):

They're [SIC(k)] journey to the tourney didn't being [SIC seriously?] in October, but last spring when the players made a decision. Instead of playing for several AAU teams, the Spartans stayed together and played for the Illinois Defenders.

#deplorablejournalism #admirableteamwork

Isaac does not currently start, although it seems she did earlier in the season.
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/illinois/scouting-the-ihsa-class-a-girls-basketball-state-finals/article_c26a39fa-7ea8-51f1-b4d5-783f1e5a029f.html

[ValpoHoops]

The Marian Catholic (now 32-1) girls hammered Whitney Young tonight...63-39 in the state semi-finals...and the game was nowhere near that close. Isaac had four points, but did an OUTSTANDING job of helping to shut down Linnae Harper who struggled to find her game all night. Isaac and one other player for Marian split time guarding her. Harper is a top-10 recruit in the 2013 class and is headed to Kentucky...she averages 19 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.

If you have nothing better to do with your Saturday night, they will be playing 29-3 Rolling Meadows in the state championship game tomorrow night at 8:15. The game is televised on Channel 248 on Comcast Valpo.

Marian Catholic, as I said is 32-1...their only loss is a 61-55 decision to Rolling Meadows on December 28.

[valporun]

If you don't get IHSA TV on your local dial/cable system, the IHSA does show the state championship activities on ihsa.org, or at ihsa.playonsports.com. (Don't mix this up, and put ihsa.com, or you'll get the website for the International Horse Show Association, a running joke of all fans of Illinois high school sports.) You would also be able to watch last night's win over Whitney Young, so you can see how Issac played.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

...and Coach Dorow's first recruit is a STATE CHAMPION!

Congrats Aliyah Isaac and the MCHS girls on avenging their only loss of the season with a 48-47 win in the title game against Rolling Meadow!

[RS]

Not sure how much this will effect next years Women's team but Coach Dorow has 3 more scholarships that will need to be filled next year. Soph Shaquira Scott, Redshirt Soph Maegan Callaway and Junior Tabitha Gerardot will be leaving the team. Gerardot, who will be graduating in May, plans to work on her Masters at another school that offers Linguistics. She will be hard to replace being on the second team Horizon League and averaging 15 pts & 9 rebounds per game. Scott averaged 8.5 pts per game and just wants a change. Callaway has been injured a great deal of the time and wants to go to a lower level of competition. Dorow seemed to be the most disappointed with Gerardot's leaving. Dorow now has 5 scholarships available besides the one recruit from the fall signing period.

[FWalum]

Not sure how much this will effect next years Women's team but Coach Dorow has 3 more scholarships that will need to be filled next year. Soph Shaquira Scott, Redshirt Soph Maegan Callaway and Junior Tabitha Gerardot will be leaving the team. Gerardot, who will be graduating in May, plans to work on her Masters at another school that offers Linguistics. She will be hard to replace being on the second team Horizon League and averaging 15 pts & 9 rebounds per game. Scott averaged 8.5 pts per game and just wants a change. Callaway has been injured a great deal of the time and wants to go to a lower level of competition. Dorow seemed to be the most disappointed with Gerardot's leaving. Dorow now has 5 scholarships available besides the one recruit from the fall signing period.

All I can say is WOW!  I assume that Tabitha will be able to play right way where ever she goes using the graduate school loophole.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Dorow seemed to be the most disappointed with Gerardot's leaving.

um...yeah, yeah, I'd believe that.

she's not the only one.

ouch.

[valpotx]

That absolutely sucks for the women's program, but if Tabitha is only moving because of school, it is much better than what Wood did on the men's side for more winning/exposure.  I don't see Scott and Callaway as being big losses

[IndyValpo]

Not sure how much this will effect next years Women's team but Coach Dorow has 3 more scholarships that will need to be filled next year. Soph Shaquira Scott, Redshirt Soph Maegan Callaway and Junior Tabitha Gerardot will be leaving the team. Gerardot, who will be graduating in May, plans to work on her Masters at another school that offers Linguistics. She will be hard to replace being on the second team Horizon League and averaging 15 pts & 9 rebounds per game. Scott averaged 8.5 pts per game and just wants a change. Callaway has been injured a great deal of the time and wants to go to a lower level of competition. Dorow seemed to be the most disappointed with Gerardot's leaving. Dorow now has 5 scholarships available besides the one recruit from the fall signing period.

Losing a 15/9 contributor on a team that doesn't score well and has no size is devastating.  Rumor had Scott leaving so that is not a surprise but hurts. Callaway was going to play minutes next year (if healthy) simply due to lack of size.  We now have one C/PF left on the roster and Horton seems more comfortable on the wing.  The basically complete strike out in the early signing period (I don't consider Issacs early) just became even more crippling.

I think we now have 7 scholarships available. Doesn't women's BB get 15?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Doesn't women's BB get 15?

yes.  and i'm probably violating title ix by not making them a scholarship spreadsheet.

[IndyValpo]

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/gerardot-among-three-players-leaving-vu-women-s-basketball-team/article_bbd6ddff-12f8-502c-a2b7-71a7394cdaab.html

[jack]

The Gerardot thing's been coming for a while. Just a by-product of year around schooling. These players are getting their schooling done prior to senior year, and if Valpo doesn't offer the after grad work they want to get in, they have no choice but to leave. She will have another year to play no matter where she goes. She's, by far, the biggest loss of what has transpired. I believe Scott was contemplating the move after her Freshman season, even after the injury, but stuck it out another season. She didn't develop the way I thought she would. Unless she moves down, she'll be sitting again. Callaway really never panned out at this level, and could onld go short burst at best. I don't think going to play at a lower level will be the answer for her. No matter the level, you still have to get up and down the floor and contribute minutes. I wish all of the players weel that are departing. i heard we have a big coming our way. Stay tuned.   

[FWalum]

I would think that the women's teams would be much more open to the graduate degree loophole.  It seems that young women in general are much more dedicated to academics and would have more of a proclivity to graduate early.  Or maybe young women just aren't that concerned about playing that last year if they get their degree early.  Is it possible to pick up a couple of Bogan/Boggs type players? Are there other players out there doing what Geradot is doing?

[jack]

I'm sure there are other players out there that we can pick up, with some diligent work on the recruiting work. You are right though, it's always been said that, men go to college to play basketball, and women play basketball to go to college. I would think that very few women aspire to play beyong college compare to the men's side.

[valporun]

The other thing about the women's game, the WNBA is still a league waiting to get their true identity. I think this year, they are getting a lot more regular exposure from ESPN, maybe a Britney Griner effect, but they just haven't had the great exposure needed to lure a real variety of college athletes. Also, the WNBA doesn't have a one year out of high school rule, they basically expect their players to be four-year college athletes first, being more of a leadership-based league than the NBA. I mean look at some of the teams, i.e. the Chicago Sky, that have been around for a bit, but haven't been much more than just something to do on a summer's day?