The chance to meet up with an old friend brought me to the D.C. area earlier this week and while I was there, I decided to make my way over the Flint Hill School for Monday's evening and Tuesday's morning U.S. Under-17 national team practice.

I'll save most of the good stuff - especially regarding recruiting - for the three stories I wrote on the train ride back from D.C. yesterday but thought I would at least provide a scouting report on what I saw. It should be noted that the majority of the drills were spent focusing on defense and how to best utilize playing off screens so it is probably not the most accurate gauge of the offensive potential of the players I saw but I will proceed anyways. Naturally my attention was focused on the eight players on UConn's recruiting radar so the other four players will not be included in my report.

CLASS OF 2011

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis: The first player from the class of rising high school seniors, Mosqueda-Lewis is as good as advertised offensively. While she seemingly has unlimited range on her jumper, it is her ability to score off the dribble that impressed me to most. There is a video that will go with my story on Kaleena that displays that. The fact that she is willing to take the ball into the lane and can score in so many ways once she is in there makes her more than just a one-dimensional shooter. The only thing more impressive than her array of offensive moves is her personality. She is a fun-loving, mercurial kid. She's similar to Diana Taurasi, another California sensation who did pretty well for herself at UConn but doesn't seem to have as hard an edge to her as Taurasi. Personality wise, I would think she'd fall closer to a Kalana Greene than Taurasi but on the court, I see no reason why she couldn't become the latest in a long line of impact offensive players to suit up for UConn. It should be noted that she was in a group of four players watching a drill and when the drill ended with a basket, she was singled out by U.S. U-17 coach Barbara Nelson for applauding the basket and the other three players needed to do five pushups as punishment. She was also encouraging on her teammates as they were in between wind sprints before Tuesday's practice.

Betnijah Laney: Another player who can create her own shot off the dribble, Laney has a silky smooth offensive game. But she first caught my eye with her defense. On the first day of drills the team was struggling during a defensive drill until Laney had steals on back to back possessions. It was just what her teammates needed to bounce back from a rough start to practice. A recruiting source said that the UConn coaches like Laney as much if not more for her personality as for her game and I can see why. She is clearly a leader on the court as she was one of more vocal players out on the court and like Mosqueda-Lewis, has a persona that draws people to her. It was evident to me that she has developed a close bond with Mosqueda-Lewis. After Laney made one play on Monday, an exuberant Mosqueda-Lewis lept into Laney's arms. That doesn't mean that she'll land at UConn because I've been to USA Basketball trials and practices before and often times the closest bonds can be formed on players on different college teams. However, if my eyes did not deceive me, I could have sworn that the lefty was shooting right-handed during free-throw drills.

Elizabeth Williams: I did not get back on the UConn beat until Tina Charles was starting her freshman year at UConn but if I had seen Charles in action in the summer between her junior and senior years of high school, I have a hunch her skill set would have reminded me quite a bit of Williams. Like many of her teammates, she got off to a slow start when practice began on Monday but on Tuesday, she was a dominant inside force. In one stretch, she blocked a Breanna Stewart shot, made a tough catch in the post and hit a layup and then swatted away a Bria Smith shot in the lane. Williams spent as much time at the high post and while she is pretty much unstoppable in the low blocks, she looks comfortable away from the basket as well.

CLASS OF 2012
Jordan Adams/Morgan Tuck: I grouped them together because I was impressed by many of the same qualities. Tuck was the author of the sweet pass for a backdoor layup to a cutting Stewart (which I was able to capture on video) while both she and Adams are extremely cerebral players. I hate to use the term a "UConn type of player" because it infers that players who don't go to UConn don't know how to think the game and that is simply not the case. But I could see Adams and/or Tuck fitting in quite nicely at any of the elite schools - UConn included. Neither player found their offensive groove when I was there but as I mentioned, it was hard for any of the players not named Mosqueda-Lewis or Laney to get going offensively with the focus on defense.

Breanna Stewart: I absolutely love her game. She's the type of kid who can dominate a game without taking a shot. Although not built exactly the same, I see a lot of Kelsey Griffin in Stewart especially the aggressive way she goes after rebounds. Stewart, like Griffin, also understands how the game is supposed to be played and can score with either her left or right hand inside. Her passing was exquisite especially when she was on the low blocks. I see her as being more of a power forward than a true center at the next level but certainly is not afraid to go inside.

Imani Stafford: Not only is she 6-foot-7 but she has an impressive wingspan. I do think she is not as refined offensively as fellow posts like Williams and Stewart and didn't make as much of an impact defensively as I think she could considering her height and wingspan but I saw flashes of the potential that will earn her plenty of attention from coaches at the big-time programs.

Jewell Loyd: A late addition to the U-17 team, Loyd is a speedy lead guard who at times was playing too fast. I chalked some of that up to the fact that she was added to the team late and is still getting used to her teammates. I've been out to Colorado Springs for national team trials each year from 2006-09 and have found that point guards have a hard time standing out especially on the younger teams. That was definitely that case this week as neither Loyd nor former UConn recruiting target Ariel Massengale seemed to be comfortable. I did see Loyd hit a couple of perimeter jumpers so I can see the potential.

Now a few parting thoughts. First, no commitments will be coming out of this group any time in the near future. Second, there's no truth to the rumor that Tennessee coach Pat Summitt believes UConn gained a recruiting advantage because the nickname of the Flint Hill School is the Huskies and finally, if UConn gets commitments from Williams and Laney to go with Mosqueda-Lewis and guard Brianna Banks, UConn coach Geno Auriemma will have to answer more questions whether his team's dominance is bad for the sport of women's basketball.