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A blog on UConn women's basketball.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Samuelson's college choice came down to family

Karlie Samuelson loved everything about what UConn had to offer in the recruiting process but when it came down to making her college decision, the love of her family was the deciding factor.

Samuelson, a junior guard from Huntington Beach, Calif., saw the pain her beloved grandmother went through in the last year losing both her husband and her son. Her grandmother told Karlie how much it would mean to her if she played alongside her older sister Bonnie at Stanford.

After some time of soul searching on Wednesday Samuelson made her decision to commit to Stanford and her grandmother was one of the first people she told.

"I wanted to commit and make my decision," Samuelson said after the first practice session at the U.S. Under-17 national team trials in Colorado Springs, Colo. "I thought about it yesterday and for my grandma and my family Stanford just seemed like the better choice. I called her and she was really happy so I am happy.

"It was Stanford and UConn. My family has been going through a lot. My grandma lost her husband and her son in about a year so I thought it was the best. She wanted me to play with my sister at Stanford and it is a great school and family is important to me right now.

"It was a really hard decision because UConn and Stanford have a really good schools and it just came down to family."

Samuelson,who averaged 18.4 points in 16 games as a junior at Edison High before being sidelined by mononucleosis, still vividly recalls watching UConn practice when she visited campus when her sister Bonnie took a visit to campus when she went through the recruiting process.

"Meeting Geno probably and meeting the team it was pretty cool," Samuelson said. "It was fun watching them practice. I went with my sister on her official visit."

Just like she did at Edison High, she will be able to play alongside Bonnie for two years at Stanford.

"It will be just like high school when we played together," Samuelson said. "It will be really fun but it wasn't just because my sister but it was location too. It was such a hard decision because UConn is such a good school."

2 Comments:

Anonymous Bob Woodson said...

Auriemma and CD have done a pathetic job recruiting. The 2012 class is not enough if UConn gets nothing in 2013. The 1 recruit class of 2009 yielded a player who can't shoot and won't shoot. Auriemma and CD have to stop throwing their players under the bus. Auriemma won 7 NC with 7 POY. If he recruited better in other years like 2009 and 2013 UConn would have more NC.

11:54 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Uconn will be fine. How have they done a pathetic job at recruiting? Ur an idiot Bob. Uconn will be fine. Just because they miss out on top recruits from 2013 don't mean a thing. They can still get one or two players from 2013. Look at the class of 2014. Uconn will be fine. U don't even seem to be like a Uconn fan. Why are you here then? She will do well at Stanford. Bets of luck to her.

11:01 AM 

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