The first cut in the U-17 national team trials are expected to be announced around 12:30 p.m. (2:30 in Connecticut). There's no exact total of players being sent home but hearing it could be less than half as more cuts will be coming.

I was scrambling around yesterday trying to do as many interviews as I could since I didn't know how long some of these players were going to be around so I didn't get to see as much basketball as I would liked.

This morning I was able to check out more of the 5 on 5 stuff. There was a pretty good pairing with UConn recruiting targets Erin Boley and Arike Ogunbowale teaming up with 6-foot-9 Nancy Mulkey (who was also drawn some attention from UConn), Lauren Ross and Burke Kennedy. It was a pretty dynamic unit. Boley showed off her ability to hit from the perimeter while Ogunbowale continues to aggressively drive into the lane to either set up her teammates or create her own shot.

The two Connecticut players in session 1 (Avon's Abby Laszewski and Capital Prep's Desiree Elmore) more than held their own. Laszewski fought in the low blocks while Elmore, despite a sore ankle requiring treatment, was able to get to the rim seemingly whenever she wanted.

I really liked what I saw from San Antonio's Amber Ramirez, Stephanie Jones out of Havre de Grace, Maryland had some athletic finishes in transition. Natalie Chou from Plano, Texas and Alex Romano from Albuquerque, New Mexico were other players who caught my eye enough to make some notations.