Since I've been covering UConn (and my first season on the beat was 1999-2000) it's been pretty easy to see how Geno Auriemma's assistant coaches are utilized.

Chris Dailey would work with the post players as would another assistant (first it was Jamelle Elliott and more recently Marisa Moseley). The other assistant (first it was Tonya Cardoza and now Shea Ralph) worked with the guards.

Ever since seeing that Jasmine Lister will work with the guards after she was hired as an assistant coach, I was wondering if it would force a shift in Ralph's duties. I finally got around to asking Auriemma about how Lister replacing Moseley on the staff would impact the coaching responsibilities tonight at the first of the UConn Road Show events.

"There is no offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in our program," Auriemma said. "Shea's not going to move from where she is, she has such a great connection with these kids and as far as what CD is going to be doing, we've got some ideas moving forward about how we want to move our players around. We looked at our roster and it doesn't seem to me like we have a center so maybe we just say, 'OK, you guys down that end, you guys down this end' and not care much about who is where.

"There are just not that many big kids who want to play in the lane, the game has moved away from it in a certain sense. I still believe in it but I don't even know anymore what I see."

The players are back on campus meaning that the coaches get to see them (in small doses) playing pickup and going through conditioning drills so I got some updates.

First, the news is good on Mikayla Coombs return to the court. Her freshman season ended abruptly due to a blood clot issue forcing her to miss the NCAA tournament. That's a little different than a player coming off an ankle, knee or shoulder injury but Auriemma said things are progressing nicely.

"She's doing some individuals, haven't seen her play but a lot of the individual stuff she can go full (court) so we'll see where that takes her," Auriemma said. "If it is not completely gone, it will be. They have given her a clean bill of health going forward."

All-American Katie Lou Samuelson is no longer wearing a walking boot after undergoing surgery on the left ankle that she hurt early in the season but Auriemma said she is not yet cleared for basketball activities.

The best bit of UConn women's basketball related news I heard (actually I saw) was that Megan Walker headed to Missouri to go through workouts with Napheesa Collier. The sessions are run by Alex Bazzell who calls himself  a "NBA/WNBA Skills Trainer" on his Twitter account. One of the workouts was posted on Twitter and it showed Collier and Walker hitting jumping after jumper and going through a grueling workout. Bazzell's work with Collier played a key role in her development at UConn and I couldn't imagine a better role model for Walker than Collier. The competition didn't stop there. Samuelson can't take part in pickup games yet but she does make the call on which players are on which teams. Auriemma is delighted to hear that Samuelson makes certain that Collier and Walker are not only on opposing teams but have to guard each other.

"They had a little go at each today which I thought was good," Auriemma said. "I think the more of that, the better. (Lou) makes sure Pheesa and Megan are on opposite teams guarding each other so I think that will play out pretty well. I think it will help Megan a lot, Pheesa might be the best player she guards all year so not a bad way to start training."

It might already be out there but with UConn announcing that it will face Vanderbilt on Nov. 17 at Mohegan Sun Arena in the Hall of Fame Women's Showcase, it got me wondering if that was going to be the season opener. Fortunately, among tonight's attendees was UConn's Senior Associate Director of Athletics/External Relations Neal Eskine, who is the point man for the women's basketball schedule and he said that the home game against Ohio State will be the season opener.

Katie Lou Samuelson had 23 points, all in the first three quarters, five assists and two steals to lead the UConn women's basketball team to a 88-66 win over the Netherlands National Team on Tuesday in Rome in the second of four exhibtion games on its tour of Italy.

Kia Nurse, who joined the team after leading Canada to the FIBA AmeriCup title in Argentina, added 18 points and four rebounds. Napheesa Collier had her second consecutive double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals while Azura Stevens contributed 10 points (going 4 for 4 from the floor), six rebounds and two steals.

Gabby Williams had seven points, six assists and five assists as UConn led 82-42 after three quarters en route to sweeping two games against the Dutch National Team. Megan Walker added six points and four rebounds, Crystal Dangerfield had four points and six assists and Molly Bent had four points.

UConn will play the Italian All-Stars on Friday in Vicenza and will wrap up play on Sunday againat Celje in Trieste.

Samuelson is averaging 17 points in the first two games. Collier is contributing 14 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3 assists. Williams (11 PPG), Stevens (10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds) are also averaing more than 10 points per game. Walker has a pair of six-point games and a total of 10 rebounds in the two games while Dangerfield has nine assists.

Crystal Dangerfield had never made it to Italy before this summer. It's safe she is making up for lost time as she is preparing for her second trip there since the middle of July.

"I will get my dual citizenship," Dangerfield said with a laugh.

Before joining her UConn teammates as they leave for Italy on Saturday night for a tour including four exhibition games, she was the captain of the U.S. team which won a silver medal at the FIBA Women's World Cup last month.

Dangerfield was 8 for 19 in the first two games of the tournament but was just 16 of 63 the rest of the way including missed 14 of 20 shots in a loss to Russia in the gold medal game.

Some of Dangerfield's shooting woes coincided with her injuring her ankle during the tournament. She wasn't ready to use that as a excuse, however.

"The injury happened in training camp, I had an Achilles (issue) and they would work on it and it would feel better," said Dangerfield, who averaged 9 points, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals in the seven tournament games. "I rolled my ankle so there were times when I wasn't able to practice so maybe that impacted (her shot)."

While Dangerfield's shot came and went, her leadership never wavered throughout the tournament.

"Crystal has grown up a lot," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "She has made about a 180 from last year which is what you hope from freshman to sophomore year. Unfortunately it didn't translate into a gold medal over there, the team they lost to has a couple of pros on their team that are just really, really good players. The U.S. team probably could have won that game  but Crystal played great.

"It was a good role for her, she was really good over there and she has carried it over here, she was good in practice."

Dangerfield was the only returning player from the 2015 U.S. team that beat Russia to win the gold medal and she embraced the role of being a leader. Now she is finding that experience is paying dividends during practices at UConn.

"When I came back here, Shea (Ralph, Dangerfield's position coach at UConn) told me I'm being more vocal," Dangerfield said. "Being able to lead players who are younger than I am, it helps with four freshmen coming in.

"I feel like I am playing harder than I was last year and that comes from just

wanting to be competitive, not wanting last year to repeat."
Naturally, the U19 tournament did not have the ending Dangerfield was hoping for.
Russia's 6-foot-4 forwards Raisa Musina and Maria Vadeeva combined for 59 points, 29 rebounds, nine assists and three blocked shots in Russia's 86-82 victory.

"The end result was really difficult, I knew going in it was going to be difficult because I remember those two from two years ago and they played just like they played there," Dangerfield said. "We went into halftime with a four-point lead, I was like, 'OK, 20 more minutes." It started to slip away in the third quarter. We tried to make a run in the fourth but they were able to hold on and we weren't able to (pull it out)."

UConn freshman Megan Walker was one of the top reserves for the U.S. squad as she averaged 7.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 16.7 minutes per game.

Walker shot just 12.5 percent from 3-point range and 30 percent from the foul line after being a 30 percent 3-point shooter and making 74 percent of her free throws during her high school career.

"Megan struggled a little but as most high school kids do when they are playing against pros," Auriemma said. "I don't even think she played in the second half of the championship game. It was a reminder to her that I don't think anybody cares that you were the national player of the year."

Walker had 15 points in the tournament opener against Mali and 11 against Japan in the semifinals. She also had games with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals showing her tremendous potential.

"The thing the coaching staff said to me was (to focus on) defense, they told me how to operate within their system so I think defensively I've learned a lot," Walker said.

She also learned how to play alongside of Dangerfield.

"Crystal is a great player and I got comfortable with her at the 1 (point guard)," Walker said. "It was really good getting that experience playing with her before the season started. It will help a lot already having that bond and playing with somebody you are familiar with.

"It was a tough loss, we fought to the end. All we can do is go home and work harder."
Walker found herself matched up on taller opponents quite often during the tournament.

"I guarded No. 4 (Musina) one time," Walker said. "I am 6-1 and I was tall on the AAU circuit. Now I am kind of average height so I learned how to guard the guards who are shorter than me, posts and wings that are taller than me so you have to adjust and know their weaknesses and their strengths."

Now Walker and fellow freshmen Mikayla Coombs, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon are getting a crash course on UConn women's basketball and the lofty standards players are held to even during the most basic drill.

"The biggest challenge will be learning that level of intensity and trying to match it every day," Walker said.

The team heads to Italy on Saturday. The first two exhibition games will be played on Monday and Tuesday. The travel party will also visit various spots in Rome. The next two days will be spent sightseeing with the preliminary itinerary including a trip to the Palio di Siena horse race before heading to Florence before playing the final two games on Aug. 18 and 20. A tour of Venice is on the agenda for the final part of the tour before heading home on Aug. 25.

"It is not you go there and every day is either a practice or a game," Auriemma said. "This is more of we have a lecturer coming to see them, explain to them what the significance is of all the things we are going to see, given them an idea of this is what we are going to, this is what is particularly unique, this is what's there.

"I enjoy going over for whatever reason. Doing the same things they do in this country, that is not the point of this. I like when we go over and show them some things that this is the only place in the world where you can see this."

Megan Walker averaging 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists for U.S.

UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker had 11 points and four rebounds while Crystal Dangerfield finished with three points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals as the six-time defending champion United States squad defeated Japan 73-66 in the FIBA U19 World Cup semifinals.

Walker beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer and also had an offensive rebound and putback with 26 seconds remaining in the first half as the U.S. took a 47-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.

University of Oregon star Ruthy Hebard had 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. She finished with 14 rebounds. Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter had 19 points and seven rebounds while South Carolina's Tyasha Harris had 10 points and six assists.

The U.S. will play Russia in Sunday's championship game as Russia rolled to a 65-41 win over Canada in the other semifinals behind 22 points and 16 rebounds from captain Raisa Musina. The game will start at 3 p.m. The semifinal game was available on ESPN3 so hopefully the story is the same for the gold-medal game.

Also, a pair of New Haven Register 2016-17 All-State selections led Puerto Rico to its first win of the tournament.

Former New London High School star India Pagan had 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots while Capital Prep graduate Angelique Rodriguez had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 77-71 win over Korea. Puerto Rico will play Mali with the winner finishing in 13th place. Rodriguez, an incoming freshman at Pittsburgh, is averaging a team-leading 14.5 points per game while connecting on 20 of Puerto Rico's 42 3-pointers. Pagan, headed to Stony Brook, is averaging 8.7 points and a team-beat 6.8 rebounds per game.

UConn's Megan Walker and Crystal Dangerfield were among four players to score in double figures as the six-time defending champion United States squad opened play in the FIBA U19 World Cup with a 95-58 win over Mali.

Walker, an incoming freshman, came off the bench to score 15 points and added three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Dangerfield, the team captain and starting point guard, had 10 points, two rebounds and three assists.

Texas rising sophomore Alecia Sutton had 19 points, four rebounds and three assists while Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Next up is a game against China on Sunday beginning at noon before wrapping up pool play against host Italy on Monday at 2:45 p.m.

Also, Walker is one of the finalists for USA Today's Girls high school athlete of the year. Voting runs through Wednesday and Walker is currently trailing hockey player Grace Zumwinkle in the voting.

In several months time Crystal Dangerfield will be throwing passes to talented freshmen Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker in practices and games at UConn. However, she doesn't need to wait that long to get used to sharing the court with her soon to be college teammates.

Dangerfield, the only player in the U.S. U-19 training camp who was a member of the team to win the  2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, has relishing the chance to develop chemistry with Coombs and Walker.

"Mikayla, she is out here playing defense, getting steals, getting her hands on the ball, knocking down 3s and playing really well," Dangerfield said. "Megan, she is doing her thing. Smooth is all I can say about her, she is hitting those shots and running the floor really well."

Two years ago Dangerfield has the chance to play with Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. All three of the future Huskies made the U19 team but Samuelson relinquished her spot to tend to some family business. Collier was the leading rebounder and No. 1 scorer on the gold-medal winning team while Dangerfield was second on the squad with 14 steals and third with 19 assists in seven games.

"It definitely helps," Dangerfield said. "Playing with Napheesa, during the year a pick and roll with her, it is (as simple as) breathing almost, it is easy. Just being able to play with both of them, they have been on my team (in 5 on 5 drills) and being able to build the chemistry before we get on the campus at the end of the month so when we get in there, we will keep building on it."

The 12-member team will be announced tomorrow. UConn Class of 2018 commit Charli Collier and Class of 2018 recruiting target Christyn Williams are also among the 33 players vying for spots on the team.

How's this for a span of less than a week?

UConn signee Megan Walker hits the game-winning basket with 14 seconds left to lift Monacan High School to its third straight Virginia 4A state title. The victory caps a 30-0 season and Walker will leave having led Monacan to 53 wins in a row.

Then she is named the winner of the Naismith national high school player of the year award.

Tonight she is at the Verizon Center for the NBA game between Washington and Dallas. She is asked to come onto the court because she is going recognized for winning another state title - or so she thought.

As she was waving to the crowd as she was requested to do, WNBA star Elena Delle Donne came up from behind and presented her with the Gatorade National Girls' Basketball Player of the Year award.

"I looked down and read national player of year and it started setting in what was going on," Walker said.
Walker averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game in leading Monacan to
a 30-0 season and third consecutive Virginia 4A championship. Walker had 35 points (one
shy of her season high) in the 4A title game including 18 in the fourth quarter. Walker's
jumper in the lane with 14 seconds left lifted Monacan to the 60-59 victory.

Walker finished with 13 games with at 30 points and 25 double-doubles in her four
seasons at Monacan.

"This year the leadership came out because we were two-time state champs and I knew this year was going to be harder so I had to make sure our team, we were on the same page," Walker said.
Walker is the eighth future, current or former UConn player to win the award joining
Tamika Williams, Ann Strother, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna
Stewart and Katie Lou Samuelson.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma compared Walker's potential impact on the Huskies as being
similar to what Samuelson has accomplished. No, the Hall of Fame coach isn't expecting
Walker to be the 3-point shooter that Samuelson is but does think her size will enable
her to play multiple positions when she gets to UConn.

"There is not a lot that Meg can't do," Auriemma said. "I am looking forward to getting
her up here, let's put it that way.

"When you are her size you are not limited to just one thing. She is like Lou (Katie Lou
Samuelson), not as tall but you can put her anywhere on the floor and be successful. It
is just a matter of repetition and being put in the situation where you aren't the best
player on the floor every minute of every day. There is a reason why everybody in
America thought she was the best player because of the many things that she can do and
not the one thing that she can do."

Normally I would write that the next step for Walker (other than playing in two national high school all-star games) would be her high school graduation before she heads up to UConn for summer session. However, she will be enrolled in summer session before she actually dons her cap and gown to receive her high school diploma.

"I am looking forward to getting there, start workouts and getting better," Walker said. "I think I really enjoy the process more than anything."

UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker capped her brilliant senior season with an undefeated season and third straight state championship. One of her rewards is being awarded one of the most prestigious honors.

Walker was named the winner of the Naismith Trophy becoming eighth former, current or future Husky to win the award joining Tamika Williams, Diana Taurasi, Ann Strother, Maya Moore, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna Stewart and Katie Lou Samuelson. She also joins La'Keshia Frett and Kara Lawson as the only Virginia high school players to win the award.

“Megan is so deserving of this award. She holds herself to a maturity level of people many years her senior. She is humble yet confident, and is always helping everyone on the team improve,” said Larry Starr, Monacan High School coach in a release. “Megan is a great teammate, leader, and person and will represent the Naismith Trophy with dignity and class.”

Walker averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game and saved her best for last with 18 points in a 60-59 win over King's Fork in the Virginia 4A title game including the game-winning basket with 14 seconds left to play.

Walker had six 30-point games and nine double-doubles as a senior and helped Monacan end the season on a 53-game winning streak.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma made his way down to Walker's final game at Monacan so he witnessed Walker's brilliant fourth-quarter performance.

"There is not a lot that Meg can't do," Auriemma said. "I am looking forward to getting her up here, let's put it that way. When you are her size (6-foot-1) you are not limited to just one thing. She is like Lou (Katie Lou Samuelson), not as tall but you can put her anywhere on the floor and be successful. It is just a matter of repetition and being put in the situation where you aren't the best player on the floor every minute of every day. There is a reason why everybody in America thought she was the best player because of the many things that she can do and not the one thing that she can do."

Being at the game enabled Auriemma to act like her coach for a few moments after the game.

"I always tend to look at things funny, 'Meg you were amazing in that fourth quarter, 18 points the game-winning bucket, just took over the game. You know Meg if you had done that in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter you wouldn't have been down 11 and you wouldn't need to be a hero," Auriemma said. "She looks at me, 'yeah, I know.' What she did in that fourth quarter, she is capable of doing that the entire game but she is a high school kid and she doesn't know enough about that, we are dealing with that with Crystal (Dangerfield). When these kids are in high school and they know that, 'OK, game is on the line, time for me to take over ...'

Auriemma was thrilled that Walker and fellow UConn signee Mikayla Coombs ended their (non all-star game) high school careers by winning state titles and doing it on the same day was extra special.

"I am happy for them that they were able to win championships," Auriemma said. "Mikayla does it completely different, she has a lot of Kia Nurse in her, she just accomplishes a lot. She is going
to give us a different kind of dimension that we don't have right now."

Andra Espinoza-Hunter is New York's Gatorade state player of the year
making 8th time in last 12 years a UConn recruit wins New York honor

UConn incoming freshmen Mikayla Coombs, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Megan Walker were selected as the Gatorade state players of the year in Georgia, New York and Virginia respectively making them eligible for the Gatorade National Player of Year honor.

Coombs averaged  16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.2 steals per game in leading the Wesleyan School to the Georgia 4A Private School state title.

Espinoza-Hunter is averaging 37.8 points, 7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3 steals per game for Ossining High School including a 40-point effort to clinch a spot in the New York AA semifinals.
Walker averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 rebounds per game to lead Monacan High School to its third straight Virginia 4A title.

UConn recruiting targets Aliyah Boston and Christyn Williams were the state players of the year in Massachusetts and Arkansas respectively while the Connecticut winner McKenna Dale of E.O. Smith who has committed to Brown.

It is the second Gatorade state player of the year honor for Walker and Williams, who announced via her Twitter account yesterday that UConn joins Baylor, Notre Dame, Tennessee and UCLA are her five finalists.

It was a day that UConn incoming freshmen Mikalya Coombs and Megan Walker won't soon forget.

The two future Huskies played starring roles as their teams rallied from double-digit deficits to lead their teams to state titles.

Mikayla Coombs had 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals as her Wesleyan School team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half to win the Georgia Class A Private School title with a 51-48 win over Holy Innocents.

Coombs had 10 points in a 12-2 Wesleyan run in the second quarter which cut the deficit to seven points heading into the locker room at halftime. In the third quarter she had five points in a span of 14 seconds to tie the game at 41.

Fellow senior Natalie Armstrong finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds as Wesleyan won its 12th state title since 2002. For the seniors it was the second title in the last three seasons but Coombs missed that 2015 championship game as she suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the season.

Holy Innocents' was responsible for eight of Wesleyan's 16 losses in the last three seasons including one in the 2016 state final.

She finishes her career as Wesleyan's seventh all-time leading scorer with 1,338 points, was seventh in rebounding (642) and blocked shots (93) and eighth in steals (318).

Walker finished with 35 points doing much of her damage at the free-throw line where she was 15 for 24. She also had 11 rebounds, six blocked shots and five steals. Walker had 18 points in the fourth quarter including the go-ahead basket with 14 seconds left to play. She finishes her career tied with Angela Mickens for 27th on Virginia's list of career scorers.

Coombs and Walker will both be playing in the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic games.

While their future team is currently on the longest winning streak in NCAA basketball history, UConn signees Megan Walker and Andra Espinoza-Hunter are piling up the wins as well.

Megan Walker had 24 points to lead Monacan High School to its second consecutive Virginia 4A East title with a hard-earned 74-65 victory over King's Fork.

It was Walker's 17th straight game with at least 20 points and leaves her 16 points shy of 2,000 in her career. It was also the 50th consecutive win for Monacan which now prepares for a run at a third consecutive state title.
.
Andra Espinoza-Hunter had 37 points (her 16th 30-point game of the season), six rebounds and five assists to lead Ossining to a 93-63 victory over New Rochelle in the New York Section 1 Class AA quarterfials to set up a matchup with Lourdes in the semifinals on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. at the Westchester County Center.

UConn signees Mikayla Coombs  and Megan Walker were among 24 players selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game.

Coombs is averaging 15.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.8 steals per game at the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

Walker is averaging 25.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and three steals per game for undefeated Monacan (Va.) High. She has four 30-point games as a senior.

Walker and Coombs will play on the East team.

The McDonald's All-American Game will be played on Mar. 29 at the United Center in Chicago. At least one future UConn product has played in 14 of the first 15 McDonald's games with the lone exception coming in 2013.

It was a rather memorable trip to South Carolina for a pair of future Huskies.

Megan Walker was named the most valuable player at the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational after leading her Monacan (Va.) High School team to the title.

In the championship game Walker had game-high totals of 22 points and four steals in a 54-49 win ovr Winder-Barrow out of Winder, Georgia.

UConn Class of 2018 recruiting target Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 16 points and 22 rebounds for Winder-Barrow.

Walker averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3.7 steals to lead Monacan to a 4-0 record including a victory over nationally-ranked Norcross.

Fellow UConn incoming freshman Mikayla Coombs had a pair of double-doubles as the Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners went 2-2 in the tournament. Coombs averaged 19.8, 7.3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals a game. She also recorded the 1,000 point of her high school career in the tournament, a milestone that obviously would have come much quicker had she not suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of her sophomore season.

Nelson-Ododa averaged 21.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game in the tournament  which began Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and wrapped up with four games today.

Walker was named the tournament's most valuable player, Nelson-Ododa was named the most outstanding player while Coombs earned all-tournament team honors.

I'm going to be doing the family thing for the next few days so barring any major developments, I won't be posting here likely until we get close to the Maryland game, With last night's game starting so late, my updated story off the win over Nebraska did not make it into the paper.

Also, here's the story on senior guard Saniya Chong returning to the court after missing the last two games with a concussion.

Since I spent and am spending a decent amount of my day in airports in three different states today, I had time to do a little checking on recent UConn players with eight offensive rebounds in a game since Napheesa Collier accomplished that feat last night.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is the last Husky to do that, hauling down eight offensive boards in a 2014 NCAA tournament game against BYU and she also accomplished the feat in a regular-season game against Baylor during the 2012-13 season. Breanna Stewart's career high was eight against during her freshman season. Maya Moore hauled down nine offensive rebounds in a 2008 game against Syracuse.

Not only is UConn rolling along with five wins over ranked teams but the highly-touted quartet of incoming freshmen are also in the midst of impressive seasons.

Mikayla Coombs had two 25-point games for undefeated Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Coombs wasn't listed as one of the top scorers in a 75-8 win over WD Mohammed but in the other seven games Coombs is averaging 18.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.7 steals per game.

Coombs has been flirting with triple-doubles all season with 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals against Effingham County, 25 points, six rebounds and six steals versus Tattnall County. In her most recent game, she had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals and 2 blocked shots in a 56-18 win over St. Pius X.

Andra Espinoza-Hunter has scored at least 40 points in three of the first four games at Ossining (N.Y.) High School. Thanks to her coach Dan Ricci updating his team's stats on MaxPreps, I can pass on more information that I have for the other three incoming freshmen.

She had 40 points in a season-opening loss to Roland Park Country and games of 49, 38 and 40 in
wins over Hathaway Brown, Scarsdale and Albany.
Also, 17 appears to be a preferred number for Espinoza-Hunter as she has 17 3-pointers, 17 assists and 17 steals in the four games.

Lexi Gordon began the season by scoring 20 points in each of the first five games for LD Bell in Hurst, Texas and has nine 20-point performances. I don't have the individual scoring totals from a 47-43 loss to Cedar Hill, but in the other 14 games she is averaging 20.5 points per game.

Megan Walker has three 30-point games in the first four games of the season and since she is showing up as not having scored in a win over Clover Hill, I am going to assume that she didn't play in that game.

In the other three games she has scored 30, 36 and 31 points and is averaging 32.3 points and 10 rebounds per game.

There's a chance Coombs' and Walker's teams could meet in the upcoming Crescom Bank Holiday Invitational but since Wesleyan and Monacan are in opposite parts of the bracket, it wouldn't happen until the championship game or late in the consolation bracket.

Wesleyan faces a 4-1 Franklin County team out of Frankfort, Kentucky in the first round on Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Franklin County is led by Xavier signee Princess Stewart.

Monacan's first game is against Prairie View out of Henderson, Colorado with a potential game of ranked teams awaiting in the second round if No. 19 Monacan and No. 6 Norcross (Ga.) win on Saturday.

I've spoken to UConn senior guard Saniya Chong countless times over the last four years and always resisted the temptation to ask her about Andra Espinoza-Hunter, her former teammate at UConn since it would be a violation of NCAA rules for Chong to talk about her until Espinoza-Hunter signed her national letter of intent.

Well, Espinoza-Hunter put her signature on the dotted line on Wednesday and is officially part of UConn's four-player incoming recruiting class so I got Chong's take on Espinoza-Hunter after today's practice.

"It was awesome playing with her," said Chong, a teammate with Espinoza-Hunter during her junior and senior seasons when Andra was a seventh and eighth grader. "She can do all different things on the court, she can get to the basket, play defense so with her it made the team even better.

"She will fit in right away because she works hard, she is always focused and really excited. You see her here all the times coming to games, coming  to practice so I am sure she is ready to jump in and show what we can do."

Espinoza-Hunter helped Ossining to the 2012 and 2013 New York Class AA titles. After spending three seasons at Blair Academy, she has decided to play her final her senior season at Ossining.

"That is amazing to start off and now to finish especially with her being home," Chong said. "I think she loves that. She misses her friends, she misses her family and being in that home environment is really great,"

Batouly Camara, a transfer from Kentucky who is sitting out this season, played with Espinoza-Hunter for two seasons at Blair Academy.

Espinoza-Hunter said it was "the best day ever" when she heard the news that she would be teammates with Camara again

Camara will get to play with Espinoza-Hunter for three more years which is something she is really excited about.

"It will be awesome to play with Andra again, we have known each other since we was in fifth grade and I was in seventh so we had a great relationship and I am so glad she is coming here," Camara said. "The opportunity to play with her at Blair, to watch her grow into the young woman that she is today it just makes me so happy."

So what will Espinoza-Hunter bring to the table when she comes to UConn?

"Just energy, she is a competitor in everything she does so that is what she is going to bring on and off the court," Camara said.

Espinoza-Hunter joins Mikalya Coombs, Lexi Gordon and Megan Walker as part of a highly-touted incoming freshman class. All-Star Girls Report, which includes the transfers of Camara and Azura' Stevens in the ratings, has UConn with the No. 1 recruiting class.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma had to wait until Thursday as Walker, the top-rated recruit in the class, completed the class with her commitment. He said it was a relatively stress free process.

"As we were going through the recruiting process I thought we were recruiting some really good kids who had a pretty good idea of what we are looking for," Auriemma said. "For the most part every one those kids was kind of easy to recruit. They were really knowledgeable about what have and what we have to offer, what they could accomplish there.

"It is a group that has the potential to do a lot of great things. Individually they are all probably at different levels right now, some have played at a higher level have more experience than others but I think as a group they bring a lot of things that right now if you look at our team they are going to get an opportunity to show what they've got right away. I think they are pretty versatile as a group, I don't think we have anybody who is locked in being a one-dimensional type of kids so I think all in all we helped ourselves a lot "

What is interesting about how UConn recruits is only a select few are invited for visits to campus. This year that was definitely the case as the only four players to take official visits to UConn were the four players who committed and then signed with the Huskies.

"We don't waste our time with kids we don't think we can get or kids that we think it is going to be a major struggle," Auriemma said. "We know before we ask a kid to come on an official visit, we know because a lot of them have been here before. We have a pretty good idea that it is going to be us and somebody else or it is no more than three schools generally so our chances of getting them are pretty good. That doesn't mean we are going to get all of them but we are also willing to not have a great recruiting class if we don't get the kids we want. I have really started to believe with all of my heart 'that kid you don't get isn't going to hurt you. Bringing in the wrong kid is going to hurt you so we've rather not get anybody than bring in the wrong kid. I think everyone of these kids coming in has the right temperament, the right kind of player for us."

They all know each other, they have all spent time together. There are not looking over each other's shoulder. We told them up front that your success at Connecticut has nothing to do with who else is coming and we understand that 

SNY GAMES AVAILABLE ON ESPN3
I happened to noticed that the UConn men's season opener, which aired on SNY, was not available on ESPN3 and the last time I checked with the folks at UConn they were still waiting to hear back from ESPN to see if the SNY games will be streamed live on ESPN3 (outside of the SNY coverage area).

I was told they have heard back and those 17 games airing on SNY will be available on ESPN3 as will the games on ESPN and ESPN2.

Lexi Gordon is part of talented four-player class signed by UConn

There was a time when news actually broke during national signing week but in recent years players tended to commit earlier and earlier . That all changed earlier tonight.

Megan Walker, considered by most recruiting insiders as the best player in the Class of 2017, announced that she was signing with UConn.

Walker, a pretty humble kid, actually made the announcement with a bit of flair as she got up walked around a table at Monacan High School and began popping balloons with the colors of her two other finalists - Notre Dame and Texas. That left only blue and white balloons remaining and with friends and onlookers shrieking with delight, she took off a jacket to reveal that she was wearing a UConn shirt.

I have to be honest, if you asked me after UConn returned from the Final Four, I would have been certain that Walker would be the latest No. 1 ranked recruit to sign with the Huskies. But in recent months Texas, aided by newly-hired assistant coach Tina Thompson, made a spirited run at getting a commitment from the highly-skilled Walker. Walker did form a close bond with fellow UConn signees Mikayla Coombs, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon but she strikes me as the type of kid who is probably pretty good friends with players who signed with Notre Dame and Texas.

As a junior at Monacan Walker had games with 50 points another one with 14 rebounds, one with 10 steals and the games with her two highest assist totals came in the postseason, She also had seven games with more than one 3-pointer. Walker wears the same number (32) that Maya Moore did in high school and has attributes similar to what Moore had coming out of high school. She handled the Maya Moore question with tremendous class on a live interview with ESPN.

It is also worthy of mention that Walker led all U.S. players in minutes played at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championships  Here is a blog I did with her after an interview during the USA Basketball U18 trials in May.

Walker is far from the only talented prospect in the class.

ESPN has UConn signees Coombs, Gordon and Espinoza-Hunter ranked 14th, 29th and
37th respectively, the Blue Star Report has Coombs and Espinoza-Hunter as top 10 recruits while the
All-Star Girls Report ranks Coombs as the fourth-best prospect in the class. They will also be
joined on the court by transfers Azura Stevens and Batouly Camara who began their collegiate careers at Duke and Kentucky respectively.

Coombs averaged 13.3 points, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals as a junior at Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners, Georgia after missing all but one game during her sophomore season due to a torn ACL. Three of Wesleyan's five losses during the 2015-16 came to Holy Innocents Episcopal and the other two were during the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions.

Gordon had 65 3-pointers as a junior at L.D. Bell High in Hurst, Texas despite constant double and
triple teaming. She finished her junior season averaging 24.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

Espinoza-Hunter is the most familiar face of the trio. She began showing up at UConn games when she would accompany Saniya Chong during the 2012-season. Espinoza-Hunter, then only in the eighth grade, was the second-leading scorer on an Ossining (N.Y.) High School team which won the 2013 New York Class AA state title.

Espinoza-Hunter spent the freshman, sophomore and junior seasons at Blair Academy helping Blair to Mid-Atlantic Prep League and New Jersey state titles each season. She is back at Ossining for her
senior season. In the 2016 MAPL tournament Espinoza-Hunter averaged 31.5 points per game with eight 3-pointers in the two games as she would average 25 points per game.

Add in Stevens, who I would have ranked among the top five college players in the country had she remained at Duke, and Camara and it's pretty clear that opponents might want to get to UConn this season because next year's squad is going to be deep, talented and versatile.

Oh, it should also be noted that UConn is also very much in the mix with Christyn Williams and Charli Collier, two of the top prospects in the Class of 2018.

Look for reaction from Geno Auriemma on Saturday as we will have media access that day in preparation for the season opener.

Things have been rather matter of fact on the recruiting trail for UConn this year.

Andra Espinoza-Hunter committed so long ago I could swear I was still in college at the time. Lexi Gordon's name was appearing as a UConn recruiting target not long before she also committed to play at UConn. Mikayla Coombs took a little bit longer but also announced her decision a little earlier than normal. Now there is one more potential piece to be added to UConn's class as Megan Walker, the No. 1 rated player in the Class of 2017, is currently on her official visit at UConn along with Espinoza-Hunter, Gordon and Coombs.

It's a little bit of a different way of doing things as usually the First Night festivities is the prime spot for UConn coach Geno Auriemma, his coaches and players to host top recruits but the decision was made to do it this weekend. The sarcastic side of me would suggest that the decision to do the official visit this weekend instead of during First Night weekend is that the coaches know I won't be at First Night for one of the few times since the UConn football team is playing at South Florida that weekend. The reality is that the timing works well for Walker, who visited Texas last weekend and is set to make her final official visit to Notre Dame next weekend, and Auriemma, who had kind of a busy summer with the whole coaching the U.S. to another Olympic gold medal thing. First Night will be a good time for UConn to bring in some of the top players on UConn's recruiting radar in the Class of 2018.

People have been quick to "break" the news of Walker's commitment but I'd be very surprised if she made any sort of announcement until after her trip to Notre Dame is done. She is rather active on social media so I fully expect the first news of her commitment to come courtesy of her Twitter account.

Here is a link to a story I did on Walker and the recruiting process when she was trying out for the U.S. U-18 team back in May.

When Walker announces her decision, that should wrap up the Class of 2017 for UConn. The Huskies are in the mix with many of the top player in the next recruiting class so it will be interesting to follow the process of players like Christyn Williams, Charli Collier, Sedona Prince and Aquira DeCosta among others.

Other than the inaugural squad in 1988 there has been a future UConn women's basketball player on every U-18 national team. That streak will continue as incoming freshman guard Crystal Dangerfield was one of 12 players named to the squad competing in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship from July 13-17 in Chile.

UConn recruiting target Megan Walker also was named to the squad as her Sidney Cooks and Amber Ramirez, who will team with Walker and Cal incoming freshman Jaelyn Brown on the team representing the U.S. at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship which begin on Wednesday in Kazakhstan.

Rebecca Lobo was the player with UConn ties to play for the U18 team, helping the U.S. to the silver medal in between her freshman and sophomore seasons at Connecticut. Four years later Stacy Hansmeyer was a member of second-place U.S. team. In 2000 Ashley Battle and Diana Taurasi helped the U.S. win the first of seven straight gold medals in the event. Charde Houston in 2004, Tina Charles and Maya Moore in 2006, Kelly Faris in 2007, Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley in 2010, Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck in 2012 and Napheesa Collier in 2014 as won gold medals at the FIBA Americas 18 event.

Dangerfield averaged 6.4 points in the United States' seven games during a gold-medal run during the FIBA U19 World Championship. She was second on the team with 19 assists (with just four turnovers) and tied for second on the team with 14 steals.

Dangerfield and Baylor incoming freshman Lauren Cox are the only players from the U19 team to take part in the U18 trials and not surprisingly, they both made the U18 team.

Walker, a rising senior at Monacan High School in North Chesterfield, Virginia, was only able to have one complete day at the trials because she is a part of the U.S. team playing in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships but that didn't stop her from making the U18 team.

Jeannie Boehm, Chennedy Carter, Tyasha Harris, Ruthy Hebard, Valerie Higgins, Evina Westbrook and Rellah Boothe are other players on the team. Boothe is the only player to be named a finalist for the U17 team and as be selected to the U18 team.

There are seven players who will be incoming college freshman as Dangerfield and Cox are joined by Boehm (Harvard). Harris (South Carolina), Hebard (Oregon), Higgins (USC) and Ramirez (TCU) while Walker, Boothe, Carter, Cooks and Westbrook are heading into their senior year of high school and all five are uncommitted so I'd expect to see some Division I college coaches making the journey to see this team go for gold.

Here are quotes from Dangerfield courtesy of USA Basketball

How does it feel to be named to a third USA Basketball team?It feels great. And then seeing who else made the team, it’s going to be a really special summer.
Two years ago you didn’t make the 2014 USA U17 World Championship Team, so you’ve been on both sides. How were you feeling when the announcement was coming?
The wait brought me back to that point, but after they came out and said what they had to say, I was relaxed.
What does it mean for you to be able to represent your country like this?It means I came back hungry to win another gold medal.
Because you have experience, do you feel like you’re one of the leaders?I feel like it, yes. I feel like it’s just a presence-type thing. I think the others are going to ask us questions and go off our lead.
On the overall make-up of the team:Looking at it, this is a physical group. I think that’s going to help us, because international play is very physical. We’re very talented, and I’m ready to see how it goes.