Joyner Holmes, the fourth-leading scorer on the
U.S. U-17 World Championship team is among
top Class of 2016 players on UConn's radar

As I've mentioned earlier, it looks as if UConn is done recruiting for the current cycle and while the UConn coaches aren't able to comment on specific recruits until they receive signed letters of intent everything I've been hearing is that the UConn brain trust couldn't be happier or more excited about the potential of commits (and multiple USA Basketball gold medalists) De'Janae Boykin, Naphessa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson.

What's interesting about the Class of 2016 is that due to Geno Auriemma's duties as the U.S. senior women's national team head coach he is unavailable to recruit during key periods so UConn has sped up the process a little bit. What I've been hearing is that there are about 15 players on UConn's recruiting radar which is way up from the normal number.

Certainly talented Texan Lauren Cox is at the top of UConn and everybody else's wish list but there is a new name I've been able to confirm that the Huskies are extremely high on and that is Newark (N.J.) Academy guard Jocelyn Willoughby who averaged 23.7 points and 4.4 steals as a sophomore and has already surpassed the 1,000-point plateau heading into her final two seasons.

Crystal Dangerfield is another guard UConn is very high on and she made it clear when I spoke to her during the U-17 national team trials in Colorado Springs, the feeling in definitely mutual. By the sounds of things UConn coaches will be spending quite a large amount of time in the states of Texas and California during the recruiting process because sources indicate that UConn has interest in the Texas duo of Natalie Chou and Joyner Holmes, members of the gold-medal winning U.S. U-17 squad, as well as Sabrina Ionescu and Jaelyn Brown, both out of California.  There have been reports that Kysre Gondrezick has been drawing recruiting interest from UConn as well. Illinois star Tori McCoy is one of the top posts available in the class and adding some size to the roster is a priority for UConn in the next recruiting cycle.

It's going to be an interesting process and I think it won't come together quite as quickly as it did a year ago when Boykin, Collier and Samuelson committed pretty early on in the process.

UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson was the leading scorer for the gold-medal
winning United States team at the FIBA U17 World Championship tournament

With UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson dealing with foul trouble throughout the game and Spain's Angela Salvadores torching whichever United.States player attempted to guard her, the U.S. needed others to deliver to lead the two-time defending championship to a third straight gold medal to a 77-75 victory.

It was UConn recruiting targets Lauren Cox, Asia Durr and Arike Ogunbowale who stepped to the forefront. Cox had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks while Durr finished with 17 points and four assists and Ogunbowale had 15 points and eight rebounds. The trio combined to score the final 10 points for the U.S.

Cox grabbed an offensive rebound in transition and scored to snap a 71-71 tie and blocked a shot at the other end while Durr had a crucial jumper to help the U.S. survive a fierce challenge from Spain.

Salvadores had 40 points, hitting 16 of 29 shots from the field including 5 of 7 from 3-point range in a truly sensational performance. She was named the tournament's MVP while Samuelson was joined on the all-tournament team by her U.S. teammate Joyner Holmes. Salvadores had 13 points in the fourth quarter as Spain led for nearly 4 1/2 minutes in the final period. She ended up as the tournament's leading scorer (19.9 points per game), was first in steals (3.7), second in assists (3.6), third in 3-point percentage (50.0), fourth in field-goal percentage (49.6), sixth in assist/turnover ratio (0.8) and 10th in rebounding (7.4).

Samuelson finished with seven points and three rebounds while fellow UConn commit De'Janae Boykin had five points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Asia Durr finishes FIBA U17 tournament
ranked second in assist/turnover ratio

Lauren Cox nearly had a triple-double in title
game at FIBA U17 World Championships

Samuelson finished with a team-leading 97 points and 19 3-pointers in the seven games. She finished tied for seventh in scoring which finished tied for seventh among all tournament scorers and was second in 3-pointers made. Durr (13.4 points per game), Ogunbowale (10.7) and all-tournament selection Joyner Holmes (10.6) were the other double-digit scorers for the U.S. in the tournament. Durr also finished second in the tournament in assist/turnover ratio.

Cox finished as the team leader in rebounding (8.4) and blocked shots (19), finishing fifth and second in those categories in the tournament. Cox set the single game and tournament U.S. records in blocked shots while Samuelson's 19 3-pointers matched the U.S. mark set by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis in 2010. UConn commit De’Janae Boykin, one of three U.S. players to start all seven games, averaged 5.1 points. She was the team’s second-leading rebounder (6.1) and tied for second on the team with 16 assists.

Here are quotes from Boykin, Cox, Durr, Sabrina Ionescu, Ogunbowale and Samuelson courtesy of USA Basketball.

De'Janae Boykin
What does it mean to get a second gold medal?
This means a lot to be world champions, it’s great, it’s a great feeling.

What did you think about the game against Spain?
It was a very intense game; very hard, they worked very hard. They’re a great team and so were we, we came out and worked hard and we got the W.

What does this experience mean to you?
This experience means a lot. Just to come out here, we’ve been out here for almost a month, just to come together as a team and come out here and work and it just means a lot that we got the win today.

What do you think is going to stay with you from this experience? 
Just this experience, knowing I’m part of the USA Basketball family and stuff like that.

Lauren Cox
On winning the gold medal:
It’s awesome. It’s a great experience. I’m really blessed to be here to play with this amazing team and these awesome coaches.

On her game against Spain:
I just came into the game wanting to work hard and play hard inside. I knew it was going to be tough. They have big girls inside, so I just had to work hard.

Was there ever any doubt that you might not win?
Spain’s a good team, so we just had to get out there, play good defense and convert on offense.

What’s been the best part of this experience for you? 
Spending time with this awesome team. These coaches are awesome, too. It’s just been a great experience.

Asia Durr
On the gold medal game against Spain:
It was definitely a fight. They have some great shooters on their team. One girl put up 40 or so. It was a hard-fought game for 40 minutes.

Were you ever nervous, were there ever any doubts? 
It wasn't doubt. It was pressure, of course, because they were making every single shot. So, there was definitely pressure.

Do you feel like you executed the game plan or was it all heart?
It was both. We came out there, fought hard and played like there was no other game out there.

Was it the USA’s depth that helped in the end?
Definitely. We have a group of girls who are 12 deep and they all went out there and played their hearts out.

What does it feel like to win your second gold medal?
It’s definitely a blessing. I thank God for all of this.

What will you take away from this experience? 
Meeting a new group of girls, playing with a great group of girls and winning another gold.

Sabrina Ionescu
What does it feel like to win a gold medal?
It feels great. We’ve been practicing for the last, I don’t even know how long, and to finally come here and achieve what we’ve been reaching for this whole time feels great.

What do you think is going to stick with you? 
Definitely the whole learning experience. I’ve learned a lot from Coach Sue and the coaching staff and these girls. It’s a blessing playing with all of these great players so I think playing with all of them gets you better individually and as a team player.

Is there an area in your game you feel like you got specifically better at?
I think the fact that it takes all 12 players to win a gold medal; it’s not just one or two individuals. So the fact that everybody came together through these last couple of weeks; not knowing each other and just coming in and playing and working hard and winning a gold medal.

Arike Ogunbowale
On the game:
I love close games. It was nerve-wracking and crazy, but we kept our composure and played hard.

What do you think was the difference?
They’re a great team, a well-coached team. They’re physical and they have skill like us, so we just had to try to play greater than them. We played really good. They played great, too. But we had to execute at the end of the game and we hit our free throws, which were crucial.

Were you nervous at all?
There’s always nervousness going into big games, but we knew what we had to do. So, we were okay.

What’s it like to win your third gold medal? 
It’s crazy. I’m super excited. I’m super blessed to be able to do this before my senior year and everything that USA Basketball has helped me with, so I’m super blessed.

What have you learned from this experience?
Never give up. We were down in the fourth quarter and we just kept going. Really, just never give up and work with your teammates.

Katie Lou Samuelson
On being named to the all-tournament team:
It’s amazing. I’m just in shock that it all happened that way. I thought I played solid, but I didn’t expect anything like that. I wasn’t trying to go for anything like that, but it’s amazing just to be able to get that and to win the gold medal. It’s amazing.

How does it feel to win your third gold medal?
It’s amazing. It never gets old. It’s the same feeling every time. But, this one was really special. It was such a close game and we played well all the way through to the end. So, it was amazing.

What did you learn from this tournament?
I learned that I have to trust my teammates and just rely on them, because they’re going to come through. I thought everyone played great today. Everyone stepped up when they needed to.

MILESTONES FOR FORMER HUSKIES
A pair of former UConn stars reached scoring landmarks in the WNBA.

Diana Taurasi moved by Katie Smith to become the second all-time leading scorer in the WNBA. Taurasi headed into today's game against Los Angeles with 6,457 points in 316 career regular-season games. Smith scored 6,452 points in 482 career games. After the 87-69 win over Chicago on Wednesday Taurasi said she considered Tina Thompson's WNBA record 7,488 points to be unreachable for her. I'm not so sure as if she continues to score at the 20 point per game rate she has maintained since arriving in the league, she would need 52 more games to get there.

Speaking of impressive stats, five of the WNBA top scorers played at UConn including four on the 2002 national championship team. Swin Cash and Sue Bird rank 14th and 16th on the career scoring charts with 4,731 and 4.678 points respectively. Nykesha Sales is 24th with 3,955 points and Asjha Jones checks in at No. 27 with 3,834 points.

As for the other milestone, Renee Montgomery scored her 2,000th career point in Saturday's win at Tulsa.

UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson had 10 points, the fourth time in five games that she reached double digits, as the U.S. rolled to an 86-45 win over Canada in the quarterfinals of the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women. Samuelson added five rebounds while fellow UConn commit De'Janae Boykin had two points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Joyner Holmes led the U.S. with 24 points while UConn Class of 2015 recruiting target Arike Ogunbowale had 16 points, a team-high eight rebounds and her four steals matched the total of UConn Class of 2016 recruiting target Sabrina Ionescu for the team lead. The U.S. will play Hungary in Saturday's semifinals. The game time was originally listed as noon here in Connecticut on the USA Basketball release which would place it in the time slot when ESPNU is televising the semifinals. However, it is now listed as starting at 2:15 p.m. which is what the official site had as the listed time. ESPNU has an episode of E;60 followed by a previously recorded recap of the NCAA Division I Track and Field championships so I have to wonder if ESPNU would consider shifting its schedule around to show the U.S. game. I would recommend tuning into ESPNU tomorrow to see which semifinal they will be showing.

The U.S. held Canada's Bridget Carleton, an Iowa State commit who came into the game as the tournament's second-leading scorer, to seven points (11.5 under her tournament average) on 3 of 14 shooting.

Here are quotes from Boykin, Holmes, Ogunbowale and UConn recruiting target Lauren Cox courtesy of USA Basketball.

De'Janae Boykin
On tonight's game:
Today as a team, we did really great. We played together, as always.

Was there any worry of complacency, since you had previously beaten Canada?
They came out with great intensity, and so did we. We just kept it up.

Has the team continued to improve?
We have continued to improve every time we have played, working together and learning to play with each other.

On the team's defense:
Our defense has improved. Coach stresses defense all the time, and I really love defense myself. Defense is really a key point for this team.

How does it feel to reach the semifinals?
We are very excited, especially since today was the Fourth of July. This is our day basically, and to win feels great. We started the day off right, and we are one step closer to our goal.

Lauren Cox
On tonight's game:
I thought we played really well. Canada is a great team. We came out and played good defense.

On getting a win on the Fourth of July:
It was awesome playing on the Fourth of July. It's our country's day, and we are out here playing in a world championship representing our country, so it was awesome.

On the USA's depth:
We can put any five players in, and they can go win games. We don't have any drop off in intensity.

Was there any danger of being complacent having already beaten Canada in exhibition?
They had people out hurt when we played them last time, so were had to worry about them. They are a great team that can shoot the three, drive and play good defense, so I think we prepared really well for that.

On the USA's defense:
Coach always says, 'defense wins games,' and we are really trying to be known for our defense and lock down teams.

On reaching the semifinals:
It is really exciting. It is one step closer to our goal of winning a gold medal.

On Hungary:
It is going to be a tough game. It will be a challenge. We are going to work hard in practice tomorrow and watch film.

Joyner Holmes
On tonight's game:
I think we had great chemistry today, and we played very well. We got defensive boards, offensive boards and transition points, so I think we played well. A lot of our points come from our defense, because we get a lot of transition points.

What were some of the things the team was focused on?
We wanted to keep them off the boards, and we did that, and just playing together,

How do you feel about your performance?
I'm felt I did well, and I'm proud of myself, but I am going to just continue to keep working and getting better every day.

Arike Ogunbowale
On tonight's game:
I thought we played really well as a team. We kept our intensity up and played pretty good defense.

Did you get the start the team wanted?
We came out really hard. We have played them before, so we tried to pick the tempo up even more than in the last game.

On the USA's depth:
It makes it really easy for and the other guards on the team to be able to play with 11 other great players.

Was this the team's best game?
I don't know if it was our best game, but I think we have really improved since the exhibition tournament in France. I think we are taking the right steps.

On the USA's defense:
Coach really emphasizes defense, and when our defense is on, our offense just comes, so we have to really keep up the defense.

Was there any trouble staying focused?
I think we are pretty much always focused and motivated. We want to win the gold, so that motivates us.

On Hungary:
They are a physical team, and they are a good team, so we have to come out strong.

UConn Class of 2015 recruiting target Arike Ogunbowale and Asia Durr finished with 19 and 14 points respectively and combined to go 6 of 8 from 3-point range as the United States rolled to a 91-35 win over Mexico to advance into the quarterfinals at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson finished with 10 points, her third double-digit scoring games in the tournament, and a team-high nine rebounds. Fellow UConn commit De'Janae Boykin added four points, five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. Jordan Holmes had 14 points, Kristine Anigwe had 12 points and UConn Class of 2016 recruiting target Sabrina Ionescu added six points, eight rebounds and five assists as the U.S. improved to 4-0 in the tournament.

Next up is a quarterfinal matchup against Canada, a 52-40 win over Brazil, on Friday. The game will tip at 3:15 p.m. in the Czech Republic which is 9:15 a.m. here in Connecticut.

Heading into the quarterfinals Samuelson is the tournament's sixth-leading scorer averaging 13.8 points per game and is second with 10 3-pointers made trailing only the 13 made by Canada's Bridget Carleton (a 2015 recruit who has committed to Iowa State). Durr is tied for ninth in scoring with an average of 12.8 points per game. Ionescu is in the top 10 in assists, steals and assist/turnover ratio while Ogunbowale leads all players with a 53.8 3-point percentage. Also, UConn recruiting target Lauren Cox is fifth in rebounding and fourth in blocked shots.

Here are quotes from Ionescu, Ogunbowale and Samuelson courtesy of USA Basketball

Sabrina Ionescu
On tonight's game:
I think we played really well. We executed everything that we were supposed to, and I think we came out with a lot of intensity and we reached our goals that we set before the game.

What were some of those goals for tonight?
We tried to play good defense and keep the score down, so I think us reaching all the goals that we set before the game helped us come together and play well as a team.

On the USA's 91 points:
Our shots were on, our post players finishing and I think collectively with our defense, it helped us produce offense. We played with great defensive intensity, and I think that helped us offensively.

What are your thoughts on facing Canada in the quarterfinals?
I think if we come out and do what we do, we will be fine.

Arike Ogunbowale
On tonight's game:
I think we played really well. We worked hard and kept our intensity up the whole game.

On the first quarter:
They are well-coached team. They played well, and they are scrappy. It was just a good game.

On the second quarter:
We just had to pick up our defensive intensity and play our game.

On the USA's 91 points:
We shared the ball a lot. We moved it around, executed our plays and played as a team.

On playing Canada:
We just have to play how we play. They are a great team, so we have to play like a great team as well.

Katie Lou Samuelson
On tonight's game:
I think we did well. We could have played better defense in the first half, but we stepped it up in the second half. All around, it was a good win.

On the first quarter:
They definitely came out playing hard, and we just needed to respond better. They played us really well and played to our weaknesses. We just had to adjust after that, and we brought it together.

What things was the team focused on in tonight's game?
We were trying to improve our man defense. We have been playing zone, and we definitely need to get better playing man defense, so we tried to step up and work on that. At times we played really well, and at times it was a little sloppy, but I think we are definitely getting better overall.

On the USA's 91 points:
A lot of people were in double-figures today, and we shared the ball really well. I think we are doing good at evenly contributing through the whole entire team, and that's the reason we scored so many points.

On playing Canada in the quarterfinals:
The last time I played Canada was in the gold-medal game (at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship), and they played us great. It was tied at halftime. We are going to have to play our best and be ready for them.

UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson was the leading scorer for the U.S. in the second time in as many games in the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women as she had 17 points, four rebounds and two steals in an 88-40 win over France as the U.S. improves to 2-0 in Group D play.

UConn recruiting target Asia Durr added 14 points and four rebounds, UConn recruiting targets Arike Ogunbowale and Sabrina Ionescu had nine points each while UConn commit De'Janae Boykin had six points, three rebounds and three assists. Kristine Anigwe scored in double figures for the second game in a row as she finished with 10 points and UConn recruiting target Lauren Cox had seven points, a team-leading eight rebounds and two blocks as the U.S. rolled past a France team which beat then in an exhibition game exactly a week earlier. The U.S. was in command throughout but made a statement by outscoring France 26-1 in the fourth quarter. The U.S. wraps up pool play on Tuesday against Mali.

After missing the three tune-up exhibitions due to illness, UConn commit Katie Lou Samuelson returned to the court in a major way for the U.S. U-17 team.

Samuelson had a game-high 22 points aided by four 3-pointers and six rebounds as the U.S. defeated China 69-41  in the opening game of Group D play at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Fellow UConn commit De'Janae Boykin started and finished with two points and three rebounds while UConn recruiting targets Lauren Cox and Sabrina Ionescu led the U.S. with 12 rebounds and five assists respectively. The U.S. will face France, the team which beat the Samuelson-less U.S. in an international friendly, tomorrow before wrapping up pool play against Mali on Tuesday.

Here are quotes from Samuelson and Cox courtesy of USA Basketball

Katie Lou Samuelson
On getting back in the lineup after missing the USA's three exhibition games due to illness:
It felt awesome. It's been such a long time because I had to sit out our exhibition games. It's just a great feeling to finally get out on the floor.

On the game:
I think the first half, we could have played a lot better defensively. But coming out in the second half, we definitely stepped it up and put pressure on them and played just overall a lot better.

On her 22 points:
I just was trying to score within the flow of the game without forcing anything. My teammates got me the ball. I was hitting in the second half, and they really found me. I think I can give the credit to them for finding me and coach leaving me in the game.

On the USA's poor first-half shooting:
At halftime we all knew we weren't shooting well, so we didn't want to force it. Coach's emphasis was on going inside-out, and we tried to get the ball in the paint so we could get our game going. I think we did that, and the shots started falling.

Lauren Cox
On her 12 rebounds:
I think that is part of my role on this team is to get in there and get offensive and defensive rebounds, so I really try to do that every game.

On leading by just seven points at halftime:
I don't think we were worried, we just needed to fix a few things. And we did that. We came out strong in the third quarter. We picked up our defensive intensity, which really helped. We were able to control the tempo.

It almost seems preposterous to think that some opposing coaches have attempted to use Geno Auriemma's appointment as the U.S. coach at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics against him. However, that is exactly what has happened as there are rival coaches telling top recruits that Auriemma is too busy coaching the national team when he should be pursuing them.

Since first being named to coach the U.S. Senior Women's National Team all Auriemma has done is led UConn to a record of 183-11, the last five Final Fours and the Huskies have won three national titles during that span.

"I have read it before," Auriemma said, "USA Basketball is going to be the demise of our recruiting. I just hope it doesn't keep hurting us like it has been hurting us these past four years."

Auriemma didn't become a Hall of Famer by not being able to adjust on the fly. He knew that there were times when he should have been on the recruiting trail when his U.S. national team duties prevented that. This time around he was a little more proactive when it came to identifying top prospects in the Classes of 2015 and 2016 (the new NCAA regulations allowing earlier contact with recruits aided in this task).

"We did a lot during the spring and it paid off. We did a lot last winter and it paid off. I think the kids know that I m not going to be around in September so when I get back that first week in October, we will pick up right from there."

UConn, coming off signing an outstanding class with the additions of Sadie Edwards, Courtney Ekmark, Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams, has already secured commitments from top 10 Class of 2015 players De'Janae Boykin, Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. UConn would love to add either Asia Durr or Arike Ogunbowale to the class signing with UConn in November. The Huskies are also ahead of the game when it comes to the Class of 2016 as six of the top eight players in ESPN HoopGurlz rankings (Lauren Cox, Jaelyn Brown, Sabrina Ionescu, Tori McCoy, Crystal Dangerfield and Erin Boley) are on UConn's recruiting radar. Add in  Kelly Jekot, another player UConn is very high on, and the Huskies have set themselves up to have another top-flight recruiting class.

 "Some people took advantage of it (the new rules allowing unlimited contact by way of text message, phone call and social media at the end of their sophomore year) and some people didn't," Auriemma said. "Some people thought it was a great idea and some people didn't think it was a great idea. To me the biggest advantage of the rule change is you can have contact with the kids early so you can find out at an earlier age whether there is an interest level and you are wasting all this time recruiting somebody and finding out at the last minute it was for nothing. At least now you find out right away, I want this kid or I don't want them. This kid wants us or doesn't want us. Identifying who we think we can get and working really hard to get them up to school, get them involved. For us, once we get them on campus and once they've spend enough time with our players, the rest is not that difficult."

NURSE, CANADA HOSTS BRAZIL
Three of UConn's four current freshmen are on campus. The only one missing is Nurse but she has a pretty good reason as she is training with the Canadian national team.

Today, Friday and Saturday she will be in action when Canada hosts Brazil in three international friendlies. I haven't seen any links for a live stream or live stats but you can try to get updates using the #canvsbrayeg hashtag on Twitter.