[TDDance234]

it would almost seem that regardless of the strength of the conference, if she was at the top of the robound, points scored, and blocks category... she's a little dominant. i know my conference was no big deal back in high school, but if there was anyone (guy or girl) putting up numbers like that, they were being recruited by a few different schools.

That's not always true. Russ was a home-schoolar and put up some big numbers and despite his size, didn't get much more than a sniff. Players in a small conference have to have more than stats IMO.

[BrysOn_G]

i'll agree with that. not sure why i thought i'd find anything, but i looked online for some video footage of jess. playing. yeah, didn't find anything.

i would just say that a majority of the time, with stats. like her's, you'd be getting a look or two.

[olldflame]

There doesn't appear to be any question that this girl is a prospect. Apparently she can take her pick of schools. I was commenting on her TEAM being dominant, and on further examination, they were 30-1, with their only loss being their last game, no doubt in the tourney. The conference leader in scoring was her teammate (also a junior) at well as the leaders in every other category except rebounding. Possibly more than one prospect there.

[pointguard4christ]

If it is a small conference, especially if it's a Christian school conference, you are not going to get a lot of looks even if you are putting up big numbers. The news papers don't care about the little teams, really only about the big teams, and in so doing pass over some big people on those little teams. There was a guy this past year on our boy's team that was a great player, lot's of points and big stats, I'd have to say one of the best in the league, but he didn't get to play with the most talented kids. He was hardly looked at by our local D-3 or Community college, which would have been a great option for him. I'm just saying that you shouldn't look at the conference, or the team and judge that player's ability.
Yea, I know a little off topic but I've been wanting to rant about this for a while.

[BJWilliams]

I know your sentiment pg4c. Everybody around here knows how much I pump the name Ryan Barbosa in the Men's Hoops section. He playes for my alma mater Stonebridge High School in Chesapeake, VA. The papers very rarely mentioned them except for occasionally putting box scores or a brief one paragraph writeup about a game once in a while. I don't know of many D1 schools that are giving him a look because of the conference that SB competes in (even though they did win a state title this year). I made a connection between Coach Dunton and the folks at SB to recruit him, and Im reestablishing that conenction with the new staff in place. Sometimes you have to do a little extra legwork to get somebody who you think is good a look at this level, and even then they still may not get much of a sniff even if you put the cheese right under their nose.

[pointguard4christ]

It is going to be tough for me to get looked at myself, too, playing in the same small Christian conference. I'm basically going to have to sell myself to the recruiters and coaches and pray really hard.
(Usually we barely get one square inch in our local paper which is really sad.)

[Sly Fox]

Scholarships can be won at camps & in summer ball no matter how small or sometimes how bad your HS team may be. Keep playing your hardest and you never know what can happen.

[weshender]

I am not on here to flame. Regarding Jessica Oestreicher she is getting looked at really hard at by Stanford who is a power in Womens basketball as well as New Mexico and their womens program is amazing as of late, 6 straight NCAA tourneys and a top 5 avg in fans per game year in and year out, around 10,000. As you guys know, I thought we had a real chance at her due to her bother being at UNM but you guys might know her bother has left UNM, and if he goes to Liberty she might look at the Flames program closer. But it is tough to go up against a Stanford and New Mexico. UNM does already have a 6'6 girl with a "TON" of up side to her.

[Sly Fox]

Just so you'll know, she made an unofficial visit to Liberty this past fall back before we were even on her brother's radar. Liberty has a pretty strong womens program ourselves having been tot he Sweet 16 two seasons ago. The fact that she missed this past season due to injury probably helps our chances but we'd be thrilled with her no matter what brings here to Lynchburg.

[jmdickens]

It is going to be tough for me to get looked at myself, too, playing in the same small Christian conference. I'm basically going to have to sell myself to the recruiters and coaches and pray really hard.
(Usually we barely get one square inch in our local paper which is really sad.)

If you want to get noticed...hit the AAU circiut...or try to get into the 5 star basketball camp

[LU'sbestmanager]

before this past season were also in 10 straight NCAA's, along with the sweet sixteen appearance that Sly has mentioned. we are also a christian school and she is in a chrisian highshcool so that can be a big factor in her dicision.

[jmdickens]

If it is a small conference, especially if it's a Christian school conference, you are not going to get a lot of looks even if you are putting up big numbers. The news papers don't care about the little teams, really only about the big teams, and in so doing pass over some big people on those little teams. There was a guy this past year on our boy's team that was a great player, lot's of points and big stats, I'd have to say one of the best in the league, but he didn't get to play with the most talented kids. He was hardly looked at by our local D-3 or Community college, which would have been a great option for him. I'm just saying that you shouldn't look at the conference, or the team and judge that player's ability.
Yea, I know a little off topic but I've been wanting to rant about this for a while.

I know your sentiment pg4c. Everybody around here knows how much I pump the name Ryan Barbosa in the Men's Hoops section. He playes for my alma mater Stonebridge High School in Chesapeake, VA. The papers very rarely mentioned them except for occasionally putting box scores or a brief one paragraph writeup about a game once in a while. I don't know of many D1 schools that are giving him a look because of the conference that SB competes in (even though they did win a state title this year). I made a connection between Coach Dunton and the folks at SB to recruit him, and Im reestablishing that conenction with the new staff in place. Sometimes you have to do a little extra legwork to get somebody who you think is good a look at this level, and even then they still may not get much of a sniff even if you put the cheese right under their nose.

The reason why papers don't report on a small Christian school is because the talent isn't there, unless they recruit internationally......there can be one above average player who looks great, but the opponents are garbage

[BJWilliams]

Im surprised you guys didn't call a "you GMTMd" on me for connection (which I misspelled)

[weshender]

I apologize for not studying on your teams great history, as we know with recruiting a player that player will pick the best place for them to succeed in the future.

[Cider Jim]

No offense taken, Weshender, but to get a crash course in LU women's basketball, just look up the name "Katie Feenstra" on Google or Wikipedia. She was our 6'8" center who was recruited by everybody in the country out of high school, but she came to Liberty largely because her sibling was already playing for LU (could history repeat itself?). Katie took us to the Sweet 16 her senior year. And I'd love to see Jessica take us back there.

[olldflame]

The other side of LU's women's basketball accomplishments is that, as we all know here, they look better on paper than they did on the court. The sweet 16 run in 05 is something they will never be able to take away from us because it was in the dance and against quality opponents. Our ladies played GREAT! When you talk about the 10 straight NCAAs though you have to take it with a grain of salt because it was the Big South, and especially the first few years the opposition was pretty pitiful.

A young lady with the combination of athletic and academic talents this girl seems to have is going to look at a lot of things in making her decision where to go to school. LU's pre-med program obviously can't compare with Stanford's, but it's graduates have done pretty well at getting into medical school, which is what it is all about after all. It seems that the faith aspects would be a positive in this case also. One more basketball plus is that coach Green has years of experience coaching girls her size in the Feenstra sisters, and there are a lot of high major coaches who cannot say that.

[TallyW]

This site has her ranked 25th in the country and she's the tallest player on the list.

http://bballx.com/network_sites/candace ... f_2008.php

[TDDance234]

I think with her brother making the commitment over here -- she will follow.

[BJWilliams]

Its amazing the kind of pull family can have in the recruiting process. Remember when we got the triplets they very much wanted to be together wherever they went. Not to mention their brother being here as well

[Cider Jim]

Lots of family connections to LU women's basketball:

the triplets
the Feenstra sisters
the Wilkerson sisters

[olldflame]

Lots of family connections to LU women's basketball:

the triplets
the Feenstra sisters
the Wilkerson sisters

There are more.

the Reeves sisters
the Day brothers

Showing my age here....... Willard and Shawn DeShazor.

[Sly Fox]

Wow! That does show your age. Fro power forever!

[BJWilliams]

That proves my point...often times knowing that you will have a sibling at the same school often will help in the decision thta a recruit makes for where they end up (course if the two siblings do not get along then the opposite could happen)

[olldflame]

Wow! That does show your age. Fro power forever!

It beats the alternative Sly.

In the infancy of LU's athletic program, Willard "Gator" DeShazor may to this day be one of the best natural athletes we have had. He had never run track in his life, and he practiced for a few days and went to the NCCAA track and field championships and won the 100m and the high jump. He was/is only 6'4", (not counting the fro) but I think he held the career record for blocked shots until Aluma broke it. He had an amazing stride, and was famous for catching opposing players on breakaways from behind and swatting the ball off the backboard. He couldn't shoot a lick, and had the misfortune of playing in the no-dunk era, or he would have scored a lot more points. His brother Shawn was about 6'1" and I think he only played one year, under Skeeter Swift.

[LU'sbestmanager]

the saunders sisters play volleyball