Aaliyah Collins Freshman of the Week three consecutive weeks. How did we sign her? Whichever coach managed it pulled off the Coup of the Year.

https://www.heraldnet.com/sports/the-her...h-collins/

(12-11-2021 08:34 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  https://www.heraldnet.com/sports/the-her...h-collins/

I lifted some parts of the article and trimmed them down a bit because I thought they were the most interesting. Tough year to be a freshman recruit...

"Collins Division-I aspirations seemed to be coming to fruition as she held offers from Big Sky Conference schools Eastern Washington University, University of Montana and Montana State University.

The NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility...creating a situation where teams were no longer going to have as many scholarships available for incoming players.

“After COVID hit,“ my offers got pulled...my biggest goal was to go D-I, but at one point I thought that I wasn’t going to get anything.”

A new Division-I offer finally came in December of 2020 through a connection with Smith (her high school coach). A scouting service...was able to connect Collins with Chicago State University."

Aaliyah Collins is the WAC Freshman of the Week for the 4th time this season. She had 26 points and 10 rebounds in their win at Seattle.

You have to have a go-to scorer, and we have that. But our shooting as a team is very weak.

With today's loose transfer environment, I worry about Aaliyah wanting to get back closer to home. I am sure there are lots of schools who would love to have her. Any school would love to have her.

(01-18-2022 08:33 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  You have to have a go-to scorer, and we have that. But our shooting as a team is very weak.

With today's loose transfer environment, I worry about Aaliyah wanting to get back closer to home. I am sure there are lots of schools who would love to have her. Any school would love to have her.

Every school here in the PNW missed on her but her family are one of those D-1 or nothing types. The fam wasn't wrong on Aaliyah but it closed a lot of doors over here and soured coaches on the family.

(01-18-2022 10:24 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  

(01-18-2022 08:33 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  You have to have a go-to scorer, and we have that. But our shooting as a team is very weak.

With today's loose transfer environment, I worry about Aaliyah wanting to get back closer to home. I am sure there are lots of schools who would love to have her. Any school would love to have her.

Every school here in the PNW missed on her but her family are one of those D-1 or nothing types. The fam wasn't wrong on Aaliyah but it closed a lot of doors over here and soured coaches on the family.

Looks like she/they stuck to their guns and she went D1. I'd hate for her to leave Chicago State, but honeatly, being Conference Freshman of the Week 4 times (so far) in any conference will get you some good attention in the transfer portal.

We signed her and stuck with her. We'll see how much loyalty that is worth.

(01-19-2022 05:30 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(01-18-2022 10:24 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  

(01-18-2022 08:33 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  You have to have a go-to scorer, and we have that. But our shooting as a team is very weak.

With today's loose transfer environment, I worry about Aaliyah wanting to get back closer to home. I am sure there are lots of schools who would love to have her. Any school would love to have her.

Every school here in the PNW missed on her but her family are one of those D-1 or nothing types. The fam wasn't wrong on Aaliyah but it closed a lot of doors over here and soured coaches on the family.

Looks like she/they stuck to their guns and she went D1. I'd hate for her to leave Chicago State, but honeatly, being Conference Freshman of the Week 4 times (so far) in any conference will get you some good attention in the transfer portal.

The family did stick to their guns and they cashed in on the 1st D1 offer they got b/c she didn't have much going for her until her senior year. She is a very nice kid for the record and I wouldn't be shocked to see her playing at WSU/Idaho/UW/Gonzaga/SeattleU/Montana next year

(01-19-2022 09:13 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  

(01-19-2022 05:30 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(01-18-2022 10:24 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  

(01-18-2022 08:33 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  You have to have a go-to scorer, and we have that. But our shooting as a team is very weak.

With today's loose transfer environment, I worry about Aaliyah wanting to get back closer to home. I am sure there are lots of schools who would love to have her. Any school would love to have her.

Every school here in the PNW missed on her but her family are one of those D-1 or nothing types. The fam wasn't wrong on Aaliyah but it closed a lot of doors over here and soured coaches on the family.

Looks like she/they stuck to their guns and she went D1. I'd hate for her to leave Chicago State, but honeatly, being Conference Freshman of the Week 4 times (so far) in any conference will get you some good attention in the transfer portal.

The family did stick to their guns and they cashed in on the 1st D1 offer they got b/c she didn't have much going for her until her senior year. She is a very nice kid for the record and I wouldn't be shocked to see her playing at WSU/Idaho/UW/Gonzaga/SeattleU/Montana next year

Wouldn't surprise me either. However, it probably depends on how much she likes the coach, the team, the school etc. But its a typical pattern when kids go away and then transfer back to somewhere closer to home. But a lot less girls transfer than guys, so maybe if the team situation is good, she'll stick around. I hope so.

Home is important to me personally, so I couldn't fault a kid for trying to get closer to home. But I really hope she stays.

We only have eleven players listed on the official roster, and three of those are seniors or grad students, so Coach Sardin should have several slots available to recruit to, and with Aaliyah with a year of experience under her belt, and maybe a couple of jucos or transfers coming in to provide immediate help, who knows?

And she was the WAC Freshman Player of the Week again last week. I believe that is the 5th time.

(01-19-2022 01:03 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  Home is important to me personally, so I couldn't fault a kid for trying to get closer to home. But I really hope she stays.

We only have eleven players listed on the official roster, and three of those are seniors or grad students, so Coach Sardin should have several slots available to recruit to, and with Aaliyah with a year of experience under her belt, and maybe a couple of jucos or transfers coming in to provide immediate help, who knows?

The nice thing about transfers is that some don’t care what kind of program they move to, quality wise. There are good players in good programs who never see the floor simply because of the high caliber players that they are stuck behind in the rotation.

A player like that wants to play, not ride the bench another year, so they pick places they can be pretty certain they can start. That makes a struggling program look even better to some. And if coach can bring in a decent supporting cast for Collins, she can start building the program up. Transfers are the immediate impact, the increased success is the lure for better recruits the next year. All they have to do is appear to be on the rise and they’ll get some good people.

I wonder if there is another Inclan in the hat for her to pull out. Wouldn't that be something?