MORE as of Sept. 26/The Class of 2014 Blue-Chippers Are Finally Getting Picked Up

September 26--Cayla McMorris announced her choice a couple days ago--and it is the Wisconsin Badgers.

Tonoia Wade is going to St. John's (NY).

August 20--And more in the past few days:

Kendall Babb, Chaska--Marist (where she joins Sydney Coffey of Hopkins [2012])
Kaila Burroughs, St. Cloud Tech--Denver (where she joins Jordyn Alt of Cretin)
Michaela Rasmussen, Holy Family--Toledo (where she joins Lindsay Dorr of Rogers)
Grace Sawatzke, Monticello--North Dakota (where she joins Bailey Strand of Fergus Falls)

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August 11--Top 2014 recruit Cayla McMorris narrows list of colleges to 5: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. Speculation is that Minnesota came off the list when the Gophers got the verbal from Rangie Bessard of Dallas, TX. Like McMorris, Bessard is also a 6-1 forward.

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August 9--There have been a couple high D1 verbals since I wrote this. They are Tia Elbert (#4) and Hannah Grim (#13), both of whom are going to Marquette. Many of you know, of course, that Kenisha Bell (#3) is also going to Marquette. So that is quite the Minnesota backcourt, at least potentially.

Marquette compares, then, to Creighton which has Minnesota guards (but from different classes) Marissa Janning, MC McGrory and now Sydney Lamberty (#8 2013).

And that also compares with the Minnesota Gophers who have Rachel Banham, Shayne Mullaney, Mikayla Bailey and Carlie Wagner (#1 2014).

Cayla McMorris remains the top-rated 2014 who has not committed. I have been told that she has offers from Minnesota, Creighton and Marquette. And Pam Borton has said that with Rangie Bessard, the Gophers are done with the 2014s.

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With the announcement of Bailey Norby's verbal today and a variety of them in the past week, the recruiting process of Minnesota's blue-chippers in the class of 2014 seems to almost be done. 10 of the top 12 2014s have verbal led. Cayla McMorris remains the big prize but Tia Elbert will be a worthy recruit, and Hannah Grim and Grace Sawatzke can really play, too. Beyond that, there's a couple dozen D2 prospects and several dozen who are good enough to contribute at D3. But 1st we'll have to let the D1s play out. There are already 7 girls below the top 25 who have D1 offers and have verballed. But as a generalization, I think the top 25 are the real D1 prospects. So beyond the big 4, I expect Claire Lundberg and Tonoia Wade, in particular, to draw a high level D1 offer (not necessarily BCS high level but, you know, good basketball schools. Better perhaps than Valpo and Toledo, who have verballed MN girls in the past few days. Not that Valpo and Toledo aren't good offers--congrats to Anne Hamilton, Georgi Donchetz and Lindsay Dorr, who are going to those 2 schools.

And if that's correct--that the top 25 will command D1 opportunities, and 6 more below that already have offers--then that would be a total of about 31 D1s among the 2014s. That would be 1 more than the mighty 2013s, who got exactly 30. And the 2013s got 11 of those from BCS conferences and right now, I would expect 11 this year--10 of the top 12 plus Katie Quandt.

For the record the numbers for various years:

2014 (est.)--31 total and 11 BCS
2013--30 and 11
2012--23 and 8
2011--24 and 6
(numbers are courtesy of kjasr.com)

These numbers are perhaps skewed a little by the fact that Creighton was not high D1 (BCS) until now. I counted Creighton's recruits from previous years (Janning and McGrory) as BCS. The point is more that Creighton's change of status may have changed the way they recruit.

And, just for the record, the 2015s look more like a typical recruiting class--25 and 8--while the 2016s look more like the past 2 years--30 and 10ish.

But, returning to 2014, do the MN Gophers have any scholarships left? I didn't think so. Cayla McMorris would sure look in maroon and gold.

1. Carlie Wagner, NRHEG, 5-10, combo guard--Minnesota

2. Cayla McMorris, Park Center, 6-1, center-power forward--not verballed yet

3. Kenisha Bell, Bloomington Kennedy, 5-9, point guard--I've heard a report that she's verballed Marquette but it hasn't been confirmed

4. Tia Elbert, Tartan, 5-7, combo guard--not verballed yet

5. Chase Coley, Mpls.Washburn, 6-3, center-power forward--Iowa

6. Taylor Thunstedt, New London-Spicer, 5-8, combo guard--North Dakota State

7. Ellie Thompson, Chaska, 6-2, power forward-post--South Dakota State

8. Sydney Lamberty, Park, 5-10, off guard--Creighton

9. Bryanna Fernstrom, Chisago Lakes, 6-5, post--Iowa State

10. Bailey Norby, Forest Lake, 6-2, power forward-post--Creighton

11. Grace Coughlin, Benilde-St. Margaret's, 5-7, point guard--Minnesota

12. Kylie Brown, Simley, 6-3, forward--Creighton

13. Hannah Grim, Rosemount, 5-9, combo guard--not verballed yet

14. Maddie Dean, Jordan, 5-9, shooting guard--Drake

15. Grace Sawatzke, Monticello, 5-9, point guard--not verballed yet

16.-22. Michaela Rasmussen, Holy Family; Tonoia Wade, Kennedy; Clare Lundberg, Anoka; Bailey Strand and Brianna Rasmussen, Fergus Falls; Brooke Yaggie, Thief River Falls; Darby Youngstrom, North Woods--all not yet verballed

23. Alexis Alexander, Champlin Park, 5-8, point guard--South Dakota State

24. Katie Quandt, Lakeville South, 6-2, post--Boston College

25. Claire Ziegler, Mankato East, 5-11, forward--Mankato State

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31. Anne Hamilton, Minnetonka, 6-0, small forward--Valparaiso

39. McKenna Happke, Providence, 6-1, post-power forward--North Dakota State

41. Daijzah Morris, Centennial, 5-8, wing--Army

43. Georgi Donchetz, Burnsville, small forward-shooting guard--Valparaiso

45. Kyrah Fredenburg, Anoka, 5-11, small forward--Concordia (St. Paul)

47. Lindsay Dorr, Rogers, 6-2, power forward--Toledo

54. Destinee Morris, Centennial, 5-9, wing--Army

68. Alli Knuti, Mountain Iron-Buhl, 6-2, center-power forward--Bemidji State