Very well put. One additional factor in the supposed lack of depth woes with this year’s team is, don’t forget, not only the loss of Amanze and the late decommitment of Benally, but the departure of Mari Bickley and Margo Mattes. Both of whom were highly regarded recruits. Sometimes these things happen. The fact that despite this, the Tigers are in first place and ranked, is a tribute to Coach Berube and her staff.
Jerseygreen: Your point about Hutcherson contributing very little her freshman year and now playing like a first team All-Ivy player is noteworthy. This has happened under Courtney Banghart also. Most notably Leslie Robinson and Annie Tarakchian. Don’t be surprised if someone else emerges in the next year or two.
Albert08: You are forgiven if reading too many of gokinsmen’s posts influenced your excessive negativity. Please keep us informed on any recruiting info since you follow it more so than many of us can.
JDP: On your point about the round of 32 being the cap, I don’t think it has to be. The Tigers almost went to the Sweet 16 in ’22 and the 2020 team definitely had a reasonable shot at going beyond the first round were the tournament not canceled because of Covid. Just need the right match up and maybe a little luck to do it. The point is, Ivy teams are getting good enough so that that becomes a possibility.
Princeton women’s basketball has been special for many years now. Consider yourselves lucky that you can enjoy it while it lasts.
The website prepgirlshoops lists 3, including Sarah Aldeguer. A google search for her includes a Twitter post by Rauol (@Raoul_000) which lists the 5 below.
Sarah Aldeguer 6’0 Fairmont Prep Anaheim CA
Draden Moss 6’0 Memorial HS Houston TX
Mei-Ling Perry 5’11 La Jolla Country Day CA
Eva Smith 6’2 Perth Australia
Eva Yoon 5’8 Sidwell Friends Washington DC
The prepgirlshoops site also shows one recruit for 2027, Angelina Habis 5’10 from Windward HS in CA
Sarah Aldeguer is an inside post player and the 6’0” height is inaccurate (probably 6’2”, as Sparman says). She is originally from France, moved to SoCal a few years ago. She will join Aussie Eva Smith as another “international” recruit this fall, which I think Carla should pursue more actively. Maybe not to the same degree as Megan Griffith, whose current 15-woman roster is 9 International / 6 US.
A new 2027 recruit was announced today: Brooke Busby a 5’10” combo guard attending Cannon School (f/k/a Cabarrus Academy) in Concord, NC. From video clips she’s primarily a 3-pt shooter but looks pretty athletic. She joins Angelina Habis, another combo guard, in the Class of 2027. Habis has been active in the crazy, unofficial high school “transfer portal,” which seems to be especially common in Southern California and other regions with high-level high school basketball. Habis has attended three schools in 3 years: 9th grade at Harvard-Westlake (alma mater of Nicole Hung, Mason Hooks, Jacob Huggins), 10th grade at Chaminade College Prep (Annie Tarakchian’s alma mater), and now in 11th grade at Windward School (Skye Belker’s alma mater). One of our 2026 recruits, Mei-ling Perry (also from Southern California), has been to three schools in 4 years. She started at Mater Dei, then moved to LaJolla Country Day (Ryan Langborg’s alma mater) for 2 years. Last summer she announced she would transfer to Sage Hill Academy (Emily Eadie’s alma mater, currently ranked #18 nationally), but then announced she would return to LJCDS. But somehow she ended up at Troy High School, a public high school in Fullerton, CA, with a student population that is more than 75% Latino and Asian.
Thanks for the update. A quick search suggests that Penn extended offers to both Ava Yoon and Brooke Busby (Busby appears to have also been offered by Harvard and Yale). So, for at least these two upcoming recruits, Princeton prevailed over their natural competition.