Grace Wright signing her LOI today!

http://pic.twitter.com/nGMgxSz1

Elizabeth Keester
Taylor Saucier
Grace Wright

...have all signed their NLI and have been processed by the Compliance Department

Ana Cruz
Ashlynn Harryman
Sarah Shaw

...have all signed their NLI and have been processed by the Compliance Department

apparently Alison Savage (same club team as Ashley Soccer) will not be signing with us

That's too bad. I wanted someone from Southlake on the team... I guess I won't come to any game then.

Elizabeth Keester is a great goal scorer, TSC Hurricane won alot of matches and scored a lot of goals!

I'll try to find out about Alison S., walk-on or lost interest??
She is a former team mate of Ashley York BTW.

The other Texas signee, hmmm, we'll see how that evaluation of talent turns out also...




[This message has been edited by AgGermany (edited 2/6/2013 1:38p).]

Keester's highlight reel, the header to the face of the goalie at the 2:08 mark.

Sarah Shaw's highlight reel... love it. Plays with her head up, fights, and makes quick decisions. She's going to be fun to watch in the midfield.

http://www.maxpreps.com/list/leaderboard_list.aspx?ssid=f08b3304-5ef3-45f3-8019-075e42a9d158&state=All%20States§ionid=-Select-&leagueid=-Select-&teamsize=0&teamtype=player&leaguetype=overall&category=,Steals&position=-All-&classyear=-All-

Haley Pounds among national leaders in steals on basketball court with 194 steals through 22 games!

TopDrawerSoccer has our 2013 class ranked #15 (second best in SEC)

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2013-recruiting-class-rankings:-girls_aid28416

That's surprisingly high.

I think Soccerhunter from BigSoccer Class of 2013 Recruiting does a much better assessment than TDS:


2013 Class Rankings.

Below are my 2013 women's D-I soccer recruiting class rankings as of 2/21/13. At this point it's all over but the shouting. These will be pretty stable. Any surprises will likely be a few international players and some more transfers, both announced in the April-June time frame.

As everyone knows, the signing day shifts of some national team players made some big differences in the top class rankings. The biggest was the Stanford/UNC shuffle. Stanford lost two of its long-time top ranked verbal commits (Amber Munerlyn a starter on the U-17 NT, and Emily Bruder a regular sub on that national team) who then showed up at UNC. This seismic shift jumped UNC up to a virtual tie with Stanford for the #1 spot. (Stanford was so stocked they could have hung on to the #1 if they hadn't had yet another commit leave too.) So we have UNC and Stanford leading the pack. But not too far behind is UCLA who previously had been a strong #2 now comes in at #3, and actually is not really statistically distinguishable from the top two teams. (What amazed most top observers what that they essentially held on to their class even with BJ Snow moving on before signing day.)

The next signing day surprise was Long-time Notre Dame U-17 national team commit Toni Payne's last minute scramble to look for a new home. It took a few days, but she landed at Duke and her decision jumped the Blue Devils class up to the #5 spot right behind the Irish who held on to their #4 position by virtue of a large and talented class.

#6 through #8 are all virtually tied statistically. The #6 position belongs to Clemson as Eddie Radwanski's drive to put the Tigers back into the national picture is bolstered by his great recruited class. Florida State is at #7 with a small but very talented group, no doubt awaiting the addition of some strong internationals in a few months, and #8 he held by USC as the Trojans join Stanford and UCLA in reaping the top local talent. Next is Cal at #9 and West Virginia rounds out the top ten with a strong class courtesy of three Canadian national youth team players and other strong talent.

The next ten starts with #11 Portland which has corralled their strongest class in years. Michigan, bolstered by transfer of Olivia Brannon from Virginia is at #12 with LSU next with a compact class of 4 internationals -2 NT players from Canada and 2 from New Zealand. Ohio State is next and with a very strong class of freshmen coming in would have been in the top ten except for Shelby Soldat transferring out. (Hey, if I'm going to take into account strong players transferring in, then I have to deduct for strong players transferring out!) South Carolina signed their strongest class ever and comes in at #15. The top 20 is rounded out by some usual suspects Santa Clara, Penn State, Virgina (down graded with the transfer out) and Washington, and is completed by UNC-G which went the international route to top off a large class with a couple of highly rated New Zealand U-20 national team players.

Other notable schools to mention are the surprises of Hawaii at #21 and North Dakota State (?!) at #46, BC which slid off its usual position in or near the top ten by the late de-commit of the consensus #1 player Morgan Andrews (who ended up at ND) and a strong transfer out.

Conference-wise the ACC and the PAC-12 clearly were the strongest recruiters. Assuming for the moment that the ACC will not be decimated by realignment, that league garnered (if one includes ND, Pitt, Syracuse, and Louisville and drops MD) 5 of the top 10 classes and 12 in the top 50 (actually the top 52, as there is a three-way tie for 50th.) The PAC-12 got 4 of the top ten and 7 in the top 50. Those two conference have 9 of the top ten spots and well over 1/3 of the top 50 recruiting classes. The SEC has 9 in the top 50, while the Big 10 has 6 (including MD), the Big 12 and the Big East (excluding Syr, Rutgers, Pitt, ND, and Louisville) have 5 each, and the West Coast has 3. That's a total of 47 of the top 52 classes in 7 conferences. (Hats off to Memphis, North Dakota State, South Florida, UNC-G, and Florida Gulf Coast!)

So, once again, with the usual caveats that the below listing of recruiting classes is only a statistical exercise based on rating players for whom I can only find so much data (and therefore will under represent schools with relatively unheralded players), might have human errors, and is only for fun and fan interest, plus HUGE thanks and appreciation to cbg for his dogged collection and posting of commitments.......the 2013 top 50:

1. 10.14 UNC
2. 10.12 Stanford
3. 9.88 UCLA
4. 9.30 Notre Dame
5. 9.25 Duke
6. 8.93 Clemson
7. 8.92 Florida State
8. 8.89 USC
9. 8.40 California
10. 8.30 West Virginia
11. 8.25 Portland
12. 8.23 Michigan
13. 8.20 LSU
14. 8.02 Ohio State
15. 7.73 South Carolina
16. 7.60 Santa Clara
17. 7.53 Penn State
18. 7.50 Virginia
19. 7.43 Washington
20. 7.37 UNC-G
21. 7.33 Hawaii
22. 7.20 Maryland, Wisconsin
24. 7.13 Boston College
25. 7.07 Georgia
26. 7.02 Arizona State
27. 6.97 Miami (Fl), Oklahoma State
29. 6.89 Kentucky
30. 6.87 Florida
31. 6.82 Alabama
32. 6.77 Baylor, Colorado, Illinois, South Florida, Syracuse
37. 6.71 Pittsburgh
38. 6.67 Auburn, St Mary's
40. 6.59 Connecticut
41. 6.55 Rutgers
42. 6.53 Marquette
43. 6.43 Cincinnati, Wake Forest
45. 6.35 Memphis
46. 6.33 Louisville, ND State, Texas
49. 6.20 Vanderbilt
50. 6.10 Florida Gulf Coast, Oklahoma, TAMU

The problem with the above list is that it depends heavily on the National and ODP teams, which can be very political and not necessarily a good indicator of the nation's best talent. I would like to see it take into account some actual Top 150 lists that are compiled by TDS, etc. as well.

A&M's 2013 class is better than 50th nationally, however, it was not a great class for Coach G. That being said, the good news is that both 2014 and 2015, with a few more additions, are shaping up to be stellar classes.

Top Drawer Soccer says Lonestar SC's Claudette Lassandro (2015) has committed to A&M.

She's a midfielder, rated No. 37 in Texas.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/girls-commitments:-2014-decisions-roll-in_aid28488

[This message has been edited by EclipseAg (edited 2/25/2013 11:20a).]

Fantastic name.

According to the link, of the 5 commits from her soccer club, she was rated #4 among them with a rating in texas of #37. Just an observation.

Keester, Pounds excel at ECNL Frisco event.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/ecnl-frisco-peak-performers_aid28513

Keester, 17 goals & 6 asst in 14 ECNL games! I hope she finds the net at a similar pace for the Aggies.

Yea Hidden! Have you decided to come back yet? Your soccer posts are my favorite to read.

I have updated the commit of Lassandro to the 2015 class. She's a solid pickup, however, my concern continues to be that the coaching staff focuses too much on short, compact midfielders instead of tall athletic ones like Florida has had recently (and by the way dominated our smaller players in the middle of the field). So far in the '13, '14 and '15 classes we have midfielders that are 5'1", 5'2", 5'3", 5'3", 5'4", and 5'7". Even though they are talented, that is a serious lack of height in the midfield and we will be at a disadvantage against bigger teams.

And no, not coming back any time soon. I will continue to update this Recruiting thread because I started it years ago and I enjoy recruiting.

[This message has been edited by HiddenAg2 (edited 3/5/2013 11:02a).]

FC Barcelona has small midfielders. They do OK against taller ones.

Meh, I can count with one finger the other team that passes like Barcelona, Spain, and that's because they play with Barcelon's mid-field.

We're talking about girls who maybe have 4 years to play together instead of 5-10 years.

M. Harvey helps Hendrickson upset The Woodlands in area playoff.

http://www.statesman.com/news/sports/high-school/hendrickson-tops-the-woodlands-in-class-5a-girls-s/nXD5F/[/html]


[This message has been edited by EclipseAg (edited 4/6/2013 6:07p).]

I was at the game and that was the worst reffing I have ever witnessed in my 30 years of playing and watching soccer. I've never seen a game called more one-sided. The Woodlands had two goals called back while the refs were clearly protecting Harvey.

At any rate, Harvey is legit. She plays at a different speed. Can't wait to see her roam the midfield for the Ags.

Ally Watt (2015) committed to A&M last week. She's a 5'5" forward.

She was the state (CO) champ in the 100m and 200m her freshman year

Hidden - I believe that your past comments about Ag recruiting was that we would have one really good class followed by several average ones. And that was keeping us from moving up towards College Cup appearances. With this very comprehensive report, do you believe these classes break through that barrier or not?

I've really appreciated your work in getting this information. Thanks.

The 2013 class is pretty underwhelming, 2014 is looking pretty damn solid though, 2015 could turn out pretty good too but probably not as good as 2014

I think the best way to determine how good each class is is to project how far they would go in the NCAA tourney.

Looking at the '13 class, while not a great class by any stretch, Keester is an elite prospect, Saucier is a good GK, and Wright could be pretty good on the backline. The rest of the class has question marks. This group should at least make the 2nd round of the tourney, which would equate to around a Top 30-40 class nationally.

The '14 class is going to be stellar, with two elite Top 10 prospects in Pounds and Haley, along with a Top 100 prospect in Malherbe and a Top 150 prospect in Paulson. That's an elite class and would probably project to an Elite 8 in the tourney. Top 10 nationally.

The '15 class is off to a solid start with 3 prospects ranked in the Top 100 nationally. 2 good forwards in Bates and Crabtree, with a good GK prospect in Hummel. Lassandro is another very small midfielder, which does concern me a bit. It's too early to say how good this class will be since we are still recruiting to it. Probably a Sweet 16 type class, Top 25 nationally.

If the '15 class turns out to be another elite class, that would break the trend of 1 out of every 3-4 classes being elite and might be a sign that we could compete at a bit higher level in the future. But remember that even with our best class in school history in '11, we've managed only a 2nd round and a Sweet 16, in my mind both underachieving years with some questionable (at best) coaching in the tournament.

Good post HiddenAg2! We need you back full time for for the 2013 season to secure a spot for the Aggies in the Final Four.

quote:

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Good post HiddenAg2! We need you back full time for for the 2013 season to secure a spot for the Aggies in the Final Four.

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We haven't made a "Final Four" the entire time Hidden was here full time. I'm not sure him coming back full time is the missing piece. In my mind his questionable (at best) posting is, at best, questionable.

Always good to read your analysis, Hidden. You have been missed.

Haters Gonna Hate

Edit: I can't speel

[This message has been edited by Cdub06 (edited 4/23/2013 12:18p).]

I know it's not popular, but I call it as I see it. Some of you disagree and that's fine. My standard for A&M is much higher than most fans on this board. IMO Coach G has underachieved badly the last 2 years, and really the last 4 years to be honest since his best coaching job of his career in the '08 season.

But, look, I understand that most around here and the majority of season ticket holders are satisfied with just making the NCAA tourney and winning a few big games a year. For me, that's not good enough for Texas A&M and was a major source of frustration for someone who wants to compete at the highest level, which is one reason why I've decided to focus my attention on other A&M sports for now.

Well dang. If that's why Hidden left I should have left years ago too. I tend to agree.