Noticed that one of the 2011 recruits, Allie Bailey, has made a signifcant jump in the Top 100 recruits listed by Top Drawer. When the list first came out she was listed at #71 in the Top 100, she has made a big jump up to #43 on their current ranking. That gives us 4 players in Top Drawer's Top 50 players

[This message has been edited by Fanofsoccer (edited 9/10/2010 3:46p).]

Thanks for the confirmation. That neither of these players have been included among any of top recruiting sites' noteworthy talents is surprising.
G getting shut out for the top 10 in Texas is very disappointing.

I think it's probably a good time for me to point out that I only use Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 rankings as a starting point to evaluate recruits. I have some real problems with many of the kids they have rated in the 2011 Top 100. I have seen quite a few of these girls in person and there are definitely several of them that do not belong anywhere near the Top 100 on that list. And of course the opposite is true as well, as many very high quality prospects I've seen are much better than many they have listed in their rankings.

A good example is Annie Kunz. It is absolutely ridiculous and laughable that she is still not included in their Top 100, even after being named a Parade All-American as a Junior in high school! I have seen Annie play and she is no worse than Top 40 in the nation without any question, and every coach around the country would agree. Seriously, she could run rings around about 50 of the players they have listed on their Top 100 list. Another good example is Allie Bailey, who started in their Top 30 when first released a few years ago, then dropped to around the mid-70s, then back up to the 50s, then back down to 70s, and now finally back into the 40s. Seriously, have they even watched her play? There is no way that there are 40-50 players better than her nationally. Maybe they think she's too short? She's easily one of the Top 25 players I've seen in this class. I could go on and on.

Top Drawer Soccer is a useful and entertaining tool, but in reality they probably only get about 50 of their Top 100 players correct in the long run. I still laugh about the fact that they did not even rank Rachel Lenz in the 2010 Top 100 (they did briefly rank her with the 2009 class at around #90, which is laughable in itself) when she was easily one of the nation's Top 25 recruits. It really is embarassing for them at times. So just reminder to take any of their rankings with a grain of salt.

However, I do agree with the notion that Coach G has (to this point) completely struck out with the top Texas prospects for 2012. He's pushed hard into Southern California with some success, which is good, but it's hard to watch really talented kids like Abby Smith, Glory Williams, Alex Arlitt, and Jordan Halter go elsewhere.

9/17/10 - See new update above.

I think this commit is part of a strategy to get Danielle Weatherholt (one of the nation's top prospects) to come to A&M as well. She doesn't currently list A&M as one of her school choices, so it could be a longshot. But it can't hurt having two of her high school teammates on their way to A&M, and I'm sure they're tyring to bring her along.

Bump

Bump

thanks hidden

Shelby Soldat committed to Ohio State this week. Of the big three that the coaches targeted (Abby Smith, Lissi Lonsberry, Shelby Soldat) who visited last Fall, A&M will sign none of them. Ouch. We're down to Taylor Smith and Heather Magee (who are teammates at Solar) among the elite recruits in Texas. If we don't sign one of them, we'll be shut out completely in our own state. It's always hard to judge this because we don't know how much scholarship money was offered to each recruit, but my guess is that we didn't offer full scholarships while other schools did. Either way, it's ugly to strike out in your own backyard.


1. Abby Smith, GK (Dallas Texans) - Committed to Texas
2. Taylor Smith, F (Solar SC) - Committed to Florida St
3. Glory Williams, M (Dallas Sting) - Committed to Notre Dame
4. Heather Magee, M (Solar SC) - Committed to LSU
5. Jordan Hatler, F (Challenge) - Committed to Baylor
6. Shelby Soldat, D (Dallas Texans) - Committed to Ohio State
7. Caity Heap, M (Dallas Sting) - Committed to Texas Tech
8. Kelsey Shimmick, F (Dallas Texans) - Committed to Texas
9. Jana Jeffrey, M (Dallas Texans) - Committed to Boston College
10. Alex Arlitt, M (Challenge) - Committed to LSU

[This message has been edited by HiddenAg2 (edited 11/30/2010 9:22a).]

Heather Magee commits to LSU. A&M is one prospect away from being shutout in their own state for elite recruits. I'm not sure this is by design, but it's a disturbing trend. I'm concerned about the 2012 class now.

any idea if any of these girl will be here in the spring? i wonder who will play goalie for us in the spring? Majewski?

Maybe we'll just move to a 4-4-3 to try and get some offensive production...

do we always need texas girls? we seem to do pretty well recruiting elsewhere the way i look at it. I guess it just doesn't bother me not recruiting texas super hard as it does other people so long as we are snagging good talent out of other states.

ya it sucks when a kerri hanks leaves the state or so on, but we get other states top players fairly regularly soooo im ok with it.

See new update above. Maybe Jackie didn't want to play for a school that had Pelini as their football coach? Ha-ha.

so i reffed in the D'Feeters Showcase today and came across an absolutely phenomenal team. I dont usually do girls games but the D'Feeters 95 team has got a ton of Div 1 talent on it. i know Raven tatum is out of that club and Megan Streight is also, but G could stand to take a look at a few of them girls on there.

Hidden, have you seen them?

[This message has been edited by jessexy (edited 11/27/2010 12:17a).]

I haven't really seen them but I know Ashley York and Allison Savage are good prospects from that team. But if Coach G won't even recruit elite talents in our own state anymore, I would doubt he would recruit this team either.

Hidden Ag, do you think Texas club soccer matches up with the elite programs in California, Illinois, etc.?

Outside of the top two or three clubs in Dallas and perhaps Lonestars, who is producing elite talent in Texas? STYSA has always been behind North Texas and it seems the gap has gotten bigger, not smaller, in recent years.

Interested in your thoughts.

It really depends on the team as the quality of clubs in Texas vary from year to year. Recently the Solar 94 (loaded with talent such as Taylor Smith and Heather Magee) and Dallas Texans 94 clubs have both been ranked in the nation's Top 5 clubs. Lonestars 93 (Satara Murray, Bianca Brinson) has a very good club as well. In the younger ranks, Sting 95 is currently ranked No.1 and defending national champions in their age group, while Dallas Texans 95 also is ranked in the Top 10. But you are right that the North Texas area clubs are usually superior to any other part of Texas when it comes to club teams. Lonestars could be put in that group as well, while Challenge in Houston has been steadily improving their clubs recently.

But as far as comparing nationally to California, there is really no comparison. California is loaded with most of the top clubs in the nation, with the Southern Cal area containing most of the nation's elite level players year in and year out. Teams like Slammers, San Diego Surf, So Cal Blues, Real So Cal, Legends, Arsenal, Pleasanton Rage, etc. are all superior programs to most of the clubs in Texas. There's a reason that Coach G has all but abandoned Texas kids for the more fertile Southern Cal recruiting grounds. If you look at the national championship caliber rosters in college, most of the best players from those rosters are from California. I think Coach G realizes this and has adjusted his recruiting tactics accordingly. Now, there's always going to be some really good prospects in Texas at the top end (Top 10-15 or so), but they would probably only rank around 25-40 if they lived in California).

So, while there are always pockets of talented clubs around the US, California is where most of the best clubs are because of the sheer volume of elite talent in such a small area. Texas isn't bad, but we still have a ways to go to match up with that level of talent.

The last elite prospect from Texas, Taylor Smith, has committed to Florida St. A&M will not sign a single Top 10 level player from Texas for 2012. I know Coach G targeted a few of these kids and lost out, but he's really more focused in some other areas. Personally, I don't understand this as I think players like Alex Arlitt (who I thought had the best summer of anyone in Texas and is extremely underrated nationally) and Heather Magee were on par with almost anyone in California, but he seems convinced that cherry-picking from around the country is a better fit for the team. Some of the kids he currently has committed are not on the same level as these top Texas kids, so I hope he knows what he's doing. I just don't think it looks good from a perception standpoint when you can't/don't sign any top players from your own state. Some of these kids are going to be playing against A&M in the near future and could hurt A&M on the field.

Hidden, I agree that it is disappointing not to sign a targeted recruit, especially from the home state. That said, I don't think I can fault searching greener pastures in California, and to some extent, Colorado.

BTW, I looked at UNC's roster and saw that of 28 players only 4 are from North Carolina, while they had 4 from California, 1 from Colorado, and 0 from Texas. So the elite UNC program, recruiting nationwide, either has been shut out or has chosen not to recruit in Texas.

UNC can pull the best from any state they want. That is pretty much every recruit's #1.

Exactly. So if Anson isn't recruiting in Texas, there must be a reason.

Notre Dame pulled big Texas recruits for a while. Not sure if they still are.

Notre Dame had 3-4 starters on this year's National championship team. Melissa Henderson (Berkner) is the best attacking female college player in the country, i dont care who says otherwise unless they say Sydney Leroux.

Courtney Barg and Jessica Schuveiler are from Plano West that won state titles.

dont know what happened to Taylor Knaack, but she was the real deal at outside back.

coach Randy Waldrum coached in NTX for years before moving into the college ranks at several schools before Baylor and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame will always recruit Texas well, usually cherry picking one of the top 5 or so prospects in the state every year. For '11 it was Taylor Schneider, for '12 they already have Glory Williams in the fold. A lot of kids dream of playing at Notre Dame one day, so when they get even a partial scholarship offer, they're gone. Henderson was particularly painful to lose as she was the nation's top prospect that year. Lately Stanford has really been hurting A&M badly in landing the top prospect in the state. The only way to turn this around is to reach a College Cup, something that has eluded Coach G.

yeah.....but Randy has alot to do with that. He's revered by TX coaches in youth and HS and it seems like those relationships work to his benefit wherever he's at like Tulsa and Baylor before ND.

i can't figure out Stanford, but they've got several starters from TX there and Chi Ubagago (sp) from D'Feeters going there too. She's the real deal and I wouldnt put it past her to lead the NCAA in goals as a Freshman.

quote:

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i can't figure out Stanford

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Think superior education.

yeah....so does Rice and they're right in the back yard.

Hidden, so i reffed Ursuline v. Argyle Liberty Christian (which I'd never heard of) and it was a pretty good game. Ursuline won 5-0, but mainly cuz LC didnt have enough horses to stick with them. anyway, i dont know any of the players on either team, but the girls were saying they're going to Army, Duke, S Carolina, UNT, TCU, UNLV, etc. do you know any of these players and where thye've been recruited to?

JS:

If you want to keep abresat of current updates regarding recruiting the following site will help:

https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits/

You can probably get the answers to your question here.

Unfortunately, I really don't follow lower ranked players and other schools unless there are elite level or in the Big 12. I focus primarily on A&M targets/commits in Texas and elsewhere.

[This message has been edited by Diego (edited 6/16/2012 2:40p).]

Good catch, probably just posted over the weekend. That is the only source reporting it so far. See new update above.

Bad news for the '12 class. See update above. Really concerned about this class.

While disappointing this most likey frees up more money for elite players in 2013. I recently watched her play in December and it seemed that her three star ranking may have actually been a bit high.

I haven't seen her play at all, but I figured if she was good she would have shown up somewhere in recruiting circles. So this may not be that big of a loss after all. 2013 is another critical year for us because of the down '12 class. Need to land some elite prospects for sure in the midfield.