Lobos recruiting..

[UnolocoLobo]

The Valencia sisters, Kristin and Brandi.. UNM has a lot of competition for these young superstars. The PAC 10, SEC, and MWC teams are very interested. Unoffical visits have already happened with PAC 10 teams and MWC teams. These two young ladies are the real deal and I encourage Lady Lobo fans to go and see them play. Take signs to their game and encourage them to stay here at UNM. Viva Lobos..:>

[Mark]

Thank you sir!

[Dr.M]

Does anyone have some information on them, such as school, height, type of game.

[Loboexpat]

This is a somewhat old article about them, Doc. I went to MaxPreps and couldn't find out anymore. Nobody has provided a roster or stats for the Fighting Pintos to the site.


Thursday, January 3, 2008

Lady Pintos Win Holiday Tournament

By Jay Kroshus
Mountain View Telegraph
The Moriarty High girls basketball team won its second straight Lady Horsemen Holiday Tournament.
The Class 4A Lady Pintos defeated the host team 47-37 in the title game at 3A St. Michael's Perez Shelley Gym on Saturday night.
"We jumped out early on them," Moriarty coach Joe Bailey said. "We got up by eight points, and then it kind of stayed there. It was (the Lady Horsemen's) first loss of the season. They're 9-1, just like us."
Seven Pintos scored. Brandi Valencia had 12 points, and Kristin Valencia and Jordan Russell had eight points each.
Moriarty's other contributors were Alex Lehocky (five), Jacki Bailey (five), Megan Bond (four) and Jesse Rowe (two).
Brandi Valencia was named the tournament most-valuable player. Kristin Valencia and Bailey were selected for the all-tourney team.
Kristin was the MVP last season.
The deciding factor, according to Joe Bailey, was who would have to sit on the bench first because of foul trouble.
"I think it was dependent on whether their best player, Marissa Peterson, or Kristin or Brandi got their fourth foul first," the coach said. "As it turned out, Peterson got it first. Then we were able to get the ball inside to Brandi."

Semifinals
Kristin and Brandi Valencia may be the headliners for Moriarty, but Jacki Bailey showed that the Lady Pintos are more than a two-girl team on Friday night.
Bailey, the daughter of the Moriarty coach, drained six 3-point shots and proved to be the difference-maker in the Pintos' 61-41 semifinal victory over 4A Santa Fe Capital.
"That's the most 3-pointers by (a Moriarty girl) since I've been associated with Moriarty sports," Joe Bailey said.
With the Jaguars (2-8 after the game) concentrating on shutting down the 5-foot-10 Valencia twins, Jacki Bailey remained open all night and made six of eight shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
"Basically, I'm a 3-point shooter, and (Friday) they were just going in," said Bailey, who plays with a heavy brace on her right knee. "When teams concentrate on Kristin and Brandi inside, it frees me up."
Because of the injured knee, Bailey, a senior, was an infrequent participant on the Pintos' recent Class 4A state volleyball championship squad. The thought of missing a possible state title in basketball, as well, was too much for Bailey, as Moriarty is a serious threat to win the 4A basketball crown.
"My ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is still torn, but doctors said if I had surgery, I wouldn't be able to play until April, so I chose the brace," she said. "I have to adjust to being a little less aggressive."
Joe Bailey credited his daughter with recognizing what the Capital defense was giving her— the open shot.
"She got all her shooting ability from her mother (Jill)," Bailey joked. "She's a very heady, very smart player, and speed wasn't her game to begin with, so the brace doesn't hold her back."
Despite Capital's attempts to clamp down on the Valencia sisters, they each did their share of damage, as Brandi finished with 16 points and Kristin had 15.
"They're legit," Jaguars coach Jeremy Newton said. "They're very good players, and they're great kids."
In the two teams' first meeting (Nov. 27), the Pintos held Capital's Brandy Montoya to three points in a 45-14 victory. Montoya had 18 Friday.
Moriarty beat 5A Santa Fe High 62-20 in the tourney's first round on Dec. 27. Kristin scored 26 points, Brandi had 13 and Amy Mondragon and Bond chipped in four apiece.
The Pintos will travel to Clovis on Friday. The Wildcats were ranked No. 5 in the initial Albuquerque Journal 5A coaches' poll.
A 4A poll has not yet been published.
"They're very good," Joe Bailey said. "Clovis is a team Moriarty has never beaten. And it'll be even tougher in Clovis. It will be one of the toughest games we play all season."
Telegraph reporter Harold Smith contributed to this report.

[Dr.M]

Thanks for finding that article. Without seeing them it's hard to know if they are legitimate D-I players, but if they are I assume our staff is on them.

[ldlbfn]

What are they, about 5'10?? Had also seen other articles a couple girls in the same class at top ranked regis in Denver have been offered. Nationally, Regis is rated in the top 10. Maybe know in a few months who is mutually seriously interested.

[txlobo95]

It's hard to get any recruiting scoop with Illiana gone and the Trib ready to shut down. No dedicated reporters on the women's beat to uncover recruits we are targeting.

At 5'10" would they be shooting guards in college?

The big mistake we seem to make is recruiting HS post players and trying to convert them to guards. It's hard to turn an inside player to a good outside shooter.

Good thing about next year's incoming recruits, they are guards in HS and will be guards in college. So they are perfecting their positions now and will be much more ready on day 1 next year.

We'll need a post for sure in the 2009 class, since we did not recruit one for the 2008 class. 6'3" Shauntal Nobles is the top player that UNM could realistically get at that position, unless they pull a rabbit out of a hat! :rolleyes:

If UNM did recruit them, I'm guessing they would only want the better twin. I'm guessing they would probably want to attend the same college and could UNM afford to throw 2 schollies at them to get one position when they are in dire need of post help?

Remember, Angela will be gone in 2009 and Val will be a Sr. and Jessica and Kelsey will both be Jr's. That's not much depth for two positions.

Considering, we currently only have 2 schollies for that class, and possibly 3 if we don't sign anyone in the spring, it might be hard to sign them.

BTW, there's a 3 point sharpshooter that is only a sophomore, Peyton Adamson, class of 2010, from Rockwall, HS in Rockwall, TX, only about 5 miles from where I'm located. She leads the entire nation in 3 pointers made according to max preps.com with 127 3's made in 33 games. She shoots 40% from 3 and 89% from the FT line!

:>

http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/sharedcontent/dws/spt/highschools/basketball/girls/stories/020408dnspohsbkgpow.36a1d0b.html

http://www.hsgametime.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/02-08/0204hspowbkg.jpg Rockwall HS, Rockwall, TX Sophomore, Peyton Adamson

127 total made 3 point shots in 33 games this season (leads the nation per maxpreps.com) (is 6th in the nation in average # of 3 pointers made per game)

http://www.maxpreps.com/FanPages/NationalLeaders.mxp/Girls_Varsity_Basketball_Winter_07-08

[zoom]

nice line by torrance tonite...2 pts, 3 rbs and a steal in 6 minutes...

[String Music]

I saw them play last summer at Flan's camp. They are both strong and aggressive players at 5'11". They already have D-I bodies (about the size of Eileen) and they have almost two more years to get even stronger. They may not shoot as well from the perimeter as Brenna Freeze and Lauren Taylor, but they dominated both of those players in the paint with their athleticism. Kristin was especially effective slashing to the basket. (She was 1st team all-state 4A as a sophomore. Brandi was 2nd team.)

Because I've only seen them play that one time, I wouldn't want to speculate on whether they are legitimate D-I players. But I suspect they may be one of the reasons Coach Flanagan has said that he will save his last scholarship this year unless he can find someone who can help immediately.

It is too early to say we don't have enough scholarships to sign them because we've lost 3 players in the past two years and could easily lose some more in the next two years.

[txlobo95]

It is too early to say we don't have enough scholarships to sign them because we've lost 3 players in the past two years and could easily lose some more in the next two years.

The only schollie's available would be if anyone left after this season. The signing period for the 2009 class is Nov 2008, only 10 months from now.

[sandia mt]

The big mistake we seem to make is recruiting HS post players and trying to convert them to guards. It's hard to turn an inside player to a good outside shooter.









I disagree. If they had not been willing to do this we would have missed out on some great players including Abby Letz and Chelsea Grear. Keep in mind that not every high school team has those big post players. So they use their tallest girls in the post. Those girls may be very gifted, but in order to make the transition to college they have to change position.

[String Music]

The only schollie's available would be if anyone left after this season. The signing period for the 2009 class is Nov 2008, only 10 months from now.

True, but there is also a Spring signing period next year. If the twins insist on playing together and signing in the Fall, we may need to be creative. Like asking one to walk on (with a lottery scholarship) with the promise of a scholarship the following year (when we will have lots of scholarships). Then if someone leaves in the Spring of 2009, we can give the walk-on that schollie.

My point is there's lots of things that can change before the 15 athletic scholarships are cashed in in August of 2009. Good coaches never quit recruiting because they think they've hit their scholarship limit.

[UnolocoLobo]

Kristin and Brandi are right at 5'11" tall. They can play all five positions on the floor. Kristin is the starting point guard and Brandi is the starting center on their high school team. Brandi is a BIG TIME scorer. She was named all tournment at the Nike sponsored End of the
Trails tourney in Oregon and The Memphis River City tourney in Memphis. Brandi had at least five games of 30pts or better at these two tourneys against national caliber players. She plays the two on her club: The New Mexico Heat Elite.( see www.NMHeatElite.com (http://www.NMHeatElite.com)) Kristin played the three on the same team but suffered a sprained ankle in Oregon and did not hit her stride until the middle of the summer. This summer she will play the point and the three on her team and Brandi will play the two and the three. Kristin is a dominant defender and great slasher to the basket with both hands. Brandi is money from three feet past the 3 pt arc and can create her shot from almost anywhere on the floor. She is called the "Assasin". Look for these two young stars to make big noise this summer. Their first major spring event is at the Deep South tourney in Raleigh, NC. They'll play at Duke and UNC and NC State campuses with over 300 college coaches in attendance. These young ladies are high on many recruiters list right now. SO LETS GET OUT AND MAKE SURE THEY KNOW WE WANT THEM HERE AT UNM..... PS They are also 4.0 students !!!!:fingers

[Mark]

Thanks for that update!!

[txlobo95]

From Sandi Mt:



I disagree. If they had not been willing to do this we would have missed out on some great players including Abby Letz and Chelsea Grear


both of those players were "small forwards" not guards. Abby was difinitely more inside oriented in getting after the boards as well as Chelsea. So you would not have missed out on either player.

Sorry, I actually like the idea of recruiting a HS guard to be your college guard. No need for position transition which seems to set players back a year or two in their development.

[Loboexpat]

From Sandi Mt:



both of those players were "small forwards" not guards. Abby was difinitely more inside oriented in getting after the boards as well as Chelsea. So you would not have missed out on either player.

Sorry, I actually like the idea of recruiting a HS guard to be your college guard. No need for position transition which seems to set players back a year or two in their development.


I understand where you're coming from, but you're generalizing with a really broad brush.

Considering the difference in the average size of players in most high schools vs. Div.I I've seen numerous cases where a kid who is simply bigger than other kids pushed into post play at high school despite their skill set on both the men's and women's side.

It's not as simple as you're making it out to be, and I don't think there's fault in what you're picking on all the time. It depends on the situation.