On the recruiting trail

It appears Arkansas Baptist could be getting a bargain this recruiting season. El Dorado coach Stephen Harshaw said senior point guard Gabbi Jackson is leaning toward signing with the junior college.
It was surprising news to me as I've felt Jackson would have several choices after guiding the Lady Wildcats to the state semifinals. But, her desire to stay close to home narrowed her search tremendously, making Little Rock-based Arkansas Baptist an attractive option.
Nothing's signed yet, but Harshaw feels that's where she will end up.
In other recruiting news, Parkers Chapel coach Mark Young told me via text message that junior center Savanna Langston has scholarship offers on the table from Arkansas State and South Alabama.
I hope she has a large table because those will be the first of a whole bunch of offers to come her way in the coming months.
***
I enjoyed Channel 7's piece on Cutter Morning Star guard Emilee Scroggins, who is a finalist for one of the station's awards. Emilee, daughter of Lee and Lora Scroggins, overcame a serious illness to make her way back to the court.
Channel 7 told her story, interviewing the Scroggins family and the Cutter Morning Star coach. Emilee talked about how her faith was the biggest factor in her recovery.
It was a great story about an outstanding young lady.

UALR on the rise

Coaches are a lot like businessmen. How they run their programs from the ground up often parallels the success they have on the court.
In my job as sports editor, I've been working the phones for the past few months trying to procure a guest speaker for our upcoming AmerCable/News-Times Scholar Athlete Awards Banquet.
It's not easy for a guy from El Dorado to lure a big-name college coach to town for an unpaid speaking engagement. I had more emails go unreturned than one of those male enhancement ads.
A couple of weeks ago, I sent out a new batch of emails. All of them were unanswered except one. UALR coach Joe Foley didn't reply to my email. He telephoned me at home.
Unfortunately, I wasn't available to answer his call so he left me a message, explaining he would be out of town at the Sun Belt meeting on the date of our banquet. He asked me to call him and gave me his cell number.
Before I could return his call, Coach Foley called me again. The coach said he wanted to double check the date just to make sure he couldn't be there. He wanted to make sure he got in touch with me so as not to "leave me hanging."
A coach who returns emails is unusual. A coach who returns phone calls is even more special.
Coach Foley expressed regret that he couldn't speak in El Dorado. He said he would love to make his presence known in this part of the state.
Hey, he made a impression with me. I was already happy with UALR's run in the NCAA Tournament. Now, I'll be rooting for the Lady Trojans that much more.
Plus, you guys know me, I didn't waste an opportunity to do a little hometown selling of my own. While I had Coach Foley on the phone, I asked him if he knew about El Dorado's Whitney Frazier and Parkers Chapel's Savanna Langston.
He said UALR is already on Frazier but, surprisingly, he didn't know about Langston.
He does now.

Emilee wins award

After missing most of last season due to an illness, Cutter Morning Star guard Emilee Scroggins, daughter of former PC coach Lee Scroggins, just finished up an All-State year. The junior also earned all-conference and helped her team to the 2A State playoffs.
The accolades keep rolling in for Emilee's amazing comeback story. Lee said she has just been named the winner of Channel 7's Anthony Hobbs Award. The award is named for the Little Rock Parkview athlete who died on the court.
The station's Steve Sullivan traveled to Cutter Morning Star last week to interview Emilee and her parents and coach. The episode will air on Monday at 6 p.m.
Congratulations to the Scroggins family.
Flowers can't bloom without rain.

Out-of-state success

One good thing about watching the NCAA Women's Tournament was I finally got to see some Arkansas girls on the court. There aren't many on the college roster up in Fayetteville but there are gobs of 'em around the country on some pretty good teams.
In the Final Four alone you had Little Rock McClellan's Nyeshia Stevenson starting for Oklahoma. East Poinsett County's Jordan Madden came off the bench for Baylor and Whitney Zachariason (CAC) was on the bench, although she didn't see any action in the tournament.
I watched Wickes' Lakin Garrison start for Oklahoma State and, of course, Morrilton's Shekinna Strickland is a converted point guard at Tennessee.
That's not a bad starting five. But, there's not a true post player. How about Purdue's Chelsea Jones, a 6-4 center from Fort Smith Southside?
We need a bench, too. Let's go to New Mexico State and pick up Little Rock Parkview's Crystal Boyd and Ashley Scroggins of Mineral Springs by way of Pratt Community College.
I know. Those last couple of schools didn't actually make the NCAA Tournament. But, neither did the University of Arkansas.
The point is, Arkansas, Arkansas State, UALR and UCA really have no excuse. There's some outstanding talent inside the Natural State. If any of the women's programs in the state aren't competitive, someone needs to be fired because there's talent all around. All they have to do is go and get it.
I have a heightened interest in this, right now, because of juniors Savanna Langston and Whitney Frazier. Both of these young ladies, in my opinion, have possible Division I talent. They're not blue chippers, not McDonald's All-Americans, not can't miss prospects. They're players with college potential. They're the type of players that good college scouts look at and see not what they are but what they could become.
Which in-state Division I schools go after these two and which don't, could say a lot. If I'm fortunate enough to watch either one of these girls playing in the tournament in a few years, chances are it won't be for an in-state school.
Ain't that a shame?

Dayum! Dayum! Dayum!

Dayum! Dayum! Dayum!
UConn won again and so begins the discussion of is this the best team ever?
Tuesday's 53-47 win was soooo frustrating because the Huskies were ripe to be picked off. Every once in awhile, a team just comes out and, for whatever reason, can't buy a basket. UConn, finally, had one of those nights in the first half.
I'll credit Stanford's defense for some of it but, fact is, UConn was just off. And, I'll be dayum if the Cardinal didn't let them off the hook. Make no mistake about it, UConn didn't win its 78th consecutive game, Stanford lost its golden opportunity to end the streak.
The Huskies scored 12 points in the first half and Stanford only led by eight? If Stanford shoots the ball a lick, it's ahead 40-12 at the half.
That first half set the game of women's basketball back thirty years. Brick by friggin' brick, those two teams put on an offensive display that should have been on the cartoon network instead of ESPN.
Despite Stanford's 20-12 halftime lead, I knew the game was over. UConn, give 'em credit, is not going to have two halves like that. The Cardinal had its chance and didn't take advantage.
When you're trying to dethrone a champion, you can't be trying to win on points. UConn was on the ropes, dazed and ready to be knocked out. Instead of going for the kill, Stanford stood and watched with both hands at its side.
Dayum! Dayum! Dayum!
I've always liked Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer. I've talked to her on the phone a few times and found her to be pleasant, funny and incredibly engaging. After saying that, what the hell was she thinking?
She kept trying to ride one-legged Jayne Appel even when it was obvious the senior All-American didn't have it in the championship game. Appel went 0-for-12. The fact she took 12 shots is an indictment of the coaching strategy.
Stanford should've put my girl Kayla Pedersen on the block and let her operate. Pedersen only had 15 points and 17 rebounds while playing on the perimeter.
Tuesday's game was so frustrating for this reporter to watch. I kept asking myself - why?
Why? Why? Why?
I felt like Nancy Kerrigan.
In sports, you don't get many opportunities to make history. When the time comes to do something great, you have to be ready and you have to swing the bat - hard.
UConn did just that. The Huskies made history and will go down as one of the greatest teams ever.
Stanford?
Dayum! Dayum! Dayum!

Please Stanford, Please

Please Stanford. Please! Please! Please!
With sugar on top, I'm begging you ladies to win tonight.
Puhleeezee!!!
I'm so sick of UConn ... I don't remember being so tired of hearing about another team in my life. Hey, I'm a Raiders' fan and I've never liked the Chiefs or the Broncos or the Steelers. I hate the Patriots (damn tuck rule). I didn't like Larry Bird and the Celtics and I could care less about the Yankees.
But, the most annoying team in all my lifetime has to be these UConn Huskies.
Actually, to be honest, it's not just this year's team. My dislike goes back to the Rebecca Lobo Huskies, who won a national championship and suddenly were credited for inventing the game of women's basketball.
Since that team, which is conveniently located in ESPN's backyard, the ball only bounces when UConn plays. The rest of the nation might as well be playing horse shoes because Geno is the only person in the world who knows how to coach women's basketball.
As a person who watched Teresa Weatherspoon lead Louisiana Tech into incredible battles against Texas' Bev Williams and watched the Bolton sisters at Auburn take on Tennessee's Bridgette Gordon and Sheila Frost, I know basketball existed before UConn.
I witnessed it. And, it was good.
I don't have a problem giving UConn credit for its domination lately. I think Geno has a recruiting edge with ESPN as his own personal hometown network. But, 77 wins in a row? No one can argue with that.
UConn, for all it has achieved, deserves attention. I just think it's a bit much to say every UConn team that comes along is the best women's team ever. There were other incredible teams, including the undefeated Texas team that ended Cheryl Miller's career. Speaking of, Miller along with the McGee twins was a special group as was the Tennessee team with Holdsclaw, Catchings, Randall, Jolly, etc. How about Stanford's Azzi, Henning, Whiting, Steding, Zeilstra group?
I'm just saying.
Maybe the team with Bird and Taurasi was the best ever. Maybe this group with Tina Charles and Maya Moore is the best ever. But why is UConn the only team in the discussion?
I despise UConn so much.
And, it's not their fault (as if they cared). The players, especially Moore, seem like nice, respectful, even humble young people. I don't care much for Geno. He's the only person in the world who made me cheer for Pat Summitt.
But, having a jackass for a coach isn't the only reason to hate UConn. Actually, maybe I don't hate UConn as much as I'm just plain tired of hearing ESPN gush over them. You know what, that's it. I don't dislike the team. I just hate the way the media portrays the program as if no other program ever existed before.
Tonight, although I do like Stanford, I'm hoping ... no, I'm praying not for a Cardinal win. I really want to see UConn lose. And, no, not because I want to see the Huskies hurt. I just want to see Trey Wingo's face - mouth open and eyes crossed. I want to hear Carolyn Peck try to come up with some unprepared statement as to why the greatest team in the history of organized sports just lost. I want to see Kara Lawson ... no, the hell with that.
All I know is, these last two seasons have been miserable for me as a women's college basketball fan. I keep waiting for someone, anyone to beat UConn and stop the ESPN hype machine.
Stanford, and I'm talking to you Kayla Pedersen for you are the key to my dream, please, please, please end my suffering.