Huge Prize for Stanford

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Mon, 11/19/2007 - 11:32 The Cardinal received good - and somewhat surprising - news from the No. 6 prospect in 2008, a source tells HoopGurlz.com.

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STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

The only high-ranking prospect left in the 2008 class has guaranteed that Tara VanDerveer and Stanford will have recruited an elite inside player for the third straight year.

Nneka Ogwumike the No. 6 overall prospect in the HoopGurlz Hundred, told the Cardinal staff on Monday morning that she was Palo Alto-bound, according to a source close to her recruitment.

That means Ogwumike next season joins 6-foot-4 Jayne Appel, the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year in 2007, and 6-4 Kayla Pedersen, who already has shown at the start of her freshman season that she may succeed Appel in the awards category, in an imposing front line.

Ogwumike's decision likely threw many for a loop, as several close to her believed she had settled on Baylor. One source close to her recruitment said Ogwumike's parents were leaving the final decision to her, even if it meant her having a late change of heart.

"Stanford signing Ogwumike does more than just fill a need for front court depth, it gives them an overwhelming presence in their front court and with Appel and Pederson surrounding her, the Cardinal should have the tools to be a Final Four team again," said Chris Hansen, National Director of Scouting for HoopGurlz.com. "They need depth in the front court which they also get with Sarah Boothe, but Ogwumike adds another dimension to the team. They can use their front court weapons in so many ways with her next year. This is a scary front court."

Indeed, Stanford delivered a double dose to its front line with this recruiting class. Boothe, a 6-5 post out of Gurnee, Ill., who is the No. 37 prospect in the HoopGurlz Hundred, signed with the Cardinal last week. She has considerably more size than Ogwumike, and has exceptional fundamentals, being possibly the best high-schooler at clearing space on her catches on the boxes, with very good passing abilities.

At 6-2, Ogwumike also has very solid fundamentals for inside play, including hands that operate like vacuum cleaners for post entries, particularly on the lob, and rebounds. She is as formidable an inside scorer as there is in the 2008 class, with an ability to create her own shot on the boxes or away from the rim. Ogwumike also is an excellent defender, both individually and on help with the blocked shot.

Ogwumike has had a distinguished high-school and club career. She made 62 percent of her field goals as a junior for Cy-Fair High School, in Cypress, Texas, near Houston, and was a Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Texas Basketball selection, as well as first-team All-America by EA Sports and second-team selection by Parade Magazine. Ogwumike averaged 19.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals as Cy-Fair finished 39-1 and reached the Texas State 5A championship game.

An MVP selection at End of the Trail in Oregon City, Ogwumike and her younger sister, Chiney, led the Cy-Fair Shock 90 to the semifinals at Nike Nationals last summer.

Monday's signing will catapult Stanford solidly among the top 10 classes in the country. In addition to Boothe and Ogwumike, the Cardinal signed sharp-shooter Lindy LaRoque, a three-star prospect out of Las Vegas, and Grace Mashore, a 5-10 guard out of Washington, D.C.

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Glenn Nelson is the founder and publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He is a member of the McDonald's All-American Selection Committee and SportsShooter.com (Click for Porfolio), Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, National Press Photographers Association, Online News Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Glenn also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams and previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. Glenn can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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