What to know about Poffenbarger’s early arrival
Class of 2021 guard Saylor Poffenbarger, who signed with UConn in November, plans to arrive in Storrs this weekend after finishing high school early.
Call it a rare midseason acquisition for Geno Auriemma, who’s bringing in a four-star prospect more than a few months ahead of time.
Poffenbarger, a 6-foot-2 guard from Middletown High School in Maryland, is ranked No. 30 in her class by ESPN.
What can they expect from her? How might she fit in? We break it all down here:
HOW SOON WILL SHE BE READY TO PLAY?
Poffenbarger will be required to complete a 10-day quarantine upon arrival this weekend in Storrs. She will be available to practice and play with the team once she passes the university’s health protocols.
That’d take her out of the equation for next week’s games against Butler, Tennessee and Georgetown. The earliest we could see her on the court is when the Huskies visit DePaul on Jan. 31.
HOW MIGHT SHE HELP?
National recruiting expert Shane Laflin said Poffenbarger projects as an “elite, elite role player,” and is someone who can add length to the lineup while filling UConn’s need for 3-point shooting. The Huskies have uncharacteristically struggled from long range so far, connecting on 34.1 percent of their attempts, which ranks 79th in the country. Last year, they were tops at 39.9 percent, but that was with Crystal Dangerfield and Megan Walker.
Of the four Huskies to hit more than one 3 this season, freshman Paige Bueckers (11-22, 50 percent) is the only one shooting better than 35 percent.
“If they’re looking for a big shooter and they think they can use a big shooter, I think she can help,” Kevin Lynch, a national talent evaluator with BlueStar Media, said Friday. “I don’t think Geno would bring her in early if he didn’t think she could fill a need.”
WHERE WILL SHE SLIDE INTO THE ROTATION?
UConn now has 12 players, seven of whom are freshmen. Auriemma has used his bench liberally so far, going eight or nine deep most games. Already, seven players are averaging at least 12 minutes, and eight have played in all seven games. It’d be more if not for some injuries.
Although the rotation may shrink as we get closer to March, as it traditionally does against bigger and better competition, Auriemma is clearly still evaluating different lineups to see what fits best. Right now, he can afford to.
Poffenbarger figures to have a small role early. Auriemma can focus on getting her comfortable coming off the bench in some of those 30- or 40-point blowouts in the Big East. But he won’t be afraid to play her more if she proves she can adjust.
“Her versatility and her range, her ability to shoot 3s, does it make it a possibility to get on the floor? I’d think so,” said Laflin, director of the Premier Basketball Report. “It’ll come down to practice habits and consistency, and I think we all know Geno’s proven, if she’s one of the best players who deserves playing time, she’ll be on the floor. But if she isn’t there yet, everybody would understand why considering the terms of which she got on campus.
“She doesn’t strike me as somebody who’s going to struggle with that. She’s going to practice every day. She’s mature, smart, a high basketball IQ, a coach’s kid, she gets it. She’s going to work until the time’s hers.”
IS THERE A DOWNSIDE TO THIS?
Not really. In a best-case scenario, Poffenbarger adjusts quickly to the speed and physicality of the college game, fills a need for shooting, and evolves into a high-end bench player in UConn’s run to a 12th national championship. And at worst, she can acclimate to college and work out, all while maintaining four years of eligibility.
HOLD ON, HOW IS THIS ALL EVEN POSSIBLE?
We’ve seen plenty of high school football players graduate early and enroll in time for spring practice. It’s, as NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt put it, a “new twist and certainly an unusual situation” in basketball, a possible unintended consequence from the decision to grant all Division I athletes competing in 2020-21 an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
“I don’t know that it was a major factor in the decision-making,” Gavitt said Friday on a Hearst Connecticut Media podcast. “I’d like to think there was some consideration given to that, but I don’t think there was an understanding that it may become more prevalent than we’ve seen it happen in a few cases.”
WHO ELSE HAS MADE THE JUMP?
Dominique Darius, ESPN’s 26thranked prospect, enrolled early at UCLA in December, and has already gotten into two games (averaging 5.0 points and 13.5 minutes) for the No. 8 team in the country. Since then, at least seven other Top 100 players have followed her lead, most of whom are rated lower than Poffenbarger: Talia Von Oelhoffen, (Oregon State, No. 25), Knisha Godfrey (Mississippi State, No. 40), Madison Conner (Arizona, No. 71), Jess Finney (Washington, No. 94), Ally VanTimmeren (Boston College, No. 95) and Katie Borowicz (Minnesota, No. 98).
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF UCONN’S 2021 CLASS?
Caroline Ducharme and consensus No. 1 prospect Azzi Fudd both intend to stay the course and remain in high school, they told Hearst Connecticut Media, while Amari DeBerry has yet to reveal her plans.
Ducharme, a 5-10 guard from Noble & Greenough School in Massachusetts, said academics factored heavily into her decision, as was the case with Fudd, a 5-11 guard from St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C.