Where will Erica McCall go to school?

Here's the thing about Stanford: If you want to go the most beautiful campus on the West Coast -- and that's saying something, because there are some gorgeous ones -- you go to Stanford. If you want a phenomenal education, you go to Stanford. If you want to go to school with the people who will be running the state of California in two decades, you go to Stanford.

And you know, the basketball program's not bad either.

Of course, you have to get in. Duke, the self-styled Stanford of the East has, as I understand it, two exceptions for women's basketball, meaning the Blue Devils can get two players in school who otherwise wouldn't qualify. Stanford has none.

So if you get in to Stanford, it's pretty hard to go anywhere else, given everything else. (Did I mention the weather is almost perfect?)

I don't know if Erica McCall can get into Stanford, but if she can, I have to say she should go there. My usual question for players about schools is this: If you blew out your knee on your first day there and never played again, would you still be happy there? At Stanford, the answer is yes. (And I'm a Cal guy ...)

ClayK makes a persuasive arguement but neglected to mention that if you want to be a champion you should go to UConn.

Of course UConn has the all the pieces in place to win an NCAA title, but more and more I wonder whether it's fair to judge players by the number of championships won. There are so many variables, and more than a little luck ...

And of course, "champion" may have a broader definition for some than others, and it might include more than basketball.

In the end, a collegiate baskbetball career can only be judged after it's over, and any career that ends with the judgment "That was a great experience" is a good one, no matter where it is, or at what level.

My comment had nothing to do with judging players. I thought you were judging schools. As far as esthetics and academic reputation Stanford is, as you pointed out, a no-brainer. But I disagree with your comment that winning a national title involves significant luck. While a fortunate bounce can win a game, it's hard work that puts a team in a position to get a "lucky" bounce. I was writing about high school stars who have already worked hard to get to where they are and are high achievers. Ask them if campus beauty is more important than winning a ncaa title and I'm willing wager on their answer.

You're right about the last point. I was talking to Diamond DeShields about what she looked for in a school, and she said "All you're going to do is go the gym and go to class so the rest of the school doesn't matter."

I'm not sure I agree, but she's the one making the decision ...

As for national titles or state titles or any tournament title, I have to disagree: I think there's a lot of luck involved in winning six straight games. Clearly, a very good team will win the NCAA title, but I don't think the best team always does -- or even does so a majority of the time.

Injuries, for example, can be brutal: Stanford lost two post players just before the tournament back in the '90s. A questionable call can change everything: I think Baylor got nailed by one against Tennessee several years ago late in the game.

If a team is clearly better than anyone else, then luck obviously plays a smaller role, but usually there's not much separating the top teams. I've coached on three state championship teams in California, and in one of the years, we definitely weren't the best team in the state. We had to hit a buzzer-beater to beat a mediocre team in the first round, we won a 32-27 game in the quarters (with a shot clock, no less) and scored the last nine points (including an NBA three) to win in the finals.

Were we good? Yes, very good. Am I going to give the medal back? No. But I find it hard to believe there wasn't a school with 1,500 kids in the state of California that wasn't better.

I spoke with Erica's AAU coach...he says he's been on the phone frequently with Geno... But he also informed me that Erica is academically eligible to go to Stanford...

If you want to hang out and enjoy the college life... Stanford is hands down a better campus and MUCH better weather. 

Erica's AAU team... the Cal Sparks won the Fila Nationals this past weekend for the third year in a row...

Don't know where she'll go but UConn has been pursuing her. 

About two years ago some of us on another board, including some Stanford fans, tried to identify all the recruits who had declined formal offers from Stanford during TV's tenure. It was only about seven. It worked out that Tara had about a 94% closing percentage on formal scholarship offers.

By "formal" offers the Stanford fans were clarifying that Tara can only make an unconditional offer after the recruit has been accepted by the admissions department, and that it's been her practice to make formal offers only after a recruit visits the campus.

Top girl HS players are so much more academically inclined than the boys. To me, it borders on the irrational to turn down a full boat to Stanford. I'm also glad to see the Ivy League getting more talented GHSBB players such as Niveen Rasheed at Princeton, Temi Fagbenle and Shilpa Tummala  at Harvard, and the graduated Judy Lomax at Columbia.

The Ivy League does get players -- and Niveen Rasheed (Princeton) is interesting because she desperately wanted to go to Stanford. An AAU coach supposedly promised her he could get her into Stanford so she played with him, but for whatever reason, she didn't wind up there. Princeton is a nice second choice, though ...

Another SF Bay Area player, Lauren Polansky, also wound up at Princeton, and Shilpa Tummala played for St. Mary's of Phoenix, the high school national champion. Your final West Coast connection: Judy Lomax started her collegiate career at Oregon State but like many others, decided life with LaVonda Wagner wasn't as much fun as she'd hoped.

Depends on what Erica wants to do. Does she want to win a Title, or just play basketball.Clearly if she wants to win a Title, I'd say UConn. But hey, kids these days just want to be on TV. *shrugs

Again, is all there is to competitive sports winning a title? Is the only thing that defines a player a championship? Or, better, should winning a championship be a major factor in judging a player? Should giving yourself the best chance to win a championship be the crucial factor in judging a player's character (if she doesn't, it sounds like you're saying "she just wants to be on TV")?

And would it be better to be the eighth player, or the 11th player, on a championship team, or play all the time on a team that won 18 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA? 

I think McCall is Stanforford UConn and UCLA with Duke/Kentucky on the outside looking in I talked w/ her AAU Coach Elbert Kinnebrew earlier in June and that was what he told me.

McCall had a very good Fila Nationals where her Cal Sparks team won the championship there.

Too many people underestimate the importance of good grades. Though top schools have a certain number of exceptions they can use to get players in who might not otherwise qualify (the art and drama departments, for example, can do the same), if the coach doesn't have to use the exception it just makes a recruit that much more valuable.

Just an FYI... Erica Mcall will announce her decision on November 10th at her high school.  It is down to UConn, Stanford and UCLA.

UCLA could be on the cusp of some big things. Nirra Fields is as good a young offensive player as there is in the country, and there's a lot of talent in Southern California is Cori Close can keep it at home.

I'd say if you can get in to Stanford you never pass up the opportunity. And it's not as if Stanford has no chance of winning that title within the next four years or even this year, a team generally wants to peak in March so their recent loss shouldn't worry any Stanford fans. To judge Stanford and Uconn head to head you would obviously find that Uconn is now the more storied program, however, if they got a couple more big time commits headed to Stanford who knows what they could do. Both prorgrams have tremendous coaches and clearly neither will be out of the national spotlight anytime soon. So if you can get into Stanford, then you take the opportunity, you have a grade A education, a legitimate shot at winning the national championship, and the campus is great as well. Just my thoughts for any recruit who gets into both Stanford and Uconn.