Sadie Edwards
ELITE 60 guard Ali Patbergs commitment in January was one of the first major recruiting headlines of 2013. *Photo by Ty Freeman.
2013 Year in Review-- January to March
As we prepare for 2013 to come to a close it seems fitting to take a look at some of the major recruiting storylines that took place during the last 12 months. From our launch in April we have actively covered the world of high school basketball recruiting here on The Nation and as a result had 100s of storylines to sort through in an effort to come up with the highlights of 2013. Here is a look at the major news that hit in the first part of the Calendar year and why they were important.
January 7th
In adding one of the top guard prospects in the class of 2015, Ali Patburg of Columbus, Ind., Notre Dame was able to get a very early start on their recruiting for that class. Patburg is an excellent fit for Notre Dame because she is a skilled guard with size. She should be able to play on and off the ball for the Irish and because of her versatility they will be still have a ton of flexibility position wise as they recruit the rest of their 2015 class.
The Second Half Of March
The third week of March was arguably one of the biggest weeks in recruiting of the entire year. That week Sadie Edwards of Meriden, Conn., Azura Stephens of Cary, N.C., and Leticia Romero of Gran Canaria, Spain, all made verbal commitments to schools.
Edwards became a member of Connecticuts 2014 class, which already included a top prospect in Courtney Ekmark of Phoenix, Ariz., and gave the Huskies a top 10 recruit. Stevens made a verbal pledge to Duke picking the ACC school over its then rival Maryland, who Stevens had also strongly considered. Romero became a member of Kansas States 2013 class and her play on the floor so far this season has gone far to show just how talented European players are as she has managed to lead Kansas State in scoring and assists on multiple occasions so far this season.
UCLA currently has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and one of the major reasons why was the addition of a top 10 prospect to their class, Jordin Canada of Los Angeles, Calif. When Canada decided to join her long time friend and USA Basketball U16 teammate Recee Caldwell of San Antonio, Texas, as a member of the UCLA 2014 recruiting class it gave the PAC-12 program a ton of recruiting momentum; momentum that it rode all the way to the No. 1 class in the country.
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