Women's Basketball

Another day, another women's basketball commit for Michigan. Committing today: Emily Kiser, 6-2 forward/center out of Noblesville HS in Indiana. She's not as heralded as some of the previous pledges, at least going by the recruiting services, which have her unranked. Most of her other offers were from mid-majors, but Michigan did beat out at least two other Big Ten teams for her: Indiana and Wisconsin.

Kiser joins two point guards, Amy Dilk and Danielle Rauch, a wing, Ariel Young, and a center, Naz Hillmon, in Michigan's 2018 class. The coaches still have one more scholarship they could use in that class, but it seems likely they'll now be looking to secure some early commits for 2019.

Yet another commitment for the women's basketball team, the fourth in a little more than three weeks. The biggest remaining need in the 2018 class was a center, and that need is now filled with Naz Hillmon's pledge. She a 6-2 post player out of Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland).

She's not currently ranked by espnW, but Blue Star has her at #12 in the nation. That might be a bit on the high side, but she did garner an impressive list of offers, according to various reports: Cal, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Pitt, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and West Virginia.

Here's a Blue Star scouting report on Hillmon from a few months ago:

Continues to impress the college coaches with each outing…Size, strength, skills and great hands…Posts hard in the half court and runs the floor well in transition…Scores with a variety of moves and crashes the boards…Highly regarded impact BCS player

Hillmon joins two point guards, Amy Dilk and Danielle Rauch, and a wing, Ariel Young, in Michigan's 2018 class.

2018 commit #3 for Kim Barnes Arico & Co.—with all three pledging this month—is Danielle Rauch, 5-8 point guard out of Bishop Ludden HS in Syracuse, New York. She committed this afternoon. She's the daughter of Len Rauch, who was one of John Beilein's star players when he coached at Le Moyne College.

I haven't seen her in any rankings, and her other offers appear to mainly be mid-majors, along with Wisconsin (not sure if the list I saw is completely up-to-date, though). She does sound like the type of player that Coach Arico favors:

The junior guard became her school's all-time leading scorer during the Section III playoffs. She has 1,484 career points with another season to go.

Rauch, with her frenetic style, deft ball-handling skills and vision, separates herself from other Section III players on multiple fronts.

Bishop Ludden's Nicole McManus, who is the All-CNY Coach of the Year, said there are two in particular.

"One is her work ethic," McManus said. "Two is her will not to lose. She's a competitor and I'm sure you can see that. She's going to rip your heart out as soon as she steps on the court."

Rauch joins Ariel Young and Amy Dilk in Michigan's 2018 class, which currently could be as large as six.

The Michigan women's basketball team filled a huge hole in the future roster today, gaining a commitment from Amy Dilk, a 5-11 point guard out of Carmel HS in Indiana. She's ranked #39 in the 2018 class by espnW, which posted this scouting report last year:

Smooth game manager handles, pushes tempo under control, distributes with court awareness; executes in half-court set; breaks down defender, penetrates and finishes plays; keeps the defense honest to the arc. 

Among her other offers were Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan State, and Purdue.

Dilk is Michigan's second commit for 2018, joining Ariel Young, a 6-1 wing out of Florida who committed about ten days ago (see Hello post).

Kim Barnes Arico and her staff picked up their first 2018 commitment today: Ariel Young, a 6-1 wing out of Lincoln HS in Tallahassee, Florida. Blue Star, one of the services that provides rankings in women's basketball, has Young ranked #56 nationally in the 2018 class. She had a pretty impressive list of schools she hosted for home visits last fall, including Michigan, Florida, Miami, Clemson, LSU, Missouri, North Carolina, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Washington, and West Virginia.

Young also has good basketball genes. Her father, Charlton Young, was an all-conference player at Georgia Southern and is currently an assistant coach for the Florida State men's basketball team. Her mother, Carolyn Jones-Young, was an All-American at Auburn and also played in the WNBA and for the US Olympics team (per Charlton Young's bio).

Carolyn is a two-time Kodak All-American selection who led Auburn to a pair of Final Four appearances during her career. At Auburn she was named the SEC Player of the Year in 1991 and played for the Portland Fire of the WNBA. She was a member of the 1992 United States Olympic National Team that won the Bronze Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Michigan got off to a slow start on the 2018 class, but Young looks like a good first commitment. The team could really use a point guard (or two) and a center in that class. The roster currently has no pure point guards on it, and center Hallie Thome will be a senior in the 2018-19 season.

Kim Barnes Arico wrapped up her 2016 recruiting class in a big way by getting an in-state commitment from Kysre Gondrezick, a 5-9 combo guard out of Benton Harbor HS who's a consensus top 100 player. She picked the Wolverines over Baylor, Texas A&M, and Penn State. She's ranked #30 by Blue Star, #43 by ASGR, and #70 by espnW. Her espnW page includes this scouting report from July:

Smooth lead-guard with consistent offensive game; handles and distributes in transition game; mid-range game creator delivers in traffic; developing deep threat consistency; among the stock risers in the 2016 class.

Here's another recent eval from Blue Star:

College ready game…understands how to create space and get shot off while defended…ballhandling is proficient with both hands…can get to any spot on the floor and make a play.

This commitment is also important in another way: Gondrezick is the first in-state player that Coach Arico has landed during her time at Michigan. And this will also ratchet up the Michigan-MSU rivalry in women's hoops a bit more, as Kysre's sister Kalabrya is a freshman guard for the Spartans.