Friday, September 25, 2015

Katie Lou Samuelson - As good as it gets

Katie Lou Samuelson - 6'3" Forward/Guard

Completing the trifecta of incredibly talented freshmen is the baby of the Samuelson family, Bonnie and Karlie's little sister, Katie Lou. She prefers to go by Lou, so who am I to argue.

Lou is the most talented of the three sisters and UConn is lucky she is bringing her immense talent to Storrs. Unlike the other two freshman, there is so much info on Lou, I am not sure I can put it in one blog. I'll be posting several videos and just the list of accomplishments will fill a few pages.

Lou won the national Player of the Year by Gatorade, USA Today, McDonald’s (Morgan Wotten Players of the Year Award), Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the Naismith Trophy. She was also named to the Naismith High School and WBCA High School All-American first teams. 

Yes that was pretty much a clean sweep of the POY awards. And well deserved. She was just dominant I the HS landscape in 2014-15.

I think it's time for a video. Here is the video produced by Gatorade for their POY.



Don't worry. Lou is every bit of 6'3". EDD was wearing heels when she handed Lou the trophy.

Here she is accepting the Naismith POY award.



Lou was a scoring machine in high school. She averaged 29.2 points and 8.5 rebounds her senior season. In her junior year she averaged 26.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 steals. She shot 62.0 percent from the field, 54.0 percent from 3-point land, and 84.0 percent from the foul line. Just some incredible stats from an incredible shooter.

Ok....time for another video so you can see for yourself how great a shooter Lou is. Words can't describe her quick release and unlimited range. And at 6'3" she is just impossible to guard. This video is 2 full minutes of Lou scoring in every way you can imagine.   

 

What you will also notice in this video is the fact that Samuelson is not afraid of contact. She finishes strong with either hand. She even hit a couple of 8 footers with her off hand.  

KLS (I got tired of using Lou) has been a big time player for USA basketball for several years.  



Lou has won four gold medals in international competition. She teamed with her fellow UConn freshmen  to win gold (3x3 competition) at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.  She averaged a team-high 13.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in earning all-tournament honors for Team USA at the 2014 FIBA U-17 world championships leading them to the gold medal. Lou set a USA U-17 team record by hitting six 3-pointers in the semifinals against Hungary. in the 2013 FIBA Americas U-16 championship she averaged 16.0 points and 5.4 rebounds to help Team USA win the gold medal. In the gold-medal game against Canada she set a USA record for 3-pointers and 3-point percentage by going 8-for-8 from behind the arc. Amazing shooting. All world shooting.

Her total take from USA basketball to date is 5 gold medals - U16 FIBA Americas, U18 3x3 FIBA Americas, U18 3x3 Worlds, U17 Worlds, and U18 3x3 Olympic. She is a winner.

Here are video highlights from her terrific performance in the U-17 world championships.

 

 
 
So, how does a player get to be this good? Just like the musician trying to get to Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice. You want to see someone work hard? Watch this video of Lou training for the U-19 team.
 
 
Sadly, this hard work didn't show results in the U19 games as there was an illness in the Samuelson family that prevented Lou from playing for Team USA this summer. The Samuelson family was very private about the specifics, but from DoggyDaddy's den, best wishes to Lou and her family.
 
But have no fear Huskie fans, KLS is on campus and putting these skills to work in the informal workouts.
 
Here is what Geno had to say about her -
 
“Katie Lou has a lot of advantages that a lot of other kids don’t have that are great shooters. She’s 6-3 and then she’s got a quick release and she’s a smart basketball player. And she has a huge advantage of being really, really well coached in high school. Katie Lou can compete immediately at the college level.  You see some of these kids that come out … If they have the right background, the right make-up mentally, and they’ve got the talent and the heart, anything’s possible.”     
 
High praise from the coach.
 
Her High School coach Kevin Kiernan, who happened to coach KML had this to say -
 
"You have a player like Kaleena come along who was the national player of the year and you naturally feel very fortunate about it. You tend to say to yourself, 'Wow, I feel very lucky to have experienced something like that. You feel it's something that will likely happen just once in your career. And then Katie Lou comes around and I've found myself in the same position again. All I can say is that Mater Dei has been blessed to have them in our program. It's just not supposed to happen like this. They both are just unbelievable shooters."
 
"She just wants to maximize her basketball ability against the best players in the country. She's a confident person who just wants to see how good she can be. She doesn't worry about what people think. She's a straightforward smart girl and she wants to see how good a player Coach Auriemma can make her."
 
USA head coach Sue Phillips on Lou -
 
"Katie Lou is a phenomenal shooter, but she is more than that for us. She is a floor leader, she grabs rebounds for us. She can handle the basketball, and she is a great passer. One of those things as a coach is when a player is that hot, keep giving them the basketball. That's what we said, even though they were extended on her, we said keep shooting. She just was feeling it, so you give her the green light."
 
So, what kind of impact will Katie Lou Samuelson have on this UConn team? I find it hard to think she won't be a big part of the regular rotation. Like Collier, I expect 20 mpg for this talented young woman. I know, there are folks out there saying she doesn't play defense. I admit to never seeing her in person and all the highlight videos are offensive minded. But I did see her play in several USA games and I saw her working hard on defense. She is long and surprisingly quick. Geno will get her playing great defense very quickly. On offense, being on the floor with such talented players, Lou will see more open shots this season than she did while being double and tripled teamed during her entire HS career. Her three point shooting is her greatest skill and her 6'3" frame just makes her even more dangerous from beond the arc. Shooting 6-6 in one USA game and 8-8 in another shows what she can do when left open. KML, move over, here comes Lou!!!

 
    
Katie Lou Samuelson Articles
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
She has REALLY long arms!!!


She is truly ambidextrous  


From her Facebook Page
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1 comment:

  1. rvwsleepSeptember 29, 2015 at 2:41 PM

    I'm vacillating as to who the 5th starter will be. I might have to go with KLS. She is after all the consensus #1 player in the country coming out of high school. She would seem to be the perfect replacement for KML and cause the least amount of adjustment to the starting 5. It would also enable UConn to have a legitimate big come in off the bench in Butler (like Stokes last year). The other choices that I see are Butler and Williams with Collier also a possibility. There aren't any bad choices among those 4.

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