Another 2016 verbal...meet Kyla Irwin

UConn got a great jump on the 2016 class with the commitment of Crystal Dangerfield and now have added forward Kyle Irwin from College Park PA.

 

Here's a video and interview from her sophomore year. Geeeze, these kids are young!

 

Video and Interview

 

And here's a local article on her commitment.

 

Local Girl Commits to National Power

 

Gotta love this from that article.

 

“UConn has always been my dream,” Kyla Irwin told PennLive. “I remember sitting in class in fourth grade and telling my teacher that’s where I wanted to go.”

This week, Irwin’s dream came true.

State College’s top scorer and rebounder paid a visit to UConn on Sunday and Monday, and before she left, coach Geno Auriemma and his staff extended a scholarship offer to Irwin.

She said yes. Immediately.

“No pressure,” Kyla Irwin said. “This was it. This is what I wanted. I couldn’t pass it up. This is where I wanted to be, 110 percent.”   

 

This is what you want from your recruits. Total commitment.

 

From John A of the Hartford Courant about her local connection -

She is a player a state connection that goes back to the start of Geno Auriemma’s coaching career at UConn in 1985. Irwin is the daughter of State College’s longtime coach, Bethany Irwin, the former Bethany Collins, who played basketball at Branford High and helped the Hornets to two state championships until her graduation in 1984, when she began her career at Penn State playing for Rene Portland. Collins was a teammate at Branford of Krista Blomquist, one the players on Geno’s first UConn team in 1985-86. And they both played high school basketball for Dave Maloney, a friend of Auriemma’s who has worked with him on many educational initiatives over the years.

 

And from Blue Star -

 

Kyla Irwin – 2016 – 6-1 – Forward – Central Pa. Elite – Lemont, Pa. – She’s solid and plays an aggressive game at 6-1. There’s no hesitancy about putting to work her physical tools and the State College, Pa. native is offering up some play that’s going to impress more college coaches than the ones already aware of her potential. In addition to being effective down low she’s got some ballhandling in place and one of the best outlet passes in club or high school basketball. Not many players still throw the baseball pass but Irwin will pull a defensive board and throw it to halfcourt on a line that triggers a fast break that’s a challenge to contain. Obviously at her age there’s plenty to work on but this is someone to keep a close watch on the next several years.
Has been on the map for some time and proves her elite status by the continual refinement of her game. Beyond the skills and tools we’ve written of before you have to take notice of her work ethic and approach. Go a step further and watch her on the bench and you know that all the intangibles are in place to go with a text book skill set. Reads defenders on the catch and makes good choices in her attack or passing decisions. She appears physically stronger these days and is more than willing to put it to use defensively and on the boards. Hard to imagine but Irwin is an elite player showing an even greater upside.

From UConncat of the Boneyard via John A of the Courant -

Kyla's mom

But as a coach, it was practice that I really loved to see. And she loved it just as much. I’ve been telling her how important it was to see how the teams [recruiting her] practice. You want to make sure you understand what it is they do every day and you need to decide for yourself if you can do it, can you handle it, can you deal with the mentality and physicality. I wanted her to watch a full practice and it was great to see.”“Kyla had some questions, Geno had some answers,” Bethany said.

“I told her, ‘Kyla, they are not recruiting your parents, they are recruiting you. But you are also recruiting a team that will be a perfect fit for you. You need to come up with questions. You need to be able to relate to the coaches on a daily basis, be comfortable walking into their offices to talk about life situations for four five years unless you get to know them.

“She brought in her notebook and asked them all kinds of questions; personal and basketball alike so she could have an understanding what they were looking for. It’s part of her personality and she handled it very well.

“I can tell you, as her coach, I can tell as her mother, she is going to work extremely hard,” Bethany said. “She will push until she gets as far as she can go. She grew up in my gym, my basketball gym. I’ve coached for 22 years and Kyla’s been there with me for 17. She’s been on the bus rides, sitting on the couch with me breaking down film or scouting as asking questions. She wants to coach college. That’s her goal.

“It’s amazing to know that the game that I love, that has taken me so many places, is having the same impact on my daughter.”

Kyla:

“Coach Auriemma asked me what position I thought I was best at and I told him I thought I was a post player. He said he agreed with me. Then he explained that the plan was to bring two guards and one post in [with the Class of 2016] but the thinking now was to perhaps focus on two posts and one guard. Then he asked the others coaches if they thought they should offer me and they all said ‘yes’”.

I just love how hard she is willing to work. A great addition to the Husky family. I would have voted yes too!!!

 

Welcome to UConn Kyla!!!