The campus at Wagner has been a must stop for a dozen or so schools this past month but yesterday's guest caused a little bit of a stir. University of Texas Coach, Gail Goestenkors was reportedly on campus to watch Arielle Roberson practice. Coach G can get a little help in recruiting Arielle from a member of the Roberson family. Big Sister, Amber, plays volley ball for the Horns. Also in the Horns favor, Roberson played club ball for Texas Exes, Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil and Anissa Hastings. The word is out about the kid that they call "Smiley"; she is no joke!
Smithson Valley standout Danielle Blagg with be visiting the Golden State this weekend. Pepperdine University has invited the athletic wing to view the opening days of official practice. While the Malibu beaches are a major recruiting tool for many kids, the academic reputation of the school is also very appealing. Blagg has had a couple of other great academic schools show interest lately. SMU, Rice and NC State, all were on campus the past month.
Blagg has a way of making a good impression on coaches. NC State assistant coach, Richard Barron became aware of Blagg at the Baylor camp last year. He went on to join the NC State staff this season and took his liking of Danielle's game with him. A similar thing happened a couple of years ago. Former UTSA and current assistant coach for UCF, Courtney Locke, became familiar with Blagg when she was still local. It was no surprise to learn that UCF was visiting Blagg as early as last year on her high school campus.
A couple of good things to take from her experiences is that, college camps are a great way of allowing college coaches to get to know your entire game . Local players Lyndsey Cloman(Oklahoma) and Monica Engleman(Kansas) received their offers while attending Elite Camps for their respective schools. Also, please keep in mind that assistant coaches are valuable resources in recruiting. They often take new jobs at different schools and the contacts and their opinions of players go with them. While Blagg may have not earned the affections of Baylor with her camp participation, she obviously impressed a camp coach enough to warrant his interest at his new school.
