Griesch's The Word: Ranking Recruits

After racing to a 32-2 season, a Big 12 title and an NCAA Sweet 16 in 2010, the Nebraska women's basketball team was expecting a totally new look in 2010-11. Gone were six seniors who made up the most successful class in school history. That nucleus led NU to four postseason tournaments, including three NCAA Tournament trips, a Big 12 title and averaged 22.5 wins per year.

As Nebraska lost 65 percent of its scoring and rebounding from last year's club, expectations outside the program changed. The Huskers were not ranked in the preseason AP Top 25, after closing 2010 at No. 4 in the AP rankings. The Huskers were also preseason No. 7 in the Big 12 coaches poll.

But the Huskers felt good about their 2009-10 recruiting class, adding two-time Nebraska High School Player-of-the-Year Jordan Hooper, along with young posts Adrianna Maurer and Katie Simon, and guards Kellie McCann-Smith and Rebecca Woodberry, the 2010 Arizona High School Player of the Year.

That five-player class will be joined a four-player class next year that is drawing the attention of national recruiting services. The 2010-11 Husker recruiting class of Emily Cady (Seward, Neb.), Tear'a Laudermill (Riverside, Calif.), Hailie Sample (Flower Mound, Texas) and Brandi Jeffery (Vacherie, La.) has drawn the first top-25 national recruiting classes in recent Husker history.

Blue Star ranked Nebraska's class 18th nationally, while Collegiate Girls Basketball Report ranked the class No. 24. ESPN HoopGurlz also ranked the NU class 34th nationally in its rankings of the top 60 classes.

Nebraska has never put much stock in outside expectations or recruiting rankings for that matter, but it is certainly nice to gain some exposure for the hard work of our coaches on the recruiting trail.