Yahoo Finance No. 4 UConn adds 2021 recruit Saylor Poffenbarger a semester early in 'unprecedented event'
UConn is adding to its roster mid-season in an unprecedented situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and rules implemented around it.
Saylor Poffenbarger, a member of UConn’s highly ranked 2021 class, has enrolled in classes at the school and will join the No. 4 Huskies this season, head coach Geno Auriemma announced Friday.
“I know Saylor’s really excited. This is an unprecedented event for us for a lot of reasons, but this is an unprecedented year,” Auriemma said in a statement. “Opportunities have presented themselves that weren't available for the past. I'm excited for Saylor and her family that they wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and I can't wait to coach her in practice and have her as part of the team.”
She is scheduled to arrive this weekend and is eligible for team activities and games after a 10-day medical quarantine, UConn said. Poffenbarger will wear No. 4. The Huskies (7-0, 6-0 Big East) are off this weekend because of a COVID-19 pause with Villanova and are scheduled to play again on Tuesday.
Who is Saylor Poffenbarger?
Poffenbarger is a 6-foot-2 guard from Middletown, Maryland, and was part of a four-freshman class ranked second by ESPN behind South Carolina. She’s ranked No. 30 in her class, which includes UConn commit and top-ranked Azzi Fudd, and is No. 13 at the guard position.
The recent high school graduate won gold for USA Basketball at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship where she averaged 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
She averaged 21.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a junior at Middletown High School and is a two-time all-state player. Her final season ended in the state semifinals when the state stopped high school sports as the pandemic reached the United States.
Why are 2021 recruits going to college early?
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an enticing situation for girls basketball players to leave early. Having structure and basketball back in her life is part of the reason Poffenbarger told her local paper Frederick News-Post she wanted to go.
“I’m excited to be around people and have a schedule — a set schedule — and be able to compete and kind of go back to some normalcy,” Poffenbarger said, News-Post.
She was in a position to graduate college a semester early already, but initially hadn’t intended to start college so soon, she told the News-Post. That changed as it became less likely she’d be able to play her senior season at Middletown High School because of the pandemic. Winter seasons have been postponed or outright canceled due to the coronavirus in parts of the country.
The NCAA also made a move in the fall that creates a no-loss situation for an early enrollee. The NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility for all college athletes competing in 2020-21, so joining a school early means more playing time (4 1/2 seasons) rather than less (3 1/2).
Poffenbarger could win five championships while playing for UConn, overtaking the former WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart’s four consecutive titles while at the school.
UCLA, Mississippi State add 2021 recruits
Poffenbarger joins Dominique Darius, ranked No. 26 in the class by ESPN, in joining their colleges early. Darius came on in December and has played in two games already for UCLA, which is short-handed because of COVID-19 issues.
Some Bruins players opted out of the season while others, specifically two in Australia, are unable to get into the country due to restrictions on travel. A court case filed by 16 California student-athletes against the Department of Homeland Security is on Friday’s docket in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Boston College’s Ally VanTimmeren, Washington’s Jess Finney and No. 14 Mississippi State’s KN’isha Godfrey are all early enrollees.
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