[Strikeout King]

Rockcastle County forward Sara Hammond may have had to make one of the toughest decision of her live this morning when she verbally decided to go to the University of Louisville to play college basketball. Having to chose between UConn, Western Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Louisville, it came down to the place closest to home.

Loyalty may have also been a contributing factor within the decision as Louisville had shown interest for the last couple of years in the Lady Rocket. But, giving the family a chance to visit and watch her play was a huge part of the decision.

Last year with the Lady Rockets, Hammond averages 15.3 points per game along with 10.3 rebounds per game helping the team finish with a 29-5 record a run to the semi-finals of the state tournament.



http://www.derekforrest.com/4/post/2010/...ville.html

[WaybackRocket]

Congrats. Tear them up at the Ville. But now on to more pressing matters like a state championship hopefully.

[LWC]

Before RockSolid69 comments on here, I want to defend him. He and I had a conversation a few days before this became official and he told me that he predicted this happening. So, good call you 2010 Girls basketball prophet.

[the dark wizard]

I was hoping to see her play for UCONN, but I guess playing against them every year is good to. Congrats to her and best of luck:Thumbs:

[HD28]

She'll do great things at L'ville under a great coach in Jeff Walz.

It was my understanding that UConn was taken off the table after a couple of kids they were recruiting committed, taking the spot that Sara would have occupied. Admittedly, this is second hand info, so there may be no credibility to it.

[ROCKSOLID69]

Before RockSolid69 comments on here, I want to defend him. He and I had a conversation a few days before this became official and he told me that he predicted this happening. So, good call you 2010 Girls basketball prophet.

yes i did lol. congrats to sara

[Captain Backdoor]

Congrats to Sara and the Cards.

[Kentucky Premier]

She'll do great things at L'ville under a great coach in Jeff Walz.

It was my understanding that UConn was taken off the table after a couple of kids they were recruiting committed, taking the spot that Sara would have occupied. Admittedly, this is second hand info, so there may be no credibility to it.

This stuff here shows that you are not very close to the situation at all. Up till this morning UCONN was trying to get a commit, which did not happen. Geno wanted her bad, as she fit their system well. She went there on a official visit and played with the team and has a great showing thus making Geno even want her more. Bottom line is this. She choose the University of Louisville over UCONN for numerious reasons. This is not second hand info.

Signed her AAU Coach.

[ROCKSOLID69]

This stuff here shows that you are not very close to the situation at all. Up till this morning UCONN was trying to get a commit, which did not happen. Geno wanted her bad, as she fit their system well. She went there on a official visit and played with the team and has a great showing thus making Geno even want her more. Bottom line is this. She choose the University of Louisville over UCONN for numerious reasons. This is not second hand info.

Signed her AAU Coach.

I agree. i think Louisville has allways been number 1 on her list

[LeeCoUKFan]

Congrats Sara!! Was hoping to see you play for Geno Auriama but I guess it GREAT that you decided to stay close to home!!

[the light wizard]

she turned down UCONN wow idk what to say haha j.p congrats on the early decision

[Stardust]

Congrats to Sara

[WALL2WALL]

She had her chance at getting a National Championship ring and just blew it with this decision. UL will never win a title as long as Geno is at UCONN.

[Shoulderblock73]

Congratulations Sara

[HD28]

This stuff here shows that you are not very close to the situation at all. Up till this morning UCONN was trying to get a commit, which did not happen. Geno wanted her bad, as she fit their system well. She went there on a official visit and played with the team and has a great showing thus making Geno even want her more. Bottom line is this. She choose the University of Louisville over UCONN for numerious reasons. This is not second hand info.

Signed her AAU Coach.

Did you NOT read my post, or do you just not comprehend well? I said it was second hand info and may have no credibility. And I never said I was close to the situation.

I don't know what her reasons are, but as an OUTSIDER, to turn down the number 1 program in the country is strange....makes me kind of wonder about her willingness to compete.

Oh, and congrats on being an AAU coach.

[Kentucky Premier]

I dont know why you would want to put something like that on here in the first place if you already know its second hand info, especially about a high school kid?

[LWC]

I am happy if she is happy.

Remember that Louisville had a pretty nice run whenever they had Angel McCoughtry. Am I saying that they will be better then UCONN, no. Am I saying that she is turning down gold for mud? NO. Louisville signed a top 10 recruit last season and as of right now, Sara is #12.

I am sure that playing close to home was a big deal for her. Also Geno came in at the last second, UL has been fighting for her for at least 2 years. Home is where the heart is, and her heart lies in the University of Louisville.

[HD28]

]I dont know why you would want to put something like that on here in the first place[/B] if you already know its second hand info, especially about a high school kid?

First of all, there's nothing wrong with it; it happens all the time. Kids are undecided about where they will go, and sometimes schools get other commitments and pull the first offer. You, know, first come, first serve? I would think that as a high powered AAU coach like you would understand that. Secondly, the info came from a girl that played with her. Admittedly, not as good a source as an important AAU coach like you, but relatively good I would think.

In any event, I wish her well, as she will most likely be our next Miss Basketball and it's always nice to see them succeed. I'm sure she'll do great...just never win a national championship.

[Pigskinman53]

Good luck Sara and best of luck at UofL.

[LWC]

First of all, there's nothing wrong with it; it happens all the time. Kids are undecided about where they will go, and sometimes schools get other commitments and pull the first offer. You, know, first come, first serve? I would think that as a high powered AAU coach like you would understand that. Secondly, the info came from a girl that played with her. Admittedly, not as good a source as an important AAU coach like you, but relatively good I would think.

In any event, I wish her well, as she will most likely be our next Miss Basketball and it's always nice to see them succeed. I'm sure she'll do great...just never win a national championship.

I am not attempting to take a shot at you. I just hope that you understand that I pray that she would trade 4 National Championships for a college degree.

I am not saying that she could not get a fine education at UCONN, but I just hope that your hope for her is education first, championships second.

[Kentucky Premier]

I can see this is going nowhere good. Bottom line is she choose Louisville and you had some bad info. Maybe you would like to share a name of where you got your info? I think you are lying. Ill also bet you have a username on another message board and have made a idiot of yourself there also. Should stick to your sport.

[HD28]

I am not attempting to take a shot at you. I just hope that you understand that I pray that she would trade 4 National Championships for a college degree.

I am not saying that she could not get a fine education at UCONN, but I just hope that your hope for her is education first, championships second.

You are correct; I am confident she will get a great education at Louisville, and that is definitely the most important thing. I assume UConn is at least as good a school as L'Ville academics wise. However, they aren't even on the same planet baskeball wise.

[HD28]

I can see this is going nowhere good. Bottom line is she choose Louisville and you had some bad info. Maybe you would like to share a name of where you got your info? I think you are lying. Ill also bet you have a username on another message board and have made a idiot of yourself there also. Should stick to your sport.

Lol. It's a shame we cannot all be "bigtime AAU coaches" like yourself, then we would have all the answers. Go back to your job at the factory and wait for next summer so you can be relevant again.

[Kentucky Premier]

If you only knew........

[LWC]

You are correct; I am confident she will get a great education at Louisville, and that is definitely the most important thing. I assume UConn is at least as good a school as L'Ville academics wise. However, they aren't even on the same planet baskeball wise.

I am not talking purely academic rating. I am just saying that if she would be HAPPY at UL, then she is more likely to stay there.

I look at it like a job. If I am a single guy (which I am not, I am married), I would rather work at a job that I loved making $8 an hour as opposed to a job that I hated making $12 an hour. I realize that basketball is basketball, just like in Hoosiers whenever the coach measured the rims, etc...

To make a long story short, if she is going to be happy at UL, she is more likely to finish her education. If she was not happy at UCONN (never seeing friends or family, etc...) then she would be less likely to graduate, one would assume.

I am as guilty as the next person in the sports world to say, why would you turn down going to a championship caliber team, to play somewhere else. We never really know the motives. I, personally, have seen two separate news stories from two different states, that both said she turned down UCONN, not the other way around. So the motive is not that UCONN was going to pull the plug because Geno really wanted her. Grant it, UL wanted and needed her more than UCONN, but Geno still wanted her.

I hope as a Rockcastle fan that knowing she turned down championships to be happy, I hope it makes her hun-g-rier for a Kentucky State Championship

I hope we can both be happy for Sara, and that we understand that she wants to be at UL. If something comes out saying differently, fine. If a news story breaks that says UCONN pulled the plug, fine. UNTIL then or IF then, we have to assume she chose UL so she could be close to home. We seen it with many mens basketball recruits. One highly ranked player chose NC State over UK and others. It happens all the time. People dont always want to go the best program, they want to go to the best program for them.

In Rockcastle, we remember Brad Durham, current UK Offensive Lineman. He had always been a UL fan. He wanted to play for UL. UL offered him a scholarship and he was so excited, eventually they pulled the scholarship and by the grace of God, UK offered. He is set to graduate this season and I would assume with pretty close to a 4.0 (He is a really smart guy). If it turns out that UCONN pulled the scholarship offer, we will understand. UL at the time, was a big time program competing for BCS bowl appearances, just like UCONN is dominating womens basketball. Brad seems to be happy, and I am sure that if that is what happened to Sara, I am sure that she will be happy as well.

All of us from Rock, wish her the best and remember that the textbook is more important than the playbook!

[Rocketown]

I'm Sara Hammond's Dad. I wanted to clear things up a bit as to the misinformation on these sites. First, I would NEVER post anything that I did not first check out as to being true and factual. Second, so you'll know, UCONN did NOT pull Sara's scholarship. I talked to Coach Mosely as late as Tuesday morning around 6:30 AM on the day Sara had her press conference. She and Associate Head Coach Chris Daily were in my home on Friday, September 17th encouraging Sara to choose UCONN. Coach Daily in my home stated that UCONN has 5 scholarships available this year, but were only looking at 5-6 girls to fill those. If they fill 5, great, if not, they hold them unitl the next class. According to a paper in Connecticut they have two other girls beside Sara, that they are actively pursuing this year. That coupled with 2 commitments and Sara would make 5 girls. Sara chose UofL simply because she wanted her community, family and friends to actively participate in her college career in the same fashion as they have in high school. She also believes that she along with this year's recruiting class can elevate UofL to an elite status, got to remember they were national runner-up just two years ago. Also got to remember that UCONN has only be a national power for approximately 18 years. It took Auriemma 7-8 years before he reached that status. I would be more than happy to discuss the conversations we had with him, in his home on Saturday, September 11th and how much he wanted my daughter to play at UCONN. Most of Sara's teammates are very supportive of her, and for good reason, she's the most unselfish player you'll ever meet, always wants to involve her teammates and share in the accolades. She's really embarrased at some of what's going on, always telling me not to tell anybody. For the one or two players who might be a bit jealous, rumors can be an ugly thing, especially when grown men perpetuate them.

[LWC]

I'm Sara Hammond's Dad. I wanted to clear things up a bit as to the misinformation on these sites. First, I would NEVER post anything that I did not first check out as to being true and factual. Second, so you'll know, UCONN did NOT pull Sara's scholarship. I talked to Coach Mosely as late as Tuesday morning around 6:30 AM on the day Sara had her press conference. She and Associate Head Coach Chris Daily were in my home on Friday, September 17th encouraging Sara to choose UCONN. Coach Daily in my home stated that UCONN has 5 scholarships available this year, but were only looking at 5-6 girls to fill those. If they fill 5, great, if not, they hold them unitl the next class. According to a paper in Connecticut they have two other girls beside Sara, that they are actively pursuing this year. That coupled with 2 commitments and Sara would make 5 girls. Sara chose UofL simply because she wanted her community, family and friends to actively participate in her college career in the same fashion as they have in high school. She also believes that she along with this year's recruiting class can elevate UofL to an elite status, got to remember they were national runner-up just two years ago. Also got to remember that UCONN has only be a national power for approximately 18 years. It took Auriemma 7-8 years before he reached that status. I would be more than happy to discuss the conversations we had with him, in his home on Saturday, September 11th and how much he wanted my daughter to play at UCONN. Most of Sara's teammates are very supportive of her, and for good reason, she's the most unselfish player you'll ever meet, always wants to involve her teammates and share in the accolades. She's really embarrased at some of what's going on, always telling me not to tell anybody. For the one or two players who might be a bit jealous, rumors can be an ugly thing, especially when grown men perpetuate them.

Good to have you Mr. Hammond! :Thumbs:

[Kentucky Premier]

Maybe you can join us "big time AAU coaches" ranks next year rocketown....lol.

[Rocketown]

I owe a huge amount of gratitude to ALL her Kentucky Premier AAU coaches, without them Sara would not have been in the position she was this summer. Granted Sara was well recognized coming into this summer play and had scholarship offers from several schools, but because of the commitment made to her and the other girls with Kentucky Premier she was put in a situation where she, through hard work and attentiveness to detail from her "Big Time AAU coaches", moved from "well known" to "must have." I am so thankfrul for the countless hours put into these girls by these coaches. That's why they are attracting so many of the top girls in the commonwealth, all age groups. These girls know and parents know now what I know. The Kentucky Premier program puts the athletes first. Thank you.

[HD28]

I did not question the fact that she is a great kid; everyone who has ever come into contact with her has said that very thing. And, I have seen her play and she could be the most dominant player this state has seen in a long time if she were selfish; it is very obvious she is not. Her reasons for choosing UL are her own; I was merely speculating that it would have been nice to see her compete for NC and play with the best players in the land. If you can play at UConn, you can play anywhere. I'm sure UL would have been there if things had not worked out at UConn. Again, this is from one fan's perspective; I can't remember another player being recruited this heavily by Auriemma so it says volumes about her ability and I would have loved to see her alongside Maya Moore. That's all. Did not mean to offend anyone in the Hammond family, and if I did, I apologize. best of luck to her.

As far as the "bigtime AAU coach"...ahhh!