Checking the Timeline: 7/23/21

As a way of encouraging recruits to continue to post video to Twitter and because I haven’t been able to get out and travel recently due to surgery, I’d like to introduce a new type of article where I simply scroll my timeline and comment on the videos that I see there. That’s it. Simple concept, but hopefully one that the readers - especially the coaches out there - will enjoy and find useful. NOTE: The video is going to have to be relatively long, otherwise there won’t be much to write about. <strong>Desiree Marshall-Penny | 5-5  PG | Union / OK Chaos | 2022</strong> [embed]https://x.com/desiree_penny/status/1418608023631659009?s=20[/embed] One of the best thing about any of Desiree Marshall-Penny’s videos are that they almost always include footage of her playing defense and dishing passes to teammates. It is clear what she values as a player and where her focus is. You can see from the video that she can stroke the three. With that threat, she can blow by a defender and use her (lack of) size to weave her way through the trees inside to finish strong at the rim. Where she really stands out on the video is in her defense. Desiree uses quick feet to stay in front of her opponent and never offer enough space to get a comfortable shot off. She distributes the ball well with great court vision and has a very high basketball IQ. Speaking of IQ, she is also a 4.0 student. Desiree will be debuting on the 2022 rankings in the next iteration and (Spoiler Alert) she will be the highest ranked of the players who are debuting this time around. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="261716" first="Cooper" last="Hilton"] | 5-7 CG | Coweta / OK Swift | 2023</strong> [embed]https://x.com/coophilton2023/status/1418423281724579843?s=20[/embed] This kid is a killer. She slices up the defense with precision - a basketball surgeon, if you will. Cooper is exactly the point guard that this absolutely loaded Swift team needs. They have high-ranking scorers and need someone to move the offense and get them the ball. Not that Cooper can’t shoot - we see from the video that she can clearly get buckets - but, someone has to do the work of keeping the offense going and Hilton is that someone. Also, can we talk about that possession where Hilton started the ball moving, every player on the team touched it and then it came back to her for the finish. I can see the smile that must have been on Coach Mathurin’s face at that moment. Just beautiful. Cooper is a tremendous offensive guard and no slouch on defense either. Coaches, keep an eye on this whole Swift team and especially this outstanding young point guard. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="211847" first="Hadley" last="Periman"] | 6-2 F/C | Tuttle / Team Lex | 2022</strong> [embed]https://x.com/AustinJ22228543/status/1418233348946857986?s=20[/embed] Okay, so it’s not a video. But, in all honesty, people just aren’t posting long enough videos. Therefore, at the end of my first ’Checking The Timeline,’ I am changing the rules to include announcements of offers. Hadley picked this one up from New Mexico to go along with a recent offer from Hawaii adding up to a total of about nine D-I offers for the towering big from Tuttle. Periman is a strong, tough inside player who shows the ability to step out and hit from mid-range as well. She is a shot stopper, a huge presence in the lane that causes players to think twice about heading inside. A good amount of 2022’s in the top-10 (which Hadley clearly is) have already committed to D-I’s, meanwhile Periman is busy just collecting more and more offers. There are a lot of coaches out there waiting with baited breath to learn of Hadley’s decision - and probably even more D-I offers on the way.