Good game for the Buffs. Anyone else wondering why CU didn't recruit Callie Kaiser?? I mean 17 points on 7 for 8 shooting.
Callie Kaiser was a good recruit for a mid-major program like CSU. They've had a lot of success the past couple of seasons in the regular season, winning a ton of games. Playing forward/wing for Broomfield as a high school senior she managed 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists per game Alexis Robinson put up 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game as a high school senior. Both are 5'10, but I don't think they are comparable players or capable of playing on the same competitive level.
Alexis is a very talented point and shooting guard, probably a lot more talented than most people probably suspect. Alexis plays off guard alongside Kennedy Leonard, who typically runs the point, and Kennedy has good court vision and has 58 Assists this season in 9 games. However, its just incredible that Alexis Robinson plays without the ball and has managed to find 37 Assists on her own in 9 games, and while playing 2 minutes less per game than Kennedy. Kennedy averages 6.4 Assists per game with the ball, running the CU offense, while Alexis finds 4.1 Assists per game playing off the ball, and having to first receive a pass before she can set up a teammate. A difference of just 2.3 Assists per game between the two is just pretty incredible. I truly don't think most people realize how good of a point guard Alexis Robinson really is.
However, Alexis brings a lot more to the table as a combo guard than just being a good distributor and elite shooter (shooting nearly .400 for three pointers, and 80% on Free Throw attempts). Alexis is a veritable defensive force in her own right. For a player that is only 5'10" she's a force to be reckoned with in terms of blocking shots. She doesn't patrol the paint, but a couple of times every game you'll see Alexis come over on help defense and absolutely send one into the stands. She is a huge difference on defense. While Kennedy often matches up with the opponents primary ball handler, Alexis averages only 1.3 steals less a game than Kennedy, and Kennedy is a great ball thief, quick to jump passing lanes or pluck an opponent. Alexis was one of the most highly rated recruits on this roster for a reason. She's just a great all around ball player, and one of the best players on this Buffs team.
Callie Kaiser is a great basketball player, and its hard to make a CSU roster as a US player as Williams prefers tall international players usually around 6'0" that can handle and pass the ball like a Point Guard, and shoot the ball like a Shooting Guard and post up like a Small Forward. In Mountain West competition which no one will confuse for Pac-12, Big-12 or ACC play, Callie only averaged 9 minutes a games as a Freshman. You can't begin to fairly compare the role and impact that Alexis Robinson had for the Buffs (in the Pac-12 no less). Robinson started 20 games for the Buffs and averaged 26 minutes per game, was 4th on the team in Scoring, PPG, and Attempts, and FG made per game, 4th in 3 pointer percentage while 3rd in Attempts and Made. Robinson was 5th on the team in Rebounds, and 2nd on the team in Assists and drew the 3rd most FT attempts, was 3rd on the team in Steals and 4th on the tam in Blocked shots. I don't think its even possible to effectively communicate just how core the contribution Robinson made to the Buffs as just Freshman. Callie Kaiser is a great basketball players and a local Colorado product, and she should have a great career for the Rams. However, there is always a huge talent divide between the Buffs and Rams and it isn't fair to the Buffs players or the Rams players to compare, really. Let CSU players have their success in the Mountain West. Let the Buffs players have their success playing in one of the most brutally competitive conferences in all of NCAAW. I don't see Williams ever getting a player of Alexis Robinson's caliber. Quite frankly, part of the reason the JR Payne turnaround is so effective is because the Buffs are lucky to have her. Callie Kaiser would struggle to find minutes on the CU roster, and doesn't face the level of competition in the MW that she would see in the Pac-12. At CU her numbers would be considerably affected by strength of opposition. Playing Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Hawaii, Air Force and Utah State are just not the same as playing Stanford, Washington, UCLA, Cal, Utah, or Oregon or Oregon State.
Who knows, maybe Callie Kaiser develops into a first team All-American. However, until she does I think projecting her onto the CU roster requires a fair consideration of who CU really has on the roster, and who the Buffs actually play against. Callie Kaiser found a good fit at CSU, but she's barely playing 14 minutes a game and averaging 5 points and less than two rebounds per game. I just don't think she would be a realistic recruit for a Pac-12 program, and while Colorado has had some recent struggles this team has been in the national top-15 conversation more recently than not, and isn't that far out as we speak. There is great basketball being played in mid-major schools, just great basketball.
However, we've seen great local prospects transfer from a mid-major to a major conference. Kailey Edwards from Legacy transferred from Denver to Boston College in the ACC, and we recently go to see her play a ton of minutes in the Omni Classic in front of her local fans. Kailey Edwards was recruited by Colorado, but Linda couldn't get her to sign. There was a game a couple of years ago where Denver played a Mountain West opponent in Utah State I think. Kailey dropped 31 points and had 8 rebounds against MW competition, and literally took that game over. It was a sight to behold. In the ACC I think her career high is 11 points in a game, and she's more of a defensive stopper. I've seen Kailey Edwards play and I've seen Callie Kaiser play, I wouldn't begin to compare Kaiser to Edwards, let alone to Alexis Robinson.
With Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson in your backcourt, and Lauren Huggin & Haley Smith in your frontcourt along with Burich and Ellis, where exactly would Kaiser's role be? Freeman is a better penetrating scorer and is the same size as Kaiser. She's not going to take Correal or Beard-Fails role, and Eleanor Jones might have more potential than any player on this roster. I don't see Kaiser playing for the Buffs, but I hope she becomes a start for the CSU lambies. I always like to see local kids play in-state.
I still think the one the Buffs missed on was Kailey Edwards, if we had to bemoan an in-state prospect that got away that CU was recruiting and didn't want to sign under the previous staff. I think she could have been developed to become a real talent. As it was her career kind of was halved, and she lost valuable development and playing time with the transfer. Even though Johnson had recruited her to DU, she wasn't one of his BC recruits, and he has different priorities at an ACC school than giving his old mid-major recruit big minutes.
