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Baylor Women's Basketball

Top WBB target Sammie Wagner discusses recruitment since Mulkey's departure to LSU

May 18, 2021
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SicEm365’s Jason King and Brian Ethridge were able to sit down with one of the top women’s basketball recruits in the country, Sammie Wagner, to talk recruiting, her game, and more.

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Top WBB target Sammie Wagner discusses recruitment since Mulkey's departure to LSU

26,869 Views | 85 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by ScottS
IowaBear
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Actually from reading this thread the usual sour puss group is blaming the prior staff which isn't all that surprising coming from AP. It's no ones fault. Wagner just didn't think BU was the right fit. That's okay move on to the next target
Wbbfan29
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Okay if you say so bruh. I said what I said as well
BaylorBears_254
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Wbbfan29 said:

Okay if you say so bruh. I said what I said as well as well...


And i still didn't give a flying **** lol, you quoted me, but carry on
IowaBear
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Let's all hug it out
Wbbfan29
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Lmao you seem like you do. Look like you are the sensitive one lol.
BaylorBears_254
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Wbbfan29 said:

Lmao you seem like you do. Look like you are the sensitive one lol.


Lol I know a mad one when I see it hahahaha. Relax it's a message board, you'll live after seeing an opinion, I hope
BUatbirth
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IowaBear said:

Actually from reading this thread the usual sour puss group is blaming the prior staff which isn't all that surprising coming from AP. It's no ones fault. Wagner just didn't think BU was the right fit. That's okay move on to the next target
True. Or maybe BU WBB didn't think Wagner was the right fit,,,or a combination of both. Or maybe it had everything to do with BU and little to do with CNC. I believe it is closer to the latter. I'm sure we won't know,,that's ok too.
IowaBear
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Exactly it's all speculation at this point.
setshot
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Excluding Baylor from her top eight is her way of making a statement. We have no way of doing anything but
guessing what that statement might be. It is of no importance, really She will be happier wherever she lands than she would have been at Baylor-minus-Mulkey, but the odds of Baylor landing her were almost zero once Mulkey left.

If she is wise she will commit to Stanford. Tara V. knows how to use players like Sammi, to disguise their deficiencies and to maximize their strengths, and her system is ideal for her. To top it off, Stanford is a fine place to grow both intellectually and as a person. I wish that young woman the very best, but i suspect that she will succeed on her own considerable merits.

I believe that Coach Collen will find and develop a team made up of her own players, and we will like what we see.
We should get a preview of that this year, and I think that we will find it both interesting and entertaining.
setshot
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This is all speculation. Who can fathom what goes on in the head of a girl in her mid-teens? She was definitely making a statement by omitting Baylor from her top eight teams. It did not have anything to do with the new staff, but had everything to do with the former one. She grew up following the Lady Bears during their flush years, and was in summer camps as a very young player. She did not commit to Baylor as an eighth grader, she committed to Coach Mulkey, attending games, summering at camps, and showing great enthusiasm for other players who might accompany her to the program. This was all over the message board here..

What changed all that? The departure of her favored coach. Baylor remained, the facilities did not go, the core of the team remained, yet she decommitted almost immediately, and clearly did so because Mulkey had left.

The new staff had no chance of getting her back, and it was increasingly clear that she was enjoying her new freedom in the recruitment process. Her visitations were recorded and posted, almost as though it was a triumphal tour. She showed very little, if any interest in giving the new staff an opportunity to seek, much less to win her back. Baylor had become a non factor in the competition for her commitment.

The fact that she included programs that have not been nearly as successful as the Baylor program, including that of LSU, but would not include Baylor speaks volumes about her sensitivities, but says nothing about the current staff who were never in the game. I wish her well, wherever she goes. But I regret, for her sake, that she felt it necessary to turn her back on the fans here who have cherished her commitment and looked forward to seeing her progress as a player and as a person at the university that she had chosen so early in her athletic life. She can find athletic satisfaction, even academic advancement, at a number of the schools she has designated, but I doubt very seriously that she will find a fan base that is prepared to lavish affection and appreciation on her as those on this board and those elsewhere were prepared to do.
DanaDane
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It's very interesting to read comments from the same posters on this thread and compare it to comments they made on prior Wagner related threads.
IowaBear
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Sure is DD sure is.
Morgan101
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I think Setshot has hit the nail on the head on this. She had everything planned and once her favorite coach left, she blames Baylor and this is her way of sticking it to them. I think she will go one further and go to Texas! Close to home and she can rub it in twice a year! But hey I don't know nothing!
I wonder what is does to Cox, since they wanted to play together?
BUatbirth
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I agree, Good commentary by Setshot. I fear that Maddie has been fed the same version of events surrounding KM's departure. However, my feeling is that Maddie doesn't have near the connection to KM that Sammie developed. Also, Maddie isn't near as plugged into social media,,,this will benefit her.
Recruiting is a two way street,,,emotion aside,,,is Maddie the type of player CNC recruits for her system?
I would love to see Madde in the Green & Gold, same as I wanted to see Sammie. The tragedy in all this, to me, is a girl growing up cheering for all things Baylor,,, now seemingly shattered. Unfair to both Sammie and Baylor.
ABC BEAR
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Loose lips sink ships. Doubt it? Just rewind the tape to late April/early May and comments made back and forth.
Eball
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I know that there are some on the Premium side who care nothing about WBB and in fact were jealous of Kim and her success as strange as it may seem to us...they hated how much money was spent on WBB a sport they consider inferior. Our AD is in some folks minds not subject to criticism which is ridiculous...no matter the reasons, any AD who loses a long term HOF coach who has won 3 National Championships on his watch is subject to criticism it just should not happen unless the most unusual of circumstances...for better or worse right or wrong the perception is Baylor is not committed to WBB...I mean look at what we have to fight now in terms of how Baylor treats women in general...The message we send is Football is king and men's basketball is the Prince and everything else is just a servant... we are certainly not the only school sending this message but with Kim and some of the other non revenue generating women's sports we had a more progressive perception...when Kim left that perception for many was destroyed.

Look I will continue to support CNC and the Lady Bears but no matter how some of you want to spin it, to the outside world looking in Kim leaving was a setback in perception for our program. We need to win this year so badly...but even if we do, the damage caused by us allowing Kim to walk may not be repairable in our lifetime.

Now some don't care and are happy to have WBB as a second class sport...but for those of us who do care we will remember whose watch it was when Kim was allowed to walk away.
slimecap
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BUatbirth said:

Sammie ... a girl growing up cheering for all things Baylor
May 23, 2019

The Lady Bears picked up an oral commitment from the youngest prospect in program history this week after a top ranked middle school basketball player from San Antonio announced she plans to go to Baylor.

Samantha "Sammie" Wagner, 14, an eighth grader at Bush Middle School in San Antonio, announced her commitment to the Lady Bears on twitter Wednesday saying, "I've dreamed of this day since the first time I walked on campus at 6-years-old."

The 6-foot-1 San Antonio native was first introduced to Baylor by her father, Robert Wagner, who played tight end at Baylor under coach Grant Teaff from 1988-1991. He, and his wife Laura, an all-American swimmer at Texas A&M, first took their daughter to Kim Mulkey's basketball camp in Waco when she was in first grade.

They say she immediately bonded with the three-time national championship winning coach.

"I first took her when she was 6-years-old to Kim's biddie ball camp," Robert said. "From that point on, she knew where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do."

By the time Sammie returned to Mulkey's camp when she was in second grade, coaches had taken note of her extraordinary young talent and moved her up to play with sixth graders. Sammie attended Baylor basketball camp every summer until last year.

"I think a lot people don't understand Sam but she's been at this since she was 4-years-old, she's known Kim since 6. When she stepped into that arena in Waco at 6-years-old, she knew. She's driven this bus the whole time and she's always known where she wanted to be."

- Excerpts from an article by Julie Hays, kwtx.com
setshot
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I admire Kim Mulkey and love the women's program. I think that Baylor went far too long with tepid support for it.
The arrival of Mulkey changed that, and the credit goes to her. But for many years the program has been hugely supported and Kim got everything that she demanded. She carried those demands with her, and Baylor will seek to continue the program that she set on course.

I doubt that dire predictions of a reduction of the commitment to success will prove to be accurate, though often what is relative is seen by some as absolute. When long associations are severed, emotions run high, and never more so than when multiple loyalties are involved. In this case, there are loyalties to the university, to the basketball program, and to the coach For many of us personal loyalties are the most binding, the most commanding - for others, less so. Only those who are new to the coaching ranks fail to understand this. Our new head coach is not a neophyte, so she understands this and with it the imperative to win over the doubters by winning on the basketball court.
Eball
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Set just to be clear I am saying the perception from outside looking in is we wanted to reduce costs so we allowed Kim to walk and hired someone for about half the salary? I don't know for sure the reality but hope we stay invested fully in the Lady Bears.
DFW Bill
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Kim was being paid a base of approximately $2,400,000. plus various incentives. Mulkey made over $3,000,000. In our last National Championship year. See Baylor University IRS Form 990. Nicki Colleen was being paid $125,000 to $150,000. in the WNBA. Per Atlanta media. Baylor paid Nicki in the $500,000 to $600,000. range plus incentives. The AD lowered the WBB budget at least $2,000,000., Nicki got a huge increase, she's happy. If she performs at a high level Baylor will raise her compensation package. Are you happy? Baylor can now spend more money on football.
Dr. J
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It's time we move on from this thread and woe over Sammie not wanting to come to BU.

While it is disappointing that she did not even give the new coaching a whiff of a chance to recruit her based partly on her family's relationship with BU (father was a former football player at BU), there are very few generational players that can change a program (Tirausi, Bird, Griner, Ionesceu, Stewart) and Sammie is not one of them.

Food for thought: while I am sure the players on the current team (mainly seniors) also had a strong relationship with CKM playing for her over the past 3 years, why is it that only one of them transferred to LSU?

I agree with Setshot's assessment in that Sammie will best fit in at Stanford and wish her the best of enjoyment with her recruitment with the other 7 schools she will not attend.

We need to move on from this infatuation with the old guard and move on to support the new coaches as I truly believe that CNC will help transform this team. Think of the other schools (Tenn, Texas, SC, Georgia, Arizona, etc.) that have had to transition their programs with coaching changes. It was going to happen eventually to BU and time will tell if CNC and her assistants will continue the tradition of success at BU.

I, for one, believe that we are off to a good start with the current team and the seniors that have opted to stay for their final year and look forward to supporting the team EVEN MORE this year.
Eball
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Ok…first post ever for you. Makes me wonder who and your motivation to post? I hope you are a legit long term Lady Bears fan and will contribute much more as time goes by. This is a fan forum it's what we do. Gripe wine cheer argue support seek information. Sammie was a young player we have all heard about and followed for several years. Some more than others. Any true lady bear fan knew and still knows that there will be negative effects from Kim's leaving. Doesn't mean CNC won't bring positives. Most good teams because of COVID and the extra year are having trouble because roster too big not us we only have 9. Kim and LSU have 14. 15 before Moon transferred. We have zero commitments so far.,,,for future recruits. I am sure CNC is working hard but for those of us who have followed this program for years we are concerned and will likely keep reading and posting because that is what these forum are for.
blueeyedbear
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Dr. J said:

It's time we move on from this thread and woe over Sammie not wanting to come to BU.

While it is disappointing that she did not even give the new coaching a whiff of a chance to recruit her based partly on her family's relationship with BU (father was a former football player at BU), there are very few generational players that can change a program (Tirausi, Bird, Griner, Ionesceu, Stewart) and Sammie is not one of them.

Food for thought: while I am sure the players on the current team (mainly seniors) also had a strong relationship with CKM playing for her over the past 3 years, why is it that only one of them transferred to LSU?

I agree with Setshot's assessment in that Sammie will best fit in at Stanford and wish her the best of enjoyment with her recruitment with the other 7 schools she will not attend.

We need to move on from this infatuation with the old guard and move on to support the new coaches as I truly believe that CNC will help transform this team. Think of the other schools (Tenn, Texas, SC, Georgia, Arizona, etc.) that have had to transition their programs with coaching changes. It was going to happen eventually to BU and time will tell if CNC and her assistants will continue the tradition of success at BU.

I, for one, believe that we are off to a good start with the current team and the seniors that have opted to stay for their final year and look forward to supporting the team EVEN MORE this year.
Nice post and welcome. Grow a thick skin quickly if you plan to be a regular poster !!!
I concur with your assessment of Sammie's abilities. She is an excellent role player and a nice young lady and I wish her well wherever she lands but in my opinion she does not fit what CNC is trying to put together because her upside is limited. She is not going to get any taller, quicker or faster her weight will be a battle for her as she matures. Her summer performance vs top flight players was underwhelming to be kind - the truth is hard to take sometimes. I knew when she decommitted she was gone for good and any lingering hope was erased when I never saw her post a picture of her and CNC together during her BU visit.
Change is always hard even if its for the better. The next two years could be a rocky road for BU WBB but I have pointed this out before and I will point it out again - having been around the WBB program since the middle 70's this is by far the happiest team I have ever observed, If I knew nothing else their smiles tell me all I need to know about CNC and what she and her staff are trying to do here at BU.
Dr. J
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blueeyedbear said:


Nice post and welcome. Grow a thick skin quickly if you plan to be a regular poster !!!
Thank you for the "warmer" welcome and I assure you my skin is very thick so, no worries.
Adriacus Peratuun
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Dr. J said:

blueeyedbear said:


Nice post and welcome. Grow a thick skin quickly if you plan to be a regular poster !!!
Thank you for the "warmer" welcome and I assure you my skin is very thick so, no worries.
Welcome. And as stated above, be ready for the Mulkeyists to attack if you post anything that doesn't 100% align with their "Mulkey is the greatest, Baylor AD sucks, new staff is underachieving" diatribe.

As a legacy, we wish Wagner well in whatever she chooses. But she is not a super elite talent and likely not an elite talent. She is a very skilled player with average athleticism, a high floor, but already close to her ceiling. Defensively, she was not an ideal fit for the D concepts which the new staff wants to employ.

The one thing about the new staff that stands out to me more than anything: they are building a model that aligns the program with where top level WBB is going to be 5 years from now. Players that want to thrive in professional basketball will love the prep and development. And it will lead to success at the college level.

Honestly, 5 years from now Baylor will likely be sitting pretty.
BUatbirth
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"If I knew nothing else their smiles tell me all I need to know about CNC and what she and her staff are trying to do here at BU."

Recruits will come and go.
Our W/L record is phenomenal, may not be matched. Time will tell. However, I'm not one who looks solely at a program's record. Before a game has been played, I too like what CNC and staff are doing here. I like a program that is open and inclusive of the other athletes and programs at Baylor. CNC and staff taking frozen pops to the band practicing on a hot day,,,coaches and players having fun playing dodgeball against the general student body. Yea, I'm ok giving up a win or two for that. A positive and healthy environment the entire time the athlete is at Baylor,,,be it the #1 player on the depth chart, or the last,,,no difference, NONE. Yea, I like what I have seen so far, and not a single win,,,yet.
Eball
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Adriacus Peratuun said:

Dr. J said:

blueeyedbear said:


Nice post and welcome. Grow a thick skin quickly if you plan to be a regular poster !!!
Thank you for the "warmer" welcome and I assure you my skin is very thick so, no worries.
Welcome. And as stated above, be ready for the Mulkeyists to attack if you post anything that doesn't 100% align with their "Mulkey is the greatest, Baylor AD sucks, new staff is underachieving" diatribe.

As a legacy, we wish Wagner well in whatever she chooses. But she is not a super elite talent and likely not an elite talent. She is a very skilled player with average athleticism, a high floor, but already close to her ceiling. Defensively, she was not an ideal fit for the D concepts which the new staff wants to employ.

The one thing about the new staff that stands out to me more than anything: they are building a model that aligns the program with where top level WBB is going to be 5 years from now. Players that want to thrive in professional basketball will love the prep and development. And it will lead to success at the college level.

Honestly, 5 years from now Baylor will likely be sitting pretty.
5 fricking years? Are you kidding me? We have had a top 5 program for what 10 years? A HOF Coach and a third National Championship in 2019, but now we supposed to be happy with where we will be 5 years from now? How is that a good thing?

You and your anti-college WBB can be a great program ilk are killing me...this is a college program not a Pro league...the majority of our kids will never play pro-ball at least not in the WNBA it is too small a % of kids to tailor your program into some minor league system. We need to have a great college program and win championships...that is what Mulk did with precision year in and year out...now though according to the great AP hater of Kim and lover of a pro system we are somehow better off to take a step back for oh 5 years but then somehow everything will be better. You sound like an administration shill trying to convince all us Mulkeyists and longtime supporters of the Lady Bears that somehow she was not a HOF coach or that the game had passed her by and that this change that will surely lead to our demise as a top 5 program is a good thing...you are ridiculous...

I will support CNC as she did not cause this, Mack did...however, as of now the prospects of our staying at a high level beyond this year are pretty dismal but I sure as heck hope they turn around and improve soon..

We Mulkeyists ain't going away...I am sure as long as you and yours continue to try and convince us this is anything but an unmitigated disaster for the program we will speak up...you do not lose a HOF coach like Kim and not have a let down...once again nothing to do with CNC and how I will root for her and the players but it will take a fricking miracle to stay at our expected level long term.
IowaBear
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Just ignore AP he's a certified hypocrite. Anyone who reads these boards on the regular and says otherwise is just kissing his ass. He's not even worth a response. Most have fought onto his shenanigans
Eball
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IowaBear said:

Just ignore AP he's a certified hypocrite. Anyone who reads these boards on the regular and says otherwise is just kissing his ass. He's not even worth a response. Most have fought onto his shenanigans
It kills me to see all these so called BU fans acting like a bunch of Aggie fans when a kid we really wanted turns us down...then they say we never offered and she really is not that good and she did not fit our system...give me a break this was a legacy kid extremely talented and skilled and we missed because we let Kim walk. Not CNC's fault but there just is no way to sugar coat it and to act like somehow it was our decision to walk away from her is Aggie time all the way....
jumpinjoe
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IowaBear said:

Just ignore AP he's a certified hypocrite. Anyone who reads these boards on the regular and says otherwise is just kissing his ass. He's not even worth a response. Most have fought onto his shenanigans


Don't know AP or Eball and never will, but they are racking up the "stars" on their post and you are not. I've been on these boards for 20 years, and you sir will not tell me who to like or not like.
Joined BaylorFans in 1999 under username jumpinjoe. Have always been Jumpinjoe. Proud 4 Year Baylor letterman and 1968 graduate and charter member of Quartermiler U, produced school record in 400 IH.
IowaBear
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Actually I was responding to EBALL directly as AP has given in many issues over the last few months. Stars I don't give a hoot about stars (I actually get plenty) which tells me you really don't read the board closely. As far as telling you who to like and who not too. Feel free to form your own opinion pal no ones making you like someone. But MOST who read here see AP as a poster who talks down to every poster and is arrogant as they come. Those are just facts take em for what they are
IowaBear
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Also go read post 2 from Chorne started you'll find your stars. You're just proving you don't actually read through these threads.
Adriacus Peratuun
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jumpinjoe said:

IowaBear said:

Just ignore AP he's a certified hypocrite. Anyone who reads these boards on the regular and says otherwise is just kissing his ass. He's not even worth a response. Most have fought onto his shenanigans


Don't know AP or Eball and never will, but they are racking up the "stars" on their post and you are not. I've been on these boards for 20 years, and you sir will not tell me who to like or not like.
Unfortunately there are a handful of loyalists to the former staff who don't believe that folks are allowed to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions. They see their own opinions as facts but you aren't allowed to form your own opinions. Fortunately, the Ignore button works well and mostly eliminates the bother of seeing the nonsense.
Eball
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Adriacus Peratuun said:

jumpinjoe said:

IowaBear said:

Just ignore AP he's a certified hypocrite. Anyone who reads these boards on the regular and says otherwise is just kissing his ass. He's not even worth a response. Most have fought onto his shenanigans


Don't know AP or Eball and never will, but they are racking up the "stars" on their post and you are not. I've been on these boards for 20 years, and you sir will not tell me who to like or not like.
Unfortunately there are a handful of loyalists to the former staff who don't believe that folks are allowed to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions. They see their own opinions as facts but you aren't allowed to form your own opinions. Fortunately, the Ignore button works well and mostly eliminates the bother of seeing the nonsense.
And we have folks like you that refuse to listen to another opinion that does not agree with you...amazing that it is you who have me on ignore yet somehow you tell folks I am the intolerant one...
T-REX
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Can yall just wip out your dicks and measure them already? Man yall argue more than a democrate married to a republican.
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