On a week when letters take center stage, allow us to digress for a moment and tell you about some numbers.
One day before the first day of the early signing period, zero 2018 prospects have given verbal commitments to Connecticut. Baylor and Florida State, on the other end of the spectrum, have five apiece.
As such, it's safe to say that all eyes (note we're talking organs and still not letters) will be on No. 1 Christyn Williams and No. 5 Olivia Nelson-Ododa. They both have the ability to make or break a class. Williams says she's deciding between Connecticut and South Carolina, while Nelson-Ododa is trying to arrive at a decision among Connecticut, South Carolina, FSU, Duke or Georgia.
Now let's get to the letters! Twenty-six to be exact.
A: Andrea Aquino. It seems like a prospect who stands 6-foot-9 with agility and range is as good a place to start as any. Aquino, the No. 7 prospect in the nation, is expected to sign with Oregon State this week. The native of Paraguay will spend her senior season at Ribet Academy in Los Angeles before heading to Corvallis as the headliner in coach Scott Rueck's 2018 signing class.
B: Big 12, baby! Heading into signing week, the conference boasts the top two recruiting classes in the nation in Baylor and Texas. Kim Mulkey has a five-player class with five top-100 prospects. Karen Aston has a four-player class with three top-100 prospects. Oklahoma and West Virginia also have classes that crack the top 20.
C: Charli Collier is the headliner in Aston's class at Texas. The No. 2 prospect in the country originally committed to UConn but switched to the Longhorns in September. Now the 6-foot-5 post player out of Barbers Hill (Mont Belvieu, Texas) is looking forward to playing closer to home. She's also looking forward to thriving under Texas assistant Tina Thompson, the first draft pick in WNBA history, a four-time WNBA champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
D: DeCosta, Aquira DeCosta. It's a name basketball fans are going to hear a lot of. The 6-foot-2 wing is an athlete supreme and the headliner of Baylor's "Fab Five" class. DeCosta was named MVP after leading the United States to a gold medal at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup this summer in China. She also represented the United States in international competition in 2015 and 2016. As a junior at St. Mary's (Stockton, California), DeCosta averaged 18 points, 13 rebounds and four steals per game. Believe us when we say we could go on and on.
E: Emily Engstler is the top prospect coming out of New York, and she's staying in-state and heading to Syracuse. The 6-foot-2 wing had a quadruple-double last season at St. Francis Prep (Fresh Meadows, New York), so we can probably skip the part about her game oozing with versatility. We'll just say she averaged 19.0 points, 15.7 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 5.9 blocks per game as a junior and leave it at that.
F: Florida State. Fantastic. Fabulous. Phenomenal (close enough?). OK. Enough with the Fs. Florida State gets an A-plus-plus for its 2018 class. A five-player lineup with five top-100 recruits has a tendency to be judged that way. Roll call! No. 6 Izabella Nicoletti (cheer!), No. 35 Kourtney Weber (cheer!), No. 40 Valencia Myers (cheer!), No. 64 Morgan Jones (cheer!) and No. 82 Amaya Brown (cheer!).
G: Gamecocks. It will be champion meets champion when Destanni Henderson, the No. 1 point guard prospect in the 2018 class, signs with Dawn Staley and South Carolina this week. With explosive quickness, Henderson led Fort Myers to back-to-back Florida state titles as a sophomore and junior. She also won a bronze medal with USA Basketball at the 2016 U17 world championships and averaged a team-best 5.0 assists per game to go with 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds.
H: Hillsman. And here you were thinking we'd need to save Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman for "Q." With a class such as this, we couldn't wait. In addition to Engstler, the Orange are expecting a crop of international stars. Kadiatou Sissoko of France is listed as the No. 10 prospect in the 2018 class. She's a 6-foot-2 guard who combines size and quickness. Fellow French star Kenza Salgues, a 5-foot-9 guard, also is headed Hillsman's way. Taleah Washington, a point guard out of Maryland and a coach's daughter, is expected to sign.
I: Irish. Muffet McGraw has another top-10 class lined up at perennial power Notre Dame. Four players are expected to sign with the Irish this week, and all four are top-100 prospects. Katlyn Gilbert, a 5-foot-10 point guard at Heritage Christian (Indianapolis), is ranked 27th overall and will bring a smooth and athletic game to South Bend. Fellow point guard Jordan Nixon, ranked 59th, post player Danielle Cosgrove, ranked 67th, and guard Abby Prohaska, ranked 80th, round out the class.
J: Jeff Walz. The Louisville coach has a three-player class made up of three in-state prospects. Point guard Mykasa Robinson, who originally planned to follow big sister Alexis Robinson from Ashland to the University Colorado, is the headliner. She is ranked 29th in the class. Also heading to Louisville are Seygan Robins, ranked 38th, and Molly Lockhart.
K: Kim Barnes Arico. The Michigan coach is living large with a five-player class that includes four top-100 prospects. Point guard Amy Dilk, ranked 39th in the class, can do it all and has done it all since she started her first game freshman year at Carmel (Indiana). Post player Naz Hillmon, ranked 57th, led Gilmour to its first Ohio state title last season as a junior. Forward Emily Kiser, like Dilk an Indiana star, is ranked 86th. Ariel Young, a 6-foot guard out of Florida, is ranked 96th. Danielle Rauch, who already owns the career scoring record at her high school, Bishop Ludden in Syracuse, New York, rounds out the class.
L: Longhorns. We already told you about the majesty of Collier, the No. 2 prospect in the country who is headed Aston's way. But there's more to the Longhorns' class than just one off-the-charts star. Sedona Prince, a 6-foot-7 post player and the No. 12 prospect in the class, is expected to sign with Texas this week. She has skill to match her size. Guards Joanne Allen-Taylor, ranked 56th, and Audrey Warren round out the class.
M: Maryland is tops in the Big Ten and among the tops in the nation when it comes to its 2018 class. Shakira Austin, a 6-foot-5 forward who will spend her senior season at powerhouse Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Maryland) and the No. 3 prospect in the class, is a big reason for that. She's ultra-athletic and busy on both ends of the floor. Coach Brenda Frese also is expecting signatures from point guard Taylor Mikesell, the No. 32 prospect, and post player Olivia Owens, the No. 33 prospect.
N: Nikki McCray-Penson. Coming off a championship at South Carolina, the new head coach at Old Dominion has scored some wins on the recruiting trail. The biggest is Aziah Hudson, an athletic 5-foot-7 point guard out of New York ranked 83rd in the class. Speaking of championships, Amaya Register, another ODU recruit, knows all about those playing for Wesleyan in Georgia.
O: Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Somebody's class is going to get launched into the stratosphere this week. Nelson-Ododa remains undeclared. Will it be Duke, Georgia, Florida State, South Carolina or Connecticut? You can use words such as "6-foot-4" and "post" to describe her, but we prefer words such as charismatic and majestic. They suit her much better.
P: Plains. As in The Plains. As in Auburn, which, to steal a word from poet Oliver Goldsmith, has one of the "loveliest" classes in the land. Robyn Benton, a 5-foot-9 guard out of Georgia and the No. 17 overall prospect, is the headliner and the epitome of elite. Terri Williams-Flournoy also is expecting signatures from point guard Brooke Moore (ranked 41st in the class), Erin Howard and Natalie Kelly.
Q: Queen Egbo. The No. 15 prospect in the nation averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks last season as a junior at Travis (Richmond, Texas). When she gave a verbal commitment to Kim Mulkey last month, she said this: "The great people at Baylor will make me better." Scary.
R: Royalty. Speaking of Queen (Egbo), the 2018 class also has a (Sedona) Prince, who is headed to Texas, and a (Jahsyni) Knight, who is set to sign with Pitt. We're still seeking our first viscountess.
S: Smiths squared! We need a way to tip our hat to Arizona's class, and Semaj Smith, a 6-foot-5 post player ranked 52nd in the nation, and Shalyse Smith, a 6-foot-1 wing, seem like a good way in. But we can't tell you about them without telling you about Cate Reese, a 6-foot-2 forward and the No. 13 prospect who is the headliner of Adia Barnes' class. Reese was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April 2016 and has excelled before and after. "You only get one life to live," Reese said. "I'm grateful I can still play. I'm still here."
T: Twins! Let's start with Lexie Hull, the No. 16 prospect in the class, and Lacie Hull. They're expected to sign as part of Tara VanDerveer's highly regarded class at Stanford this week. The Emsbo twins of Colorado's Lakewood are going their separate ways. Camilla, the No. 34 prospect in the class, is headed to Yale. Kira has given a verbal to Princeton. Kyannah and Kyarrah Grant, stars at Choctaw Central in Mississippi, remain undeclared.
U: UConn. You know how fans are always trying to picture what women's college basketball would look like without its most dominant team? Well, here's a glimpse. Heading into the early signing period, not one recruit has announced that she intends to sign with Connecticut. But there are a couple of class-changing prospects who have yet to announce. No. 1 Christyn Williams (read more below) and No. 5 Olivia Nelson-Ododa (read more above) could turn everything upside-down. Time will tell.
V: Vanderbilt and coach Stephanie White are anticipating signatures from two top-tier Tennessee talents. But this is V, not T. Jordyn Cambridge is a 5-foot-8 point guard out of Nashville and the No. 23 prospect in the class. Cambridge can handle, distribute and hit the midrange jumper with the best of them. Brinae Alexander is a 5-foot-9 combo guard out of Murfreesboro and the No. 51 prospect in the class. Alexander applies pressure on defense and fills the stat sheet on offense.
W: Christyn Williams. She's No. 1, undeclared and down to Connecticut and South Carolina. She's announcing Friday. Enough said?
X: Xaria Wiggins has won three straight state titles at Virginia's Princess Anne. Now the No. 54 prospect is part of a four-player class heading to Mississippi State. Vic Schaefer, it seems, has apparently not run out of magic. In addition to Wiggins, Schaefer has verbal commitments from No. 48 Daphane White, a 6-foot-5 post player, Jessika Carter, a 6-foot-3 post player ranked 49th, and Brittany Davis, a 5-foot-8 guard.
Y: Yellow Jackets. It's a double dose of Elizabeths that has MaChelle Joseph feeling like a rambling wreck this week. Elizabeth Dixon, a 6-foot-3 forward and the No. 21 prospect in the class, and Elizabeth Balogun, a 6-foot wing ranked 25th, are both expected to sign with Georgia Tech. That's a whole lot of athleticism and skill just waiting to happen. Joseph also is expecting signatures from 6-foot-2 wing D'asia Gregg, 5-foot-10 guard Jasmine Carson and European point guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen.
Z: Zarielle Green arrives just in time to allow us to cast a spotlight on Tennessee's big-time class. Green, a 6-foot guard ranked 13th in the class, originally committed to Kansas, and her switcheroo to Tennessee ensures that Holly Warlick has a rousing encore to her top-ranked class from a year ago. Joining Green are point guard Jazmine Massengill and post player Amira Collins, two stars in their own right.
