Pat Summitt added the No. 5 prospect in the country to a class that already included the nation's No. 1 guard, the No. 2 center and a four-star guard ranked 38th in the HoopGurlz Hot 100.
Concluding what she calls "the toughest week of my life," Vicki Baugh made a decision that she didn't fear.
She didn't fear packing up and leaving a place where women's basketball barely registered for a place where it meant everything.
In the end, Tennessee wasn't a scary choice. It was the only choice.
"I've always taken big steps," said Baugh, the No. 5 overall prospect in the HoopGurlz National Hot 100. "I'm not afraid to play far away. I'm not afraid of anything. I couldn't base a decision like this on how close or far away the school was going to be."
In a way, Baugh said, Tennesse actually was a safe choice. Now that Baugh's part of it, coach Pat Summitt's 2007 class essentially is a ready-made team. There's the 6-foot-4 Baugh, from Sacramento, Calif., at wing; Angie Bjorklund of Spokane, Wash., the No. 2 overall prospect and top-rated guard, at shooting guard; Kelly Cain of Atlanta, Ga., the No. 2 center in the country, in the post, and Sydney Smallbone of South Bend, Ind., the No. 38 overall prospect, possibly at the point.
With three five-star prospects and all four recruits ranked within HoopGurlz's top 38, the Volunteers certainly have the top signing class in 2007.
"Of all my choices, Tennessee was strongest because of the recruiting class," Baugh said. "The other schools were going to get recruits next year. It was hypothetical. This is known. There's no risk there."
There's also the possibility of playing with Candace Parker who, though just a sophomore, already is thought to be the women's game's next great player. There also has been talk that she could be the first women to leave school early and play in the WNBA.
"I've thought of everything that could possibly happen," Baugh said. "If she ends up going, I know it's because she's doing what's best for her and I'd support that. Going to Tennessee is what's best for me."
As clear a choice as Tennessee might seem now, the decision was difficult, Baugh said, with all five of her finalists in play. "I love all my finalists," she said. "I wish I could go to all five." She took official visits to each of the five and learned something different at each spot:
# Tennessee: "The coaching was totally different than I anticipated," Baugh said. "I thought it was going to be a lot tougher, but I found coach Summitt to be really down to earth."
# UCLA: "The thing I really noticed was how close the team was, even off the court," Baugh said. "It didn't seem like they were showboating it just for me. It was real."
# Oklahoma: "I got to see a practice there and I don't think they ever took a water break," Baugh said. "The whole time, they were running sprints. I loved it. I thought, 'That's my game.' "
# LSU: "Pokey (Chatman) is magnificent; I love her to death," Baugh said. "When I left, I didn't feel like I was just on a visit. I felt like I'd actually been going to school there."
# Cal:
"Cal was always one of my schools," Baugh said. "I wasn't going to take an official, but not because I liked it any less. It was because I'd already been and knew so much about the program. In the end, I decided to visit to let them know I was interested and show them as much respect as I showed the other schools."
Baugh confirmed that all five of her finalists recruited her to play the wing. Back at the beginning of the summer, her list was dozens of schools long and, she admits, "I was really mixed up and confused." She was able to whittle her list because some schools recruited her to play center.
"I x-ed them off first," Baugh said.
Baugh said her family helped her come up with a final five, then left her to make her own decision.
Which, difficult as it was, she was not afraid to do. And so she boldly went where many girls would not - far from home, away from a grandmother with whom she's lived all her life.
And to a place where she "really, really" wanted to play.
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