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Cassie Harberts' recruiting roller coaster takes another turn
Glenn Nelson/ESPN.comCassie Harberts' recruiting roller-coaster may finally be over.Cassie Harberts, ranked No. 11 in the 2010 class by ESPN HoopGurlz, has changed her mind a second time. The 6-foot-2 senior from San Clemente, Calif., has de-committed from Arizona State University and has verbally committed to sign a National Letter of Intent with the Trojans of USC.
The recruiting process for Harberts has been nothing short of a roller coaster. She originally committed to USC last spring. Following the resignation of then-coach Mark Trakh and the departure of the rest of the coaching staff, she decided to re-open her recruitment.
"It's been a stressful situation for her, this recruiting process," said Dorothy Harberts, Cassie's mother.
When Harberts re-entered the prospect pool, her previous finalists, Arizona State and USC, were immediately in the fold, but she also considered Cal, Connecticut, and Oklahoma.
After making four official visits to her finalists, sans USC, she made her decision to commit to Arizona State. It was shortly after that the family noticed something was wrong; Cassie felt it all along.
"Even before I committed I still hid my feeling about USC to please everyone else," Cassie Harberts said. "I couldn't put my finger on it and then one weekend my mom brought it up."
"I could tell something was bothering her but I couldn't put my finger on it," Dorothy Harberts said. "She was relieved but I knew something was up. When she committed to USC the first time she was on cloud nine but this time she just seemed relieved."
Harberts said she felt pressure to go to Arizona State, mainly from her father and, to a lesser degree, her high school and club coaches.
"I kept hearing 'Oh, ASU is such a perfect fit basketball-wise,' " Harberts said.
Harberts' mother concurred that her daughter struggled talking with her father, and others, about her desire to go to USC.
"I support her but I don't understand what happened," said Russ Davis, her Cal Swish club team coach. "I was totally shocked and feel bad for (ASU coach) Charli (Turner-Thorne) who went through the process and thought she had a commitment."
In addition to Harberts, USC's 2010 recruiting class includes Desiree Bradley, a 6-1 wing from Oklahoma City, Okla.; Thaddesia Southall, a 6-4 forward from Long Beach, Calif., and Lauren White, a 6-4 post from Charlotte, N.C. Bradley and Southall are both ranked in the ESPN HoopGurlz Hundred at Nos. 35 and 99.
Like Harberts, Bradley initially committed elsewhere, to in-state program Oklahoma State, before deciding she jumped the gun on her commitment.
Recruiting Roller-Coaster
Cassie Harberts of San Clemente, Calif., ranked No. 11 in the 2010 class by ESPN HoopGurlz, committed three times in about seven months, twice to the same school.
• March 26: Harberts commits to USC
• April 8: Mark Trakh resigns as USC coach
• April 11: Harberts re-opens her recruitment
• May 1: USC hires Michael Cooper
• Oct. 5: Harberts commits to Arizona State
• Oct. 30: Harberts de-commits from ASU
• Oct. 30: Harberts re-commits to USC
Details: Harberts OTT Archive.
With two prospects in the USC staff's first recruiting class having committed to other schools initially, questions likely will be raised about recruiting tactics. The NCAA does not recognize verbal commitments and thus contacting a committed player is not a violation but the unwritten ethical rules of recruiting could come in to play. Dorothy Harberts vehemently denies any foul play by the USC staff.
"After Cassie committed to ASU the phone calls stopped," Dorothy Harberts said. "(USC) never contacted us."
Understanding the events that followed Trakh's resignation does bring some clarity to the uncertainty surrounding the USC program.
Michael Cooper was named the coach in the spring but due to his existing contract with the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks he wasn't able to start until this fall. The program was in the hands of associate head coach Ervin Monier until Cooper was able to take over on Oct. 1.
With no access to the head coach, USC was at a decided disadvantage. So Harberts committed to ASU, the program that was runner-up when she initially committed to USC last spring.
Last weekend, with some prodding from her mother, Cassie Harberts told her father that she wanted to give USC the chance she had been avoiding for fear of disappointing him and others. With Cooper on campus and practices underway, she wanted to see what was going on with the new Trojans.
Harberts said she contacted Monier to see if there even was a scholarship available. She said she then made the difficult phone call to Turner-Thorne to tell her she was having second thoughts and that she wanted to visit USC after all.
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Harberts made an unofficial visit to USC to watch practice and see what the new staff was about. On Friday she made her decision and had to call both coaching staffs again and let them know her intentions to sign with Southern California during the early signing period.
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Chris Hansen is the national director of prospects for ESPN HoopGurlz and covers girls' basketball and women's college basketball prospects nationally for ESPN.com. A graduate of the University of Washington with a communications degree, he has been involved in the women's basketball community since 1998 as a high school and club coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. Hansen can be reached at chris.hansen@espn3.com.
