- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,212,347
- Reaction score
- 59
One of the foundations of coach Heather Tarr's building of a dominant softball program over the last 20 years with the Washington Huskies has been talent acquisition.
Throughout her illustrious career as the winningest coach in school history, with an 882-352-1 record, Tarr has been able to acquire and develop high-end talent from all over the country, including current stars Alexis DeBoer, Jadyn Glab, Morgan Reiemer, and Giselle Alvarez.
However, as the Huskies have made the move to the Big Ten and Name, Image, and Likeness has become a bigger part of recruiting, the landscape has changed nationally. But that hasn't deterred Tarr, who has proven that she can still bring in high-end talent, which is headlined in her 2027 class by five-star pitcher Abby Ford.
"I pride myself on player development and our staff does as well, but at the end of the day, you're only as good as the players are," Tarr said on the Beyond the Batter's Box podcast. "I think it comes down to finding ultimately the best fit possible for your program, the time that they're in the program, taking risks that are calculated in the right way, and trying to find the best people."
With a class that is ranked No. 12 in the nation by Rivals, headlined by a trio of top 100 recruits, Tarr has continued to build her class through the high school ranks, but will continue to supplement the depth and talent on her roster through the transfer portal where she can.
"I think continuity and our program, our university, I believe it's not a transactional place," Tarr continued. "The University of Washington first and foremost, academically, it's not built to have necessarily like folks come in for a year and just leave for a year, like it's a top ten world university or top 15. So, it's kind of built differently in that way."
However, that isn't to say that Tarr and her staff haven't embraced the modern era of recruiting.
"For us, it's never been about transaction. Now, do we have to embrace that a little bit nowadays? Yes. the coming and going of players. Yes, we have to be able to compete at that level, but I think for us, a hybrid model of maybe acquiring a big piece as a transfer again, which we have done in years past."
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Heather Tarr breaks down Washington softball's recruiting strategy
Continue reading...
Throughout her illustrious career as the winningest coach in school history, with an 882-352-1 record, Tarr has been able to acquire and develop high-end talent from all over the country, including current stars Alexis DeBoer, Jadyn Glab, Morgan Reiemer, and Giselle Alvarez.
However, as the Huskies have made the move to the Big Ten and Name, Image, and Likeness has become a bigger part of recruiting, the landscape has changed nationally. But that hasn't deterred Tarr, who has proven that she can still bring in high-end talent, which is headlined in her 2027 class by five-star pitcher Abby Ford.
"I pride myself on player development and our staff does as well, but at the end of the day, you're only as good as the players are," Tarr said on the Beyond the Batter's Box podcast. "I think it comes down to finding ultimately the best fit possible for your program, the time that they're in the program, taking risks that are calculated in the right way, and trying to find the best people."
With a class that is ranked No. 12 in the nation by Rivals, headlined by a trio of top 100 recruits, Tarr has continued to build her class through the high school ranks, but will continue to supplement the depth and talent on her roster through the transfer portal where she can.
"I think continuity and our program, our university, I believe it's not a transactional place," Tarr continued. "The University of Washington first and foremost, academically, it's not built to have necessarily like folks come in for a year and just leave for a year, like it's a top ten world university or top 15. So, it's kind of built differently in that way."
However, that isn't to say that Tarr and her staff haven't embraced the modern era of recruiting.
"For us, it's never been about transaction. Now, do we have to embrace that a little bit nowadays? Yes. the coming and going of players. Yes, we have to be able to compete at that level, but I think for us, a hybrid model of maybe acquiring a big piece as a transfer again, which we have done in years past."
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Heather Tarr breaks down Washington softball's recruiting strategy
Continue reading...
