Coaching staff considered the transfer market, but values team's continuity

[HooperScooper]

“It’s hard to put a value on our continuity, especially in today’s college basketball,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley. “It’s a real advantage to have your culture in place and a group of guys that were a part of a team that had a successful season.”

For those hoping for another high major game on the schedule:

Will UConn schedule another high-major opponent? Not too likely. The Big East should be strong this year, with Villanova, Xavier, St. John’s and possibly a Butler or a Providence challenging for NCAA tournament bids. Along with those non-league games against potentially five Top-25-type teams, that would seem to be enough for the Huskies to sprinkle the rest of their schedule with “buy” games (including, according to a source, a season-opener against Central Connecticut State).

UConn men’s coaching staff considered the transfer market, but values team’s continuity

David Borges touches on a number of items, including the Huskies’ roster, scheduling,...

www.ctinsider.com

 

[Umami Zen]

It is what it is.

 

[6xChamps]

Keep in mind the article says we’ll also likely play St Bonaventure which hasn’t been formally announced.

 

[Husky68]

Everybody likes big Josh! Hope he does great at Houston.

 

[Waquoit]

Hurley is right, if you preach team and continuity you need to practice it.

 

[CL82]

I think Seton Hall will be good this year as well. They are the anti-Hurley program in that they killed in the transfer portal picking up Richmond, Harris and Yetna.

 

[Brochacho]

Keep in mind the article says we’ll also likely play St Bonaventure which hasn’t been formally announced.

Wonder if he asked a source or if he’s just going off what I posted here from Reddit.

Also, UConn was/is definitely looking for a high major OOC game. They wanted a home game this year and then take a year off and return the game year 3. Not really attractive to other schools.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I might be the only person on this board who has zero problem that they didn't add any transfers.

We're entering the season with 12 players, all of which have real opportunities to play rotation minutes. The competition will be excellent for this team.

Purdue is another team that did not bring in any transfers. Matt Painter has a projected top-10 team and is rolling with his 11 scholarship players.

Hurley has shown time and time again that he is taking the long road to rebuilding this program back to a sustainable power.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Our roster is pretty strong, but "we thought about it, but we value continuity more" sounds an awful lot like "we tried, but struck out, and here's something we can say to feel better about it".

 

[Watchdog]

DH showed how much he values "culture" in several ways, among them the way he retained players some here felt needed to go when he took the job and the effort he's made to bring in speakers and programs for the players on life issues.

To reiterate my post in Friday's Denver Anglin thread:
"DH has filled in spots with a couple transfers but, based on what seems to be a "team first" approach, I wonder if he'd risk team chemistry bringing in someone who'd be the focal point for a year."

 

[Brochacho]

I might be the only person on this board who has zero problem that they didn't add any transfers.

I don't have any issue with not bringing in impact transfers but I hate that we have open scholarships. I'm sure there's plenty of low-major players who would be willing to transfer to a school like UConn to be a part of something bigger.

My thing is RJ Cole may bonk his head on the floor again or someone gets homesick and leaves or abducted by aliens then we could be in a tough spot roster wise. I thought we should have at least added to the end of the bench and grabbed a guy with a tight handle and a tall guy who at worst is 5 fouls in case anything goes crazy wrong.

 

[bendm]

Our roster is pretty strong, but "we thought about it, but we value continuity more" sounds an awful lot like "we tried, but struck out, and here's something we can say to feel better about it".

i'm curious to see if/when and under what circumstances our continuity wont be valued more than adding a transfer. we're bringing in 3 new guys this year and at least 4 next year. maybe hurley thinks that's too much turnover and he'd only consider adding a transfer if there's only room for 1 or 2 new guys to join the team in a given year...

I thought we should have at least added to the end of the bench and grabbed a guy with a tight handle and a tall guy who at worst is 5 fouls in case anything goes crazy wrong.

we only have 1 open spot (hurley wasnt going over 13) but i would have liked a grad transfer that can be 3rd string CG

 

[HuskyCLT]

The concept of not taking transfers becomes much easier when we get Polley & Whaley back for 5th years. Any other year that isn’t possible, and becomes a different discussion.

 

[navery12]

i'm curious to see if/when and under what circumstances our continuity wont be valued more than adding a transfer. we're bringing in 3 new guys this year and at least 4 next year. maybe hurley thinks that's too much turnover and he'd only consider adding a transfer if there's only room for 1 or 2 new guys to join the team in a given year...

we only have 1 open spot but i would have liked a grad transfer that can be 3rd string CG

Polley and Whaley don't count against the 13 so theoretically we could have added 3 more players, as long as the athletic department was willing to pay

 

[HooperScooper]

Polley and Whaley don't count against the 13 so theoretically we could have added 3 more players, as long as the athletic department was willing to pay

And if Hurley wanted 15 scholarship players on the roster next season. Which I'm sure he didn't.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

i'm curious to see if/when and under what circumstances our continuity wont be valued more than adding a transfer.

It'll happen when a spot is for the taking and the competition for that spot is not strong enough entering the season. Tyrese Martin is a perfect example of that: Andre Jackson was a raw incoming freshman, Polley has a limited skill set and Akok had recovery concerns.

This year, there's no obvious concern at any particular spot.

However, for 22-23, Whaley and Polley are gone while Cole and Martin might not use their extra year of eligibility. If that is the case, we have:

Guards: Diggins, Gaffney, Floyd
Wings: Hawkins, Jackson, Karaban?
Bigs: Sanogo, Clingan, Akok, Johnson, Springs

Looking at that projection, a starting caliber 2 guard would/could be a smart get.

 

[bendm]

However, for 22-23, Whaley and Polley are gone while Cole and Martin might not use their extra year of eligibility. If that is the case, we have:

Guards: Diggins, Gaffney, Floyd
Wings: Hawkins, Jackson, Karaban?
Bigs: Sanogo, Clingan, Akok, Johnson, Springs

Looking at that projection, a starting caliber 2 guard would/could be a smart get.

agreed, i'm on record saying if Cole doesnt come back (altho i'm assuming he will) then we need an immediate impact transfer instead of a 5th frosh. altho i think it would need to be a PG not a SG since we'll have hawkins (about to go pro) and aj (hopefully living up to expectations) starting at the 2 and 3 spots.

 

[Flahuskie]

Our roster is pretty strong, but "we thought about it, but we value continuity more" sounds an awful lot like "we tried, but struck out, and here's something we can say to feel better about it".

I didnt take that from what they said at all. I take Hurley at his word. It may sound to you like we struck out but not to others

 

[Brochacho]

I didnt take that from what they said at all. I take Hurley at his word. It may sound to you like we struck out but not to others

I don't think there was a single program that recruited Noah Locke harder than UConn/Hurley and there was a ton of interest in Richmond but that was settled as soon as he announced his transfer. I'm sure there are others that we went after hard and I'm forgetting. UConn 100% struck out in the transfer market and spun it as a positive.

 

[Flahuskie]

I don't think there was a single program that recruited Noah Locke harder than UConn/Hurley and there was a ton of interest in Richmond but that was settled as soon as he announced his transfer. I'm sure there are others that we went after hard and I'm forgetting. UConn 100% struck out in the transfer market and spun it as a positive.

And you know this how??

 

[bendm]

And you know this how??

our interest in locke and maybe* richmond was well documented

 

[CL82]

our interest in locke and richmond was well documented

The board had a lot of interest in Kadary, but did the staff?

 

[navery12]

The board had a lot of interest in Kadary, but did the staff?

I think this board has more interest in 95% of recruits/transfers than the staff

 

[Brochacho]

And you know this how??

Multiple zoom calls between staff and Locke, national recruiting analysts & the actual boneyard insiders said we were after him hard. Could be wrong but I think even a beat writer or two wrote about the interest. It was well documented.

 

[rip7774]

I think there's a reason we had a small staff shakeup. It's the whiff on the transfer market when we have ZERO shot creators and limited shooting in the program coming back. Hurley will get it fixed. This is a save face kind of stance type article.