On to next year

[HooperScooper]

Not many stars hit the transfer market. Even Purvis who was a 5* recruit.

I'd beg to differ on that. You can get impact transfers.

The impact of the transfer portal cannot go understated on the landscape across college basketball. In the 2021 off-season more than 1,700 players entered the transfer portal and with the releases of this season's all-conference teams, we see just how immensely rewarding the portal can be to those who dive in.

With the releases of the six basketball power conferences first-team selections, 13 of the 40 players selected were transfers.

13 transfers named to First-Team All-Conference among the power hoops conferences

The impact of the transfer portal cannot go understated on the landscape across college basketball. In the 2021 off-season more than 1,700 players entered the transfer portal

247sports.com

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I'd beg to differ on that. You can get impact transfers.

The impact of the transfer portal cannot go understated on the landscape across college basketball. In the 2021 off-season more than 1,700 players entered the transfer portal and with the releases of this season's all-conference teams, we see just how immensely rewarding the portal can be to those who dive in.

With the releases of the six basketball power conferences first-team selections, 13 of the 40 players selected were transfers.

13 transfers named to First-Team All-Conference among the power hoops conferences

The impact of the transfer portal cannot go understated on the landscape across college basketball. In the 2021 off-season more than 1,700 players entered the transfer portal

247sports.com

We just haven’t had great winning success is what makes me uncomfortable Hoop.

At the end of the day to me, you should take a transfer if you don’t have a talented body there. Getting another ball handler when we recruited guys like Gaffney, Diggins, and Floyd before giving them a real shot would be lazy coaching and bad for culture IMO. Why recruit these guys if you aren’t going to develop them and give them a real chance to lead.

I don’t see the purpose of us bringing in a transfer forward either with Johnson, Akok, and Karaban in the wings. We don’t lack talent and bodies. What does that say to recruits we want in the future too…

 

[rip7774]

Lasan. Kromah.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Lasan. Kromah.

Love Kromah. But we didn’t ask him to come in and be a star. We asked him to be a role player. Which I’m perfectly fine with. Guys are talking about going there looking for stars. Which has never worked for us and teams outside of Baylor when it comes to winning a National championship.

 

[JeffConn]

Just about all of the suggestions of transfers and expectations of guys making great leaps forward were made at this time last year. At this point I see no reason to assume that many or any of these things will happen. AJ had a year to work on his shot and that stroke will never be effective from 3. Coach had all year to bring in guys but told us he liked what he had already. Wishful thinking is great but until Coach indicates a change in approach there's really no reason to expect one.

Somewhere in another thread (I seem to have lost its thread location), folks were comparing the coaching career trajectories of Dan and brother Bob Hurley, noting that Bob had a few good years, then settled back into a mediocre state. Bobby is an accomplished college player (I say that, but I never really liked him given UConn's history with Duke.). He started coaching at Wagner as an assistant to younger brother Dan. I believe he may have gone on to be head coach at Buffalo and then got his big break at Arizona State, a PAC12 school. So he has an opportunity similar to Dan to achieve as a coach at the highest college coaching level.

I have been thinking about where the brothers have most learned about coaching. Probably from their father, Hall of Famer Bob Hurley who excelled at long-time high school powerhouse St. Anthony's in NJ. I've never watched any St. Anthony's games and I admittedly don't have any knowledge about Dad Hurley's coaching skills. But, I suspect that he built his record and reputation on having many of the best New Jersey high school players come and play for him from a commutable mile radius around his school. I recall a story about RJ Cole riding a bus or train daily for 45 minutes or so to get to St. Anthony's and play for Coach Bob Hurley Senior. So the father was probably a good recruiter and Dan most likely picked up some recruiting and many coaching skills by learning from his father. Because of a greater disparity in talent at the high school level, much more so than in college, the teams with the better players have a much higher probability of winning consistently. Already having the superior talent, a lot of high school coaches simply need to emphasize hard play to let their superior talent overcome and dominate opposing teams.

While the High-Major college game is also ruled by the teams with superior talent (as Jim Calhoun once indicated Coash Dean Smith confirmed to JC in a private conversation), there is more opportunity for a more knowledgeable, skilled, strategic-thinking and in-game adjusting head coach to have a positive impact. We've see that in games when UConn plays Villanova and Creighton.

Back when UConn was looking for a coach to replace Ollie, a lot of fans on the Boneyard were calling for Dan Hurley to be hired. He has a good performance history as a turnaround specialist at Mid-Major schools. So far, DH has done an excellent job re-establishing our team's winning culture and bringing higher rated recruits to UConn. But just as players must improve their overall game when they move on and play at a higher level, so too must coaches. The coaches must grow as well. DH is now competing at a higher level against teams that have highly skilled and accomplished coaches along with highly recruited players. The process of becoming a champion (at the league level and nationally) usually takes experience (with the pain of losing), learning and time for a head coach; otherwise Duke and Kentucky would win most years with their annual top recruiting classes. After the Dream Season, it took Calhoun 9 more years to climb the NCAA mountain. I believe Jay Wright's teams lost a lot of earlier round games (in 2014 to Shabaz and company!) in his process of figuring things out. As Calhoun did, I am hopeful that Coach Dan Hurley will continue to improve his coaching acumen and performance with UConn at the High-Major level.

 

[auror]

Somewhere in another thread (I seem to have lost its thread location), folks were comparing the coaching career trajectories of Dan and brother Bob Hurley, noting that Bob had a few good years, then settled back into a mediocre state. Bobby is an accomplished college player (I say that, but I never really liked him given UConn's history with Duke.). He started coaching at Wagner as an assistant to younger brother Dan. I believe he may have gone on to be head coach at Buffalo and then got his big break at Arizona State, a PAC12 school. So he has an opportunity similar to Dan to achieve as a coach at the highest college coaching level.

I have been thinking about where the brothers have most learned about coaching. Probably from their father, Hall of Famer Bob Hurley who excelled at long-time high school powerhouse St. Anthony's in NJ. I've never watched any St. Anthony's games and I admittedly don't have any knowledge about Dad Hurley's coaching skills. But, I suspect that he built his record and reputation on having many of the best New Jersey high school players come and play for him from a commutable mile radius around his school. I recall a story about RJ Cole riding a bus or train daily for 45 minutes or so to get to St. Anthony's and play for Coach Bob Hurley Senior. So the father was probably a good recruiter and Dan most likely picked up some recruiting and many coaching skills by learning from his father. Because of a greater disparity in talent at the high school level, much more so than in college, the teams with the better players have a much higher probability of winning consistently. Already having the superior talent, a lot of high school coaches simply need to emphasize hard play to let their superior talent overcome and dominate opposing teams.

While the High-Major college game is also ruled by the teams with superior talent (as Jim Calhoun once indicated Coash Dean Smith confirmed to JC in a private conversation), there is more opportunity for a more knowledgeable, skilled, strategic-thinking and in-game adjusting head coach to have a positive impact. We've see that in games when UConn plays Villanova and Creighton.

Back when UConn was looking for a coach to replace Ollie, a lot of fans on the Boneyard were calling for Dan Hurley to be hired. He has a good performance history as a turnaround specialist at Mid-Major schools. So far, DH has done an excellent job re-establishing our team's winning culture and bringing higher rated recruits to UConn. But just as players must improve their overall game when they move on and play at a higher level, so too must coaches. The coaches must grow as well. DH is now competing at a higher level against teams that have highly skilled and accomplished coaches along with highly recruited players. The process of becoming a champion (at the league level and nationally) usually takes experience (with the pain of losing), learning and time for a head coach; otherwise Duke and Kentucky would win most years with their annual top recruiting classes. After the Dream Season, it took Calhoun 9 more years to climb the NCAA mountain. I believe Jay Wright's teams lost a lot of earlier round games (in 2014 to Shabaz and company!) in his process of figuring things out. As Calhoun did, I am hopeful that Coach Dan Hurley will continue to improve his coaching acumen and performance with UConn at the High-Major level.

I agree with most of this. I also think we're underrating DH's flexibility in general. Our offense was wildly different this year than it was last year. We ran a lot of sets designed to get Sanogo into spots where he could freely post up without having to just dislodge an entrenched defender. We often made his life pretty easy. These weren't in our offense previously. I expect we'll have some interesting things to use Jackson's strengths next year.

So a fair analysis is that he's adjustable and flexible between seasons to maximize our talent, but could use more work being dynamic and creative during games.

 

[NH Husky]

Next year?
Our weakness was opponents doubling down on Adama and taking him out of the game via fouls, frustration, or better talent. And, putting a glue guy on RJ. They’d let the other guys go off.

Work both Clingan and Johnson’s butts off in the off season so they can either plug in for or compliment Adama as needed.

Find a “Doron Sheffer” under-the-radar ball handler from HS, transfer, or another country to hopefully run offense alongside a returning Cole.

Give more playing time for other talent to role develop.

Not sure scholarship count but seems doable.

 

[Giddyup5]

I agree with most of this. I also think we're underrating DH's flexibility in general. Our offense was wildly different this year than it was last year. We ran a lot of sets designed to get Sanogo into spots where he could freely post up without having to just dislodge an entrenched defender. We often made his life pretty easy. These weren't in our offense previously. I expect we'll have some interesting things to use Jackson's strengths next year.

So a fair analysis is that he's adjustable and flexible between seasons to maximize our talent, but could use more work being dynamic and creative during games.

Im curious to your opinion on his flexibility regarding his defensive schemes.

I mentioned in another thread that this past year was the perfect year to have additional schemes to mix and match against opponents. Cole, Whaley, and Martin knew the defensive concepts really well already. Sanogo, Jackson, polley, Gaffney did too. A more consistently practiced zone would have helped. Or handling ball screens differently.

Next year is opposite. Assuming transfers only 2-3 players know the defense well and he will spend all year getting everyone else up to speed on the hard hedge.

 

[navery12]

Im curious to your opinion on his flexibility regarding his defensive schemes.

I mentioned in another thread that this past year was the perfect year to have additional schemes to mix and match against opponents. Cole, Whaley, and Martin knew the defensive concepts really well already. Sanogo, Jackson, polley, Gaffney did too. A more consistently practiced zone would have helped. Or handling ball screens differently.

Next year is opposite. Assuming transfers only 2-3 players know the defense well and he will spend all year getting everyone else up to speed on the hard hedge.

I saw you post this the last time and have a hard time understanding the 2nd part. I do agree that this year's team was in a unique position in returning a ton of players where we could have implemented some different concepts. But I don't see how next year is that different.

Diggins, Floyd, Johnson, Karaban are all expected to be rotation players and have all been in practice all year (or half a year in Karaban's case). Sanogo, Hawkins, Jackson are all back as starters presumably. So that's still 7 players who have experience with this defensive system, 9 if Gaffney and Akok are back and in the rotation as well

 

[Giddyup5]

I saw you post this the last time and have a hard time understanding the 2nd part. I do agree that this year's team was in a unique position in returning a ton of players where we could have implemented some different concepts. But I don't see how next year is that different.

Diggins, Floyd, Johnson, Karaban are all expected to be rotation players and have all been in practice all year (or half a year in Karaban's case). Sanogo, Hawkins, Jackson are all back as starters presumably. So that's still 7 players who have experience with this defensive system, 9 if Gaffney and Akok are back and in the rotation as well

Fair point.

We know for the hard hedge to work effectively you need the right personnel and incredible communication.

Of our 8 rotational players we had the reigning defensive player of the year, Martin and Cole who schematically rarely made mistakes. Jackson a defensive freak. Polley who struggled on occasion but rarely was out of position in terms of team defense. Sanogo who improved rapidly. Gaffney who has played in every game since he stepped foot on campus. Hurley had to only integrate Hawkins. Akok missed key rotations and we saw what happened.

I get that Floyd, Karaban, Johnson, and Diggins practiced with the team, but that is obviously different than playing. We will have to integrate any transfers that come in. Donovan.

In summary, we had an experienced laden team that could have absorbed more defensive complexity to handle different in game situations if our staff recognized their opportunity.

Next year we will be spending all year just getting our base defense up to speed. Now, 2023/24 we will likely be returning an experienced group again and hopefully learned from this experience.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Somewhere in another thread (I seem to have lost its thread location), folks were comparing the coaching career trajectories of Dan and brother Bob Hurley, noting that Bob had a few good years, then settled back into a mediocre state. Bobby is an accomplished college player (I say that, but I never really liked him given UConn's history with Duke.). He started coaching at Wagner as an assistant to younger brother Dan. I believe he may have gone on to be head coach at Buffalo and then got his big break at Arizona State, a PAC12 school. So he has an opportunity similar to Dan to achieve as a coach at the highest college coaching level.

I have been thinking about where the brothers have most learned about coaching. Probably from their father, Hall of Famer Bob Hurley who excelled at long-time high school powerhouse St. Anthony's in NJ. I've never watched any St. Anthony's games and I admittedly don't have any knowledge about Dad Hurley's coaching skills. But, I suspect that he built his record and reputation on having many of the best New Jersey high school players come and play for him from a commutable mile radius around his school. I recall a story about RJ Cole riding a bus or train daily for 45 minutes or so to get to St. Anthony's and play for Coach Bob Hurley Senior. So the father was probably a good recruiter and Dan most likely picked up some recruiting and many coaching skills by learning from his father. Because of a greater disparity in talent at the high school level, much more so than in college, the teams with the better players have a much higher probability of winning consistently. Already having the superior talent, a lot of high school coaches simply need to emphasize hard play to let their superior talent overcome and dominate opposing teams.

While the High-Major college game is also ruled by the teams with superior talent (as Jim Calhoun once indicated Coash Dean Smith confirmed to JC in a private conversation), there is more opportunity for a more knowledgeable, skilled, strategic-thinking and in-game adjusting head coach to have a positive impact. We've see that in games when UConn plays Villanova and Creighton.

Back when UConn was looking for a coach to replace Ollie, a lot of fans on the Boneyard were calling for Dan Hurley to be hired. He has a good performance history as a turnaround specialist at Mid-Major schools. So far, DH has done an excellent job re-establishing our team's winning culture and bringing higher rated recruits to UConn. But just as players must improve their overall game when they move on and play at a higher level, so too must coaches. The coaches must grow as well. DH is now competing at a higher level against teams that have highly skilled and accomplished coaches along with highly recruited players. The process of becoming a champion (at the league level and nationally) usually takes experience (with the pain of losing), learning and time for a head coach; otherwise Duke and Kentucky would win most years with their annual top recruiting classes. After the Dream Season, it took Calhoun 9 more years to climb the NCAA mountain. I believe Jay Wright's teams lost a lot of earlier round games (in 2014 to Shabaz and company!) in his process of figuring things out. As Calhoun did, I am hopeful that Coach Dan Hurley will continue to improve his coaching acumen and performance with UConn at the High-Major level.

A fair overall point. Nevertheless, Bob Hurley Sr has been the subject of and written multiple books (I read the Miracle of St A's a long time ago), continues to coach clinics and his success at St Anthony's should not be viewed from afar or over-simplified. The basketball philosophy was not get the best athletes and roll the balls out, it was more that out-working the competition can forge the good players into the best players.
Or for example on the bright side of analogies one could surmise the tenuous or transitory nature of St A's created a need for program building, infrastructure, support, a coaching team vs just a head coach. If he learned these lessons from his father all of that has and can continue and should help Dan Hurley.
So if we conclude Dan Hurley has to work harder and build a more complete program, its reasonable to project that given his background he has the mentality to embrace and accomplish that.

 

[August_West]

After the Dream Season, it took Calhoun 9 more years to climb the NCAA mountain.

In between the time of the Dream season that the 99 "mountain" you speak of Calhoun had a tourney record (91-98) of 13-6 and no first round losses.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Cupboard is pretty bare next year. We will have work to do in the portal.

You're so negative. Every single player on the roster except Springs is a 4* recruit. And all but Gaffney and Springs are top 100. The overall talent is improved. Just lacks experience. It should be a fun team to watch develop. Could flop. Could be fantastic.

 

[Storrs South]

TL;DR a lot of talent leaving conference and NCAA next season so while UConn is losing some guys, still think top 4 finish in league is likely, top 3 very possible too and tourney bid. Beyond that who knows.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big East and all of college basketball is going to lose a lot of talent as 5th year guys depart. For UConn, I think this team is well positioned to once again have a top 3 finish. Going team by team:

1. Providence - Loses Al Durham, Nate Watson, and likely Horchler. 3 starters. Possibly Minaya too since he's been at this for 5 years already as well. Four starters. Even Reeves and Croswell may call it quits after 4 years. Pretty self explanatory. Bynum may come back having only played 3 years and I think technically has 2 years of eligibility left due to RS and COVID year but pretty empty cupboard after that. Couple 3 stars in 2022 recruiting class so unlikely to be instant impact. Going to have to heavily leverage portal to remain in top half of Big East. For now starting 5 is like Bynum, Breed, Reeves, Minaya, Croswell.
2. Villanova - Loses Gillespie and Samuels. I don't doubt they have as good replacements behind them, those are two foundational pieces of their lineup. They will still be very good because it's Jay Wright and favorites to win conference again but team will definitely not be as good as this year. Top recruiting class coming in for next year (5 star, couple 4s). Probably a starting 5 of like Caleb Daniels, Brandon Slater, Chris Arcidiacano, Justin Moore, and Eric Dixon
3. UConn - Loses Whaley, Polley for sure, likely Cole and Martin. Returns two starters in Andre and Sango plus rotation players Gaffney, Hawkins, and Akok. Having Karaban and Corey in building for most of year already helps in terms of development but will likely need to go to portal for 1-2 guys if Cole and Martin do move on. Guess starting 5 is Gaffney, Andre, Hawkins, Akok, Sanogo.
4. Creighton - this is the only team that really isn't losing anything and should be considered preseason #2 in conference. I'd expect they only lose O'Connell. Some critical pieces did get injured at end of season so that may impact them slightly but they are poised for a great 2022-23. Same starting 5 this year as last year except swap out O'Connell.
5. Seton Hall - Lost HC Willard, likely to be replaced by Holloway. Losing Myles Cale and Bryce Aiken. I think Holloway can keep the rest of the core back for another year, ceiling won't be exceptionally high but I think they will remain top half Big East team, and prime to crack top 3. Starting 5 of Kadary, Tray Jackson, Rhoden, Yetna, and Ike.
6. Marquette - losing Morsell and Kuath and possibly Justin Lewis. That's a good chunk of their scoring and minutes that will need to be replaced. Shaka is a good coach but will be a fight to remain top half of league. Starting 5 of like Kolek, Elliot, Igohodaro, Kam Jones, and like Max-Prosper or something.
7. Xavier - Losing Scruggs and Johnson. Xavier fans may contest Scruggs leaving is addition by subtraction after the step back he took this year. Freemantle and Nunge are both good players but it seemed clear they create similar issues Sanogo and Whaley created together which is it ruins spacing. Not sure if there is a way to fix given their skillsets. They have a lot of decent players and on paper have horses to get to top 4 in league. Starting 5 of Nunge, Odom, Jones, Freemantle, Nunge.
8. St. John's - losing Stef Smith, Coburn, and likely Champagnie. Coach was rumored to be leaving, fans want Anderson gone after winning COY in BE last year. Roster retention will be something to watch this offseason. Posh and Wheeler are players but after that the cupboard is bare. Starting 5 Posh, Wheeler, Mathis, Addae Wussu, and Soriano
9. DePaul - Only slated to lose Brandon Johnson. No idea if Freeman-Liberty goes pro or transfers or whatever, but DePaul could legit be a top 6 team in league next year. Partly because of roster retention and how they played this year, partly because league is taking a step back. same starting lineup just swap out Johnson.
10. Butler - losing everyone, and I mean everyone. it is going to be baaaadd for them next year. Only commit for 2022. They will be competing with Georgetown for the bottom. I have no earthly idea what their starting 5 will look like, it's going to be bad.
11. Georgetown - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Prior to knowing transfers and who's going pro, making some reasonable assumptions I think it shakes out for next year as follows for 2022-2023 in standings:

1. Villanova
2. Creighton
3. UConn
4. Seton Hall
------- (estimated NCAA at-large bid cut line)
5. Xavier
6. Providence
7. DePaul
8. Marquette
9. St. John's
------ (seismic gap in team quality)
.
.
.
10. Butler
11. Georgetown

 

[JMick]

TL;DR a lot of talent leaving conference and NCAA next season so while UConn is losing some guys, still think top 4 finish in league is likely, top 3 very possible too and tourney bid. Beyond that who knows.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big East and all of college basketball is going to lose a lot of talent as 5th year guys depart. For UConn, I think this team is well positioned to once again have a top 3 finish. Going team by team:

1. Providence - Loses Al Durham, Nate Watson, and likely Horchler. 3 starters. Possibly Minaya too since he's been at this for 5 years already as well. Four starters. Even Reeves and Croswell may call it quits after 4 years. Pretty self explanatory. Bynum may come back having only played 3 years and I think technically has 2 years of eligibility left due to RS and COVID year but pretty empty cupboard after that. Couple 3 stars in 2022 recruiting class so unlikely to be instant impact. Going to have to heavily leverage portal to remain in top half of Big East. For now starting 5 is like Bynum, Breed, Reeves, Minaya, Croswell.
2. Villanova - Loses Gillespie and Samuels. I don't doubt they have as good replacements behind them, those are two foundational pieces of their lineup. They will still be very good because it's Jay Wright and favorites to win conference again but team will definitely not be as good as this year. Top recruiting class coming in for next year (5 star, couple 4s). Probably a starting 5 of like Caleb Daniels, Brandon Slater, Chris Arcidiacano, Justin Moore, and Eric Dixon
3. UConn - Loses Whaley, Polley for sure, likely Cole and Martin. Returns two starters in Andre and Sango plus rotation players Gaffney, Hawkins, and Akok. Having Karaban and Corey in building for most of year already helps in terms of development but will likely need to go to portal for 1-2 guys if Cole and Martin do move on. Guess starting 5 is Gaffney, Andre, Hawkins, Akok, Sanogo.
4. Creighton - this is the only team that really isn't losing anything and should be considered preseason #2 in conference. I'd expect they only lose O'Connell. Some critical pieces did get injured at end of season so that may impact them slightly but they are poised for a great 2022-23. Same starting 5 this year as last year except swap out O'Connell.
5. Seton Hall - Lost HC Willard, likely to be replaced by Holloway. Losing Myles Cale and Bryce Aiken. I think Holloway can keep the rest of the core back for another year, ceiling won't be exceptionally high but I think they will remain top half Big East team, and prime to crack top 3. Starting 5 of Kadary, Tray Jackson, Rhoden, Yetna, and Ike.
6. Marquette - losing Morsell and Kuath and possibly Justin Lewis. That's a good chunk of their scoring and minutes that will need to be replaced. Shaka is a good coach but will be a fight to remain top half of league. Starting 5 of like Kolek, Elliot, Igohodaro, Kam Jones, and like Max-Prosper or something.
7. Xavier - Losing Scruggs and Johnson. Xavier fans may contest Scruggs leaving is addition by subtraction after the step back he took this year. Freemantle and Nunge are both good players but it seemed clear they create similar issues Sanogo and Whaley created together which is it ruins spacing. Not sure if there is a way to fix given their skillsets. They have a lot of decent players and on paper have horses to get to top 4 in league. Starting 5 of Nunge, Odom, Jones, Freemantle, Nunge.
8. St. John's - losing Stef Smith, Coburn, and likely Champagnie. Coach was rumored to be leaving, fans want Anderson gone after winning COY in BE last year. Roster retention will be something to watch this offseason. Posh and Wheeler are players but after that the cupboard is bare. Starting 5 Posh, Wheeler, Mathis, Addae Wussu, and Soriano
9. DePaul - Only slated to lose Brandon Johnson. No idea if Freeman-Liberty goes pro or transfers or whatever, but DePaul could legit be a top 6 team in league next year. Partly because of roster retention and how they played this year, partly because league is taking a step back. same starting lineup just swap out Johnson.
10. Butler - losing everyone, and I mean everyone. it is going to be baaaadd for them next year. Only commit for 2022. They will be competing with Georgetown for the bottom. I have no earthly idea what their starting 5 will look like, it's going to be bad.
11. Georgetown - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Prior to knowing transfers and who's going pro, making some reasonable assumptions I think it shakes out for next year as follows for 2022-2023 in standings:

1. Villanova
2. Creighton
3. UConn
4. Seton Hall
------- (estimated NCAA at-large bid cut line)
5. Xavier
6. Providence
7. DePaul
8. Marquette
9. St. John's
------ (seismic gap in team quality)
.
.
.
10. Butler
11. Georgetown

If that's our starting five we will be lucky to finish in the top half of the conference.

 

[Alum86]

So what are chances Clingan can take Sanogo's minutes? At 7'2" he seems to be able to finish at the rim. I see a lot of dunks, rather than missed one foot put backs.

100%. The bunnies we missed…..uggh

 

[PlayItLeo]

I don't understand the notion that Gaffney still needs to develop, or that he should start next year. The Gaffney experiment is over at this point, and while I'll always root for him because he's a Husky, his regression this year is not going to be magically reversed in the next 7 months.

If I'm him, I'd consider transferring because I think this program is a skill-and-tempo mismatch for his style of play. If I'm wrong, I'll wear it but idk many junior point guards who mimicked their freshman year offensive stats while having their minutes almost cut in half. In his defense, he did improve his A/TO but that's about it.

 

[auror]

TL;DR a lot of talent leaving conference and NCAA next season so while UConn is losing some guys, still think top 4 finish in league is likely, top 3 very possible too and tourney bid. Beyond that who knows.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big East and all of college basketball is going to lose a lot of talent as 5th year guys depart. For UConn, I think this team is well positioned to once again have a top 3 finish. Going team by team:

1. Providence - Loses Al Durham, Nate Watson, and likely Horchler. 3 starters. Possibly Minaya too since he's been at this for 5 years already as well. Four starters. Even Reeves and Croswell may call it quits after 4 years. Pretty self explanatory. Bynum may come back having only played 3 years and I think technically has 2 years of eligibility left due to RS and COVID year but pretty empty cupboard after that. Couple 3 stars in 2022 recruiting class so unlikely to be instant impact. Going to have to heavily leverage portal to remain in top half of Big East. For now starting 5 is like Bynum, Breed, Reeves, Minaya, Croswell.
2. Villanova - Loses Gillespie and Samuels. I don't doubt they have as good replacements behind them, those are two foundational pieces of their lineup. They will still be very good because it's Jay Wright and favorites to win conference again but team will definitely not be as good as this year. Top recruiting class coming in for next year (5 star, couple 4s). Probably a starting 5 of like Caleb Daniels, Brandon Slater, Chris Arcidiacano, Justin Moore, and Eric Dixon
3. UConn - Loses Whaley, Polley for sure, likely Cole and Martin. Returns two starters in Andre and Sango plus rotation players Gaffney, Hawkins, and Akok. Having Karaban and Corey in building for most of year already helps in terms of development but will likely need to go to portal for 1-2 guys if Cole and Martin do move on. Guess starting 5 is Gaffney, Andre, Hawkins, Akok, Sanogo.
4. Creighton - this is the only team that really isn't losing anything and should be considered preseason #2 in conference. I'd expect they only lose O'Connell. Some critical pieces did get injured at end of season so that may impact them slightly but they are poised for a great 2022-23. Same starting 5 this year as last year except swap out O'Connell.
5. Seton Hall - Lost HC Willard, likely to be replaced by Holloway. Losing Myles Cale and Bryce Aiken. I think Holloway can keep the rest of the core back for another year, ceiling won't be exceptionally high but I think they will remain top half Big East team, and prime to crack top 3. Starting 5 of Kadary, Tray Jackson, Rhoden, Yetna, and Ike.
6. Marquette - losing Morsell and Kuath and possibly Justin Lewis. That's a good chunk of their scoring and minutes that will need to be replaced. Shaka is a good coach but will be a fight to remain top half of league. Starting 5 of like Kolek, Elliot, Igohodaro, Kam Jones, and like Max-Prosper or something.
7. Xavier - Losing Scruggs and Johnson. Xavier fans may contest Scruggs leaving is addition by subtraction after the step back he took this year. Freemantle and Nunge are both good players but it seemed clear they create similar issues Sanogo and Whaley created together which is it ruins spacing. Not sure if there is a way to fix given their skillsets. They have a lot of decent players and on paper have horses to get to top 4 in league. Starting 5 of Nunge, Odom, Jones, Freemantle, Nunge.
8. St. John's - losing Stef Smith, Coburn, and likely Champagnie. Coach was rumored to be leaving, fans want Anderson gone after winning COY in BE last year. Roster retention will be something to watch this offseason. Posh and Wheeler are players but after that the cupboard is bare. Starting 5 Posh, Wheeler, Mathis, Addae Wussu, and Soriano
9. DePaul - Only slated to lose Brandon Johnson. No idea if Freeman-Liberty goes pro or transfers or whatever, but DePaul could legit be a top 6 team in league next year. Partly because of roster retention and how they played this year, partly because league is taking a step back. same starting lineup just swap out Johnson.
10. Butler - losing everyone, and I mean everyone. it is going to be baaaadd for them next year. Only commit for 2022. They will be competing with Georgetown for the bottom. I have no earthly idea what their starting 5 will look like, it's going to be bad.
11. Georgetown - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Prior to knowing transfers and who's going pro, making some reasonable assumptions I think it shakes out for next year as follows for 2022-2023 in standings:

1. Villanova
2. Creighton
3. UConn
4. Seton Hall
------- (estimated NCAA at-large bid cut line)
5. Xavier
6. Providence
7. DePaul
8. Marquette
9. St. John's
------ (seismic gap in team quality)
.
.
.
10. Butler
11. Georgetown

There's going to be a record number of "can't believe X is still at Y" situations with the COVID year, but I can't believe Justin Moore has 2 full years of eligibility left. Groan. (Although people will definitely be saying that about Sanogo if he stays all 5 years, lol, unlikely as that may be). We'll see if they can finally get anything out of Patterson and how good Longino will be. You know those freshman ain't playing much.

Creighton has had Mason Miller redshirting, so he should be relatively plug and play in O'Connell's spot. Probably an upgrade. Definitely have to see the lingering injuries, but McDermott tweeted that Kalkbrenner was only a 2-3 month injury and Nembhard should only be a few months with wrist also. I expect both to be 100% by start of the season. You didn't mention that Hawkins is done, though, he used his COVID year at Creighton as his only D1 year. Have to see if Kaluma stays, but otherwise I think they'll be the preseason favorites to win the league if they get anyone decent to fill that 2nd missing starter spot (or if they play Nembhard/Alexander side by side).

I think Addae Wusu may take a step forard this year for St. John's. I've liked his game for the last 2 years. Champagnie will be addition by subtraction, he was terrible in Big East play. 1st Team selection was a joke. They probably need to add another shooter.

Wonder if Sean Miller hits the transfer portal hard at Xavier or goes for recruits. Curious to see if both Nunge and Freemantle return. I think as long as they get one back they'll be happy.

 

[UCfor3]

In between the time of the Dream season that the 99 "mountain" you speak of Calhoun had a tourney record (91-98) of 13-6 and no first round losses.

Well, he was JC. He also had Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton and El-Amin during that time period. The program was humming(ranked #1 several times and had better seeds most of the time). The Big East was even different then. Better and more prestigous. Hurley has done a good job recruiting but has yet to land a program changing player like any of the four listed above. Maybe Castle can be that guy eventually. The record is great but JC took some flak for disappointing exits against Florida and Miss St so it wasn't all roses for him despite the good tourney record.

 

[August_West]

Well, he was JC. He also had Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton and El-Amin during that time period. The program was humming(ranked #1 several times and had better seeds most of the time). The Big East was even different then. Better and more prestigous. Hurley has done a good job recruiting but has yet to land a program changing player like any of the four listed above. Maybe Castle can be that guy eventually. The record is great but JC took some flak for disappointing exits against Florida and Miss St so it wasn't all roses for him despite the good tourney record.

They were disappointing exits for sure. But people here cant use JC "climbing the mountain" as an analogy of 2 first round higher seed exists. Thats my point

 

[Kenny11]

There are two things we should be confident in knowing.
1. Sanogo and Jackson are going to make improvements. Hurley has mentioned several times that those are the two hardest working guys on the team and they both made a nice jump from freshman to sophomore year. Sanogo is already a first team big east player. He could be the conference player of the year next season. Jackson is likely to be on one of the all big east teams.
2. Hawkins is going to be good. He has a lot to work on but that jumper is pure, hes a good athlete, he really caresm and he will be looked to for buckets.


Everything else is completely unknown for the most part. I think we will know a lot more about the actual roster in the next few weeks.

 

[AntG168]

There are two things we should be confident in knowing.
1. Sanogo and Jackson are going to make improvements. Hurley has mentioned several times that those are the two hardest working guys on the team and they both made a nice jump from freshman to sophomore year. Sanogo is already a first team big east player. He could be the conference player of the year next season. Jackson is likely to be on one of the all big east teams.
2. Hawkins is going to be good. He has a lot to work on but that jumper is pure, hes a good athlete, he really caresm and he will be looked to for buckets.


Everything else is completely unknown for the most part. I think we will know a lot more about the actual roster in the next few weeks.

Which is why we need to address our backcourt/shooting concerns with proven guys. We could be so good

 

[Storrs South]

You didn't mention that Hawkins is done, though, he used his COVID year at Creighton as his only D1 year. Have to see if Kaluma stays, but otherwise I think they'll be the preseason favorites to win the league if they get anyone decent to fill that 2nd missing starter spot (or if they play Nembhard/Alexander side by side).

Good catch forgot about Hawkins. Probably would not change my assessment of Creighton even though he is very good; only asserts Nova is once again the team to beat until something changes.

There is going to be an even bigger "middle class" this year imo.

There were 4-5 teams vying for top of the crop, I expect it to be 2-3 next season.

 

[JeffConn]

In between the time of the Dream season that the 99 "mountain" you speak of Calhoun had a tourney record (91-98) of 13-6 and no first round losses.

To have any creditability, this current generation of teams certainly needs to consistently get through the first round and, hopefully, beyond the Sweet 16.

 

[kansashusky]

You're so negative. Every single player on the roster except Springs is a 4* recruit. And all but Gaffney and Springs are top 100. The overall talent is improved. Just lacks experience. It should be a fun team to watch develop. Could flop. Could be fantastic.

I don’t care about stars. How many of those have produced? Hawkins Ajax and Sanogo and that’s the list. The two guards averaged less than 7 points per game.