UConn still has four open scholarships for next season but likely won’t fill all of them.

[Get a Job]

All joking aside, weren't there like 1300 players in the portal just a few days ago? What happened?

 

[Billy Bob]

I am not seeing a top 20 starting lineup right now. Hawkins didn't play a lot of good minutes, Samson even fewer and not as PF. AJ still has to prove he can shoot and then we have 2 transfers we are banking on. We are going to miss Cole a lot. Castle needs to be here and produce right away.

 

[Jbirdp5]

And a useless transfer or Andrew Hurley coming off the bench as first guard. Love it.

I know your being a little sarcastic but you think their won’t be better talent here by the season?

 

[3rdbass]

All joking aside, weren't there like 1300 players in the portal just a few days ago? What happened?

Yeah what happened to the other 700 players?

 

[MrSec224]

I am not seeing a top 20 starting lineup right now. Hawkins didn't play a lot of good minutes, Samson even fewer and not as PF. AJ still has to prove he can shoot and then we have 2 transfers we are banking on. We are going to miss Cole a lot. Castle needs to be here and produce right away.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by Tristan Newton

 

[Rico444]

Yeah what happened to the other 700 players?

 

[CallMeBruce]

All joking aside, weren't there like 1300 players in the portal just a few days ago? What happened?

It was a typo. I meant to put 1600.

 

[bendm]

I am not seeing a top 20 starting lineup right now.

perhaps not but it's going to be preseason top 25 and we'll have the potential to be top 15-20 as the season goes.

 

[Matt1010]

I am not seeing a top 20 starting lineup right now. Hawkins didn't play a lot of good minutes, Samson even fewer and not as PF. AJ still has to prove he can shoot and then we have 2 transfers we are banking on. We are going to miss Cole a lot. Castle needs to be here and produce right away.

Hawkins is a big question mark but the consensus seems to be that he'll make a big jump.

Besides that we have a proven all conference PG who put up great numbers with almost zero help, a 3 year ACC starter/sharp shooter, an athletic freak leader who has first round draft capabilities, and a potential all american center.

 

[HooperScooper]

I don't really trust Jake Weingarten's information on UConn but fwiw he has something about UConn today.

How many more scholarships will UConn fill?

think as of now, Hurley and staff will take things a little slower. You’ve got to be happy with adding a dynamo in Tristen Newton and then shortly after, land Nahiem Alleyne out of Virginia Tech. I think that the staff is going to lock in on landing a stellar 2023 class and now that the portal is closed, they can continue to explore that side of things but they now know there won’t be any more surprises in the portal (at least for now).

They just recently extended an offer to Minnesota native and four-star 2023 prospect Taison Chatman. He’s a 6-foot-6, 180-pound guard, which fits the M.O of a Dan Hurley recruit. He holds offers from Kansas, Louisville, Iowa, Minnesota, and others, but the Huskies have jumped in over the last two weeks which is very interesting.

Oh, and Stephon Castle is amazing to UConn fans. That’s an excellent piece to have. He’s a high-level scorer, athlete, and defender, meaning yes, he does it all. I think starting your 2023 class with a guy who wants to keep building the culture and a guy who’s seen as one of the best at his position nationally, you’re doing something right.

Looking forward to seeing what’s next for UConn.

Jake's Nuggets: The Tale Of Two Bates, Matt McMahon, and UConn.

I answer your questions on the latest hot topics in the hoops world.

stockrisers.com

 

[Hungryhusky99]

I don't really trust Jake Weingarten's information on UConn but fwiw he has something about UConn today.

How many more scholarships will UConn fill?

think as of now, Hurley and staff will take things a little slower. You’ve got to be happy with adding a dynamo in Tristen Newton and then shortly after, land Nahiem Alleyne out of Virginia Tech. I think that the staff is going to lock in on landing a stellar 2023 class and now that the portal is closed, they can continue to explore that side of things but they now know there won’t be any more surprises in the portal (at least for now).

They just recently extended an offer to Minnesota native and four-star 2023 prospect Taison Chatman. He’s a 6-foot-6, 180-pound guard, which fits the M.O of a Dan Hurley recruit. He holds offers from Kansas, Louisville, Iowa, Minnesota, and others, but the Huskies have jumped in over the last two weeks which is very interesting.

Oh, and Stephon Castle is amazing to UConn fans. That’s an excellent piece to have. He’s a high-level scorer, athlete, and defender, meaning yes, he does it all. I think starting your 2023 class with a guy who wants to keep building the culture and a guy who’s seen as one of the best at his position nationally, you’re doing something right.

Looking forward to seeing what’s next for UConn.

Jake's Nuggets: The Tale Of Two Bates, Matt McMahon, and UConn.

I answer your questions on the latest hot topics in the hoops world.

stockrisers.com

He said absolutely nothing

 

[CL82]

I'm not sure AJ fits into a 4 out and 1 in offense. All 4 out have to be able to hit an outside shot when in movement and his shooting style doesn't support that. In addition, I am not convinced he is the ball handler in tight quarters to play the 2. I feel Johnson may be good at the 4 due to his athleticism and Hawkins is ideal at the 3 because he can move and shoot like Rip did (hopefully). I've seen Karaban shoot in practice and the kid can flat out hit from the outside including from the 3. But can he defend with consistency? There's a lot we don't know with this team. DH may think he has a 4 out team but in reality maybe he doesn't. I am not all comfortable with his decisions concerning rotations etc.
We will all see in less than 6 months!

This reminds me of last year. You could see a tremendous amount of potential, but also could see multiple question marks. Right now, I am hoping for enough incremental improvement that way last post the first weekend of the tournament.

 

[CL82]

He said absolutely nothing

But I feel as if he’s hinting that Castle will not reclass.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

But I feel as if he’s hinting that Castle will not reclass.

How? He literally said he is a great guy to start the 23 class with. I don't think he is smart enough or connected enough to drop subtle hints.

 

[CL82]

How? He literally said he is a great guy to start the 23 class with. I don't think he is smart enough or connected enough to drop subtle hints.

That sure sounds like he thinks that Castle will not re-class for 2022.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

That sure sounds like he thinks that Castle will not re-class for 2022.

My bad. I misread your post, but either way I wouldn’t put much stock into that one way or another.

 

[bendm]

hurley selling a 10 man rotation with diarra and castle will be extremely difficult. our starters are capped at 25 mpg and everyone else is getting their bare minimum...

people will disagree but i dont think castle would get more than 20 as a reclass frosh at alleyne's expense. diarra averaged 15 last year and was getting more as the season went. clingan could get less than 10 but not by much w/ the difference going to sanogo.

Newton 25- Diarra 15
Alleyne 20- Castle 20
Hawkins 25- Jackson 10- Alleyne 5
Jackson 15- Karaban 15- Samson 10
Sanogo 25- Samson 5- Clingan 10

25- Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, AJ, Sanogo
20- Castle
15- Diarra, Samson, Karaban
10- Clingan

Bench- springs, ?, ?

 

[Improviser]

hurley selling a 10 man rotation with diarra and castle will be extremely difficult. our starters are capped at 25 mpg and everyone else is getting their bare minimum...

people will disagree but i dont think castle would get more than 20 as a reclass frosh at alleyne's expense. diarra averaged 15 last year and was getting more as the season went. clingan could get less than 10 but not by much w/ the difference going to sanogo.

Newton 25- Diarra 15
Alleyne 20- Castle 20
Hawkins 25- Jackson 10- Alleyne 5
Jackson 15- Karaban 15- Samson 10
Sanogo 25- Samson 5- Clingan 10

25- Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, AJ, Sanogo
20- Castle
15- Diarra, Samson, Karaban
10- Clingan

Bench- springs, ?, ?

Did I miss something about Diarra committing?

His name is listed above so is that a fact I missed or a highly probable event you have penciled him in for?

 

[Billy Bob]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by Tristan Newton

Will he be as good as Cole?

 

[bendm]

Did I miss something about Diarra committing?

His name is listed above so is that a fact I missed or a highly probable event you have penciled him in for?

Neither diarra or castle have committed for next season. It’s what many are hoping for but my point was that it will be very hard for Hurley to sell the idea that there would be enough PT for everyone given the minute projections would look like.

 

[superjohn]

Neither diarra or castle have committed for next season. It’s what many are hoping for but my point was that it will be very hard for Hurley to sell the idea that there would be enough PT for everyone given the minute projections would look like.

It's amazing how other teams can stockpile talent.

 

[bendm]

It's amazing how other teams can stockpile talent.

How many top 25 teams last year had 10 guys that averaged 10+mpg? Clingan would be the last guy in our rotation and hopefully at ~10mpg.

I know No one in the final 4 went more than 8 deep. The best teams have the best starters not the deepest bench.

 

[navery12]

How many top 25 teams last year had 10 guys that averaged over 10 mpg? Clingan would be our 10th man and hopefully right around there. I know No one in the final 4 went more than 8 deep

We're not going to go 10 deep in the rotation but this idea that we don't need to fill our scholarships is so weird. Nobody but UConn fans seems to worry about all these players being scared off as players 10-12 on the bench

 

[HuskyHawk]

We're not going to go 10 deep in the rotation but this idea that we don't need to fill our scholarships is so weird. Nobody but UConn fans seems to worry about all these players being scared off as players 10-12 on the bench

Scared off? It’s more like they simply won’t come. I’ve said since Alleyne committed that we should try to grab a 3* 2022 freshman if we can, and otherwise are likely looking at players who aren’t any better than Gaffney but want to step up.

I don’t think we need to fill the ships, but for injury protection we better add a couple of guys, one of whom can contribute off the bench. Maybe as openings dry up people will be less choosy about minutes.

 

[navery12]

How many top 25 teams last year had 10 guys that averaged 10+mpg? Clingan would be the last guy in our rotation and hopefully at ~10mpg.

I know No one in the final 4 went more than 8 deep. The best teams have the best starters not the deepest bench.

Also to answer your question, from the final AP Poll Tennessee, Purdue, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado State, Texas all had 10 guys average 10 minutes (a few had a 10th guy around 9.5+ so I rounded up)