2020 Piath Gabriel commits to UConn [Merged Thread] | Page 8 | The Boneyard

2020 Piath Gabriel commits to UConn [Merged Thread]

oldude said:
There is a major difference between Kyla and Piath. Kyla, the daughter of a coach, played basketball since she was a little girl. As a result, Kyla is very skilled and has an incredibly high basketball IQ. Kyla’s limitation is her athleticism.

Piath on the other hand began playing basketball around 7th grade according to her coach. She is very much a work in progress as she is still learning the game. Her greatest advantage is her size and athleticism.
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I believe if Kyla was 6'5", she would be playing a lot more than she does and getting that playing time during crucial times in the game.
 
"They reached out before the summer and Coach Auriemma and his assistants came out and evaluated her,” Gabriel’s high school and AAU coach Scott Hazelton said. “She visited on Monday and had a great day. She talked to the coaching staff and saw the campus and she loved what they have there.

“She had a lot of schools on her list and I did encourage her to take her time. I’ve been (through recruiting myself. But she loved everything about UConn and she feels it’s the place where she can reach her goals and be the best that she can be. She’ll always have someone that supports her in me.”

Among the other offers she had were from Louisville, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Miami-Florida.

Gabriel, who is originally from Sudan and lives in the same Manchester neighborhood as UConn men’s freshman Akok Akok, comes from an athletic family. Her brother Wenyen played two years at Kentucky before signing with the Sacramento Kings on a two-way contract with the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League last summer. Another brother, Gob, is a freshman at Monmouth. Her sister, Karima, played at DePaul, Boston College, and Cal State Fullerton."

From the Dean's article in the JI. I suspect my post is redundant. I kept getting locked out with a wrongpage error message on the JI; most annoying.

“She’s a big, strong kid and light on her feet,” Hazelton said. “She’s got skills with a nice touch. She runs the floor. She does a lot of different things at our level and now she has to take that next jump.

“Her best basketball is ahead of her. She’s just figuring it all out now. She’s worked hard to get into the position she’s in. We’re excited for her.”

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RockyMTblue2 said:
"They reached out before the summer and Coach Auriemma and his assistants came out and evaluated her,” Gabriel’s high school and AAU coach Scott Hazelton said. “She visited on Monday and had a great day. She talked to the coaching staff and saw the campus and she loved what they have there.

“She had a lot of schools on her list and I did encourage her to take her time. I’ve been (through recruiting myself. But she loved everything about UConn and she feels it’s the place where she can reach her goals and be the best that she can be. She’ll always have someone that supports her in me.”

Among the other offers she had were from Louisville, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Miami-Florida.

Gabriel, who is originally from Sudan and lives in the same Manchester neighborhood as UConn men’s freshman Akok Akok, comes from an athletic family. Her brother Wenyen played two years at Kentucky before signing with the Sacramento Kings on a two-way contract with the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League last summer. Another brother, Gob, is a freshman at Monmouth. Her sister, Karima, played at DePaul, Boston College, and Cal State Fullerton."

From the Dean's article in the JI. I suspect my post is redundant. I kept getting locked out with a wrongpage error message on the JI; most annoying.

“She’s a big, strong kid and light on her feet,” Hazelton said. “She’s got skills with a nice touch. She runs the floor. She does a lot of different things at our level and now she has to take that next jump.

“Her best basketball is ahead of her. She’s just figuring it all out now. She’s worked hard to get into the position she’s in. We’re excited for her.”

www.journalinquirer.com

Journal Inquirer

The latest news from Manchester, Connecticut, as well as coverage of Enfield, Vernon, South Windsor, East Hartford and beyond.
www.journalinquirer.com www.journalinquirer.com
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Haven't followed her recruiting, so I had no idea this was Wenyen's sister. UCONN recruited him pretty hard but lost out to Cal at UK.
 
intlzncster said:
Haven't followed her recruiting, so I had no idea this was Wenyen's sister. UCONN recruited him pretty hard but lost out to Cal at UK.
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Don't feel bad @intlzncster . This was a very quiet and fast recruit by Geno and the whole coaching staff. I suspect the "try out" at her school was with our coaches alone.
 
Alydar said:
She's at an Adidas school. I hate to be cynical (not really), but which company has the bigger advertising contract with ESPN/FoxSports? Adidas or Nike?
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Snob! :eek:;) Now getting back to my question to you about her height, let me rephrase sine her lack of whithers may be puzzling you. If she stood top of head level with the high point of the horse's whithers, how many hands tall would that be? If you wanna use some huge famous old beast, like a Budweiser clydesdale or War Admiral or .... Please? You the man on this stuff.
 
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Carnac said:
Transfers anyone? Since transferring has become a trend, should we expect another transfer or graduate transfer next year?
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Not so sure. In 2021 UConn will have two 6'5" posts and a 1-3 rotation that includes Williams, Westbrook, Makurat, Muhl, McClean and Bueckers. More than enough talent. Short on experience. It's possible that Williams & Makurat will be the only ones with any game experience for UConn. The rest need to learn and get integrated. Of course there are several players out there to whom you can't refuse a spot but the chances of one of them moving and wanting to go to UConn is slim IMO.
 
PAC-12HoopFan said:
As for the bigs at Oregon State (in case you intended to include that school with Baylor), there haven't been that many minutes in the past two seasons when two 6'5"+ bigs have been on the court simultaneously. It appears that a 6'5" "big" is more commonly paired up with a mobile 6'2"/6'3" athlete on the front line in the PAC-12 so that teams can adequately contest the three-point line and defend against fastbreaking teams with three-guard lineups. Oregon State could put three 6'6"+ bigs on the floor together at the same time, but getting up and down the court against the three-guard lineups would prove problematic.

The integration of multiple 6'5"+ bigs in the same lineup at the top level of women's college basketball is a big challenge.
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Too early to say how or how well Rueck at Oregon State will work things out using 2 of his newest, more talented bigs in the lineup at once. Four of his five bigs are freshman who have not played 1 minute of college basketball. Several might or should be pretty good, as 3 of 5 were 5 star recruits (the 4th is a foreign player who was not ranked). The fifth is a sophomore who saw very limited minutes last season. Time will tell.
 
newfrontier said:
Too early to say how or how well Rueck at Oregon State will work things out using 2 of his newest, more talented bigs in the lineup at once. Four of his five bigs are freshman who have not played 1 minute of college basketball. Several might or should be pretty good, as 3 of 5 were 5 star recruits (the 4th is a foreign player who was not ranked). The fifth is a sophomore who saw very limited minutes last season. Time will tell.
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I anticipate that the 6'6" Kennedy Brown and 6'4" Taylor Jones will earn the most minutes at the 4 and 5 positions for the Beavers this season among the frontline candidates that also include 6'9", 6'9", and 6'7". With there being continued uncertainly with their two tallest players due to health (Aquino) and subsequent recovery from injury (Mitrovic - knee), the play of Brown and Jones was reportedly very encouraging during OSU's 4-0 trip to Italy last month. The 6'7" Patricia Morris is the sophomore and has defensive skills that are more advanced at this stage than her offensive game. Either Brown or Taylor appears to be the early pick to start on OSU's frontline in '19-'20 along with 6'3" junior Taya Corosdale. Both Brown and Taylor may be advanced enough as freshmen to allow Scott Rueck to play three bigs at times along with Slocum and Pivec.
 
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Alydar said:
Not so sure. In 2021 UConn will have two 6'5" posts and a 1-3 rotation that includes Williams, Westbrook, Makurat, Muhl, McClean and Bueckers. More than enough talent. Short on experience. It's possible that Williams & Makurat will be the only ones with any game experience for UConn. The rest need to learn and get integrated. Of course there are several players out there to whom you can't refuse a spot but the chances of one of them moving and wanting to go to UConn is slim IMO.
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I think Griffin will be in there also.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
"They reached out before the summer and Coach Auriemma and his assistants came out and evaluated her,” Gabriel’s high school and AAU coach Scott Hazelton said. “She visited on Monday and had a great day. She talked to the coaching staff and saw the campus and she loved what they have there.

“She had a lot of schools on her list and I did encourage her to take her time. I’ve been (through recruiting myself. But she loved everything about UConn and she feels it’s the place where she can reach her goals and be the best that she can be. She’ll always have someone that supports her in me.”

Among the other offers she had were from Louisville, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Miami-Florida.

Gabriel, who is originally from Sudan and lives in the same Manchester neighborhood as UConn men’s freshman Akok Akok, comes from an athletic family. Her brother Wenyen played two years at Kentucky before signing with the Sacramento Kings on a two-way contract with the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League last summer. Another brother, Gob, is a freshman at Monmouth. Her sister, Karima, played at DePaul, Boston College, and Cal State Fullerton."

From the Dean's article in the JI. I suspect my post is redundant. I kept getting locked out with a wrongpage error message on the JI; most annoying.

“She’s a big, strong kid and light on her feet,” Hazelton said. “She’s got skills with a nice touch. She runs the floor. She does a lot of different things at our level and now she has to take that next jump.

“Her best basketball is ahead of her. She’s just figuring it all out now. She’s worked hard to get into the position she’s in. We’re excited for her.”

www.journalinquirer.com

Journal Inquirer

The latest news from Manchester, Connecticut, as well as coverage of Enfield, Vernon, South Windsor, East Hartford and beyond.
www.journalinquirer.com www.journalinquirer.com
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I’m very encouraged by her having Scott Hazleton as both HS and AAU coach. She won’t pick up bad habits between multiple coaches. Big plus is that he was a UConn athlete too.
 
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donalddoowop said:
I think Griffin will be in there also.
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I forgot her. Thanks. But there are a lot of 6'ish HS players that play guard on their team because they are the best ball handler on the team and the coach wants them with the ball as much as possible. Like Gabby. And I think a lot of those types want to be listed that way to show colleges that they have guard skills. Aja Wilson came to SC as a guard. With all the new faces Griffin is sneaking in under the radar, which is probably a good thing. But she is an intriguing athlete. Not quite the leaper as Gabby but taller so probably gets as high. Seems to have those quick-twitch muscles like Gabby used to be so quick to the ball rebounding. And Geno has blown smoke at freshman in the summer before but he mentioned liking her defense which is hopeful.
 
Gabriel will need experience and still needs to be developed. As it was said by her coach she has progressed but IMO is still raw. I would think she needs at least 2 years at UConn behind ONO. Shes got the motivation, desire, drive, want to and the coaching staff to make her an AA. It will take some time. FWIW DeBarry will also need time to be developed future and will need to gain more experience. UConn can give that to her. In the post above from PAC 12 you see there are 2 6'9 players and a 6'7 who they think will sit. So it will take time for them to be up to speed too. Playtime will be tuff when they are 3,4,and 5 in the post rotation.
 
Plebe said:
This is a really, really interesting development. Two reallys.

So apparently Louisville had made her a "priority" (by @UConnCat 's post above). Do we know for sure which other schools had offered her? And/or which were her finalists?

I'm no recruiting connoisseur, but it seems pretty rare for a U.S.-based player not ranked in the top 100 of the recruiting services to become a highly sought commodity among the elite programs.
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What happens often is there are kids that just EXPLODE in a very short time from being a nice player to a very special player. They all of a sudden seem to just GET IT. It sounds like there is a possibility she is one of those kids. Some of the best were somewhat ordinary when they were twelve or thirteen or even a bit older and suddenly arrive.
 
Buzzyboy said:
What happens often is there are kids that just EXPLODE in a very short time from being a nice player to a very special player. They all of a sudden seem to just GET IT. It sounds like there is a possibility she is one of those kids. Some of the best were somewhat ordinary when they were twelve or thirteen or even a bit older and suddenly arrive.
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From what I read Piath didn't play basketball until she was 13 so to go from zero skills to a UConn scholarship offer in 4 years says something about her work ethic and her talent.
Piath's rating reminds me of Saniya Chong, who despite winning the Parade NPOY award was unranked by ESPN and PN until after she committed to Storrs and was roundly panned. "How can she be any good, she isn't ranked"?
Geno thinks her potential is worth a roster slot. In 2.5 years she'll be midway through her sophomore season and we'll see then.
 
Tonyc said:
In the post above from PAC 12 you see there are 2 6'9 players and a 6'7 who they think will sit. So it will take time for them to be up to speed too. Playtime will be tuff when they are 3,4,and 5 in the post rotation.
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If you are referring to the 2 6'9" players at Oregon State, they may sit in large part for medical reasons. Aquino may be a medical redshirt for a second year in a row due to an ongoing undisclosed heart condition and Mitrovic may sit because of a knee injury. The 6'7" player is sophomore Morris who is very athletic and healthy, but raw, especially offensively (was a 3 star recruit). She may be the loser here given the higher skill sets of freshmen 6'4" Jones and 6'6" Brown.
 
Tonyc said:
Well finally the BY is full of energy and optimistic. Im very happy with this commitment. Judging from the comments and other schools noticing her, shes a late bloomer and has been coming on the past season. Still Cardoso and DeBarry are ranked in the top 10 and Piath isnt....yet. I dont think her verbal will have any affect on their signings with UConn. They are the top post players in their class and that wont change. What will change is if the commit to UConn too. That will provide room for another post player and a forward/wing. We will be big and I dont see any of those bigs not getting alot of playtime. It was mentioned in another thread that Oregon had all those bigs and they were sitting. I still wonder why a big would commit to a school knowing they are sitting with other bigs??? I dont understand that one. At UConn bigs are developed and play. Most importantly developed. Dolson, McLauren and Stokes come to mind and look at their professional career. Now look at some other bigs at other colleges who started and never made it professionally????? Says alot about UConn and bigs. Well next years class is huge. Dont forget Westbrook either. She will play either this year or next. Huge class may be an understatement. Im Dreaming Big right now. Add Fudd and UConn will be invincable.
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Who the heck is McLauren????
 
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Sluconn Husky said:
Don't know about Cardoso but DeBerry isn't close to college ready. She's very raw. She's also not the traditional "big" people usually pine for. DeBerry while tall is a finesse player whose game at the moment more resembles Azura Stevens than Kalani Brown.
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If she isn't nearly college ready, why are there people here really hungry for DeBerry to sign??? That suggests that she's raw as is Piath? What's the difference between the two????
 
Buzzyboy said:
If she isn't nearly college ready, why are there people here really hungry for DeBerry to sign??? That suggests that she's raw as is Piath? What's the difference between the two????
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DeBerry's been a high-valued prospect for quite a while and her upside is pretty big. I'm not sure most realize how raw she is at this point though.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
DeBerry's been a high-valued prospect for quite a while and her upside is pretty big. I'm not sure most realize how raw she is at this point though.
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Sluconn I respect your opinion a great deal, but I just don't see what you are seeing with DeBerry. The kid is as polished as a 2021 4/5 as you are going to find! She can do it all! She has great length, nice soft hands, runs the floor, rebounds, blocks shots, can finish with either hand, and can step out and knock down a jump shot. I agree she needs to develop her back to the basket and faceup game, get stronger, more aggressive, and learn to play "UConn hard" but she has not even played her junior year of HS yet! There is so much to work with here.
 
soxfan23 said:
Sluconn I respect your opinion a great deal, but I just don't see what you are seeing with DeBerry. The kid is as polished as a 2021 4/5 as you are going to find! She can do it all! She has great length, nice soft hands, runs the floor, rebounds, blocks shots, can finish with either hand, and can step out and knock down a jump shot. I agree she needs to develop her back to the basket and faceup game, get stronger, more aggressive, and learn to play "UConn hard" but she has not even played her junior year of HS yet! There is so much to work with here.
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Is she as good as Marshall? If not, then she does need a lot of work.
 
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soxfan23 said:
Sluconn I respect your opinion a great deal, but I just don't see what you are seeing with DeBerry. The kid is as polished as a 2021 4/5 as you are going to find! She can do it all! She has great length, nice soft hands, runs the floor, rebounds, blocks shots, can finish with either hand, and can step out and knock down a jump shot. I agree she needs to develop her back to the basket and faceup game, get stronger, more aggressive, and learn to play "UConn hard" but she has not even played her junior year of HS yet! There is so much to work with here.
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Based on what I saw of her during 3X3 tourneys and the U17 this summer, I would not in any way refer to her as polished. She struggled not just with physicality but with shot selection and decision-making. I'd consider Aaliyah Moore and Kiki Iriafen more advanced than DeBerry but, again, DeBerry has big upside.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Based on what I saw of her during 3X3 tourneys and the U17 this summer, I would not in any way refer to her as polished. She struggled not just with physicality but with shot selection and decision-making. I'd consider Aaliyah Moore and Kiki Iriafen more advanced than DeBerry but, again, DeBerry has big upside.
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Agree completely. Seems to be a play behind against the kids her size, even in her own age group. Looks good against her undersized HS competition but was a non factor in this summer’s U16 international games. Needs to get a motor.
 
donalddoowop said:
Is she as good as Marshall? If not, then she does need a lot of work.
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DeBerry is a year behind Marshall, so it’s really not a fair comparison, particularly when evaluating Bigs. Having said that, I would hope that DeBerry develops into a better player than Marshall who’s fallen all the way to #32 on Hoopgurlz.

I watched Marshall play twice at the Federation Cup this past March, and I was underwhelmed, not at her level of skill, but by the fact that the tallest person in the court could have so little impact on the games themselves. She was content to jog up and down the court, hang around outside the paint, throw up shots from outside and let her hard working teammates battle for rebounds.
 
oldude said:
DeBerry is a year behind Marshall, so it’s really not a fair comparison, particularly when evaluating Bigs. Having said that, I would hope that DeBerry develops into a better player than Marshall who’s fallen all the way to #32 on Hoopgurlz.

I watched Marshall play twice at the Federation Cup this past March, and I was underwhelmed, not at her level of skill, but by the fact that the tallest person in the court could have so little impact on the games themselves. She was content to jog up and down the court, hang around outside the paint, throw up shots from outside and let her hard working teammates battle for rebounds.
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I believe I also saw those two games.
 
oldude said:
Like me, you were probably watching a certain young lady from Ossining, but it was hard not to notice Marshall’s lackluster performance.
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Sorry if I missed your report on Griffin. As the season looms what might we see from our latest recruit from the lower Hudson valley. I read she can run, jump, score & loves to play defense. Yes?
 
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