2020 Piath Gabriel commits to UConn [Merged Thread]

[Alydar]

Wait until the final rankings are released, I bet that Gabriel will be a Top 75 recruit, maybe even Top 50.

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?

 

[DEpup]

Wait until the final rankings are released, I bet that Gabriel will be a Top 75 recruit, maybe even Top 50.

You are so right! UConn bump.... although it appears she has broken out and got the attention of almost every east coast school.

 

[Alydar]

Geno does not like rosters larger than 12 though so that's probably the cap.

I think Geno said that too many freshmen slows down practices, as basic things have to be repeated over and over, slowing down the process.

 

[soxfan23]

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?

I am not sure what you mean here?

 

[oldude]

Not being ranked in the top 100 concerns me as those types of players, especially 6"5" sized ones, sometimes never develop to be contributors. Maybe the light switch truly went on and she will blossom, however lest us not forgot all the discussions about Kyla and how she was overlooked and should have been a top 100 player had she participated in more AAU Travel basketball. Color me cautious here. Optimistic but cautious.

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.

 

[Alydar]

I am not sure what you mean here?

ESPN makes it's $$$ from advertising. If you had a business and your biggest customer's daughter was in a beauty pageant and you were a judge, might you be a bit biased? Just offering that as a possibility. I knew a cameraman for pro golf tournaments and asked him once if players signed by big PGA advertisers got more airtime. He looked at me, winked, and said "that would be unethical".

 

[diggerfoot]

While echoing Alydar's thoughts on Irwin I, like a broken record, would like to point out Conlon to DefenseBB. With less athleticism than Irwin she started on two National Championship teams, for one of the two best programs of the land at the time. One could interpret that to mean she could start on any team, but that would be the wrong lesson. It all depends on the roster. There are some teams that never would have started Conlon because of their roster situation. Even mediocre teams might be stacked at a position; even the best teams may find themselves lacking at a position, but with enough ability and the right coaching can make do. Rumor has it that we lack in "bigs" which, to this date, is good news for Gabriel. Blanket judgements of players based on their UConn careers over one small sampling of time necessarily involves false assumptions.

 

[DEpup]

While echoing Alydar's thoughts on Irwin I, like a broken record, would like to point out Conlon to DefenseBB. With less athleticism than Irwin she started on two National Championship teams, for one of the two best programs of the land at the time. One could interpret that to mean she could start on any team, but that would be the wrong lesson. It all depends on the roster. There are some teams that never would have started Conlon because of their roster situation. Even mediocre teams might be stacked at a position; even the best teams may find themselves lacking at a position, but with enough ability and the right coaching can make do. Rumor has it that we lack in "bigs" which, to this date, is good news for Gabriel. Blanket judgements of players based on their UConn careers over one small sampling of time necessarily involves false assumptions.

Let's not forget Conlon was in the backcourt with DT who basically played position 1-3 for those teams. Loved Conlon though. She played her role with DT beautifully...

 

[Carnac]

Wait until the final rankings are released, I bet that Gabriel will be a Top 75 recruit, maybe even Top 50.

No doubt she’ll get that “UConn” bump.

 

[Carnac]

I think Geno said that too many freshmen slows down practices, as basic things have to be repeated over and over, slowing down the process.

Transfers anyone? Since transferring has become a trend, should we expect another transfer or graduate transfer next year?

 

[DEpup]

Transfers anyone? Since transferring has become a trend, should we expect another transfer or graduate transfer next year?

I have to think at least one. You're so right. It's just part of the mix now.

 

[NewCorn]

i THOUGHT HER A CARRIER (AS SHE DISHES IT OUT)

UConn Launches The USS Gabriel

 

[donalddoowop]

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.

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.

 

[HuskylnSC]

No doubt she’ll get that “UConn” bump.

I think it could be "UConn" BUMP

 

[RockyMTblue2]

"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.”

Journal Inquirer

The latest news from Manchester, Connecticut, as well as coverage of Enfield, Vernon, South Windsor, East Hartford and beyond.

www.journalinquirer.com

 

[intlzncster]

"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.”

Journal Inquirer

The latest news from Manchester, Connecticut, as well as coverage of Enfield, Vernon, South Windsor, East Hartford and beyond.

www.journalinquirer.com

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.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

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.

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.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

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?

Snob! 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.

 

[bluedevil]

She is tall enough to go on all the rides at Disney and will do so when her team wins the ncaa championship...

 

[Alydar]

Transfers anyone? Since transferring has become a trend, should we expect another transfer or graduate transfer next year?

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.

 

[newfrontier]

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.

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.

 

[PAC-12HoopFan]

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.

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.

 

[donalddoowop]

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.

I think Griffin will be in there also.

 

[uconnfan68]

"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.”

Journal Inquirer

The latest news from Manchester, Connecticut, as well as coverage of Enfield, Vernon, South Windsor, East Hartford and beyond.

www.journalinquirer.com

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.

 

[Alydar]

I think Griffin will be in there also.

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.