2026 Transfer Portal - UConn Interest Only

[superjohn]

Sumler looks like he'd be fun. Can he defend?

His defensive #'s are horrible.

 

[superjohn]

I know nothing about Wilkins’ intentions but if I was him I would look to capitalize on a star season and go to a power conference where a lot of shots are guaranteed to boost my draft profile. Wouldn’t be looking for a 2-3 year development plan. UConn probably isn’t the place, and that’s okay

I really liked Najai Hines at Seton Hall. Him and Reibe could be a good 1-2 punch at C. Reibe as the more fluid offensive big and Hines as the more physical and monster big. From NJ. Very intrigued here. And they’re both young so we’d have years of development (pending any NBA decisions)

Is this Devin Royal thing real? 6’6 PFs only succeed in modern basketball if they are absolute dogs. Exactly the Hurley type. Assuming if he comes here, it’s with the expectation of starting? Can he play SF?

Assuming Murauskas will follow Bennett to ASU? If not, he might be the answer at PF

Devin Royal is a small forward.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Pass. We don't do mercenaries.

 

[stickybuddy]

Pass. We don't do mercenaries.

Was cam Spencer a mercenary?

 

[UCFan1513]

I said a few weeks ago, hes a court slapper. Be careful with this one, not sure he has the personality for a Hurley team. Nothing says me, me, me like slapping the court

He also took that cheap layup to pad his stats at the end of the game

 

[upstater]

I know nothing about Wilkins’ intentions but if I was him I would look to capitalize on a star season and go to a power conference where a lot of shots are guaranteed to boost my draft profile. Wouldn’t be looking for a 2-3 year development plan. UConn probably isn’t the place, and that’s okay

I really liked Najai Hines at Seton Hall. Him and Reibe could be a good 1-2 punch at C. Reibe as the more fluid offensive big and Hines as the more physical and monster big. From NJ. Very intrigued here. And they’re both young so we’d have years of development (pending any NBA decisions)

Is this Devin Royal thing real? 6’6 PFs only succeed in modern basketball if they are absolute dogs. Exactly the Hurley type. Assuming if he comes here, it’s with the expectation of starting? Can he play SF?

Assuming Murauskas will follow Bennett to ASU? If not, he might be the answer at PF

After watching Murauskas, I will say that Royal gets up higher and plays bigger. Murauskas seems pretty earthbound to me.

 

[KingAG]

Was cam Spencer a mercenary?

Not in the same way. He started at a mid major, bumped up a level to Rutgers and then used his extra year of availability to play for UConn.

 

[UCFan1513]

Was cam Spencer a mercenary?

Cam transferred up a level twice, after spending two years at Loyola. Rob wright hasn't spent two years anywhere and is on his third lateral transfer. He is also coming from the Saudi Arabia of college basketball

 

[Slim Marlo]

Are we sure he fits our system? Seems ball dominant and not great from 3. He definitely is shifty but what has made UConn successful in the portal is they recruit for fit not talent. Not sure he fits.(albeit I only seen him once vs us)

I agree not a fit along side Solo and Silas

 

[boog204]

Devin Royal is a small forward.

Because I don’t want to do my job, I went over to the OSU board they almost unanimously say that Royal’s issue is that he thinks a 3 but his significantly better as an undersized 4. They also didn’t like him all that much and were surprised we’d be interested. Man, the freaking portal is crazy.

 

[Slim Marlo]

Wilkins, Royal & Hines would be an A+ haul.

Disagree we would have a massive hole at the 4

 

[HuskyHawk]

You guys are freaking insane.

I’d take Royal in a heartbeat.

Depends on if we're playing him at the 3 or how much height we have at the 3. I think we need two players over 6'8" on the court.

 

[aceboon]

I said a few weeks ago, hes a court slapper. Be careful with this one, not sure he has the personality for a Hurley team. Nothing says me, me, me like slapping the court

you must have hated Ben Gordon

 

[KingAG]

Because I don’t want to do my job, I went over to the OSU board they almost unanimously say that Royal’s issue is that he thinks a 3 but his significantly better as an undersized 4. They also didn’t like him all that much and were surprised we’d be interested. Man, the freaking portal is crazy.

Michigan fans said the same about Tarris Reed

 

[RuffRuff]

Michigan fans said the same about Tarris Reed

I really think some of this is the staff investing more in their own guys, not wanting to bring really expensive flashiness into the locker room to blow out the homeostasis. No diff than pro sports when you bring a high priced free agent into the fold. Staff looks for high upside, low cost to make their own guys feel priority.

 

[fatlucy]

That list doesn't look relatively inexpensive.

Cheap is not a business model

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

Is there any interest in Flory? The guy would be perfect as a 4 / insurance 5 (if Reibe doesn’t work out). Or just the starting 5 outright. I assume he has one of, if not the highest price tag in the transfer portal though.

 

[Marat]

Rim protection is a must for next season and beyond. So far Hines seems like it.

I remembered thinking that it would be difficult to battle against this kid for the next few years. I like this guy.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Was cam Spencer a mercenary?

I don't think so. He leveled up twice and was bettering himself at each stop as opposed to a guy who bounces from one P5 after another.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

Michigan fans said the same about Tarris Reed

URI said the same about Tyrese Martin, Georgia about Demary, hell some ECU people were saying the same about Newton. St Mary’s was right though lol

 

[GHSWolverines]

Yes. Want.

better open up your wallet. He is going to want big money.

 

[RuffRuff]

Is there any interest in Flory? The guy would be perfect as a 4 / insurance 5 (if Reibe doesn’t work out). Or just the starting 5 outright. I assume he has one of, if not the highest price tag in the transfer portal though.

Not going to pay one outsider that much dough - not the Hurley model. I think he makes very few exceptions to that (Flagg). I bet Pitino unloads for him.

Personally I'd be going after a true rim protector, Bidunga is more of a weak side help guy.

 

[navery12]

 

[Samoo]

Someone will pay more, yes. There's also no evidence on way or the other that he will be influenced by it. If he has NBA dreams and a good circle, he would be smart to find a program that coaches up guards.

We have plenty of resources to treat Wilkens (or anyone else) fairly if Hurley likes him enough, but if his goal is the highest NIL then he probably isn't our type anyway. I expect/hope this is part of the pitch - paid appropriately for a commitment to excellence; along with the hard practices, NBA opportunities, family, etc.

 

[UCTitleTown]

It's interesting how perceptions can differ. I never associated any negative connotation whatsoever with that antic. To me it's no different than clapping, yelling "Let's go!", etc.

Agreed. I've always seen court slapping as super locked in and getting teammates focused on tightening up defense. I love it.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Isn't Bobby Hurley one of the original court slappers? I doubt Dan would have a problem with it.

Bobby Hurley was one of many Duke court slappers.

The first time I remember seeing it was in the 1988 final four when Danny Manning beat them in the semifinals. For the entire run (from 1986 through 1984 they only missed two final fours) the media made a huge deal of Duke's players doing that when they got back on defense.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Royal looks like a combo forward. If you watch his highlight clip, he looks like a three level scorer, can take people off the dribble, is an ok shooter (form and FTs look good) and scores a lot in the post. He’s the type of player we’ve been missing, imo. Not saying he’s the answer, but he’s basically what we always hoped Stew would be.

Sounds like a Tyrese Martin.

 

[RuffRuff]

Sounds like a Tyrese Martin.

Looks like a utility man off the bench to me, not a starter. Question is, does this mean they are done with the 4 spot in the portal?

 

[Samoo]

Screams Malachi Smith 2.0 AKA a local area kid (Sumler was born in Waterbury) who uses their last year of eligibility to play for his dream school (I'm just assuming UConn is his dream school, lol).

I really like Sumler as a bench option that can play all three backcourt positions. 6'4 200, started at PG, but also played minutes at the 2 and the 3.

Nice mix of volume (74th highest usage rate in nation) and efficiency (112.3 offensive rating; 52.5 2P%; 40.7 3P%, assist rate is almost double turnover rate) and I like his propensity of drawing fouls (5.3 fouls drawn per 40 is 192nd in the nation) even though his FT% this season wasn't good (65.7%). Not great defensive rates, though.

Here's a clip of his on-ball skills.

I really like him - caveated that this is highlights against lesser competition). Not saying he is near the quality, but he plays a bit like Jrue Holiday - he doesn't get rushed even when he's in the paint and has good pacing and vision both in seeing opening for himself and on passing. Has a bit of the Castle deceleration game too.

 

[Kenny11]

Are we sure he fits our system? Seems ball dominant and not great from 3. He definitely is shifty but what has made UConn successful in the portal is they recruit for fit not talent. Not sure he fits.(albeit I only seen him once vs us)

I actually think we can use some of that. At least when he’s ball dominant he’s getting somewhere. Too many possessions this year where Malachi was holding the ball while the shot clock went down and our shooters weren’t open because of switches