2026 Recruiting: - Abdou Toure update from aaron torres | Page 8 | The Boneyard

2026 Recruiting: Abdou Toure update from aaron torres

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alexd said:
Its true about Cal players in the NBA. But he really doesn't develop players either. For one year he babysits the top kids from each class he gets and tries not to screw them up before the NBA draft the following year.
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Maybe. But I’m not betting my future on believing it’s just luck at this point. The results are pretty much undeniable. Especially if on the flip side there’s little to no results on kids being highly successful or highly paid yet.
 
Huskyforlife said:
this is the part of the conversation confusing me the most. It’s not like we lost interest or backed off, we literally just went to see him as you posted. It’s also strange people keep saying he wasn’t interested, we made his top 3 and he visited us multiple times.

If he goes elsewhere, so be it. But I’m not buying any of these rumors or narratives people are throwing out. It’s probably just NIL.
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I think the staff would love to have him here. He's talented, athletic and seems like a good kid from a good family. In that sense he does "fit the Hurley mould."

However, anyone who has watched this team the past few years knows there will likely be one freshman who plays a lot, maybe one scrapping for 5 minutes a game, and the rest of the class will be riding the pine save for garbage time.

Toure has hinted in local papers UConn is his dream school. We are in his final 3. It's clear there is at least a part of him that wants to be here. As you noted the staff was still attending his games as of a few weeks ago. So there is still clearly some interest there as well.

But Providence desperately needs a player of his caliber and is throwing the house at him to get his commitment. Arkansas has tons of cash and minutes available as well. Hurley is honest with recruits and has probably told him he would have to fight tooth and nail just to have a shot at those 5 aforementioned minutes each game. After losing multiple freshmen from last year's team, I doubt we are throwing huge NIL figures at guys we ultimately see more as a developmental piece. It just makes more sense for him to go to a school where there will be more money and minutes available from day 1.

I agree with you people seem to be weaving narratives out of tidbits of information. I obviously just did the same, it's all we can really do when we aren't directly connected to the program. But from what I'm seeing I think a lot of people don't like the optics of losing a local, highly rated recruit (especially if it is to PC) and are trying to make sense of how we could "lose" this recruitment. "His recruitment became too much about money" and "he's just not a fit for the Hurley system" are statements that have been true for players we've pursued then stopped recruiting before. If you look at Toure's recruitment through a narrow lense you can easily make both arguments for his recruitment. But I don't think either are true. Taking more NIL and a better shot at minutes doesn't make one greedy. Toure would likely be at least a rotation piece by his sophomore year so I doubt the staff has completely lost interest.

Sometimes you want something in life but there's better opportunities out there. That's how this feels to me, for both parties.
 
HW611 said:
You don’t think Castle wouldn’t have been a lottery pick anywhere he went? The kid who had to sacrifice more than anyone else on that 2024 team?

And to the point, Cal starting Fland goes back to the preparing for the NBA/getting generational wealth over winning. Cal wanted to make sure Fland got his opportunity to showcase his talent and grow to prepare. That’s what these kids want. Knowing how to win at the college level isn’t going to make you $80 million a year later.

I’m looking at this from a prospective recruit perspective, not a fan perspective only concerned about their team winning and not actually caring as much about how the kids life would be after leaving their program.
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Point is, if top programs are interchangeable in terms of getting to the NBA, why not play with a program you can connect to for a lifetime and maybe win a title? That's what Hurley looks for. If all college is to you is an NBA showcase, go play for Cal.
 
RuffRuff said:
Point is, if top programs are interchangeable in terms of getting to the NBA, why not play with a program you can connect to for a lifetime and maybe win a title? That's what Hurley looks for. If all college is to you is an NBA showcase, go play for Cal.
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If you think programs are interchangeable in that way, then yes.

But if you are open to listening to how coaches prepare guys to make generational wealth and take care of their families for life and want proof, no coach is bringing in the CVS receipt that Cal is.

I’m not even speaking up for Cal here moreso defending kids who make the extremely logical decision of trusting a guy with his resume to help do the same for them. Any kid who decides to put their future in Cal’s hands is smart and as your example showed, he’ll make sure he values it even if it hurts himself.
 
HW611 said:
You don’t think Castle wouldn’t have been a lottery pick anywhere he went? The kid who had to sacrifice more than anyone else on that 2024 team?

And to the point, Cal starting Fland goes back to the preparing for the NBA/getting generational wealth over winning. Cal wanted to make sure Fland got his opportunity to showcase his talent and grow to prepare. That’s what these kids want. Knowing how to win at the college level isn’t going to make you $80 million a year later.

I’m looking at this from a prospective recruit perspective, not a fan perspective only concerned about their team winning and not actually caring as much about how the kids life would be after leaving their program.
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I think if he had gone elsewhere, there's a pretty decent he wasn't a lottery pick as a freshman, yeah. This is assuming he still gets hurt in the year. Practically, UConn just straight up played more games and he wasn't required to be a focal point since UConn was loaded, which was helpful since he was recovering from his injury. His season may have gone like McNeeley's where he was having to take a big offensive burden after returning quickly from an injury while playing the toughest part of the schedule. It really hurt McNeeley's efficiency.

And in general, if he's taking a higher usage in the offense, it likely leads to more dribble jumpers, which he took a lot of in high school. He doesn't make them at a high rate. Maybe he's able to get downhill more in a different offense and he showcases some different skills. But there's also a good chance if he's higher on the offensive pecking order he doesn't get/have to guard the toughest defensive assignments and he doesn't get the reputation as a lockdown defender, which greatly boosted his stock.
 
auror said:
I think if he had gone elsewhere, there's a pretty decent he wasn't a lottery pick as a freshman, yeah. This is assuming he still gets hurt in the year. Practically, UConn just straight up played more games and he wasn't required to be a focal point since UConn was loaded, which was helpful since he was recovering from his injury. His season may have gone like McNeeley's where he was having to take a big offensive burden after returning quickly from an injury while playing the toughest part of the schedule. It really hurt McNeeley's efficiency.

And in general, if he's taking a higher usage in the offense, it likely leads to more dribble jumpers, which he took a lot of in high school. He doesn't make them at a high rate. Maybe he's able to get downhill more in a different offense and he showcases some different skills. But there's also a good chance if he's higher on the offensive pecking order he doesn't get/have to guard the toughest defensive assignments and he doesn't get the reputation as a lockdown defender, which greatly boosted his stock.
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McNeeley and Castle are not great comparisons. McNeeley was average athletically and size wise for his position.

Castle was a 6’6 PG with high level floor vision, IQ, and NBA dunk contest athleticism.

I think you’re selling him short if you don’t think he could’ve went lottery anywhere that would’ve allowed him to showcase himself as a 6’6 PG with elite athleticism. I can make a case with as weak as that draft was that he could’ve went #1 if he was able to show the NBA that over them thinking he was a 6’6 3 and D wing defender.

What you just described was Anthony Edward’s at Georgia minus the injury. He shot 40% from the field and 27% from three. Don’t think scouts really cared about his efficiency. Do you also think Dylan Harper was a better prospect than Castle coming out of HS?
 
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Maybe I am ignorant, naive or ill informed or possibly all 3. But wasn’t the settlement reached regarding NIL payments supposed to control paying players? Why then does Arkansas have a boatload of money to pay players?
 
ucp990411 said:
Maybe I am ignorant, naive or ill informed or possibly all 3. But wasn’t the settlement reached regarding NIL payments supposed to control paying players? Why then does Arkansas have a boatload of money to pay players?
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Correct me if I’m wrong but there is no cap on NIL. That’s how Arch Manning gets $5m or more a year. He just has to do NIL stuff, right?
 
Stinger92860 said:
Correct me if I’m wrong but there is no cap on NIL. That’s how Arch Manning gets $5m or more a year. He just has to do NIL stuff, right?
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I think this is it. You just can’t get paid 3M to make one appearance somewhere. The deals have to be legit marketing deals.
 
ucp990411 said:
Maybe I am ignorant, naive or ill informed or possibly all 3. But wasn’t the settlement reached regarding NIL payments supposed to control paying players? Why then does Arkansas have a boatload of money to pay players?
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It set a theoretical limit, though the ability to enforce it is still very much up for debate. But even the limits set are very high and by no means restrictive for the P5 schools. And you'll always have cases where one school values a player more than another like Arkansas' reportedly does for Toure
 
Stinger92860 said:
Correct me if I’m wrong but there is no cap on NIL. That’s how Arch Manning gets $5m or more a year. He just has to do NIL stuff, right?
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Correct, there is no cap on NIL. But all the NIL deals over a low threshold ($6000 or something like that) need to be vetted that they are "market value". So the old system of just handing out money, so called "pay for play", is over. Unless teams cheat. That could be too. See this article on the subject.

www.cbssports.com

As college basketball enters its most uncertain era yet, few believe the new rules will stop the flow of money

College basketball's next phase in the revenue-sharing era has many questioning what's real and if cheating will come back in a big way
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
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IMG_1171.jpeg
 
HW611 said:
McNeeley and Castle are not great comparisons. McNeeley was average athletically and size wise for his position.

Castle was a 6’6 PG with high level floor vision, IQ, and NBA dunk contest athleticism.

I think you’re selling him short if you don’t think he could’ve went lottery anywhere that would’ve allowed him to showcase himself as a 6’6 PG with elite athleticism. I can make a case with as weak as that draft was that he could’ve went #1 if he was able to show the NBA that over them thinking he was a 6’6 3 and D wing defender.

What you just described was Anthony Edward’s at Georgia minus the injury. He shot 40% from the field and 27% from three. Don’t think scouts really cared about his efficiency. Do you also think Dylan Harper was a better prospect than Castle coming out of HS?
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Hard to know - I think being part of that system really highlighted his skillset in a positive way, versus going to play for Cal as an example, where he generally just rolls the ball out there and says go.

Steph was ranked 10th in his class. A kid like Wagner was ranked 6th, and has looked like @ss under Cal. What would Hurley have done with him?

By the way, my "source" confirms 100% Arkansas, despite this crystal ball. I can't reveal, but it's someone tight with the the kid himself, and I mean tight.
 
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boog204 said:
And someone posted above that Toure could be a "developmental" piece. That's not happening. He's a top 30ish recruit. 99% of D1 teams will promise the kid major minutes or a starting role from day one. He's not coming here to sit and develop.
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I was using the same words as Tom Moore when he said Dan Hurley's ideal freshman recruiting class would be one immediate impact starter and two or three players that can be contributors/developmental players. Toure would fall in the second bucket at UConn.

Also, do you think Cal is promising him major minutes or a starting role from day one? As of right now they have Karter Knox, Billy Richmond, Meleek Thomas and JJ Andrews slated to be on the team next year, all of whom were more highly rated than Toure coming out of HS.
 
RuffRuff said:
Hard to know - I think being part of that system really highlighted his skillset in a positive way, versus going to play for Cal as an example, where he generally just rolls the ball out there and says go.

Steph was ranked 10th in his class. A kid like Wagner was ranked 6th, and has looked like @ss under Cal. What would Hurley have done with him?

By the way, my "source" confirms 100% Arkansas, despite this crystal ball. I can't reveal, but it's someone tight with the the kid himself, and I mean tight.
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247 had that one wrong. Wagner was overrated as a 6’3 combo guard with okay athleticism. Castle was the best player in that class. Wagner was just ranked super high for awhile and Castle was a late bloomer.

I don’t think our system highlighted his skillset offensively positively either. We just made him a 3 and D player and limited what we asked him to do.

He was a star level player that we fit into a role player position. So scouts were evaluating him like one instead of a franchise guy.
 
HW611 said:
He was a star level player that we fit into a role player position. So scouts were evaluating him like one instead of a franchise guy.
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Even though I've read hundreds of your posts I simply refuse to believe that you actually think your second sentence here is true. That the manner in which he was used during games his freshman year of college impacted the way scouts evaluated him. Who could legitimately think that's a credible position to take?
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
Even though I've read hundreds of your posts I simply refuse to believe that you actually think your second sentence here is true. That the manner in which he was used during games his freshman year of college impacted the way scouts evaluated him. Who could legitimately think that's a credible position to take?
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And beyond that, NBA scouts evaluated him a role player and as a result drafted him #4 overall
 
navery12 said:
And beyond that, NBA scouts evaluated him a role player and as a result drafted him #4 overall
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Take this however you want to.

“This is not considered a particularly strong draft, but Castle has one of the highest upsides among lottery picks. The NBA will always need big guards who can defend multiple positions. If Castle develops into a lead ball handler who can consistently stretch beyond the arc, he'll be a 10-year NBA starter—even if he doesn't become a perennial All-Star.
In this class, that's a pretty sizable win at No. 4 overall.”
 
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HW611 said:

Take this however you want to.

“This is not considered a particularly strong draft, but Castle has one of the highest upsides among lottery picks. The NBA will always need big guards who can defend multiple positions. If Castle develops into a lead ball handler who can consistently stretch beyond the arc, he'll be a 10-year NBA starter—even if he doesn't become a perennial All-Star.
In this class, that's a pretty sizable win at No. 4 overall.”
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I can't say I'm putting much stock in what Tyler Conway, a writer for Bleacher Report, thinks of Steph Castle
 
navery12 said:
I can't say I'm putting much stock in what Tyler Conway, a writer for Bleacher Report, thinks of Steph Castle
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Remember when we misused him so much people thought Steph should be happy if he was as good as Jrue Holiday.

Pro comp: Jrue Holiday
Castle consistently drew the toughest defensive assignments for title-winning UConn last season as a freshman and made a name for himself as a defensive stopper who is elite at the point of attack. That has been Jrue Holiday's calling card as an NBA player. The big leap here is the playmaking ability Holiday has proven over his career. Castle did not show that often at UConn but has the calm and vision to become a viable point guard in time. That, along with his shooting, might be the biggest swing skills that make or break his future NBA stardom.

Our own fans thought this and weren’t sure about his stardom because of how much he sacrificed.

Which he actually touched on in the article you responded to.

"I feel like my true position is a point guard," Castle said at the NBA scouting combine. "I feel like the past couple of months, I had to sacrifice for the better of our team. It worked out for us, so it's not anything to harp on or be bitter about."

Whole time the proper comps for him is actually SGA or Cade Cunningham.
 
HW611 said:
Remember when we misused him so much people thought Steph should be happy if he was as good as Jrue Holiday.

Pro comp: Jrue Holiday
Castle consistently drew the toughest defensive assignments for title-winning UConn last season as a freshman and made a name for himself as a defensive stopper who is elite at the point of attack. That has been Jrue Holiday's calling card as an NBA player. The big leap here is the playmaking ability Holiday has proven over his career. Castle did not show that often at UConn but has the calm and vision to become a viable point guard in time. That, along with his shooting, might be the biggest swing skills that make or break his future NBA stardom.

Our own fans thought this and weren’t sure about his stardom because of how much he sacrificed.

Which he actually touched on in the article you responded to.

"I feel like my true position is a point guard," Castle said at the NBA scouting combine. "I feel like the past couple of months, I had to sacrifice for the better of our team. It worked out for us, so it's not anything to harp on or be bitter about."

Whole time the proper comps for him is actually SGA or Cade Cunningham.
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Here's the thing though, we won a championship. If you read his quote again, you might notice that he says it's nothing to harp on or be bitter about. Yet you continue to harp on it and be very bitter about his time here, despite winning a championship. I say this slightly tongue in cheek, but you might be more happy rooting for a program like Arkansas and Calipari who is solely focused on maximizing his players' NBA potential.

Those are definitely good comps, but I'd also argue it's not a knock to compare him to Jrue Holiday, a guy who is close to a lock to make the Basketball Hall of Fame. But that's a conversation for a different day
 
navery12 said:
I say this slightly tongue in cheek, but you might be more happy rooting for a program like Arkansas and Calipari who is solely focused on maximizing his players' NBA potential.
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You weren’t around for this, but there was a time where guys could be an All-American here, win championships, and be highly prepared to play and succeed at the next level.

Crazy to think all of that could be possible I know. Sorry if I care a lot about the players who come through here being able to be successful in their post career here as well.
 
HW611 said:
You weren’t around for this, but there was a time where guys could be an All-American here, win championships, and be highly prepared to play and succeed at the next level.

Crazy to think all of that could be possible I know. Sorry if I care a lot about the players who come through here being able to be successful in their post career here as well.
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Here's the thing, that's happening. Maybe you didn't notice in the midst of your complaining but Steph Castle is succeeding at the next level. He just won Rookie of the Year and like you said is on the path to being a star. Your hatred for Dan Hurley is beyond irrational. Maybe you're not willing to admit it to yourself yet, but it is hatred
 
navery12 said:
Here's the thing, that's happening. Maybe you didn't notice in the midst of your complaining but Steph Castle is succeeding at the next level. He just won Rookie of the Year and like you said is on the path to being a star. Your hatred for Dan Hurley is beyond irrational. Maybe you're not willing to admit it to yourself yet, but it is hatred
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In these arguments with this 1 poster I fully support any snarkiness. Keep going. Because we know he isn't ever giving up on his takes. 😀
 
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