2026 Recruiting: - Abdou Toure update from aaron torres | Page 18 | The Boneyard
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2026 Recruiting: Abdou Toure update from aaron torres

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FfldCntyFan said:
Unless someone here can say they had the opportunity to get paid a little more than $1 million upon high school graduation but passed on it to pursue a different path, not one if us is in position to criticize this kid for whatever decision he makes.
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Nothing personal but this is such a dumb take. Sure we can criticize him. He took the quick bag and an easy path. He could have come to UConn, still have done very well financially, earned his spot and become a ct legend. If we can’t criticize him, can we applaud guys like Alex, Solo, and Stewie who said no to more money elsewhere because they see the intrinsic value UConn adds?

He took the bag because of ego. His camp couldn’t stand the fact that he probably wouldn’t start at UConn. Trust me, the staff did the right thing here showing some interest as a courtesy. If he was from any other state, he wouldn’t even be on their radar.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
Unless someone here can say they had the opportunity to get paid a little more than $1 million upon high school graduation but passed on it to pursue a different path, not one if us is in position to criticize this kid for whatever decision he makes.
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Well, even those different paths presumably were paying a lot of $. I just checked the PC board, if they had a Toure thread going it's gone now.
 
djct1999 said:
Nothing personal but this is such a dumb take. Sure we can criticize him. He took the quick bag and an easy path. He could have come to UConn, still have done very well financially, earned his spot and become a ct legend. If we can’t criticize him, can we applaud guys like Alex, Solo, and Stewie who said no to more money elsewhere because they see the intrinsic value UConn adds?

He took the bag because of ego. His camp couldn’t stand the fact that he probably wouldn’t start at UConn. Trust me, the staff did the right thing here showing some interest as a courtesy. If he was from any other state, he wouldn’t even be on their radar.
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This is such a delusional fan perspective of the situation. Kid has two choices here.

A. Get paid 1.3 million, get a chance to start at a school who receives plenty of exposure, and play for a coach who produces the best NBA players in all of college hoops when it comes to making money after college.

B. Don’t get paid 1.3 million, high chance you don’t start and play and therefore setting his NBA clock back (because the younger you can get there the better), chance at a national championship.

I’m not knocking a kid who’s #1 priority is taking care of his family short term and long term over winning a national championship. You’d be kind of be silly not to make that choice.

For clarity, our kids here did not face that choice and situations are different so I’m not calling them silly. Just this specific situation.

He’s collecting a bag and putting himself in the best position to hear his name called in the draft next year by playing for a coach who is committed to investing in him immediately.
 
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djct1999 said:
Nothing personal but this is such a dumb take. Sure we can criticize him. He took the quick bag and an easy path. He could have come to UConn, still have done very well financially, earned his spot and become a ct legend. If we can’t criticize him, can we applaud guys like Alex, Solo, and Stewie who said no to more money elsewhere because they see the intrinsic value UConn adds?

He took the bag because of ego. His camp couldn’t stand the fact that he probably wouldn’t start at UConn. Trust me, the staff did the right thing here showing some interest as a courtesy. If he was from any other state, he wouldn’t even be on their radar.
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It's so hard to say - everyone's personal situation is different. I don't think I'd judge a kid at this stage. Now if he goes and plays with Cal and burns rubber, doesn't amount to much, then can kind of say I told you so. Cal does that at times - had three kids ranked well ahead of Steph in that 23 class that have flamed out for the most part (meanwhile Dillingham & Shepard went lottery). There's a risk reward with Cal - he'll give you PT and allow you to shine, but he's not going to really polish you up. You better have the natural goods to do it. He will teach you how to manage your money though.

There is something a intoxicating about Cal/Ark. You'll get to play in the SEC in that big college environment for a coach that has reels of NBA alum. Having visited it recently, Fayetville is also a fun little college town. I do wonder why he let Fland go so easy.
 
RuffRuff said:
It's so hard to say - everyone's personal situation is different. I don't think I'd judge a kid at this stage. Now if he goes and plays with Cal and burns rubber, doesn't amount to much, then can kind of say I told you so. Cal does that at times - had three kids ranked well ahead of Steph in that 23 class that have flamed out for the most part (meanwhile Dillingham & Shepard went lottery). There's a risk reward with Cal - he'll give you PT and allow you to shine, but he's not going to really polish you up. You better have the natural goods to do it. He will teach you how to manage your money though.

There is something an intoxicating about Cal/Ark. You'll get to play in the SEC in that big college environment for a coach that has reels of NBA alum. Having visited it recently, Fayetville is also a fun little college town. I do wonder why he let Fland go so easy.
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I’m not faulting Cal for those over ranked players. I personally didn’t think much of any of them.

Justin Edward’s was Derrick Jones Jr. All athleticism no skill. Bradshaw was skinny and soft. Wagner was a 6’3 combo guard with no elite skills. Just a jack of all trades. Castle was clearly the best prospect of that group (I said he was going top 5 before the season even started, it was an easy call).

If you turn on the HS tape it wasn’t surprising to see Dillingham was the best player. He just moved different. Reed though came out of no where.

If you actually have the goods and aren’t over ranked, you’ll be fine playing for Cal. He’s going to teach guys how to be a pro.
 
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Mustapha Heron was the last CT kid I wanted to be a Husky as much as I did AT.
 
RuffRuff said:
Yup - why there was no point burning mental span here because it was a CT kid. Was always about the bag. Heard it early coming out of a UConn event with staff. They stayed close in case his priorities changed. They didn’t. Wish him the best.
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Tonight Show Comedian GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
nicely done, Ruff Ruff.

Now tell us UConn is getting an invite into the B1G conference and make sure it's true.😁
 
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HW611 said:
This is such a delusional fan perspective of the situation. Kid has two choices here.

A. Get paid 1.3 million, get a chance to start at a school who receives plenty of exposure, and play for a coach who produces the best NBA players in all of college hoops when it comes to making money after college.

B. Don’t get paid 1.3 million, high chance you don’t start and play and therefore setting his NBA clock back (because the younger you can get there the better), chance at a national championship.

I’m not knocking a kid who’s #1 priority is taking care of his family short term and long term over winning a national championship. You’d be kind of be silly not to make that choice.

For clarity, our kids here did not face that choice and situations are different so I’m not calling them silly. Just this specific situation.

He’s collecting a bag and putting himself in the best position to hear his name called in the draft next year by playing for a coach who is committed to investing in him immediately.
Expand ...

HW611 said:
I’m not faulting Cal for those over ranked players. I personally didn’t think much of any of them.

Justin Edward’s was Derrick Jones Jr. All athleticism no skill. Bradshaw was skinny and soft. Wagner was a 6’3 combo guard with no elite skills. Just a jack of all trades. Castle was clearly the best prospect of that group (I said he was going top 5 before the season even started, it was an easy call).

If you turn on the HS tape it wasn’t surprising to see Dillingham was the best player. He just moved different. Reed though came out of no where.

If you actually have the goods and aren’t over ranked, you’ll be fine playing for Cal. He’s going to teach guys how to be a pro.
Expand ...

If you aren't going to fault Cal for "over ranked players" you can't give him much credit for highly ranked players who played 9 months under him. JMO
 
djct1999 said:
can we applaud guys like Alex, Solo, and Stewie who said no to more money elsewhere
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YES! These guys should be applauded especially because they can leave at any point with portal. Takes a special kind of player to do that.
 
djct1999 said:
If we can’t criticize him, can we applaud guys like Alex, Solo, and Stewie who said no to more money elsewhere because they see the intrinsic value UConn adds?
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How do you know they said no to more $$? Are we talking about coming here or staying here? I think there's a big difference. I'm sure we've outbid some people along the way for players, too.
 
HW611 said:
This is such a delusional fan perspective of the situation. Kid has two choices here.

A. Get paid 1.3 million, get a chance to start at a school who receives plenty of exposure, and play for a coach who produces the best NBA players in all of college hoops when it comes to making money after college.

B. Don’t get paid 1.3 million, high chance you don’t start and play and therefore setting his NBA clock back (because the younger you can get there the better), chance at a national championship.

I’m not knocking a kid who’s #1 priority is taking care of his family short term and long term over winning a national championship. You’d be kind of be silly not to make that choice.

For clarity, our kids here did not face that choice and situations are different so I’m not calling them silly. Just this specific situation.

He’s collecting a bag and putting himself in the best position to hear his name called in the draft next year by playing for a coach who is committed to investing in him immediately.
Expand ...
I don't think UConn got all that close to the rumored number, so it absolutely makes sense for him to take option A. If option B were closer, it's a conversation. But as I outlined in a long post in a different thread, the UConn staff is not going to get over their skis on the cap for a bench guy with portal, internationals, and retention still up in the air.
 
HW611 said:
I’m not faulting Cal for those over ranked players. I personally didn’t think much of any of them.

Justin Edward’s was Derrick Jones Jr. All athleticism no skill. Bradshaw was skinny and soft. Wagner was a 6’3 combo guard with no elite skills. Just a jack of all trades. Castle was clearly the best prospect of that group (I said he was going top 5 before the season even started, it was an easy call).

If you turn on the HS tape it wasn’t surprising to see Dillingham was the best player. He just moved different. Reed though came out of no where.

If you actually have the goods and aren’t over ranked, you’ll be fine playing for Cal. He’s going to teach guys how to be a pro.
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Cal chases shiny things. Historically he would get a lot of shiny things in one class, and see what worked. What's to say Toure isn't just another shiny object? Just because he's CT doesn't mean he's not. The staff did a great job here, very Warren Buffett. They evaluated the ROI for year one and didn't bite because he was around the corner.

This sounds like you think you're the best scout on the planet, better than 247 & Finkelstein, who lives on the circuit. I will say this now - no one on the Boneyard is a better HS talent evaluator than people that do it for a living, live. They're not better than Hurley/Staff, they're not better than Finkelstein & team. I know a lot of peeps would like to think they are - especially the hindsight 20/20 warriors.
 
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caw said:
If you aren't going to fault Cal for "over ranked players" you can't give him much credit for highly ranked players who played 9 months under him. JMO
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I’m just saying they were overanked to begin with whether they played with Cal or not. Can’t turn into sugar.

Ihave a friend who’s an agent and he was never impressed by anyone on that circuit that year. Said it was a horrible year for HS guys. If guys just aren’t that talented there’s not much to showcase. Dillingham wasn’t some miraculous development job by Cal either. He was just the best of that group despite his ranking. He’s just super tiny.

The main thing is, if you have the goods Cal will teach you how to be a pro. In Wagner’s case the NBA doesn’t want a 6’3 scorer with no athleticism and can’t play PG at all. I can’t believe they kept him that high in the rankings.
 
HW611 said:
I’m just saying they were overanked to begin with whether they played with Cal or not. Can’t turn into sugar.

Ihave a friend who’s an agent and he was never impressed by anyone on that circuit that year. Said it was a horrible year for HS guys. If guys just aren’t that talented there’s not much to showcase. Dillingham wasn’t some miraculous development job by Cal either. He was just the best of that group despite his ranking. He’s just super tiny.

The main thing is, if you have the goods Cal will teach you how to be a pro. In Wagner’s case the NBA doesn’t want a 6’3 scorer with no athleticism and can’t play PG at all. I can’t believe they kept him that high in the rankings.
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Maybe this was a secret magical "thing" in years past, but honestly, if you're athletically gifted, you could "learn how to be a pro" nowadays by just putting in prompts into ChatGPT.
 
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auror said:
I don't think UConn got all that close to the rumored number, so it absolutely makes sense for him to take option A. If option B were closer, it's a conversation. But as I outlined in a long post in a different thread, the UConn staff is not going to get over their skis on the cap for a bench guy with portal, internationals, and retention still up in the air.
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They didn't - because they didn't think he was worth it. Cal & English did. Hurley also has a lot of mouths to feed next year - why would you go all in on a kid who may be a Ferrari at some point, but unlikely to be that year one? Not only is it a bad use of funds, but it's also poor precedent in the locker room.
 
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