2026 Recruiting: Abdou Toure update from aaron torres

[navery12]

I had the same initial reaction to that quote, and it's definitely not a great look on Toure's part. But after reading it about 15 times trying to figure out what he could have possibly meant I'm not sure it's so bad.

I think he may have just literally meant he didn't see himself playing here and getting minutes his freshman year, and he'd have to work to earn his minutes. Outside of the elite top 10 freshman it's been tough for freshmen to crack the rotation, which is just about the only "negative" I can see someone finding in the UConn program recently. And I use negative very loosely

 

[CL82]

Don’t think I saw this article from Mike Anthony posted…gets into some comments from dad…UConn only offered 1/2 of what Cal paid

Link

Alternative access

Thanks. This makes it clear:

“I wanted him at UConn,” Toure’s father, Mamoudou Toure, said after about a dozen family members and hundreds of classmates and friends gathered. “Easy for family. Easy for everybody. But we are on a team pulling out red carpets. A Bentley. Private jets. Doing all that. And I’m not getting that love at home. So …”

Hurley and his staff viewed Toure as a great kid and a nice player, one who should play four college years and could have an NBA future. They made a substantial offer, something north of $200,000 for Toure’s first year, and let that stand without much more to say. Arkansas, Mamoudou said, paid about double what UConn offered.

“Money is a big component,” Mamoudou said. “But there were teams that offered more money than Arkansas. It's not about money, like I told my son. I worked hard enough to build what little I have. I like people that respect me, respect my value, and they stay in communication with me. I could have gone to UConn if they had talked to me. But I have to look at what's the best interest of the family.”

It sounds like he wasn't a good culture fit.

 

[HW611]

Don’t think I saw this article from Mike Anthony posted…gets into some comments from dad…UConn only offered 1/2 of what Cal paid

Link

Alternative access

Here’s an interesting section.

Looking at Toure as a 4 year player would be pretty wild if true.

“Hurley and his staff viewed Toure as a great kid and a nice player, one who should play four college years and could have an NBA future. They made a substantial offer, something north of $200,000 for Toure’s first year, and let that stand without much more to say. Arkansas, Mamoudou said, paid about double what UConn offered.

“Money is a big component,” Mamoudou said. “But there were teams that offered more money than Arkansas. It's not about money, like I told my son. I worked hard enough to build what little I have. I like people that respect me, respect my value, and they stay in communication with me. I could have gone to UConn if they had talked to me. But I have to look at what's the best interest of the family.”

 

[Dooch]

Sounds like dad wanted to be wined and dined more than his kid did, lol

 

[drayenob]

Don’t think I saw this article from Mike Anthony posted…gets into some comments from dad…UConn only offered 1/2 of what Cal paid

Link

Alternative access

UConn wanted a midweek visit and then didn't return their calls.

“We wanted to go. We wanted it to be the first one,” Mamoudou said. “They had other priorities. … We only had Arkansas, Providence, and we were set to go to UConn. I was expecting to go to UConn. We thought it was done.
“Very disappointing because the whole family wanted to go to UConn. We wanted to go visit UConn, just like everybody else, on a weekend. UConn wanted us to go on weekdays. I told them I cannot go weekdays.”

“I said, you know what, UConn is bigger than me,” Mamoudou said. “Abdou is going to miss two days of school, let's go. And then we told them we're OK to go weekdays. And then, call, calling, a week or plus, reaching out to them. Nothing. Next call, they acknowledge, ‘Sorry we missed your call.’”

 

[TRest]

Here’s an interesting section.

Looking at Toure as a 4 year player would be pretty wild if true.

“
Hurley and his staff viewed Toure as a great kid and a nice player, one who should play four college years and could have an NBA future. They made a substantial offer, something north of $200,000 for Toure’s first year, and let that stand without much more to say. Arkansas, Mamoudou said, paid about double what UConn offered.
“Money is a big component,” Mamoudou said. “But there were teams that offered more money than Arkansas. It's not about money, like I told my son. I worked hard enough to build what little I have. I like people that respect me, respect my value, and they stay in communication with me. I could have gone to UConn if they had talked to me. But I have to look at what's the best interest of the family.”

If this is entirely a direct quote from the father, no thanks. Seems kind of like he's quoting dad than son all in the same paragraph.

 

[djct1999]

Spoken like a true CT legend!

 

[alexd]

Wow.... this is about the most I've ever read from a player/parents about how a recruitment went. Most of them keep it pretty general if anything at all publicly.

 

[k-walk]

It really sounds like we didn’t want this kid that much the deeper into the process we got. Not answering calls to set up a visit doesn’t make him sound like a priority at all.

 

[TRest]

It really sounds like we didn’t want this kid that much the deeper into the process we got. Not answering calls to set up a visit doesn’t make him sound like a priority at all.

I wouldn't know, but believe that staff and recruits are in constant texting contact. Maybe we had to recruit the parents, who expect phone calls, and it factored into the loss of interest.

 

[RuffRuff]

Here’s an interesting section.

Looking at Toure as a 4 year player would be pretty wild if true.

“
Hurley and his staff viewed Toure as a great kid and a nice player, one who should play four college years and could have an NBA future. They made a substantial offer, something north of $200,000 for Toure’s first year, and let that stand without much more to say. Arkansas, Mamoudou said, paid about double what UConn offered.
“Money is a big component,” Mamoudou said. “But there were teams that offered more money than Arkansas. It's not about money, like I told my son. I worked hard enough to build what little I have. I like people that respect me, respect my value, and they stay in communication with me. I could have gone to UConn if they had talked to me. But I have to look at what's the best interest of the family.”

All economics ultimately. The rest of it is pretty much fluff. It’s like valuing a stock on a budget. As expected UConn came in much lower, and set a price to what they thought his value was.

Family/kid probably saying too much, less is more. They seem like a pretty unsophisticated bunch when it comes to this stuff and probably part of what made them really fall for all the Cal attention. If red carpets is what they needed UConn was not the right place. Will be fun to follow his development and see how it plays out, in the portal era.

 

[RuffRuff]

It really sounds like we didn’t want this kid that much the deeper into the process we got. Not answering calls to set up a visit doesn’t make him sound like a priority at all.

My guess is the Toure camp put out their price point and Hurley said no thanks, why waste the time. I get the sense if a player comes in high balling with Dan Hurley they immediately go into a bucket. I’m sure agents that know him guide that type of approach, this camp just wasn’t advanced enough to be smart about it. That said, feels like it’s worth some closure but not sure what the standard is in closing out recruitment, some of this might just be some sour grapes because of it.

 

[HW611]

All economics ultimately. The rest of it is pretty much fluff. It’s like valuing a stock on a budget. As expected UConn came in much lower, and set a price to what they thought his value was.

Family/kid probably saying too much, less is more. They seem like a pretty unsophisticated bunch when it comes to this stuff and probably part of what made them really fall for all the Cal attention. If red carpets is what they needed UConn was not the right place. Will be fun to follow his development and see how it plays out, in the portal era.

Unsophisticated bunch?

If a job is recruiting you (or college for academic reasons) and you have two handle you this same way would you go to the one that’s not showing you love or valuing you?

I don’t understand how their decision making process is deemed unsophisticated. Arkansas checked all the boxes for them effort wise and results wise they were looking for. We didn’t check any boxes for them effort wise.

 

[HooperScooper]

Forget all the money stuff. It just sounds like the UConn staff didn’t want him. For whatever reasons. We don’t know entirely why that was. Have to trust the staff here.

 

[RuffRuff]

Unsophisticated bunch?

If a job is recruiting you (or college for academic reasons) and you have two handle you this same way would you go to the one that’s not showing you love or valuing you?

I don’t understand how their decision making process is deemed unsophisticated. Arkansas checked all the boxes for them effort wise and results wise they were looking for. We didn’t check any boxes for them effort wise.

It’s the divulging all the details to the press piece. Like someone said we never see a recruit and parents talk the dirt like this.

 

[HW611]

It’s the divulging all the details to the press piece. Like someone said we never see a recruit and parents talk the dirt like this.

I personally like the transparency, if everything is true.

 

[Palatine]

When you saw the list PC, UConn, Walmart, it was obviously about the Benjamins. And it was always unlikely that UConn would fly him from Tweed to Bradley on a private jet.

 

[TRest]

Forget all the money stuff. It just sounds like the UConn staff didn’t want him. We don’t know entirely why that was. Have to trust the staff here.

It really might be as simple as making an unrealistic demand upfront and refusing to come off of it. Plenty of fish in the sea.

 

[NJHoops]

We know this staff is incredibly hard working and relentless. If they didn’t put in the work “effort wise,” the process was a decision, not a mistake. Am I surprised if someone tries to frame it differently and derogatorily? Of course not.

I also think his “last two years” comment may be getting misinterpreted a little. Obviously the program has been successful with winning and player development, it’s a fact not an opinion. My interpretation is that he’s talking about his specific recruitment over the last two years.

They do recognize the individuality of players and then coach and recruit them accordingly, but if a guy’s takeaway is that they were very honest about his game and showed how they could develop and improve weaknesses and that’s seen as a negative, then things worked out. At the end of the day, they just weren’t into each other all that much, and that’s fine.

 

[jibsey]

I remember Calipari’s style of offense at Kentucky. Not as structured and more 1 on 1 individual breakdowns. UConn’s offensive “style” is quite complex, take time to learn and team oriented with a lot of motion. Maybe he doesn’t like that? Both coaches are defense oriented so other than that I don’t know what style he’s talking about.

 

[djct1999]

It simple. This isn’t just about the money and Toure made an extremely sensible decision given the circumstances. It’s about UConn and the value this staff placed on Toure and his fit. Toure’s profile doesn’t match what they are looking for. This is only a talking point because where he is from. It’s possible and probable both sides made the right decision. We could slam Toure if the gap was 100k or 150k. It wasn’t. In that case, no on here would leave the type of money on the table that Toure would have had to to play in Storrs. Good luck to the kid and let’s all move on.

 

[Matrim55]

It simple. This isn’t just about the money and Toure made an extremely sensible decision given the circumstances. It’s about UConn and the value this staff placed on Toure and his fit. Toure’s profile doesn’t match what they are looking for. This is only a talking point because where he is from. It’s possible and probable both sides made the right decision. We could slam Toure if the gap was 100k or 150k. It wasn’t. In that case, no on here would leave the type of money on the table that Toure would have had to to play in Storrs. Good luck to the kid and let’s all move on.

I hate when Connecticut kids go elsewhere but yeah, this is 100% correct. We're THE national program now and that means we get to be choosy, including with kids from our own backyard.

I wish the kid nothing but the best (and in this case, I hope "the best" means moving on from Arkansas after one year to a less odious program where he can develop into a pro).

 

[Nameless]

I had the same initial reaction to that quote, and it's definitely not a great look on Toure's part. But after reading it about 15 times trying to figure out what he could have possibly meant I'm not sure it's so bad.

I think he may have just literally meant he didn't see himself playing here and getting minutes his freshman year, and he'd have to work to earn his minutes. Outside of the elite top 10 freshman it's been tough for freshmen to crack the rotation, which is just about the only "negative" I can see someone finding in the UConn program recently. And I use negative very loosely

This is exactly what I thought. Had no idea why people were making it about money when he didn't mention money once.

"The past 2 years, I see what they're about and didn't see myself playing there" = "these past 2 years freshmen have barely played, and I don't want to ride the pine all year." I thought it was clear as day, although he definitely could've worded it better. I'm sure it wasn't easy to find the right words in the moment.

 

[Umami Zen]

Dad Toure was pretty forthcoming about their decision. Appreciate his honesty. It was a decision made in the best interest of the family. Game changing money. Let's try to get Landrew on board.

 

[Dooooooomed]