No, having guys leave early to be undrafted or even second round picks (Jackson) doesn't help our recruiting, but it's also the case that from the players' perspective, them coming back only to have a similar or worse draft outcome wasn't a good option.
Actually you are sucked in by the modern stuff. One little injury and you aren't as smart as you suppose. Ok, UConn is better off next year with four guys gone with remaining eligibility who were the guts of bringing us a title (didn’t win the league or league tournament if I recall) but you are sure Clingan will do it surrounded by mostly untested kids. I hope they can, but it is “debatable” and at this moment in time, unprovable.
Obviously it is better, maybe i guess, from the players perspective and i hope they do well. If you are happy with UConn being an NBA feeder for kids who have eligibility left, fine, but Im a UConn fan first. Really good players leaving before they are fully matured doesnt help UConn the tear after they leave.
You're right, one little injury does have the potential to change everything. But that's exactly why you need to go to the NBA when you have the chance like Jackson and Sanogo did.
Problem with the G league for centers is that it's a track fest with guards chucking up shots
Okay pompous one. Im saying it doesn't help my team. Clearly it helps the player financially, but if you seriously think UCONN has better prospects without a proven talented player, you are a better agent than a fan. Go root for the G league.
Meant to add, i didnot “discredit” the team. I pointed out a bit of reality. Methinks you are the one living in a fantasy world. I totally get what is happening. Bottom line is players leaving early does not help a program win championships except in fantasyland.
Nobody is saying it's better for UConn, that's just an incredibly small minded and ignorant view. It would be better for UConn to win championships if every great player we got stayed 4 years. But that's not happening in 2023, 2003, or even 1993.
Oh, nice!
The really important thing is for the players to leave when they are most ready, as RIP did after staying the extra year JC suggested.
We sent 3 kids to the NBA who were all ranked outside the top 50. If you can’t see how that reflects well on the program for future recruits, I don’t know what to tell ya
Another dense reply. Show me where i knocked a kid for leaving. I didn’t. I said i din’t see ut as helping the program I root for. Some people salivate over kids leaving early on the theory it helps to recruit other studs. And maybe it does. But if those new studs leave before helping my team to do anything special, it is good for them
If you can’t see how that is great for the kids but doesn’t do much to help UConn win games next year I don’t know what to tell you. Sure it reflects well on the program. But what really gets my psyched is winning games. It is quite possible none of the kids who left early this year would improve their game or draft situation by staying and Hawkins especially was probably risking too much by staying. Is UConn better without Hawkins next year? Heck , I think Khalid hurt himself by staying. That is not my point.
Sanogo is in that Eric Paschal tweener mold in size and current capability. He may stick around for some years, but yeah he will need to overhaul His game to be a meaningful NBA roster addition.
Because it's not all about UConn. These kids aren't pawns to move around to make our hopes and wishes come true. These are kids with dreams, and our coaches jobs are to help make those dreams come true. Last night that happened for 3 of them
His future is actually a 2-way contract with the Bulls
Best post of the thread. These three have huge deficiencies to overcome and it makes sense for an NBA team to prefer players without these deficiencies, as they're abundant in the best basketball league on the planet. We'll see if they're able to overcome them or if they're overstated, but on the whole NBA talent evaluators are pretty good.
One thing I'd do if I was Sanogo is get with a top speed and agility trainer to improve his vertical jump and speed off the ground. I've seen first hand what that kind of specialized training can do. Easily 6 inches of vertical jump improvement are possible. He plays a bit below the rim and the NBA is an above the rim league. If he's already done such training and maxed out, it is what it is.
Yup, and man was he dominant and efficient doing it.
The NBA doesn’t really want skilled big men unless you can legit be one of the best scorers in the league.
Of course as a UConn fan I would prefer that our stars stay through their complete eligibility, but I'm not losing sleep over guys who clearly accomplished as much as they were going to here and are ready to start their career, as limited as it may be.
