2024 Recruiting: Ahmad Nowell OV 6/8

[TheHorde]

I like it. View attachment 89515View attachment 89516

Also, wtf Georgetown and Rutgers??

I got crazy flak for pointing out that Rutgers is competing with us for some recruits now especially in the northeast market. But it’s true.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I hope they get him.

But I think it’s worth pointing out that Harper and Bailey are both 1 and done that probably won’t be as good in college as Cam Spencer was last season. So UConn getting Spencer this year might be a bigger L for them than landing either of Harper or Bailey are Ws

I have a hard time believing the top 2 players in the country wouldn’t be as good as a guy who needed college for 4 years. It certainly raises the ceiling on how good they can be.

Castle might be our best perimeter guy next year. At least that’s my hope.

 

[RipCity]

I have a hard time believing the top 2 players in the country wouldn’t be as good as a guy who needed college for 4 years. It certainly raises the ceiling on how good they can be.

Castle might be our best perimeter guy next year. At least that’s my hope.

The fact that Spencer needed 4 years to be that good is irrelevant here. They’re obviously better talents than Spencer, but Spencer in years 4 and 5 is probably going to be better than either Harper or Bailey’s freshman year before they go pro.

It will be hard for Castle to be as good as Spencer was las year. If he is and is sharing a backcourt with Spencer and Newton, UConn will be insane this year.

Two 1 and dones is awesome, but without a good supporting cast it won’t be enough. There’s a reason Calipari only has 1 ring. They’ll lose Omoruyi after this year too. It’s not like Rutgers will be a guaranteed top team

 

[Deleted at users request]

The fact that Spencer needed 4 years to be that good is irrelevant here. They’re obviously better talents than Spencer, but Spencer in years 4 and 5 is probably going to be better than either Harper or Bailey’s freshman year before they go pro.

It will be hard for Castle to be as good as Spencer was las year. If he is and is sharing a backcourt with Spencer and Newton, UConn will be insane this year.

Two 1 and dones is awesome, but without a good supporting cast it won’t be enough. There’s a reason Calipari only has 1 ring. They’ll lose Omoruyi after this year too. It’s not like Rutgers will be a guaranteed top team

Oh I have no idea how good Rutgers can be. I’m just not sure about Spencer being better than 2 top recruits even in year 4 and 5.

Heck Karaban and Clingan looked better than Newton last year and they weren’t even top recruits. Talent is talent.

Rutgers definitely needs a supporting cast around them though if they want to succeed.

 

[AD DB Burner]

I got crazy flak for pointing out that Rutgers is competing with us for some recruits now especially in the northeast market. But it’s true.

Since Hurley took over, outside of Gavin Griffiths, I can't recall a single recruit that Rutgers landed when both UConn and Rutgers were in aggressive pursuit.

EDIT - I forgot about Paul Mulcahy early on as well.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Admittedly, I don't follow recruiting that much. But how on earth can Rutgers pull #2 AND #1 in the same class? Does that not mess with your mind like it does mine?

 

[RipCity]

Oh I have no idea how good Rutgers can be. I’m just not sure about Spencer being better than 2 top recruits even in year 4 and 5.

Heck Karaban and Clingan looked better than Newton last year and they weren’t even top recruits. Talent is talent.

Rutgers definitely needs a supporting cast around them though if they want to succeed.

He was better than every freshman in the country last year aside from Miller and Filipowski

 

[TheHorde]

Since Hurley took over, outside of Gavin Griffiths, I can't recall a single recruit that Rutgers landed when both UConn and Rutgers were in aggressive pursuit.

EDIT - I forgot about Paul Mulcahy early on as well.

Griffiths hurt and still hurts for many of us being a shooter and home grown CT kid. That’s why many of us feel like Betsey is such a huge priority to get and keep home. Imagine if Clingan had gotten away and starred elsewhere. You have to defend your home turf and your backyard.

 

[Deleted at users request]

He was better than every freshman in the country last year aside from Miller and Filipowski

This is pretty bias seeing that Cam Whitmore is right in the big east and was missed.

I’m not going through a whole list, but I’m sure there’s probably more. It’s fine though because Newton was a perfect fit for what we needed. Wouldn’t have traded him for anyone else.

 

[navery12]

This is pretty bias seeing that Cam Whitmore is right in the big east and was missed.

I’m not going through a whole list, but I’m sure there’s probably more. It’s fine though because Newton was a perfect fit for what we needed. Wouldn’t have traded him for anyone else.

It's objectively true, Cam Spencer was statistically better than all but 4 freshman last year. Spencer was at 3.9 for reference

 

[Deleted at users request]

It's objectively true, Cam Spencer was statistically better than all but 4 freshman last year. Spencer was at 3.9 for reference

View attachment 89527

Oh I thought we were talking about Newton. But still, so according to this chart. Cam was better than Kyle, Jarace Walker, our own Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan and still Cam Whitmore?

So pretty much, he should be the best player on the team this year according to this chart.

 

[navery12]

Oh I thought we were talking about Newton. But still, so according to this chart. Cam was better than Kyle, Jarace Walker, our own Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan and still Cam Whitmore?

So pretty much, he should be the best player on the team this year according to this chart.

No, 3.9 is usually the 3rd or 4th best player on a team and that's what I'd expect him to be. Clingan and Karaban should both make big jumps as sophomores, Newton and Castle are toss-ups.

The chart is filtered on just freshmen, who unsurprisingly often don't perform as well as upperclassmen who have a ton more experience

 

[auror]

Oh I thought we were talking about Newton. But still, so according to this chart. Cam was better than Kyle, Jarace Walker, our own Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan and still Cam Whitmore?

So pretty much, he should be the best player on the team this year according to this chart.

This stat doesn't take defense into account whatsoever, so take that for what it's worth (especially in regards to Clingan).

No, 3.9 is usually the 3rd or 4th best player on a team and that's what I'd expect him to be

To be clear, 3.9 is around the best 100 players in the country. So maybe the 3rd best player on a top-heavy top 5 team or the best player on a really good midmajor or mediocre major conference team. Either way, Spencer's PRPG! will likely drop with the transfer as he takes on a smaller role on a new team with a lot of depth. Size of role is a big factor in PRPG!.

 

[RipCity]

No, 3.9 is usually the 3rd or 4th best player on a team and that's what I'd expect him to be. Clingan and Karaban should both make big jumps as sophomores, Newton and Castle are toss-ups.

The chart is filtered on just freshmen, who unsurprisingly often don't perform as well as upperclassmen who have a ton more experience

Thanks for actually pulling the data so Spencer was better than all but 4 freshman this past season and 3 power conference freshman.

But 3.9 is not usually 3rd or 4th, it’s almost always 1st or 2nd. Only 9 teams (UConn, Gonzaga, Marquette, Kansas, Baylor, Memphis, Xavier, MSU, and Miami) had two 3.9 or higher last year. So Spencer is nasty and a bigger impact player than most one and dones, which was my original point.

 

[RipCity]

This stat doesn't take defense into account whatsoever, so take that for what it's worth (especially in regards to Clingan).

To be clear, 3.9 is around the best 100 players in the country. So maybe the 3rd best player on a top 5 team or the best player on a really good midmajor or mediocre major conference team. Either way, Spencer's PRPG! will likely drop with the transfer as he takes on a smaller role on a new team. Size of role is a big factor in PRPG!.

It should be interesting because Spencer’s usage actually wasn’t that high and he’s moving from an offense that was inefficient to one that should be better.

 

[Deleted at users request]

No, 3.9 is usually the 3rd or 4th best player on a team and that's what I'd expect him to be. Clingan and Karaban should both make big jumps as sophomores, Newton and Castle are toss-ups.

The chart is filtered on just freshmen, who unsurprisingly often don't perform as well as upperclassmen who have a ton more experience

Again, Cam was better than Kyle, Jarace Walker, our own Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan and still Cam Whitmore?

Kyle and Jarace were All Conference players. But this chart says that Cam was a better player when he didn’t receive any awards.

 

[husky429]

Nowell's rebounding is insane for a 5'10 guard. He really mixes it up and gets physical when he wants to.

 

[navery12]

Again, Cam was better than Kyle, Jarace Walker, our own Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan and still Cam Whitmore?

Kyle and Jarace were All Conference players. But this chart says that Cam was a better player when he didn’t receive any awards.

Yes

 

[auror]

It should be interesting because Spencer’s usage actually wasn’t that high and he’s moving from an offense that was inefficient to one that should be better.

It's true, will be interesting to see. Fit is also incredibly important, and it seems like he should fit well.

I don't have usage in my transfer stats, but the average high major to high major transfer between 3.5 and 4.2 PRPG! in the portal era (summers of '21 and '22) drops 1.3 PRPG! on the new team. 6 guys dropped below 3.5 and 2 stayed above that threshold (but even 1 of the 2 that stayed above had his PRPG fall). The same was true for RAPM.

 

[navery12]

This stat doesn't take defense into account whatsoever, so take that for what it's worth (especially in regards to Clingan).

To be clear, 3.9 is around the best 100 players in the country. So maybe the 3rd best player on a top-heavy top 5 team or the best player on a really good midmajor or mediocre major conference team. Either way, Spencer's PRPG! will likely drop with the transfer as he takes on a smaller role on a new team with a lot of depth. Size of role is a big factor in PRPG!.

It should be interesting because Spencer’s usage actually wasn’t that high and he’s moving from an offense that was inefficient to one that should be better.

Yeah to be clear was basing the 3rd or 4th best player based on our championship roster and what next year is looking like. It's a really good player, we'll just have a lot of those

 

[Deleted at users request]

This stat doesn't take defense into account whatsoever, so take that for what it's worth (especially in regards to Clingan).

To be clear, 3.9 is around the best 100 players in the country. So maybe the 3rd best player on a top-heavy top 5 team or the best player on a really good midmajor or mediocre major conference team. Either way, Spencer's PRPG! will likely drop with the transfer as he takes on a smaller role on a new team with a lot of depth. Size of role is a big factor in PRPG!.

Right, and the basis of this conversation is that a team would rather have Cam Spencer than the #1 or #2 freshmen in the country because Cam is more experienced. And I just can’t agree with that at all.

 

[superjohn]

Right, and the basis of this conversation is that a team would rather have Cam Spencer than the #1 or #2 freshmen in the country because Cam is more experienced. And I just can’t agree with that at all.

In terms of winning in college I would.

 

[Deleted at users request]

In terms of winning in college I would.

But he didn’t win though.. the other guys did as the leaders on their teams.

He didn’t win more games, he’s not getting drafted higher, and he didn’t receive any conference awards. But he’s better because of this chart? That’s where y’all lose me on some of these numbers.

 

[auror]

Right, and the basis of this conversation is that a team would rather have Cam Spencer than the #1 or #2 freshmen in the country because Cam is more experienced. And I just can’t agree with that at all.

In terms of winning in college I would.

If you could guarantee me I'd get the top 1 or 2 freshman, I'd take that over Spencer. But the top freshman is usually someone in the 5* range and isn't always the guys ranked #1 coming in, and the dropoff from the top freshman to the 10th freshman is usually pretty massive. It's easier to predict the impact and role of a guy with several years in college.

But he didn’t win though.. the other guys did as the leaders on their teams.

He didn’t win more games, he’s not getting drafted higher, and he didn’t receive any conference awards. But he’s better because of this chart? That’s where y’all lose me on some of these numbers.

Those guys played in easier leagues than Spencer. Spencer would've been all conference in the AAC.

 

[Deleted at users request]

If you could guarantee me I'd get the top 1 or 2 freshman, I'd take that over Spencer. But the top freshman is usually someone in the 5* range and isn't always the guys ranked #1 coming in, and the dropoff from the top freshman to the 10th freshman is usually pretty massive. It's easier to predict the impact and role of a guy with several years in college.

Those guys played in easier leagues than Spencer. Spencer would've been all conference in the AAC.

I hope they get him.

But I think it’s worth pointing out that Harper and Bailey are both 1 and done that probably won’t be as good in college as Cam Spencer was last season. So UConn getting Spencer this year might be a bigger L for them than landing either of Harper or Bailey are Ws

This was the original comment. Talking about the #1 and #2 players in the country.

Kyle also played in the ACC who the chart has as below Spencer.

Spencer is going to be amazing in his role here. My personal projection would be the 4th option behind guys like Castle, Karaban, and Clingan. There’s no way I’d take him as the go to on a team over a lot of the way more talented freshman out there though. If you ask me if I wanted to start my team around Castle or Spencer I’m saying Castle without thinking twice and he’s fringe top 10.

 

[navery12]

This was the original comment. Talking about the #1 and #2 players in the country.

Kyle also played in the ACC who the chart has as below Spencer.

Spencer is going to be amazing in his role here. My personal projection would be the 4th option behind guys like Castle, Karaban, and Clingan. There’s no way I’d take him as the go to on a team over a lot of the way more talented freshman out there though. If you ask me if I wanted to start my team around Castle or Spencer I’m saying Castle without thinking twice and he’s fringe top 10.

You are completely missing the point of this entire discussion, over and over again

 

[Deleted at users request]

You are completely missing the point of this entire discussion, over and over again

I’m confused then. Especially as the person who kind of started it. What’s the point?

I thought it was that a coach would rather have Cam than the #1 and #2 player in the country. Which is pretty blasphemous.

 

[navery12]

I’m confused then. Especially as the person who kind of started it. What’s the point?

I thought it was that a coach would rather have Cam than the #1 and #2 player in the country. Which is pretty blasphemous.

Yup, exactly. Entirely missing the point

You keep fixating on awards and all conference teams, who you'd take to build a team around, who has the most NBA potential when none of that is relevant. The point of the discussion is that a 22 year old Cam Spencer (and 23 this season) will likely have a bigger impact than an 18 year old freshman. Nobody is saying Spencer would be better as a go to scorer or a #1 option than a top recruit, but you keep bringing that up.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Yup, exactly. Entirely missing the point

You keep fixating on awards and all conference teams, who you'd take to build a team around, who has the most NBA potential when none of that is relevant. The point of the discussion is that a 22 year old Cam Spencer (and 23 this season) will likely have a bigger impact than an 18 year old freshman. Nobody is saying Spencer would be better as a go to scorer or a #1 option than a top recruit, but you keep bringing that up.

Then how would he be able to have a bigger impact…. That makes absolutely no sense.

Doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try and say why you would take a 4th year transfer over the #1 or #2 player. Even as role players, our freshmen were the best ones on the team over transfers (one who was all-conference). I don’t understand what angle y’all are trying to take here.

He wouldn’t be a better #1 option, wouldn’t be good enough for NBA, wouldn’t be in consideration for awards, didn’t win on his own team (that actually had an All Big Ten player and another guy who was 2x conference DPOY), but he would make a bigger impact than the guys who do all those things??

 

[navery12]

Then how would he be able to have a bigger impact…. That makes absolutely no sense.

Doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try and say why you would take a 4th year transfer over the #1 or #2 player. Even as role players, our freshmen were the best ones on the team over transfers (one who was all-conference). I don’t understand what angle y’all are trying to take here.

He wouldn’t be a better #1 option, wouldn’t be good enough for NBA, wouldn’t be in consideration for awards, didn’t win on his own team (that actually had an All Big Ten player and another guy who was 2x conference DPOY), but he would make a bigger impact than the guys who do all those things??

Yeah I'm done, because once again you are completely missing the point. If I thought you had any chance of comprehending what I said I might try to explain it again. But as is usual, you just move the goalposts and spin narratives that nobody is saying. I'm beginning to remember why you spent all season on my ignore list