Aidan Mahaney COMMITS to UConn (Merged) | Page 7 | The Boneyard

Aidan Mahaney COMMITS to UConn (Merged)

FlexOnEm said:
I’d bet money Mahaney is starting PG. Hurley made a reference that he’d love Hassan back as long as the role he envisioned for himself matched the staff’s role they saw for him. That tells me he’ll come off the bench in a similar role to last season. I think Diarra, McNeeley, and Reed are the main guys off the bench with Nowell getting consistent minutes too.
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McNeeley off the bench??? Ya gotta be kidding, this kid is phenomenal.
 
husky429 said:
There's the ballhandler we needed. We're a complete team now if our vets come back (and I believe they will). My guess at a depth chart to start the year...

PG: Diarra, Nowell
SG: Mahaney, Solo
SF: McNeeley, Stewart, Ross
PF: Karaban, Abraham
C: Reed, Samson, Singare

Obviously there's some positional flexibility there with Stewart especially (I believe he'll get 20 a game or more and his finishing at the rim will be the best on the team). But man, that team is deeper than we're used to. I see 8 guys who will definitely play and another 2 who can get there if (when) they put in the work. Enough vets to give our young guys space to develop, 3 good shooters and another 3-4 with known potential. Enough ballhandling and passing to break the press. Bruiser inside with a high-flyer for a different look. Probably 5 guys who are + defenders. A few STRONG guards.

We'll need out frontcourt to step up rebounding more than we're used to. And we may need to tighten up perimeter rotations without a guy like Clingan swallowing up 90% of layups. But wow... that's a good team. #7 imminent.

That bench would make the tournament on their own if everyone keeps developing.
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and if Karaban does not return, is it:
PG: Diarra, Nowell
SG: Mahaney, Solo
SF: McNeeley, Ross
PF: Stewart, Abraham
C: Reed, Samson, Singare
 
gsmooth said:
This is how I felt when watching the UConn game at East Carolina in Feb 2020 2 weeks before the COVID lockdown. It was surreal watching Tristen Newton play for East Carolina and light up UConn to the tune of 25 pts 6 assists and 5 rebounds. If my current self traveled back in time to that day of the game and told my Feb 29, 2020 self that a player from this game will have their name put up on the wall of Gampel Pavilion, the Feb 2020 would've guessed James Bouknight and then Christian Vital. My Feb 2020 self would've been shocked it would be Tristen Newton even though he had a hell of a game against UConn.
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Likewise, you can watch our 2nd round 2023 game against St. Mary's and tell yourself that someone playing in this game will help lead our quest for a 3-peat, and it could be 3 different guys in 2 different uniforms -- none of whom are Clingan or Hawkins.
 
Great! This kid will really understand the enormous weight and power of wearing a UConn jersey. It's like a transfusion of Championship blood.
 
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Scrutiner said:
Best quote:
“The coaching staff doesn’t rebuild at UConn, they reload,” Mahaney told ESPN. “There is no tip-toeing around the fact that the program is going for it all again, and I am ready to be a part of that journey towards continued greatness. One game at a time, obviously, but the goals at UConn are set the moment you walk into the facilities. National champs.”
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This guy has played in two NCAA Tournaments and not made the second weekend. He's hungry.

Last year Hurley said he wanted to bring in new guys like that who hadn't won before. Cam Spencer epitomized that hunger.
 
Would the prospect, now very legitimate, of chasing a 3-peat entice Karaban and Diarra to come back?

We've done things that have only been achieved rarely in this sport. We've achieved immortality.

Those guys have the chance to do something even beyond that.
 
Saying that KY got beat on NIL is just...

download.jpg
 
UConnKev said:
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First quote summarizes the type of player i love to get

"He is an elite processor". Hurley/Murray's FIBA/Carril offenses have alot of "run/pass" options depending on switches/d positioning, which guys like AK and Cam thrived in. The heady high IQ player is becoming the new UConn brand, and i just love that. Sounds like Aidan will help to keep that going
 
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WhereistheDove? said:
Watching UK fans’ handwringing about how NIL and paying players has taken over the game has to be the least self-aware thing I’ve ever seen from a fanbase.
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They are upstarts. The blue blood of delusional boards have to be Syracuse and Providence. UK has catching up to do
 
Scottobot said:
I think the newly added talent makes coming back more attractive for both Karaban and Diarra, as they would have a shot to be starters on a 3-peat which hasn’t happened in like 60 years
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They will have a shot at making more history at Connecticut, a place difficult to make history at. I suspect it will appeal to them.
 
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FreeKlaiber said:
First quote summarizes the type of player i love to get

"He is an elite processor". Hurley/Murray's FIBA/Carril offenses have alot of "run/pass" options depending on switches/d positioning, which guys like AK and Cam thrived in. The heady high IQ player is becoming the new UConn brand, and i just love that. Sounds like Aidan will help to keep that going
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I was at my ortho doc this morning getting cortisone shots for my knees. He played backup PG for Princeton in Carril's last season and got some garbage time in the '97 tourney. I asked him how he liked watching UConn. Said, "It's a beautiful offense. Fun to watch. It's like no other team in the tourney even played offense."
 
fatlucy said:
We want Hass back. He’s our biggest recruit.
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He is a player that has evolved offensively and his on ball skills and defense is the reason I called him one of the key returning players last year .
His return this year might even be bigger as he now has an outside shot you have to respect.
 
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ec33 said:
How many 4's that are of the type you wouldn't mind seeing get minutes at UConn sign in May and what is left come June?

These are things the staff has to evaluate against what they believe the chances that Karaban returns (and their knowledge is far better than ours).
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I think AK will know before the deadline whether he’s withdrawing from the draft.
 
FreeKlaiber said:
First quote summarizes the type of player i love to get

"He is an elite processor". Hurley/Murray's FIBA/Carril offenses have alot of "run/pass" options depending on switches/d positioning, which guys like AK and Cam thrived in. The heady high IQ player is becoming the new UConn brand, and i just love that. Sounds like Aidan will help to keep that going
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People were looking at numbers and not realizing how seamlessly he fits into the Cam/Spencer role.

He and Diarra running ball screens and off ball screens to death will be tedious for opposing defenses.
 
ihatepants said:
Kentucky fans are claiming that Trilly was saying on his Discord that UK refused to counter the offer that UConn gave Mahaney in NIL, but I don't sub to Trilly's discord so I'm not sure if it's legit.

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"I chose UConn because I want to be pushed and coached by the best staff in America and go for a national championship. And, oh, they offered me a $50 Arby's gift card and Pope wouldn't match that."

Give me a break. People will type anything and others want so desperately to believe it, they'll ignore the absurdity of it. As others have pointed out, these are the same losers bragging about how big their bag was and how poor UConn was. As if they're going to nickel and dime a major target.
 
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