Alex Officially Transferring

[Walker11]

What do you mean you dont buy it?!? He said it!

I personally think he is using the NCAA ban as an excuse when he is really transferring because of how this season went and his limited PT. Just IMO of course.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I am not an Alex basher but I can't buy that quote for a second. Calhoun still thinks we will be eligible next year but it doesn't seem that AO wants to have any options.

Anyone else thinks its funny that AO doesn't have to sit out a year even though he would be the only player on the roster that had even been on one of the low APR teams?

Not really. If im not mistaken Alex carries a gpa over 3.5 so it seems relatively just.

 

[CAHUSKY]

What do you mean you dont buy it?!? He said it!

Just because he said it doesn't mean that we have to believe it does it?

 

[aceboon]

I kinda agree with you. I will be excited about the season regardless because I truly believe Boat and Bazz are totally Calhoun guys and will be great dual leaders, maybe Boat moreso than Bazz. Plus, our best lineup by far is with Scoe at the 4. AO and AD played horrible together. Obviously we would all love AD to return, and I think there is a very legit shot that he does but there are other options with big men we are recruiting. Unfortunately, I don't have too much optimism in Wolf's future but I am really excited to see Bradley hit the floor. A kid who was labeled as very athletic and raw, who is now going to be a 20 year old freshman with 2 years of weight training and personal attention .... sounds good to me.

Agreed, maybe now we can finally pose a mismatch to some teams instead of the other way around with us having to chase around perimeter players with 2 bigs.

 

[SJ]

Sad news.

I wish it had been handled more professionally.

Good luck to AO. I would have liked you to stay at UConn and prove what you are made of. I hope you are happy in whatever you do and it's really too bad you weren't here in Storrs, CT.

 

[aceboon]

The fact that AO requested his transfer less than a week after the season ended makes it pretty clear imo that he had already decided in season that he was ghost. The APR situation is a convenient excuse, I'm sure he could've waited another month to see how it was going to be decided if his heart was really into staying here. Makes you start to wonder what(who) was at the heart of the chemistry issues when your captain had decided to jump ship a long time ago...

 

[Huskymaniac]

Cancer be gone!

 

[Walker11]

Not really. If im not mistaken Alex carries a gpa over 3.5 so it seems relatively just.

This one past semester. By all accounts, he is a real student-athlete but now we have reached the point where every player who is being punished was not involved and every involved player has been unaffected.

 

[caw]

What do you mean you dont buy it?!? He said it!

I think he means, he can't buy into that way of thinking (ie that the NCAAT is not happening)

 

[zls44]

I think he means, he can't buy into that way of thinking (ie that the NCAAT is not happening)

Ah. In that case, I agree. Hes soft. people dont just say this stuff, they say it because of how Alex acts on the court, his demeanor, how he interacts with the staff during games who try to help him.

I'd rather go 0-39 with Enoch Wolf trying his hardest and being respectful than having a guy half assing it because he was born on third base and is pissed the coach wont let him steal home.

Its time for the program to have some self respect.

 

[Huskymaniac]

I would not, I repeat, NOT, be shocked if the NCAA changes the way the APR is calculated, Napier and Drummond return and UConn goes to the final four next year. Addition by subtraction. I said a while back that I thought there was a cancer on this team and that we would see a transfer in short order.

 

[uconnfan68]

I wish him the best of luck and thank him for his part in the 2011 NCAA title. He will always be remembered as an important part of the UConn program.

This. Deserved more than just a "like".

 

[Tenspro2002]

I personally think he is using the NCAA ban as an excuse when he is really transferring because of how this season went and his limited PT. Just IMO of course.

Beat me to it. He wants to make it sound like he's leaving on good terms and doesn't want to throw anybody under the bus (a pleasant show of maturity on his part). But let's not kid ourselves, this has nothing to do with the fact that we might not play in next year's Tournament.

 

[uconndoit]

Sad, but everyone will forget about this when Noel gets here.

You realize Noel cut Uconn off his list, right?

Hahahaha - reminds me of those "hitler finds out" videos.

 

[uconnbill]

I wish Alex well and thank him for his time at UConn. I do wish that it ended better.

 

[Jonathan]

As much as I think he hurt us this year and was more a cancer than a player...I loved him last year. There was some crazy stat last year about UConn's record when AO had a double double compared to UConn's record when he didn't. Case in point, he was a huge component to last year, and despite his lack of leadership and effort this year, I'm forever greatful for the national championship. Hopefully he ends up somewhere a little better than Hofstra.

 

[Ed-D]

Looks like next year is going to be a full on rebuilding year. It may not matter what happens with the tournament ban

 

[M_Funkhauser43!]

CBS Sports just put up an article with a quote from Alex himself:

"I loved my time at UConn and have a ton of respect for Coach (Jim) Calhoun and the coaching staff," Oriakhi said "I had the best year of my life last season when we won the national title, but I'm worried about whether I can finish my career and be able to go to the NCAA tournament my senior season."

I don't like that AO's transferring, but he's doing it. I just wish he didn't put it in the press that his reason for going is because he thinks the tourney ban will hold. First off, I don't believe that's the reason he's going. More importantly though, there's no need for him to torpedo the staff's efforts to replace him. When the team captain leaves supposedly because he doesn't think the team will be eligible for next year's tournament, it's just more fuel for negative recruiting against UConn.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Let's say his father kept his mouth shut and Alex made this announcement on his own. IMHO, it's his decision to do what he chooses. Good luck to him. It is true that his role was severely changed by AD's arrival and his limitations were highlighted when they were in the game together. Maybe he will be better able to play his best in another situation and give himself a better chance to play professionally. I don't have any idea if he was a "cancer" on the team and I doubt that any of the posters on the Boneyard know this to be true. Is it surprising that he was frustrated with this year? No. Were there other players frustrated this year? Yes. Maybe, just maybe, it was not just one player who had a hard time. Sometimes things don't work out perfectly. Did he progress the way he and we would have wanted? No. Did he get a 1000 times more grief from Calhoun than Andre did for mistakes? Yes. Is that a reason to leave? Up to him. Hardly playing in the last game probably pushed him over the line, but who knows. Good luck, Alex.

 

[UConn Hoops1]

Whoa there...what gave you that idea?

Exactly. I didn't sign up for being an "adult". In fact being a "fan" and being an "adult" may just be diametrically opposed to one another. Seriously, there have been some pretty shoddy comments on this thread; BUT Alex,imo, really doesn't deserve to have us roll out the red carpet when he has demonstrated zero loyalty by bailing on the program especially in light of the two facts that he was a captain and that, as a so-called elite level athlete, he had an obligation to justify playing time by effort and improvement. He has failed miserably in both areas.What is really astounding is that he had the opportunity to play along side one of the greatest "never give up" warriors(if not the greatest) the program has ever had in Kemba. Clearly he learned nothing from that experience. If I am going to speculate a bit, I would say that Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and his father have been ongoing bad influences on his choices; and, unfortunately, on the total lack of significant contribution he made to the team this year. As another poster so succinctly expressed it...."don't let the door hit you!".

GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[Huskymaniac]

Yes, Alex was a big part of the championship. For that we should be thankful. But that doesn't change the reality that he was a cancer on this year's team. I am amazed that some people even have doubts about that. He called Calhoun a 'mumu' early in the season and his father constantly criticized Calhoun in various online venues. That, right there, is detrimental to the team. Does anyone really think the feelings didn't bleed over into the locker room? Come on.........

 

[Cassius Klaiber]

Still have the UConn schedule/poster in my cubicle at work. It may be time to take a Sharpie to one of those faces.

Also, am I the only one (roughly AO's age) who would find it weird if my father had a over-active twitter account? Especially centering on my every move? Makes me feel for him.

 

[upstater]

Still have the UConn schedule/poster in my cubicle at work. It may be time to take a Sharpie to one of those faces.

Also, am I the only one (roughly AO's age) who would find it weird if my father had a over-active twitter account? Especially centering on my every move? Makes me feel for him.

It's the sort of thing that happens when you have a basketball player Alex's size playing his best on the biggest stage, and then he's going into his junior year after just shutting down the top teams with his defense. A twitter account why? Because the Oriakhis were looking at the NBA for after this year.

 

[UofCT]

Looks like next year is going to be a full on rebuilding year. It may not matter what happens with the tournament ban

Thats what we said in 2011

 

[caw]

CBS Sports just put up an article with a quote from Alex himself:

"I loved my time at UConn and have a ton of respect for Coach (Jim) Calhoun and the coaching staff," Oriakhi said "I had the best year of my life last season when we won the national title, but I'm worried about whether I can finish my career and be able to go to the NCAA tournament my senior season."

OK, it is official: Alex has more poise and sense than his father. That is a decent statement, one which, if not for his father, would probably be understood and pretty accepted. His father really dropped the ball on this.