Andra Espinoza-Hunter to transfer [merged thread] | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Andra Espinoza-Hunter to transfer [merged thread]

I would agree also regardless of the reason. I bet if you went back and looked at incoming classes of 4 (or more) for any school, you would find a high percentage of transfers.
 
Since the four recruits played similar positions Guards/Wings, it was highly probable that one or more would transfer. Geno's system that you have to earn playing time by your efforts and knowledge demonstrated in practice seems to limit playing time compared to what Freshmen might get at other programs. There are very few freshmen that are able to gain immediate starting status unless there is a considerable weakness at a particular position. At the beginning of the year, the only question the team had was Crystal improved enough to handle the Starting PG or was Geno going to go with a bigger lineup and have Stevens start. We got the answer early as Crystal is the starter and doesn't look like she's going to relinquish it and Stevens comes off the bench. I can't think of a Single Freshmen in all of College Basketball that would be able to break into this starting lineup.

I do wish that the potential future starters that are on the team would get more minutes this year. However, playing time is earned in how hard you work in practice regardless of whether the player(s) is a potential starter in the future. The system has served Geno and CD well, no reason to change it.
 
I am not referring to this case but more and more transfers are happening in not just women's college basketball but sports in general. Part of it is that today's young players have a different outlook on commitment than we did in the past. For some that is a good thing, for others not so much. Likely depends on reasons and personality. I've heard coaches, including Geno, say that highly recruited kids seem not to play for their high schools anymore and have AAU (or whatever) coaches who seem more like agents than coaches. Sports, even at the professional level, have become more me teams instead of we teams. Kids see that and it changes their perspective.

Don't know the reasons for this change and don't care to. I wish her well. Time to move on.

One last point while being long winded (sorry). To those who think Geno is not preparing the bench for the future have you watched the last few games? Instead of a group of 5 coming off the bench for the last minutes of a game the have been worked in with 2 or 3 starters to get read experience. I like what he is doing and totally agree with him - you earn your time. Things earned have more value.
 
Zinethar said:
I am not referring to this case but more and more transfers are happening in not just women's college basketball but sports in general. Part of it is that today's young players have a different outlook on commitment than we did in the past. For some that is a good thing, for others not so much. Likely depends on reasons and personality. I've heard coaches, including Geno, say that highly recruited kids seem not to play for their high schools anymore and have AAU (or whatever) coaches who seem more like agents than coaches. Sports, even at the professional level, have become more me teams instead of we teams. Kids see that and it changes their perspective.

Don't know the reasons for this change and don't care to. I wish her well. Time to move on.

One last point while being long winded (sorry). To those who think Geno is not preparing the bench for the future have you watched the last few games? Instead of a group of 5 coming off the bench for the last minutes of a game the have been worked in with 2 or 3 starters to get read experience. I like what he is doing and totally agree with him - you earn your time. Things earned have more value.
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I agree with you about the perceived transferring among sports participants nowadays. I have not done any research on the subject, but in watching HS basketball games (both men and women, but more so with men) how many players on the Top teams have transferred into that HS just to play bball? (Didin't AEH play some of her HS "away" from home?) Some seem to bounce from school to school yearly with no regard to their "commitment". I wonder if this will be the new trend in college sports, especially if the NCAA either allows more waivers or eliminates the sitting out requirement completely, sort of like college softball.
 
JavaMan said:
Does Syracuse have a scholly available? :)
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Syracuse is sticking out to me here... but a Big 10 school like Michigan, Maryland or Penn State wouldn’t surprise me either. Good luck to AEH.. not sure if she saw the writing on the wall.. but with Nurse, Walker, Coombs, etc. and Williams coming it was going to be difficult, UConn just has so much great depth at the wing for the foreseeable future.

The Huskies minor loss will be someone else’s significant gain.
 
my2cents said:
Top players recruited to a a school want to play. You can't blame them for wanting to get minutes. Thats why using 6 players for 35 minutes in blow out games seems weird to me.
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Only people who have never been a starter and/or have never played for a true winning program understand the logic (and actual need) for the very best players to play a majority of the minutes in a game regardless of the score. Your best can't get better collectively and/or individually if they're not playing. No one on the team is averaging 35 minutes a game and only two players (Nurse and Dangerfield) are averaging more than 32 mpg. The rest are all under 30 mpg. If you want UConn to win National Championships and play as close to perfect basketball as possible, then stop questioning the game's best coach and how he achieves these goals. Do you seriously think you know better than Geno? Really?
 
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SCGamecock said:
Syracuse is sticking out to me here... but a Big 10 school like Michigan, Maryland or Penn State wouldn’t surprise me either. Good luck to AEH.. not sure if she saw the writing on the wall.. but with Nurse, Walker, Coombs, etc. and Williams coming it was going to be difficult, UConn just has so much great depth at the wing for the foreseeable future.

The Huskies minor loss will be someone else’s significant gain.
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Penn State has scooped up a couple ex-Huskies with Brianna Banks and De’Janae Boykin. I wouldn’t be surprised if AEH ended up in State College as well.
 
MDoggie said:
Where might she go? I'm good as long as it's not Tennessee or South Carolina. Lol. I know I know!
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LOL what did we do to deserve this? You change this right now!

The Gamecock hate is always interesting considering we’ve never even been close enough to sniff beating UConn. Never. Ever. Lol
 
Didn’t get to see the young lady play but hope she finds a situation that works well for her, whether it involves basketball or not.

It’s tough to keep any class together at a major program given the tendency for top recruits to congregate in a few programs. UT has a terrific freshman class and another one coming next year. Texas and Baylor have impressive rosters already and both add several top recruits for the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see if these teams will be able to keep everyone happy and have enough basketballs to go around.
 
VaConnFan11 said:
I would agree also regardless of the reason. I bet if you went back and looked at incoming classes of 4 (or more) for any school, you would find a high percentage of transfers.
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Yep. We had TWO transfer from our #2 ranked 2014 class of 4 (a class that was actually 5 but Cliney redshirted)..
 
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This was bound to happen. I am a tad surprised it's her, only because she had received some real minutes in some early games. There was no way he was going to keep such a large group happy. I hope she finds a the place for her.
 
MSSportsGuy said:
Didn’t get to see the young lady play but hope she finds a situation that works well for her, whether it involves basketball or not.

It’s tough to keep any class together at a major program given the tendency for top recruits to congregate in a few programs. UT has a terrific freshman class and another one coming next year. Texas and Baylor have impressive rosters already and both add several top recruits for the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see if these teams will be able to keep everyone happy and have enough basketballs to go around.
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Here at the U.niversity of S.econd C.hances, we are awaiting the departures of DeCosta and Smith with open arms. Don’t forget 2nd Place! LOL..

I’m just kidding ETT. Sorta.
 
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oldude said:
Penn State has scooped up a couple ex-Huskies with Brianna Banks and De’Janae Boykin. I wouldn’t be surprised if AEH ended up in State College as well.
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PSU is a good school, coaching staff (including Tamika), Ossining "commute"... has had some injuries and transfers with a pretty short bench...and probably some available schollies. It needs more high level talent to compete where they'd like to be. They obviously like UConn types.

Would not be a surprise.
 
Most of these top recruits were stars from the time they first picked up a basketball. So all through youth leagues, HS and AAU Ball, they played a lot and generally started.

IMO, every one of them who arrives at a top program like UConn, SC, Baylor, ND, TX, etc. truly believes they will play a lot if not actually start, but they often face the harsh reality that, for the first time in their lives, they’re not good enough yet to play substantial minutes at the college level.

That realization can be sobering. Add in the challenge that any college freshman feels the first time they are living away from home and the situation is ripe for disappointment and frustration that has more frequently resulted in the player transferring in recent years.

Saniya Chong, who played a very limited role in her first three years at UConn before blossoming as a senior is the exception while AEH’s decision is far more typical.
 
SCGamecock said:
LOL what did we do to deserve this? You change this right now!

The Gamecock hate is always interesting considering we’ve never even been close enough to sniff beating UConn. Never. Ever. Lol
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I read it as respect rather than hate, well, for South Carolina anyway. UConn fans would rather AEH go to a team that has no chance of beating the Huskies rather than strengthening an already strong team.
 
Gus Mahler said:
Following on your points: There was a numbers problem with a larger than usual roster this year. Although I don't think Megan or Lexi were direct competition to her, Mikayla was. And of course a very highly regarded combo guard is coming in next year. Still, it's not out of the question she could have started at off-guard next year as a sophomore. She sure seemed to have a lot of potential.

We don't know her thoughts, but for now I'm going to conclude she is making a good basketball/business decision as did others in recent years. I hope she has a good life.
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Completely with you on hoping Ms. Espinoza-Hunter finds what she's looking for at her next stop.

UConn, like ND, employs a system where you can have a number of similar-sized players on the floor. Unlike ND (this year), it has a number of players that can play that "small forward" or "large guard" spot. Walker, due to her ability to play inside, kind of stakes out that small forward differentiation (if there is one), much like Jackie Young does for Notre Dame.

Definite time share issues for the other slots and it wasn't going to get any more clear-cut with Ms. Williams coming in next year.

Once again, best of luck to her.
 
oldude said:
IMO, every one of them who arrives at a top program like UConn, SC, Baylor, ND, TX, etc. truly believes they will play a lot if not actually start, but they often face the harsh reality that, for the first time in their lives, they’re not good enough yet to play substantial minutes at the college level.
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It's sobering and challenging and doubt can seep in and trouble a kid. In short: What got you here won't keep you here. Some kids do go to lesser programs and start or get significant minutes from the get go, picking up skills as they go or maybe ingraining bad habits or both. I look at Gary Blair at A & M with Chennedy Carter who gets headlines with her scoring and she was 9 of 31 against Tenn the other night. Something a little lopsided there.
 
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Dillon77 said:
Completely with you on hoping Ms. Espinoza-Hunter finds what she's looking for at her next stop.

UConn, like ND, employs a system where you can have a number of similar-sized players on the floor. Unlike ND (this year), it has a number of players that can play that "small forward" or "large guard" spot. Walker, due to her ability to play inside, kind of stakes out that small forward differentiation (if there is one), much like Jackie Young does for Notre Dame.

Definite time share issues for the other slots and it wasn't going to get any more clear-cut with Ms. Williams coming in next year.

Once again, best of luck to her.
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Assuming that everyone returned next season including Z, the Huskies likely start Lou, Pheesa, Z, MW & Danger. While I would always expect UConn to have at least one true pg on the floor, AEH is not a pg IMO. The backup pg role next year would fall to one of 3 players: Coombs, Bent or CW. Beyond that, Geno’s going to sub the next best player, so essentially AEH would be competing with all of the pg’s as well as Irwin, Gordon and ONO for PT.

AEH appeared to start off the season well, knocking down some shots and showing a lot of hustle on the court. That earned her additional minutes with the starters, but when she got those minutes, her turnovers went up and her shot stopped falling.

Geno complained in general about the inconsistency and lack of confidence of the freshmen. I suspect that AEH was one of the players he was talking about. AEH’s last game with UConn was in Toronto vs Duquesne. AEH got 9 minutes of PT. During that time she was 0-2, with 1 steal & 1 foul.

After that game the players went their separate ways for the Christmas break. I suspect that AEH already had her doubts before she went home. At some point, those doubts became a firm decision to transfer.

A long time ago, a coach I played for would often say, while we were killing ourselves in practice, “the fun is in playing the games.” He was absolutely right. For someone like AEH, the Gatorade POY in NY and all-time leading scorer, the decision to leave may have been a simple recognition that her PT was likely to be very limited at UConn now and in the future.
 
shizam said:
Good for her. For every Chong who stuck it out with limited time until her senior year there are many more who want a bigger role as soon as they can. It’s unavoidable and to be expected in today’s WBB especially at UConn where it’s crazy competitive for just “good” players to get playing time.
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But she was getting a bigger role. As Hearst pointed out, she played big minutes against Maryland and Cal, and played well. She got more minutes than anyone but Walker off the bench. And she was set to get more. The real sad point is that she was a teammate of Saniya Chong's and also of Batouly Camara, so she had friends before she showed up at Storrs.

She was good. She had a fine outside shot and she was beginning to make them fall. This was not someone whom we could have expected to leave. She does not fit any past pattern. And that makes it really sad. That makes it a painful loss for UConn basketball.

I would like to know what happened. Obviously, we wish her all the best in her college career, and in the pros. Yes, she could very well be that good.

A mystery and a loss.
 
I’d love to see her transfer to UVA. She did play with Aiyeotan at Blair, so there is a possible connection. Don’t know if the has the academics to get into UVA...but don’t know that she doesn’t either. UVA’s been under the radar this year due to a poor start, but they’ve now won 8 in a row. Sunday’s game against Duke will tell us a lot.
 
Fairfield Fan said:
But she was getting a bigger role. As Hearst pointed out, she played big minutes against Maryland and Cal, and played well. She got more minutes than anyone but Walker off the bench. And she was set to get more. The real sad point is that she was a teammate of Saniya Chong's and also of Batouly Camara, so she had friends before she showed up at Storrs.

She was good. She had a fine outside shot and she was beginning to make them fall. This was not someone whom we could have expected to leave. She does not fit any past pattern. And that makes it really sad. That makes it a painful loss for UConn basketball.

I would like to know what happened. Obviously, we wish her all the best in her college career, and in the pros. Yes, she could very well be that good.

A mystery and a loss.
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Some may wonder why the team smiles so much during games. Suspect they get yelled at less during games than practice. And some ask why minutes are important.
 
HumblePie said:
Only people who have never been a starter and/or have never played for a true winning program understand the logic (and actual need) for the very best players to play a majority of the minutes in a game regardless of the score. Your best can't get better collectively and/or individually if they're not playing. No one on the team is averaging 35 minutes a game and only two players (Nurse and Dangerfield) are averaging more than 32 mpg. The rest are all under 30 mpg. If you want UConn to win National Championships and play as close to perfect basketball as possible, then stop questioning the game's best coach and how he achieves these goals. Do you seriously think you know better than Geno? Really?
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And here I thought this was "Discussion" board. Foul trouble and/or an injury may cause the need for one these reserves to be put into a key situation in an important game...my opinion , with no disrespect to Geno's success, is that these , mostly, non competitve AAC games is that some key reserves need to see more time. Chill.
 
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let's not forget the role of coaches here. they are recruiting more players than can be expected to get significant playing time, especially in a program like UConn's. they are recruiting redundant-position players to protect themselves from having to deal with a short bench, due to injuries, foul trouble ,etc. so they should not( and we shouldn't ,either) be surprised when players decide to transfer. these players have always played, and want to continue to play. I really don't think that the championship ring is such a big deal for these talented players; they really want to play the game for more than 3 minutes in a blowout. keep in mind, also, that they really need to play the game and develop if they hope to have any chance to play professionally, either overseas or in the wnba. impossible to do that with very limited game minutes at UConn.
 
While most everyone on the BY wishes her the best of luck and is sincerely sorry to have this outcome, there seems to me to be an obvious fact her that has not been spoken to. Given what we have seen so far this year, there are basically too many really good players to give them all adequate playing time. This is a self selection process where those, as another BY noted above, who prefer to play more minutes as opposed to being on a NC team, decide to transfer. We have seen it before and will again. It is predictable. Although the caliber of those who leave varies, I think it safe to say that those transferring had no clear path to significantly increased playing time absent Samarie Walker. The big picture is this opens up slightly more playing time for the other bench players and that is probably a good thing. While she is obviously very talented, there are others available who can adequately fill and role she would have had. The one concern I have is the idea of contagion: will others be influenced to follow suit? I think not but we are all aware that some very talented players are getting very little playing time. This is not news to the coaches and I have total confidence that whatever happens the team will continue to be in great shape.
 
trb123 said:
And now Geno will demonstrate to the WCBB world how big his heart is by enabling her to play next season without losing a year.
I wish her as distinguished a career as Samarie Walker's (including an NCAA tournament game against the Huskies).
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I hope you are correct. Would be unfortunate to lose a year. She committed to Uconn as she said when she was 14. Too young and star struck for that decision, just like when she left Ossining for Blair. Good kids sometimes make poor decisions or at least hasty ones. She has done this twice now.

Sorry to see her leave, my reasons for this are totally selfish. No matter where she ends up, every game will not end up on TV. Lucky to see 1/3 on internet connection. Uconn is premier place, to bad she didn't stay, just hope she makes good decisions and lands on her feet.

So long to most of you Boneyarders. After 4+ years I can pull away from Luigi, CD and Uconn bball for awhile. check back in for some of the big games.....final 4!!!!! Best of Luck in 18 and beyond.
 
I don't think playing time had much if anything to do with her leaving. She knew it would be at a premium when she got to UConn, and she now knows that next year's freshman class is small. I think she'd know more about her future playing time if she'd stayed the entire year, she was climbing the learning curve pretty quickly.

I'm sorry to see her go. She's a lot of fun to watch, as was our previous Ossining alumna.
 
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