With the devastating news on Paige, what are the remaining options? Last year we had 6 guards and that was not enough. We had several games where we had no backup guards. That kind of a rash of injuries at the same time is of course very unusual, but going into this season it looked like we had 5 good ones, and now we are down to 4. An injury to just one of those and we once again have no guard backups. That is eased somewhat by having Aubrey back, who I consider mostly a 4, but who for sure could handle the defensive and rebounding obligations at the 3.
So what are our chances of getting some help there at this late stage? The 2022 class has committed, and anyone entering the transfer portal now would have to wait a year. Are there any uncommitted players of value that entered the portal before the deadline to be eligible this year? I suspect very few, but maybe some of our star posters know of someone. It seems like the best of limited options is a foreign player. I think we should be pursuing the best of the eligible guards there aggressively, but also realize it complicates the role for future recruits and already committed ones.
What we really need most is the "rental player" concept, or a one year fix. A point guard or swing 1/2 type might be ideal for this year but how do you recruit a foreign PG for this year, if they know next year Paige and KK are coming not to mention the return of Nika. Maybe there is a grad transfer with a year of eligibility left who was leaning towards just pursuing a graduate degree, and not using that eligibility. The opportunity to spend a year in the Uconn program could be attractive to someone in that position.
If nothing happens on those fronts, I guess Geno should consider the best of the potential walk-ons, but if that happens, I suspect Geno would use three bigs in the lineup instead of a walk-on. The Paige news was a terrible blow, and the options for adding a guard at this stage are very limited, but I am still hoping for some good news in the near future. Going into a season with four guards is very scary. I'm curious what the troops think should be done and what our chances are of getting some help?
So what are our chances of getting some help there at this late stage? The 2022 class has committed, and anyone entering the transfer portal now would have to wait a year. Are there any uncommitted players of value that entered the portal before the deadline to be eligible this year? I suspect very few, but maybe some of our star posters know of someone. It seems like the best of limited options is a foreign player. I think we should be pursuing the best of the eligible guards there aggressively, but also realize it complicates the role for future recruits and already committed ones.
What we really need most is the "rental player" concept, or a one year fix. A point guard or swing 1/2 type might be ideal for this year but how do you recruit a foreign PG for this year, if they know next year Paige and KK are coming not to mention the return of Nika. Maybe there is a grad transfer with a year of eligibility left who was leaning towards just pursuing a graduate degree, and not using that eligibility. The opportunity to spend a year in the Uconn program could be attractive to someone in that position.
If nothing happens on those fronts, I guess Geno should consider the best of the potential walk-ons, but if that happens, I suspect Geno would use three bigs in the lineup instead of a walk-on. The Paige news was a terrible blow, and the options for adding a guard at this stage are very limited, but I am still hoping for some good news in the near future. Going into a season with four guards is very scary. I'm curious what the troops think should be done and what our chances are of getting some help?
