Best Pickup of Hurley Era | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Best Pickup of Hurley Era

Best pickup of Hurley Era

  • James Bouknight

    Votes: 56 16.0%

  • Jordan Hawkins

    Votes: 93 26.6%

  • Adama Sanogo

    Votes: 72 20.6%

  • Andre Jackson

    Votes: 8 2.3%

  • RJ Cole

    Votes: 2 0.6%

  • Tyrese Martin

    Votes: 7 2.0%

  • Alex Karaban

    Votes: 23 6.6%

  • Tristen Newton

    Votes: 1 0.3%

  • Donovan Clingan

    Votes: 83 23.7%

  • Other - specify below

    Votes: 5 1.4%
  • Total voters
    350
I voted Donovan. If he was not on the team this year our record would have been .500 in league or worse. If he was on another Big East team Hurley would be on a piping hot hotseat. Bouknight was a revelation but in 2020 Vital was the man on that team and that kid hated losing. Will always be bummed he did not get a NCAA Tourney game. Cole got us back to respectability in the Big East and Adama has been a consistent solid player all teams have to gameplan for. It is year 2 for Hawk and he is rising but he needs to come back for year 3. The coaching staff knew they needed to land Donovan. He is 2022 Chris Smith.
 
I love it that Sanogo and Clingan are even in this poll! It gives the by credibility. We have our opinions…or should I say our convictions
 
I forgot to mention Andre. I have had UConn men's tickets since 1979 and Andre is the best athlete I've seen. Anyone who has not seen him play live yet needs to get to a game next season. TV does not do it justice.
 
WNConn said:
I'm frankly a bit surprised by the number of votes for Bouk. On the one hand, he did bring us out of sucking and he was a lotto pick. On the other hand, he never performed well in a big game, didn't get any tourney wins, and hasn't been a good representative of the university both during and since his time as a husky
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I’m not saying he’s the clear choice but don’t forget that he was the first UConn player since Bazz to consistently show up on highlight reels and was, by far, the best player on our first ranked team in 4-5 years. For better or worse he was an NBA lottery pick and THE franchise/ narrative changing player of the Hurley era.
 
Gotta go with Sanogo. Hurley lost the recruiting battle for Cockburn very late in the process the previous year and needed a signature big man to come is and succeed.
 
jayteeman said:
Andre.......we do not win without him. We can get away without anyone else, but no one brings to the table what Andre does.
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You can say that exact same thing about Hawk, Karaban, Sanogo and even Newton I’m afraid. If you take any of their 25 minutes plus away we are in trouble. Andre can’t shoot but Hawk can. Andre can’t play with his back to the basket Sanogo can. Etc..he is a good answer no denying that he’s a key piece. The fact he’s he playing better is important as is the fact Newton is a lot better. Heck no one brings what Clingan dies off the bench and his minutes have been huge.

Lucky to have a team who is hopefully gelling at the right time, we will see.
 
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willie99 said:
Arguably Hawkins thus far, much better than Bouknight on the defensive and hustle part of the equation.

However, before his UConn career is over, I think it's going to be Clingan
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Agree willie thinking the same thing. Bouk was a drifter on D while when focused Hawk can seriously guard. His improvement on that end dramatic and he shoots it a lot better than Bouk in the sense of consistency. Wish he had some of Bouks ability to get to the basket but even that is getting better with time.

And DC, yep!
 
Hawkins is a stud, but Sanogo has by far won UConn the most games. If Clingan and Karaban stay long enough, they could challenge him, but who knows if UConn would have even been as appealing of a school to them as recruits had Sanogo not helped us get back to being perennially top 25
 
There are a million ways to define this.

Are we talking the most impactful player on the court so far? Probably Cole or Sanogo.

The most impactful player for the reputation of the program and the effect on recruiting? Probably Bouknight.

The most impactful player on the court looking ahead? Could be Clingan.
 
I think because of the context surrounding all these guys, it's really hard to pick who is the most important. Here's my attempt at making a list that explains some of that context:

-I think failing to get guys like Rj and Rese would have made our transition back to the BE incredibly hard, and without them, we would have really struggled to compete at this level the first couple years back.
-I think Sanogo and Andre have done the most for shaping the current culture.
-I think Bouknight was important for proving we still have the pedigree to get guys drafted and drafted high.
-I think Hawkins is the best example of a player developing here under Hurley. He's become a lot more aggressive attacking the rim, and improved his handles and defense to a level that you can feel comfortable with.
-I think Castle (and really next year's class as a whole) will elevate us closer to the very top of the conference, and closer to the forefront of national college basketball discussions.

If I had to pick one, it'd probably be Castle. It has been a long time since UConn was in position to land a recruit of his caliber, and couple that with all the guys who followed him here, and that seems like it could be HUGE for the program moving forward.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
There are a million ways to define this.

Are we talking the most impactful player on the court so far? Probably Cole or Sanogo.

The most impactful player for the reputation of the program and the effect on recruiting? Probably Bouknight.

The most impactful player on the court looking ahead? Could be Clingan.
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The most impactful player for reputation going forward could be Castle
 
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AntG168 said:
The most impactful player for reputation going forward could be Castle
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A one and done coming from 1000 miles away would do wonders for recruiting. We got Castle from GA and Stewart from WA. Their success at UConn could really help make UConn a national recruiting powerhouse instead of just northeastern recruiting powerhouse

Plus if Castle is one and done, that’ll mean we have some pretty good on court success. Really rooting for this year’s squad to bring us deep into March, and next year’s squad to show recruits that UConn is the right place to be
 
Finding The Boneyard and taking our advice on recruits, rotations, schemes, in game timeouts, player substitutions and in game play.

Wouldn’t be able to coach a lick without us!
 
andrea-hurley-danny.jpg
 
UCLJ0211 said:
With the way Hawkins has been playing he has solidified himself as one of the best “pickups” (i.e. recruit or transfer) of the Hurley era. I’m also factoring in who may have the best long term NBA potential. Who has your vote?
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If Hawk stays on extra year, he averages 20+ points per game next year. He is the obvious winner then. But as of now, Adama has to be the pick. Hawk has been on fire for two months. Adama has been consistent for two years.
 
August_West said:
Why the hell ORANGE???!!!!! Cmon coach you know better
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You sure that is not red and the camera lens is not playing tricks on your eyes (particularly yours ;))?
 
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Barrister Q said:
If Hawk stays on extra year, he averages 20+ points per game next year. He is the obvious winner then. But as of now, Adama has to be the pick. Hawk has been on fire for two months. Adama has been consistent for two years.
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This is true, but which of the two can you see having a more successful professional career? Adama could likely play overseas and do very well, but Hawkins’ skillset is suited for a long NBA career.
 
picked jordan but AJ is underrated, he’s ben simmons willing to take a shot?
 
Evaluating as of right now:
Hawkins most important to team's upside & long-term nba player carrying the UConn brand.
Karaban is a rock freshman that also projects as 3+ year player
Clingan gives current 'wow' potential & hints of 24 NC favorite
Doesn't diminish what Sanogo & Jackson do right now as both arguably as important to team wins & success this season.

Going with Karaban as he has the highest expected value in terms of current & future contributions at UConn. We remain a top ranked team as long as he's in Storrs.
 
Surprised nobody has answered "Andrea".
 
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I voted Bouk. I know OP said to include NBA, but Bouk was our first player in a long time that nationally people wanted to see, made us a Sportscenter staple even when playing ECU, and our first lottery pick in forever.
 
JonnyRI said:
I voted Bouk. I know OP said to include NBA, but Bouk was our first player in a long time that nationally people wanted to see, made us a Sportscenter staple even when playing ECU, and our first lottery pick in forever.
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The Boneyard has very short memories
Bouk is the obvious pick
Him being an entertaining highlight reel and a lottery pick is recruiting gold .
No Bouk and it could be a much different 2022-23 roster
 
AZHuskiePop said:
The Boneyard has very short memories
Bouk is the obvious pick
Him being an entertaining highlight reel and a lottery pick is recruiting gold .
No Bouk and it could be a much different 2022-23 roster
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Respectfully, you have to factor UConn's results on the court with Bouknight. Made the NCAA's is about all one can point to & in the one NCAA game it wasn't a good performance.

The recruiting stuff is image/perception based, it has some merit but also minimizes the efforts of the coaching staff, they still had to find, get attention of (there Book likely helped) and land the prospects. Every part of the process is necessary and important, but Bouk isn't close to a modern day Chris Smith. Smitty was a big time recruit, performed amazingly, became a star at UConn, WON; his & his team's successes directly beget future success.
 
Dogdeacon said:
Respectfully, you have to factor UConn's results on the court with Bouknight. Made the NCAA's is about all one can point to & in the one NCAA game it wasn't a good performance.

The recruiting stuff is image/perception based, it has some merit but also minimizes the efforts of the coaching staff, they still had to find, get attention of (there Book likely helped) and land the prospects. Every part of the process is necessary and important, but Bouk isn't close to a modern day Chris Smith. Smitty was a big time recruit, performed amazingly, became a star at UConn, WON; his & his team's successes directly beget future success.
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I don’t mean this maliciously, but NCAAT can’t really be a criteria here because none of Hurley’s pickups have seen the round of 32

Yeah Bouknight had a bad game against Maryland and we were upset in the 7v10. That same game RJ was 3-12 and Tyrese was 1-10. The team was .500 when Bouknight was injured and wouldn’t sniff March without him

The following year against NMSU, Sanogo scored 10, Tyrese was 2-7, Andre had 6pts/4ast before fouling out. Yeah RJ played well, but we lost the 5v12.

We all expect Hawkins/Sanogo/Andre to bring us farther in March this year, but that’s all speculation for now
 
REB1094 said:
I don’t mean this maliciously, but NCAAT can’t really be a criteria here because none of Hurley’s pickups have seen the round of 32

Yeah Bouknight had a bad game against Maryland and we were upset in the 7v10. That same game RJ was 3-12 and Tyrese was 1-10. The team was .500 when Bouknight was injured and wouldn’t sniff March without him

The following year against NMSU, Sanogo scored 10, Tyrese was 2-7, Andre had 6pts/4ast before fouling out. Yeah RJ played well, but we lost the 5v12.

We all expect Hawkins/Sanogo/Andre to bring us farther in March this year, but that’s all speculation for now
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All true. I think that does factor into Bouknight and AJ's & Sanogo's contributions/values.
To be fair the question was phrase 'pickup' so I guess the highest rated recruit or most improbable selection of UConn should weigh most heavily, I don't follow recruiting much so don't know that aspect of the best answer.

So Instead the high likelihood of a much higher seed in 23 & the hope of some wins has me optimistic in grading value of players still contributing to UConn this year and into the future.
 
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