3 guys coming off the bench for their teams went in the top 10 of the draft this season. Sarr played 17 min a night and went #2.
2025 Recruiting: Braylon Mullins update 7/13/24
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Dove
Who wouldn't want to be me?
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I've aged quite a bit. Hiding aint easy.
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I'm not even sure it's that unlikely. There were 2 college guys in Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham who went top 8 and started a combined 6 games. And McNeeley is being projected as a lottery pick next year and while I think he starts there's at least a plausible scenario where it's Stewart and Karaban at the 3/4 and McNeeley gets his 25 minutes off the bench
Huskyforlife
Akokbouk
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Sarr was a case of ‘tier 1’ measurables and potential over production. I heard draft analysts say he wouldn’t normally be the second pick in a draft either.
Mullins will need to be a case of production over measurables, unless he has length and athleticism that didn’t jump out in the highlights I watched awhile ago. I would imagine producing this way in a normal >20 minute bench role for Hurley would be hard, unless he puts up Reed Shepherd(unheard of) levels of efficiency. It’s within the bounds of possibility, but very unlikely.
I think comparing him to the Kentucky guys is wrong. Everyone knew very quickly that Reed and Rob were the best guards in Kentucky, but Cal apparently thinks bringing his best guards off the bench is a competitive advantage.
Despite that, Reed averaged 29 minutes per night, the same as a starter. Mullins hitting that number seems unrealistic in a Hurley rotation based on available data.
Rob, on the other hand, only played 23 minutes per night. Doing some quick digging, we did have a 6th man average similar minutes under Hurley years ago, Brendan Adams. That teams starting wings were freshman Bouknight, and Vital. Maybe Mullins could reach 22 minutes in a situation like that, but then he’d also have to produce at the insane rate that Rob did in his minutes to be a one and done. Which is possible, but seems unlikely.
This is all because I also believe Hurley will start and play his best players the most minutes. So if Mullins produces like Reed or Rob, I think an incumbent is finding the bench.
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Huskyforlife
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bendm
Utterly Impossible
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let's game out the 2025 G/W minutes for fun assuming we get Thomas and Mullins and still have Mahaney and Ball, which is the hypothetical that started this:
Mahaney 25 / Nowell 15
Thomas 25 / Mullins 15
Ball 25 / Ross 10 / Mullins 5
see the conundrum? i can see Mullins getting up to 20mpg off the bench but you're really cutting into everyone else's PT beyond that and Ross prob won't be happy with only 10mpg as a junior...
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I can't see Nowell only getting 15 mpg in year 2.
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I think that has more to do with talent than a systematic issue. If you're talented enough to help us win morw games, you play.
It's Hass, right? Hassan could've played 30mpg in a normal year but at the end of the day, Cam and Tristen were much better than him.
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Counting chickens before they hatch here. Would have to think Hurley has an acute pulse on how to sort it all out to win. I don’t sense bringing both Mullins and Thomas on while keeping everyone else will work. Something will give. I also don’t see Hurley leaning too much on freshman minutes. It just doesn’t work. Look at last years F4, Sears, Edey, whole NCSt team.
He plugged a very talented two way frosh in last year amongst a REALLY seasoned back court, and team. Going too young is not a recipe to win. These young bucks are exciting in theory but brining them in bulk and oversetting expectations on frosh minutes ain’t a winning recipe.
He plugged a very talented two way frosh in last year amongst a REALLY seasoned back court, and team. Going too young is not a recipe to win. These young bucks are exciting in theory but brining them in bulk and oversetting expectations on frosh minutes ain’t a winning recipe.
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bendm
Utterly Impossible
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prob not. i just dont think we have enough projected PT to land Mullins unless either Mahaney or Ball get drafted next year (along with AK, Liam, and Stew).
That's why my top 4 current wants are:
1) Thomas
2) Ament or Bundalo
3) Cenac or Reibe
4) Lewis
Thomas and either Ament or Bundalo could be one and done starters. Either Cenac or Reibe can backup Reed for 1 year (since bigs take longer to develop) and then start as sophs. Lewis would have to be ok w/ 10 mpg as a frosh:
Mahaney 25 / Lewis 10 / Nowell 5
Thomas 25 / Nowell 15
Ball 25 / Ross 15
Ament or Bundalo 25 / Abraham 15
Reed 25 / Cenac or Reibe 15
25: Mahaney / Thomas / Ball / Ament or Bundalo / Reed
20: Nowell
15: Ross / Abraham / Cenac or Reibe
10: Lewis
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Really think the right strategy is a 3 man class composed of a 2, a 3/4 and a 5.
Nowell should be the future 1. It’s not a position of need. Would seem that’s a target for next year, and to season up behind him.
Thomas or Mullins
Ament (strong offensive 3/4)
Bundalo
That would be a great land for the need and next gen lineup. Leave space for the portal.
And is showing he’s not really ready for prime time yet, I think.
Huskyforlife
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It's also unrealistic to expect the best players to not get 30 minutes.
If Mahaney is an All American candidate his senior year, like some of us expect, he's playing 33ish minutes, as he should.
If Thomas is a projected lottery pick, I'd expect him to reach Castle's 27 minutes, and play more in big games.
Nowell has to project as a starter his sophomore year, 25+ minutes. He's a former recruit ranked in the same range as Mullins, and a bonafide stud.
I really, really like Mullins. But it is very difficult to figure out where he's getting enough minutes to be a one and done. Losing Thomas makes this projection easier.
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I agree it's a tough sell, especially given all the schools after Mullins. I don't expect him here unless something goes wrong with Thomas. I just think it is possible that a guy who doesn't start for us gets drafted. I expect Stewart, Karaban, McNeeley to all be drafted this year and one likely doesn't start. And with a shooter like Mullins I think it's an easier sell to NBA teams of drafting the potential
He can easily get one and done status by showing elite shooting and enough on ball skill to project as more than a catch and shoot guy. Devin Booker only played 21 minutes per game in college, and Mullins can be a similar level of shooter and develop into the same kind of player. draft guys don't just look at the college tape either, the high school tape is very important as well as practice and workout situations.
what he wants to avoid is getting into a bad situation/bad offense where he is forced to take garbage shots. UConn is the best quality shot generating offense, and the philosophy of that offense is rather advanced and is of great value to some teams. Teams are looking at this and thinking what if there is something here that can unlock a 5 point efficiency increase? that's basically a generational leap in offense. it's why Dan/Luke are garnering a lot of attention in NBA circles for the offense.
So the fact that Luke is locked in on Mullins is pretty important. The pure high level basketball exchange of minds may be key to landing him.
what he wants to avoid is getting into a bad situation/bad offense where he is forced to take garbage shots. UConn is the best quality shot generating offense, and the philosophy of that offense is rather advanced and is of great value to some teams. Teams are looking at this and thinking what if there is something here that can unlock a 5 point efficiency increase? that's basically a generational leap in offense. it's why Dan/Luke are garnering a lot of attention in NBA circles for the offense.
So the fact that Luke is locked in on Mullins is pretty important. The pure high level basketball exchange of minds may be key to landing him.
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I’d be on the side of Stewart not getting drafted. He showed some small glimpses last year, but will have to establish himself as a dude on a deep roster to warrant that. Decent chance he’s coming off the bench. I know one mock had him late first but that was the only mock that did.
To me he’s a junior draftee in terms of how he’s tracking developmentally. Was like the 70th ranked recruit out of HS. Some of us get way ahead of ourselves. He’s likely our 2026 PF.
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He's been a lottery pick on a few mock drafts already, and that's before he makes a huge sophomore leap. I'd love to have him back as a junior because I think there's a good chance he'd be an All American, but I'm not getting my hopes up. He's a really really good player
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I'm a huge Jaylin fan, I've been hyping him up since before we signed him but I think there's a good chance he's back as a junior. He's really good all around but lottery pick after this season is kind of hard for me to see. He has a lot of the tools but I'm not sure what exactly stands out or will stand out for him to be a lottery pick so quickly. He can shoot but he's not an elite shooter. He's a good athlete and has good size but neither of them are elite. I think he's a guy who would showcase his vast skills if he was able to iso all the time on a lesser team. I don't see him getting that kind of freedom in our offense and with the talent he has around him next season. He's going to have to share the position with McNeeley and McNeeley is a better player than him at this stage.
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I agree about him being a lottery pick, but I think he can be a 1st rounder and that's probably enough for him to leave
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We just finished 3 years of Sanogo and 2 of DC, pushing out of the program a big who then started for a Top Ten team. And we’re complaining we can’t recruit bigs?
People need real problems.
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Huskyforlife
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The scenario where all 3 get drafted is probably a situation where Stewart starts. McNeeley might be draftable off the bench because of pedigree and familiarity with scouts. Does Mullins have that to fall back on? Lower rated guy, shorter, probably less athletic, I think he needs to produce like a star to be a one and done.
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I’d be curious to see these mocks because the only one I’ve seen him even listed is by Vescenie in late first. Most mocks have McNeeley lottery, AK late first and that’s it. Great for him if he shows as a first rounder but we didn’t see nearly enough to peg him that. It’s also a pretty loaded freshman class this year, and that will soak up plenty of draft slots. 95% chance he’s back.
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Sarr looked awful in summer league.
I've always been a sarr doomer but the reason is not play time. it is his core aversion to contact and passion for the game. he is just going through a process because that's what's expected of him.
Jaylin is anything but that. took a limited role and was a bench energy guy to help the team, but came back despite that because he is committed. it's a key difference.
A lot of these 6’11”-7’1” European bigs that can shoot and run get the “project able” tag and are viewed as the next “unicorn” in much the same way that 6’4” or 6’5” QBs that look like they were built right out of central casting with huge “arm talent” that look great in shorts with no pads got drafted in the top 3 for many years.
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