C Derrick Quansah

[AdamaNation]

Those offers scare me.
Having said that, I'm at the point with big men where we just need guys with beef who are coachable and can hold their own on both ends.
Still the grad transfer for 2019/go for Omoruyi or something next year sounds like a more appealing and likely option.

Don’t want 4 years on this one.

 

[UConnStats]

Derrick Quansah, Village Christian Academy, Center (BK)

Almost non-existent profile on 247, so hopefully this is a backup plan

Good rule of thumb: if his camp is tweeting out that UConn is scouting him, it's probably more about increasing his exposure than it is about UConn being seriously involved.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Plan C

 

[superjohn]

Carlton averaged 3.1 fouls per game he's fine. He actually seemed to get more respect from the stripes when he started playing better and they let some contact go which in the past he was called for.

As for the Brimah thoughts, and it's on other replies too, leave it alone. He still stinks offensively and if anyone understands basketball it's because of his bball IQ nothing more. Hurley and staff wold've felt the same pain KO and staff felt with this guy. Have to be able to learn and bring it to the game with people guarding you, not just show it in practice or in drills. Bad hands, slow to know what he's going to do with the ball no natural instincts which is not coachable for the most part. He was what he was and is still with NBA coaching. Sick of hearing this its laughable. Not saying others could've used better coaching during KO's time but this one just didn't matter.

So if his 7 footer has an IQ and is coachable I'm all in.

I would love to see what the current staff could have done with Brimah, I think it would have looked a lot different than our previous staff.

A no on this kid though. He ain't Brimah, we're talking serious project here.

 

[gtcam]

This kid sounds like a good walk-on candidate at this time
If he continues to grow his athleticism and his skill level then there is D1 scholarship. To me, his best move would be an additional year at a better prep with better competition.
The existing list is scary as is the film
Where UConn is right now and where the staff is with recruiting legitimate D-1 quality, this should not be a priority. UConn needs skill, muscle, toughness and desire. This kid may have it in year 3 and 4 but not now.
Coach Hunter has done some really good stuff, I have heard, with Josh C. However, due to DH's lack of a history with bigs, I feel a bigs coach with name recognition may be a great addition to staff. KO would have benefitted from that type of coach as would DH.
Keep this kid in the back pocket, sell him on UConn but not this year recruitment

 

[mauconnfan]

I would love to see what the current staff could have done with Brimah, I think it would have looked a lot different than our previous staff.

A no on this kid though. He ain't Brimah, we're talking serious project here.

If he's not even Brimah then a serious NO agree. This staff would've done nothing more with Brimah he was a very low basketball IQ basketball player who didn't improve one iyoda on offense for 4 years, most good college players do that on their own. Let's not compare it to Carlton because he's a very smart and coachable player on the court, hence his improvement. And this staff is really good thus far with kids who know the game and listen.

 

[HungryHuskies]

Carlton averaged 3.1 fouls per game he's fine. He actually seemed to get more respect from the stripes when he started playing better and they let some contact go which in the past he was called for.

As for the Brimah thoughts, and it's on other replies too, leave it alone. He still stinks offensively and if anyone understands basketball it's because of his bball IQ nothing more. Hurley and staff wold've felt the same pain KO and staff felt with this guy. Have to be able to learn and bring it to the game with people guarding you, not just show it in practice or in drills. Bad hands, slow to know what he's going to do with the ball no natural instincts which is not coachable for the most part. He was what he was and is still with NBA coaching. Sick of hearing this its laughable. Not saying others could've used better coaching during KO's time but this one just didn't matter.

So if his 7 footer has an IQ and is coachable I'm all in.

Not trying to trash the other staff at all. I praised his defensive play--he had a good 4 years wearing a UConn jersey. I still think Brimah would've had a better career under this current staff. Would it have been a big jump? No, but I think his stats would've been better.

 

[McLovin]

I don't think you can take anything from his video's regarding skill set with that said he seems to have a high motor and soft hands. He doesn't look 7ft to me either. Looks like he is very athletic. Definitely a project but high motor, soft hands, competitiveness of the way he throws down. I'd say I'll leave this one to the professionals and be excited if they decide to sign him at the upside while not disappointed if we go in a different direction.

Not to mention his long arms. Almost down to his knees.

 

[tcf15]

I would love to see what the current staff could have done with Brimah, I think it would have looked a lot different than our previous staff.

Yeah, agreed here and I'd throw in Facey too. A front court of Facey and Brimah should have been so much better than it was and would kill to see what our current staff would have been able to do with the two of them.

 

[navery12]

Good rule of thumb: if his camp is tweeting out that UConn is scouting him, it's probably more about increasing his exposure than it is about UConn being seriously involved.

Surprising that they'd use a so-so mid major to increase his exposure

 

[NJHoops]

The roster is not going to be perfect in year 2. At the same time, Hurley’s preference is to not have to run guys off, so he values scholarship spots. It’s due diligence to at least check in on a 7 footer, but he’s not going to have a roster full of projects.

 

[Scrutiner]

Derrick Quansah, Village Christian Academy, Center (BK)

Almost non-existent profile on 247, so hopefully this is a backup plan

Could it be that Hurley becomes the next Dale Brown by finding a young big man with parent(s) in the military?

Just speculating, but if Quansah is, as his profile says, from Fayetteville, NC, he could well be a military brat whose parent(s) returned to the states fairly recently, thus a limited profile. Again, speculation, but if he lived overseas he may have been denied meaningful coaching and competition until moving to Fayetteville.

Fayetteville is home to Ft. Bragg, Pope Army Air Field, and the Advanced Special Operations Training Center as well as a number of other facilities so there are lots of families coming and going all the time. Some stay 2-3 years and some less. We could use a special ops kind of guy stealthily operating just outside the lane and swooping in to make big plays.

Football recruited Zavier Scott so maybe basketball will find a good big man.

 

[auror]

I know we need size, but stockpiling project and low-rated bigs is how we ended up in this situation in the first place.

I would argue that not developing the decently recruited bigs and having them transfer out is how we ended up in this situation. Also not developing the lower range stopgaps we brought in to fill their void didn't help.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, agreed here and I'd throw in Facey too. A front court of Facey and Brimah should have been so much better than it was and would kill to see what our current staff would have been able to do with the two of them.

Like I said on others maybe. Facey, while not a great IQ a lot more there and he showed by improvement on his own. He'd be a welcome "project" under this staff.

 

[mauconnfan]

I would argue that not developing the decently recruited bigs and having them transfer out is how we ended up in this situation. Also not developing the lower range stopgaps we brought in to fill their void didn't help.

How are they doing where they transferred? Enoch, 9/5? I do like Durham but not much better just healthier.

This topic can get really ridiculous.

 

[superjohn]

Could it be that Hurley becomes the next Dale Brown by finding a young big man with parent(s) in the military?

Just speculating, but if Quansah is, as his profile says, from Fayetteville, NC, he could well be a military brat whose parent(s) returned to the states fairly recently, thus a limited profile. Again, speculation, but if he lived overseas he may have been denied meaningful coaching and competition until moving to Fayetteville.

Fayetteville is home to Ft. Bragg, Pope Army Air Field, and the Advanced Special Operations Training Center as well as a number of other facilities so there are lots of families coming and going all the time. Some stay 2-3 years and some less. We could use a special ops kind of guy stealthily operating just outside the lane and swooping in to make big plays.

Football recruited Zavier Scott so maybe basketball will find a good big man.

What a strange post. The kid is from Ghana and moved to the US for school and basketball at 15, think it is the age he started playing. No he's not the next Shaq.

 

[auror]

How are they doing where they transferred? Enoch, 9/5? I do like Durham but not much better just healthier.

This topic can get really ridiculous.

Enoch just put up 14/7 on 11 shots in 25 minutes in the NCAA tournament.

You can see his development pretty clearly and the lack of development from his freshman to sophomore years, the time when most players have the most development, is even more damning. The reason his counting stats this year aren't better is that Louisville has him and Malik Williams (one of the best interior defenders and rebounders in the country) split minutes.

We've covered Carlton's improvement in year 1 of new regime pretty extensively (although he does have the edge of fresh-soph). But I'd consider that additional evidence.

 

[the Q]

Could it be that Hurley becomes the next Dale Brown by finding a young big man with parent(s) in the military?

Just speculating, but if Quansah is, as his profile says, from Fayetteville, NC, he could well be a military brat whose parent(s) returned to the states fairly recently, thus a limited profile. Again, speculation, but if he lived overseas he may have been denied meaningful coaching and competition until moving to Fayetteville.

Fayetteville is home to Ft. Bragg, Pope Army Air Field, and the Advanced Special Operations Training Center as well as a number of other facilities so there are lots of families coming and going all the time. Some stay 2-3 years and some less. We could use a special ops kind of guy stealthily operating just outside the lane and swooping in to make big plays.

Football recruited Zavier Scott so maybe basketball will find a good big man.

What a strange post. The kid is from Ghana and moved to the US for school and basketball at 15, think it is the age he started playing. No he's not the next Shaq.

Definitely the next Neon Boudeaux....

 

[StepbackCity]

Don’t want to say Joel Embiid, but this kid is Joel Embiid.

 

[mauconnfan]

Enoch just put up 14/7 on 11 shots in 25 minutes in the NCAA tournament.

You can see his development pretty clearly and the lack of development from his freshman to sophomore years, the time when most players have the most development, is even more damning. The reason his counting stats this year aren't better is that Louisville has him and Malik Williams (one of the best interior defenders and rebounders in the country) split minutes.

We've covered Carlton's improvement in year 1 of new regime pretty extensively (although he does have the edge of fresh-soph). But I'd consider that additional evidence.

Thanks for showing me one game. He averaged 9/5 he was the same player only maturity gave him a couple other things. Defensively he was ghastly did you watch him, same guy as here and yet a new coach and 3 years older and stronger. That's the reason he only played 18-20 minutes not anything else. Not impressed glad you are!

 

[PAHusky]

Thanks for showing me one game. He averaged 9/5 he was the same player only maturity gave him a couple other things. Defensively he was ghastly did you watch him, same guy as here and yet a new coach and 3 years older and stronger. That's the reason he only played 18-20 minutes not anything else. Not impressed glad you are!

As the guy who you responded to said, you have to take into account that he split time with another center with some great attributes. He averaged 9/5 in the ACC instead of the ACC and had some good games against top competition. I'm not saying he was Emeka for LVille but it's disingenuous to suggest that he was the same player this year that he was at UConn.

 

[UConnStats]

Thanks for showing me one game. He averaged 9/5 he was the same player only maturity gave him a couple other things. Defensively he was ghastly did you watch him, same guy as here and yet a new coach and 3 years older and stronger. That's the reason he only played 18-20 minutes not anything else. Not impressed glad you are!

He averaged 11 PTS and 7.5 REB per 40 minutes as a sophomore here while shooting 41.5% from 2 and 68.2% from the line.

He averaged 19.7 PTS and 10.9 REB per 40 minutes this year at UoL while shooting 56.3% 2PT, 35.9% 3PT, and 81.8% FT. And this is in the ACC.

He’s a completely different player and much much better than he was with Ollie coaching him.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Don’t want to say Joel Embiid, but this kid is Joel Embiid.

I like the optimism

 

[auror]

Thanks for showing me one game. He averaged 9/5 he was the same player only maturity gave him a couple other things. Defensively he was ghastly did you watch him, same guy as here and yet a new coach and 3 years older and stronger. That's the reason he only played 18-20 minutes not anything else. Not impressed glad you are!

Yes, 1 game.... and 3 seasons worth.

Yes it was maturity that doubled his rebunding rate and took his FG% from 39% to 56% despite taking a much bigger role (50% more of his team's shots when he was on the court than before). He went from a -6 OBPM to a +2. An 8 point jump is enormous.

I agree his desire on defense and awareness were and still are his worse attributes. But I'd also contend those are the least teachable things. Skills can be improved through coaching. Intangibles can only be focused. It seems he's a tough one to focus.

So I don't pin all of his lack of defensive improvement on Ollie. But it's fair to say that Ollie didn't improve his offensive game at all considering he regressed for his sophomore year in FG%, turnovers, and rebounding.

And then contrast that with Carlton's offensive improvement over the same year-to-year timeframe.

I claimed our lack of development led these players to transfer and then we replaced them with worse players who we also didn't develop under Ollie. Your argument seems to be that these players.. weren't developable? It's ludicrous, especially considering Enoch's play this season. Durham may not have been, due to injuries.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yes, 1 game.... and 3 seasons worth.

Yes it was maturity that doubled his rebunding rate and took his FG% from 39% to 56% despite taking a much bigger role (50% more of his team's shots when he was on the court than before). He went from a -6 OBPM to a +2. An 8 point jump is enormous.

I agree his desire on defense and awareness were and still are his worse attributes. But I'd also contend those are the least teachable things. Skills can be improved through coaching. Intangibles can only be focused. It seems he's a tough one to focus.

So I don't pin all of his lack of defensive improvement on Ollie. But it's fair to say that Ollie didn't improve his offensive game at all considering he regressed for his sophomore year in FG%, turnovers, and rebounding.

And then contrast that with Carlton's offensive improvement over the same year-to-year timeframe.

I claimed our lack of development led these players to transfer and then we replaced them with worse players who we also didn't develop under Ollie. Your argument seems to be that these players.. weren't developable? It's ludicrous, especially considering Enoch's play this season. Durham may not have been, due to injuries.

LOL those are teachable things? Why didn't he learn defense then? My point is he's not much better with different coaches and you just admitted it. C'mon 9/5 is something to go crazy about for a guy with NBA size and ability?

So stuck on the Ollie thing look at the kid it is on them sometime too. I admitted this staff is much better but to be fair you still need kids who know how to play and are coachable.

Ok so let's look at this then and let me know your thoughts. What did Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey do under Jim Calhoun and what did they do under Kevin Ollie? Fair to assume those who are smart players did improve under him?