2026 Recruiting: Colben Landrew Official Visit (10/3)

[husky429]

Hmmm so If Mullins is a first round draft pick lock then we’re gonna need a replacement starting wing no matter what. Right? Pretty confident It’s not gonna be county or Furphy or Ross or Landrew. So Are they waiting on Mingo specifically due to overlapping skill sets with county? Does staff need to go after a more traditional wing in the portal as opposed to a big guard like Mingo? Issue there is you’re recruiting directly over Andrew with a traditional wing. That’s why I didn’t/dont see the issue with getting Mingo now. He’d be the third G in a three G lineup. County can backup any of those three spots.

No one is waiting on Mingo. If he wanted to come to Storrs, we'd accept a commitment in a millisecond.

Ball and/or Demary is likely gone to the league. That's where Mingo slides in as a starter.

 

[bendm]

No one is waiting on Mingo. If he wanted to come to Storrs, we'd accept a commitment in a millisecond.

Ball and/or Demary is likely gone to the league. That's where Mingo slides in as a starter.

then what’s the Adam’s situation staff is allegedly worried about? If We’re gonna need two starters out of the transfer portal to replace Mullins and either Silas or Ball then I don’t see a way around recruiting over either or both of county and Landrew either now or next summer

 

[aceboon]

 

[ec33]

Hmmm but If Mullins is a first round draft pick lock then we’re gonna need a replacement starting wing no matter what. Right? Pretty confident that county or Furphy or Ross or Landrew won’t be starting. So Are they waiting on Mingo specifically due to overlapping skill sets with county? Does staff need to go after a more traditional wing in the portal as opposed to a big guard like Mingo? Issue there becomes you’re recruiting directly over LAndrew with a traditional wing. That’s why I didn’t/dont see the issue with getting Mingo now. He’d likely be the third G in a three G lineup with Silas and Ball. County could backup any of those three spots…

It doesn't have to be a wing. The projected roster needs some steadier secondary PG play that County or Furphy are going to bring. If you bring in another Demary/Newton-type that would accomplish a lot of what brining in Mingo would have done (in a more veteran form). And it isn't my money, so it is all easy.

But waiting until after the season has the advantage of a more complete picture what roles Ross and Furphy might be able to handle before adding that final top 10 rotational piece.

 

[bendm]

It doesn't have to be a wing. The projected roster needs some steadier secondary PG play that County or Furphy are going to bring. If you bring in another Demary/Newton-type that would accomplish a lot of what brining in Mingo would have done (in a more veteran form). And it isn't my money, so it is all easy.

But waiting until after the season has the advantage of a more complete picture what roles Ross and Furphy might be able to handle before adding that final top 10 rotational piece.

Agree with all that. I was questioning what 429 said about concern with County / Mingo overlap. If we need to bring in at least 2 transfer starters there’s going to be overlap with county and Landrew no matter what. He later said we would bring in Mingo despite his previously stated concern so maybe he agrees an “Adams situation” appears unavoidable.

 

[RuffRuff]

then what’s the Adam’s situation staff is allegedly worried about? If We’re gonna need two starters out of the transfer portal to replace Mullins and either Silas or Ball then I don’t see a way around recruiting over either or both of county and Landrew either now or next summer

Ball & Demary aren't going to the league unless they want to be second round draft picks.

Let me break it to you - this draft is stacked and deep up until about pick 25. You have guys like Yaxel mocked 20th, 5 stars like Isiah Evans mocked 25th. It's very Uconn brained to just auto default 3 guys to the league. Ain't happening. They'll come back for NIL, and to run it back to a very good team.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25240335-2026-nba-mock-draft-college-basketball-returns

I'm honestly not even 100% Mullins leaves. There are a lot of guaranteed millions of dollars at stake to come back after another year of maturing to get better draft status. If he drops into the 20's, not so sure it's slam dunk this year.

Can't blame Mingo Salsa for wanting to watch things play out a bit to see where his best landing spot is. He has plenty of options and will want the one that sets him up best to go high in 2027. I'd call Uconn a very low probability unless he holds out on signing for awhile.

 

[HW611]

Ball & Demary aren't going to the league unless they want to be second round draft picks.

Let me break it to you - this draft is stacked and deep up until about pick 25. You have guys like Yaxel mocked 20th, 5 stars like Isiah Evans mocked 25th. It's very Uconn brained to just auto default 3 guys to the league. Ain't happening. They'll come back for NIL, and to run it back to a very good team.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25240335-2026-nba-mock-draft-college-basketball-returns

I'm honestly not even 100% Mullins leaves. There are a lot of guaranteed millions of dollars at stake to come back after another year of maturing to get better draft status. If he drops into the 20's, not so sure it's slam dunk this year.

Can't blame Mingo Salsa for wanting to watch things play out a bit to see where his best landing spot is. He has plenty of options and will want the one that sets him up best to go high in 2027. I'd call Uconn a very low probability unless he holds out on signing for awhile.

Yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if no one leaves early this year.

Solo needs proper ball handling first and foremost before he leaves and that part of his game didn’t look very encouraging last night.

I expect Silas to grow to some growing pains developing into a playmaker at PG.

Unless Mullins shows an ability to put it on the floor and create for himself I can’t see him declaring in this draft. The only thing he looks better at McNeeley at currently is shooting and maybe moving off the ball but it’ll take more than that to go lottery. Hes going to have to show he can defend at a high level and create on his own.

Which would mean good things about next years team if everyone is back.

 

[bendm]

Ball & Demary aren't going to the league unless they want to be second round draft picks.

Let me break it to you - this draft is stacked and deep up until about pick 25. You have guys like Yaxel mocked 20th, 5 stars like Isiah Evans mocked 25th. It's very Uconn brained to just auto default 3 guys to the league. Ain't happening. They'll come back for NIL, and to run it back to a very good team.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25240335-2026-nba-mock-draft-college-basketball-returns

I'm honestly not even 100% Mullins leaves. There are a lot of guaranteed millions of dollars at stake to come back after another year of maturing to get better draft status. If he drops into the 20's, not so sure it's slam dunk this year.

Can't blame Mingo Salsa for wanting to watch things play out a bit to see where his best landing spot is. He has plenty of options and will want the one that sets him up best to go high in 2027. I'd call Uconn a very low probability unless he holds out on signing for awhile.

I agree so not sure why you’re responding to me. But I’m interested in people’s thoughts re. how staff would replace Mullins and/or Ball and/or Silas with Mingo and/or transfers given the concern of another “Adams situation” as it relates to County and/or Landrew. It’s a sticky wicket

 

[auror]

Hmmm but If Mullins is a first round draft pick lock then we’re gonna need a replacement starting wing no matter what. Right? Pretty confident that county or Furphy or Ross or Landrew won’t be starting. So Are they waiting on Mingo specifically due to overlapping skill sets with county? Does staff need to go after a more traditional wing in the portal as opposed to a big guard like Mingo? Issue there becomes you’re recruiting directly over LAndrew with a traditional wing. That’s why I didn’t/dont see the issue with getting Mingo now. He’d likely be the third G in a three G lineup with Silas and Ball. County could backup any of those three spots…

I would not be so confident that Landrew isn't starting. The coaches have a model, and recently that includes a starting freshman 5* who goes one and done. Mullins was ranked 15th in On3's composite and Landrew is 17th in On3's own ranking.

If they didn't think Landrew was that guy, they'd have prioritized Samuels or waited for Mingo.

 

[superjohn]

Ball & Demary aren't going to the league unless they want to be second round draft picks.

Let me break it to you - this draft is stacked and deep up until about pick 25. You have guys like Yaxel mocked 20th, 5 stars like Isiah Evans mocked 25th. It's very Uconn brained to just auto default 3 guys to the league. Ain't happening. They'll come back for NIL, and to run it back to a very good team.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25240335-2026-nba-mock-draft-college-basketball-returns

I'm honestly not even 100% Mullins leaves. There are a lot of guaranteed millions of dollars at stake to come back after another year of maturing to get better draft status. If he drops into the 20's, not so sure it's slam dunk this year.

Can't blame Mingo Salsa for wanting to watch things play out a bit to see where his best landing spot is. He has plenty of options and will want the one that sets him up best to go high in 2027. I'd call Uconn a very low probability unless he holds out on signing for awhile.

Enjoy Mullins for this season.

 

[mauconnfan]

 

[RuffRuff]

Enjoy Mullins for this season.

75/25 he's goes. There could be a cool 15mm guaranteed reasons for him to wait out a weak draft. He goes 20-25 this year, 15-17mm contract value. He waits out and gets himself into the top ten, he's bumping that up 15mm or so. Of our last 3 McD AA's, he looks like the one that could use the additional year the most based on physicality. Kid just came out of Indiana public school hoops to boot.

I'm hoping he blows up and goes first of course.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I would not be so confident that Landrew isn't starting. The coaches have a model, and recently that includes a starting freshman 5* who goes one and done. Mullins was ranked 15th in On3's composite and Landrew is 17th in On3's own ranking.

If they didn't think Landrew was that guy, they'd have prioritized Samuels or waited for Mingo.

This is how I feel as well. He’s arguably a better fit in that guard/wing role than Mingo because he’s farther along as a shooter already. But it seems obvious this is something the staff is trying to do each year.

He might not be done rising either, he could end up ahead of where Mullins finished if he keeps dominating, saw one tweet he was standout at the USA minicamp last weekend.

 

[ucp990411]

Don’t read all the posts but haven’t seen this comparison. Caron Butler?

 

[HooperScooper]

No one is waiting on Mingo. If he wanted to come to Storrs, we'd accept a commitment in a millisecond.

Ball and/or Demary is likely gone to the league. That's where Mingo slides in as a starter.

I wouldn't put too much thought into Mingo coming to UConn. Ain't happening.

 

[HooperScooper]

Question now is does this close out this class? Or is there any chance Mingo is still in play?

Yes. No. I think we're done for the fall.

 

[DogMania]

Based on everything I've read about him, he's been on a meteoric trajectory since focusing solely on hoops after being a 2 sport (BB & FB) elite athlete. This type of recruit often turns out better than some who were ranked in the top 20 but seemed to hang around that initial ranking even though their game hasn't seemed to improve much.

Regardless of Colben's ranking, it's evident that the staff has zeroed in on him, seeing something special and great program fit. His shot and all around game continues to improve. And his rep as a call-upon lockdown defender has me sold on him.

 

[HooperScooper]

Don’t read all the posts but haven’t seen this comparison. Caron Butler?

I was thinking the same the other day. We should be so lucky! Caron was much further along in his development though.

 

[NCHuskie919]

View attachment 112343View attachment 112343

I hate Zanetto

 

[6&counting]

Hmmm but If Mullins is a first round draft pick lock then we’re gonna need a replacement starting wing no matter what. Right? Pretty confident that county or Furphy or Ross or Landrew won’t be starting.

Are you saying you anticipate that the staff wants to bring in all 4 of those wing-types next year specifically to ride pine?
I don't want to misinterpret what you're saying, but at this point, a lot of this year's roster would have to go pro or transfer out for the staff to go portalling for a wing in the spring. And by doing that, it would be almost exactly the Adams scenario again.
Plus Ross is honestly almost starting now. I would bet heavy he starts more games this year than last year. Not sure I foresee Landrew being a day one starter either, but if it's those 4 guys for one spot, I don't mind it at all

 

[DogMania]

I was thinking the same the other day. We should be so lucky! Caron was much further along in his development though.

Caron was an older freshman who had a prep year before coming to UConn. Even though he was one of the best incoming freshman, he was not eligible for the McD's AA game due to having that extra Prep year.

The comparison might be a good one since he was physically mature even for a kid his age. He had one of the best power games I can remember. He was hard to stop once he drove into the paint.

On an unrelated note, he was really struggling with his 3 Pt shot during the first half of his sophomore season. I kept on mentioning that his shot was far too flat resulting in a lot of shots rattling the rim and out, and that all he needed to do was add a little arc to his shot. Don't know if the staff read the Yard back then, but suddenly Caron added some arc to his shot and he began to dominate the rest of that season. He went from a likely 2-and-done, to a three or more year trajectory, back to a first round draft pick. I remembering wishing he'd return for one more year, but knew that wasn't going to happen. He had a monster final game in the NCAA tournament against U of MD scoring 32 Pts, but there just wasn't enough offense talent around him that year to pull out the victory and move on.

 

[bendm]

Plus Ross is honestly almost starting now.

This is news to me

 

[EnochRoot]

Caron was an older freshman who had a prep year before coming to UConn. Even though he was one of the best incoming freshman, he was not eligible for the McD's AA game due to having that extra Prep year.

The comparison might be a good one since he was physically mature even for a kid his age. He had one of the best power games I can remember. He was hard to stop once he drove into the paint.

On an unrelated note, he was really struggling with his 3 Pt shot during the first half of his sophomore season. I kept on mentioning that his shot was far too flat resulting in a lot of shots rattling the rim and out, and that all he needed to do was add a little arc to his shot. Don't know if the staff read the Yard back then, but suddenly Caron added some arc to his shot and he began to dominate the rest of that season. He went from a likely 2-and-done, to a three or more year trajectory, back to a first round draft pick. I remembering wishing he'd return for one more year, but knew that wasn't going to happen. He had a monster final game in the NCAA tournament, but there just wasn't enough offense talent around him that year to pull out the victory and move on.

As I recall Maryland weren't even all that deep, but they had a starting five that rivaled a lot of champions (also, no shame in losing to the team that wins it all).

 

[ec33]

I agree so not sure why you’re responding to me. But I’m interested in people’s thoughts re. how staff would replace Mullins and/or Ball and/or Silas with Mingo and/or transfers given the concern of another “Adams situation” as it relates to County and/or Landrew. It’s a sticky wicket

I guess it depends on the player expectations. One player was a McDonald's All American, the other is a top 40 type. I see County as more of a Furphy type. And Furphy came under the same circumstances that Adams de-committed under.

If County sees himself where you have him -- the backup PG in the rotation -- then we will have another "Adams situation" if the staff brings in another PG. But the assurances made to Adams 12-months ago were under different circumstances at a time when the UConn staff thought Mahaney was a PG and the team didn't require a true PG on the roster.

 

[ucp990411]

Caron was an older freshman who had a prep year before coming to UConn. Even though he was one of the best incoming freshman, he was not eligible for the McD's AA game due to having that extra Prep year.

The comparison might be a good one since he was physically mature even for a kid his age. He had one of the best power games I can remember. He was hard to stop once he drove into the paint.

On an unrelated note, he was really struggling with his 3 Pt shot during the first half of his sophomore season. I kept on mentioning that his shot was far too flat resulting in a lot of shots rattling the rim and out, and that all he needed to do was add a little arc to his shot. Don't know if the staff read the Yard back then, but suddenly Caron added some arc to his shot and he began to dominate the rest of that season. He went from a likely 2-and-done, to a three or more year trajectory, back to a first round draft pick. I remembering wishing he'd return for one more year, but knew that wasn't going to happen. He had a monster final game in the NCAA tournament against U of MD scoring 32 Pts, but there just wasn't enough offense talent around him that year to pull out the victory and move on.

I’m

Caron was an older freshman who had a prep year before coming to UConn. Even though he was one of the best incoming freshman, he was not eligible for the McD's AA game due to having that extra Prep year.

The comparison might be a good one since he was physically mature even for a kid his age. He had one of the best power games I can remember. He was hard to stop once he drove into the paint.

On an unrelated note, he was really struggling with his 3 Pt shot during the first half of his sophomore season. I kept on mentioning that his shot was far too flat resulting in a lot of shots rattling the rim and out, and that all he needed to do was add a little arc to his shot. Don't know if the staff read the Yard back then, but suddenly Caron added some arc to his shot and he began to dominate the rest of that season. He went from a likely 2-and-done, to a three or more year trajectory, back to a first round draft pick. I remembering wishing he'd return for one more year, but knew that wasn't going to happen. He had a monster final game in the NCAA tournament against U of MD scoring 32 Pts, but there just wasn't enough offense talent around him that year to pull out the victory and move on.

Caron scored 26 in the second half of that game.