2026 Recruiting: Cole Cloer visiting this weekend

[Jbirdp5]

Why did he fall to the end of the first round as a 6’5 PG with all those accomplishments?

It’s not age either because Walter Clayton went in the 1st round in a better draft at 22 years old.

Last post about this. If you want to have a genuine conversation about it my DMs are open.

College production and draft position are two different things…..

 

[jibsey]

Well this is interesting - and a good sign. Anytime you cancel a BB coming off a visit, it's usually a very good sign. UK wasn't necessarily thought to be a major contender to begin with, as most rumors have him UConn or a NC school (NC St is going hard here apparently). He definitely feels like a Hurley kind of kid and the situation at the 4 looks perfect for him.

I tend to think the goal here is Cloer/Mingo. Maybe they pack in a developmental frosh behind these two, like a County. I can't see them going more than 3 deep with incoming freshmen. There are 3 guaranteed leavers (AK, TR, MS) with Mullins likely going into the draft. I'm not including the deep bench guys. They aren't going to fill more than 2 of those spots with frosh, as they'll need minutes from proven players next year. Cloer & Mingo seem like really good fits with AK & MS leaving, as they'll naturally get minutes as a backup to Stew and then a rotational player in the backcourt.

Solo? Distinct possibility if he lights it up this year.

 

[nomar]

We are obviously going hard after Cloer. I don't see him as realistically a backcourt player accept in a particular matchup. In the frontcourt we will be losing our primary rebounding strength (Reed, Karaban), and I think Hurley will play the guys in 2026 that can help us there. With Cloer, I;m from Missouri with regard to rebounding. Each time I watched him he reminded me of Tyler Polley who always in the scrum after the ball but had nominal rebounds at the end of the game. That is a real weak point that perhaps gets solved automatically by growth in strength and adding some weight over 1-2 years. As a player right now, I think he has a ways to go before he is a starter at UConn in 2026. I would welcome him but fully expect we will still need to be looking to the portal for a 2026 frontcourt impact player in order to be a championship contender.

You do know that you're not prohibited from liking more than one 6'7" 190 lb SF prospect, right? I don't think Alex would be mad.

Joking aside, while you were obviously right that Alex was underrated, CC is ranked much higher. There must be something to that. Shooting & ball handling look great.

As for the rebounding, that's not great, and doesn't bode well for him as a PF. Saying TP "was always in the scrum" is pretty generous. He was possibly the worst 6'8" rebounder I've ever seen.

 

[alexd]

this generation likes to post pictures to their IG's, who cares?

And they use a #notcommitted in their posts just in case there's any confusion.

 

[superjohn]

The Cloer Karaban comparison I've seen thrown around is lazy. They are very similar in size but that's it.

 

[RuffRuff]

Solo? Distinct possibility if he lights it up this year.

I'm not super confident he's a shoe-in NBA prospect this year. Have seen literally no mocks with him, he didn't test last year and there are some real gaps between what we saw last year and him being an NBA player. Couple that with the 2027 draft being watered down, and my guess is he's back for year 4. If he lights it up, shows he can defend and can score multiple level, then color me pink.

 

[Huskyforlife]

The Cloer Karaban comparison I've seen thrown around is lazy. They are very similar in size but that's it.

If you think Cloer has strong handles based on highlights, I suggest watching the full games that are out there. I do think they’re similar, if not Cloer being more physically gifted.

 

[Fan1978]

He’s not starting as a freshman. No frosh likely is. Perhaps Mingo would have a fighting chance if things fell perfectly. He’s ranked close to 30 in a weak class, we should have plenty of returners to start next year. He’d be your 2027 starting 4. I am glad you’d welcome him, someone should let the staff know.

Ricker identified karaban early so show him a little respect

 

[superjohn]

If you think Cloer has strong handles based on highlights, I suggest watching the full games that are out there. I do think they’re similar, if not Cloer being more physically gifted.

I didn't say anything about his handles and yes I've watched his full games. I also watched Karaban's full games before he came to UConn.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If the staff wants him, I want him. I've long since given up any belief that we can project whether these kids will start or will be a 3 or a 4. I don't think we can project this year's starters yet. I get the sense that the staff sees guys who fit the system and the culture and have the talent and then worry about fitting pieces around them with the portal and returning players (who are also hard to predict).

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Ricker identified karaban early so show him a little respect

No offense to this guy who continues to dine out on what does not seem to be a particularly earth-shattering observation but weren’t there a number of people who had Karaban pegged as the sort of highly-skilled, very smart player who was probably being a bit undervalued because he lacked plus athleticism but was precisely the kind of kid that was going to be a very productive college player from jump street? That’s my recollection.

 

[Mr. French]

No offense to this guy who continues to dine out on what does not seem to be a particularly earth-shattering observation but weren’t there a number of people who had Karaban pegged as the sort of highly-skilled, very smart player who was probably being a bit undervalued because he lacked plus athleticism but was precisely the kind of kid that was going to be a very productive college player from jump street? That’s my recollection.

No, he called him early and said we should be recruiting him before we did, and before he was thought of as a legit interest.

Whatever your opinion of its merit, he was no question the first. He stumped early before anyone thought anything about Karaban.

On the actual topic, Cloer seems a bit more Liam in skillset rather than AK.

 

[RuffRuff]

No offense to this guy who continues to dine out on what does not seem to be a particularly earth-shattering observation but weren’t there a number of people who had Karaban pegged as the sort of highly-skilled, very smart player who was probably being a bit undervalued because he lacked plus athleticism but was precisely the kind of kid that was going to be a very productive college player from jump street? That’s my recollection.

I think this is a pretty important year for AK to determine his legacy - he was a total role player his first two years, 5th man on the totem pole, then I think we can all agree he was disappointing last year in a more central role. I'm not sure how much you label a guy as being this or that as the 5th guy on a NC. It's easy to romantacize the connection to winning, makes it difficult to see past it when evaluating the player.

 

[UCLJ0211]

 

[DogMania]

I can understand why we often try comparing recruits to current and past players and trying to predict where and how much they would play if they come here. With that said, he's young, still growing and has a lot of filling out ahead of him. So when looking at him now, it's very hard to fully project how he'll look next season or the one after that.

One thing is evident. He's got some impressive instincts and BBIQ that aren't easily taught. He looks like a player who might struggle a bit early on while his body catches up with his skills.

He's definitely a player I'd like to see land here and develop into a key piece of the Hurley puzzle.