Darius Adams Decommits from UConn

[3rdbass]

We have 9 not including Alex that’s why I said we need Alex to stay plus a backup 4/5 and a 3rd string PG which would be 12

I'm not sure why I was thinking 8. Well we still need 3 more if Alex doesn't come back.

 

[Hi-Low]

Dan Hurley, UConn Suffer Brutal Blow, Lose Top 20 Recruit

The UConn Huskies have reportedly lost one of their prized men's prospects.

www.si.com

Sources: Top-30 recruit Darius Adams decommits from UConn

McDonald's All American Darius Adams, a top-30 recruit in the 2025 class, has decommitted from UConn, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

Press are basking in the glory of us losing a top recruit. What a joke. He was going to be our 10th guy off the bench at best.

The idea that losing Adams is a "brutal blow" is, as Al Michael's would say, totally farcical

Adams role on the 25-26 team would have been "break glass in case of emergency". It impacts the 26-27 team which which will be addressed.

 

[HooperScooper]

Demary and Smith are 10x better than Mahaney and Nowell

Agreed. But my point is that back in the fall when Adams committed you couldn't say that. Mahaney was very highly thought of. He made the top 20 preseason list for the Jerry West Award and was on the Big East preseason third team. Nowell was a top 35 recruit expected to contribute immediately. Adams knew last fall that he would have to compete with some very good players for playing time. Nothing has changed there.

 

[Deepster]

Very interesting. The tone in this thread is “meh. Good riddance. We won’t miss him. Oh well” but if he came here, sat the bench and then left it becomes “He’s a great kid! Rooting for his success. Best of luck!”

 

[NJHoops]

Maybe start a "favorite chick flick" thread???

No! But here it is, you group of uncultured swine

 

[JesusAllen11]

Silas 25-30 pg , Malachi. 10-20 min
solo 25-35 min pg Mullins 15-25 min pg. Furphy 5 min??

This is why he left. This is modern college recruiting, especially for freshman, even more so skinny guards. He has to go somewhere desperate for min at pg in P5 or go down a level if he wants 20 min+ a game.

 

[444JR]

I remember feeling caught off guard and not all that excited when Adams committed because we were hot on the trail of 5-star Meleek Thomas. But I watched a lot of film and convinced myself that Adams could become Tristen Newton-lite eventually. Getting Braylon Mullins, all the positive talk around Jacob Furphy, Solo Ball and Jayden Ross returning, then the two major transfer portal hauls made this decision for Adams almost a no brainer. Demary Jr has 2 years of eligibility and there aren’t too many people predicting that Braylon Mullins is a 1&Done, so Adams probably wouldn’t have had a shot to start in year two either. If a player stays in a situation like that, all of a sudden they’re an upper classmen that hasn’t played any real, competitive minutes since high school and this kid was a McDonald’s All American. Exactly why Isaiah Abraham left.

 

[temery]

I thought Adams left in 2021, so I'm not too disappointed to find out that he's leaving again.

 

[BGesus4]

Not a fan of Nardi I guess

 

[Zonepress]

I remember feeling caught off guard and not all that excited when Adams committed because we were hot on the trail of 5-star Meleek Thomas. But I watched a lot of film and convinced myself that Adams could become Tristen Newton-lite eventually. Getting Braylon Mullins, all the positive talk around Jacob Furphy, Solo Ball and Jayden Ross returning, then the two major transfer portal hauls made this decision for Adams almost a no brainer. Demary Jr has 2 years of eligibility and there aren’t too many people predicting that Braylon Mullins is a 1&Done, so Adams probably wouldn’t have had a shot to start in year two either. If a player stays in a situation like that, all of a sudden they’re an upper classmen that hasn’t played any real, competitive minutes since high school and this kid was a McDonald’s All American. Exactly why Isaiah Abraham left.

u make a lot of sense!
what doesn’t make sense is recruiting three players in the same class who play the same position
seems to me at uconn’s level it doesn’t make any sense to recruit a high school player unless you’re convinced, he said, at least a borderline starter

 

[husky429]

Agreed. But my point is that back in the fall when Adams committed you couldn't say that. Mahaney was very highly thought of. He made the top 20 preseason list for the Jerry West Award and was on the Big East preseason third team. Nowell was a top 35 recruit expected to contribute immediately. Adams knew last fall that he would have to compete with some very good players for playing time. Nothing has changed there.

He had a less-than-stellar AAU and HS season... not indicative of his ranking. I think that and the playing time talk probably stung for the kid. But it is what it is

 

[my2cents]

Obviously he wasn't confident in his talent enough that it would earn him playing time.

 

[NJHoops]

u make a lot of sense!
what doesn’t make sense is recruiting three players in the same class who play the same position
seems to me at uconn’s level it doesn’t make any sense to recruit a high school player unless you’re convinced, he said, at least a borderline starter

Adams committed before Mullins and Furphy. It was a good fit then, but no smart team gets a commitment and shuts down their recruiting, even for the same position. They don’t think Adams is a bad player at all, but if you like your other options a bit more, by all means be honest with everyone involved. Right now, this looks like a decent decision for both sides. Maybe that doesn’t pan out and someone gets burned down the road and made a bad choice here, but you can’t be scared of all that.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Was amicable - a kid like Adams should go anywhere that gets him a top end weight room and PT. He’ll be in the portal after year 1 in all likelihood.

Recruiting HS is fine, but going with too big a class makes little sense. Picking up kids that think they’re good enough to start but aren’t is what’s to avoid.

I had a hard time understanding why he was recruited in the first place if he year 1 PT was a deal breaker.

Wasn't he the first recruit in this class to commit? I'm thinking that if Mullins and Furphy had committed first, the staff probably wouldn't have continued recruiting Adams.

Works out for everyone...SHU is in desperate needs of players, so a good chance he goes there, or even Rutgers being a Jersey kid.

 

[Zonepress]

Adams committed before Mullins and Furphy. It was a good fit then, but no smart team gets a commitment and shuts down their recruiting, even for the same position. They don’t think Adams is a bad player at all, but if you like your other options a bit more, by all means be honest with everyone involved. Right now, this looks like a decent decision for both sides. Maybe that doesn’t pan out and someone gets burned down the road and made a bad choice here (Corey?), but you can’t be scared of all that.

Adams committed before Mullins and Furphy. It was a good fit then, but no smart team gets a commitment and shuts down their recruiting, even for the same position. They don’t think Adams is a bad player at all, but if you like your other options a bit more, by all means be honest with everyone involved. Right now, this looks like a decent decision for both sides. Maybe that doesn’t pan out and someone gets burned down the road and made a bad choice here, but you can’t be scared of all that.

of course, the schools are going to recruit what’s in their best interest, and if they lose some players along the way, that’s the nature of college basketball
From the players perspective, I believe it makes more sense to wait until April after you’ve seen how class of players ahead of you has done who is transferring in and who’s transferring out
Unfortunately, this might only be an option for the very elite players

 

[Mazhude]

This break-up is like the Kathleen and Frank one from You’ve Got Mail and no, I don’t care if I am the only one who gets this reference.

You've Got Mail -- Joe and Kathleen meet again...

 

[80shusky]

Oh bummer! I wish him the best. We only had 10 players i think. I would've thought he'd get a little run. Wonder if this means we have a seasoned CG incoming?

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Obviously he wasn't confident in his talent enough that it would earn him playing time.

If you’re not ready to work and earn it, you don’t belong in Storrs.

Let me guess, he’s visiting St John’s next weekend…

 

[EnochRoot]

I wouldn't call it a "brutal blow". Lol

UConn is loaded with guards and wings including incoming transfers Malachi Smith (Dayton) and Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia) and returners Solo Ball, Jayden Ross and Jaylin Stewart.

They are also adding five-star prospect Braylon Mullins and Tasmanian wing Jacob Furphy.

Top-20 recruit Darius Adams has requested release from UConn | Zagsblog

BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ & ADAM ZAGORIA UConn […]

www.zagsblog.com

I can see why he had second thoughts. But wasn't all this known back in November? Just replace Demary and Smith for Mahaney and Nowell. Whatever, not at all concerned about this.

SI went into the toilet a few years ago. I know they've got names (and faces) listed as authors of the 'hot takes' they write, but I'm not convinced it isn't just AI generated crap. The magazine some/most of us grew up with is long gone.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

For the record, when I was 19 I was writing programs on punch cards. BASIC, COBOL & FORTRAN were what they taught us back then.

Nobody could have foreseen tictok.

As a memento, I saved a set of punch cards from the 80's that start a JCL job.

.....I may need to start circulating among other human bipods. Tomorrow. Def Monday.

 

[3rdbass]

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Demary and Smith are 10x better than Mahaney and Nowell

She said

 

[UC Billy]

Just a wild guess, but I would suspect it is about money more than his concern over Demary (remember a sophomore Nowell was supposed to be the future PG when he committed).

YES about the $$$$$$

 

[Martin84]

For the record, when I was 19 I was writing programs on punch cards. BASIC, COBOL & FORTRAN were what they taught us back then.

Nobody could have foreseen tictok.

I remember cobol in high school 1984 maybe. Our teacher said in our lifetime we will have a powerful computer we can hold in our hand. I should have paid attention.

 

[Phoenixhusky]

Transfers win

So true and not surprising.

 

[huskyharry]

Sad to see him go but he clearly did not have buy in to Coach Hurley‘s concept of culture if he bails on UConn before even arriving in Storrs…then likely was not a good fit

 

[Deleted at users request]

A soft culture we have in today's society, luckily we dont cater to that culture here, come at me all you want for my take I won't flinch one bit.

I'm not worried about losing Adams as I don't think he would've been a good PG here (thought he was better suited for SG), especially in year 1.

But I’m not blaming any kid that thinks they are NBA capable for not wanting to waste a year of sitting on the bench. The NBA values youth.

I would do the same thing to be honest. I'd want to play somewhere committed to making me be a better player immediately. Championships are cool, but I wouldn't want college to be my golden years.

 

[RuffRuff]

Adams committed before Mullins and Furphy. It was a good fit then, but no smart team gets a commitment and shuts down their recruiting, even for the same position. They don’t think Adams is a bad player at all, but if you like your other options a bit more, by all means be honest with everyone involved. Right now, this looks like a decent decision for both sides. Maybe that doesn’t pan out and someone gets burned down the road and made a bad choice here, but you can’t be scared of all that.

This felt as simple as two sides agreeing early in process to lock it in, and as all evolved the match made less sense for both sides. UConn needs better talent for this year and Adams wants PT.

Perhaps if Adams showed growth during season this could have worked but it doesn’t seem like that happened. The McD AA game was one the most embarrassing performances I’ve ever seen in that game. It is hard to jack 3-3 airballs and fall down dribbling twice to little contact.

If you’re not ready to work and earn it, you don’t belong in Storrs.

Let me guess, he’s visiting St John’s next weekend…

No way - he’s anti pitino profile. Pitino looks for ready to go strong dogs, not kids 30 lbs underweight.

 

[husky99]

Best of luck . Except when he plays uconn

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bummer. Feel like with a few pounds of muscle he was a perfect lead guard for us. I understand it but like we saw with other programs this probably will come back to bite us. I suspect it was the 2nd PG in the portal that clinched it.