Darius Adams Decommits from UConn

[Deleted at users request]

Bro give it up. Your narrative is self soothing. Open up your eyes and look at what’s happening instead of the chocolate factory inside your own head.

Outside of Duke which teams had frosh as their best player? It was no one in F4. You are now making things up.

We are better off finding kids in portal, and it’s starting to show now that we are moving off not only our 2024 frosh crop but one of 2025.

Go find yourself a Time Machine on eBay. The schtick has gotten beyond old.

Auburn had Petiford. Texas Tech’s best player was Christian Anderson who wasn't even top 100. MSU had Jase Richardson. Bama had Phillip Labron.

Just named 4 teams without naming Duke.

 

[pj]

You keep pointing to the kid that was brought in to be the starting PG and was quickly relegated to an end of the bench role due to his play as evidence that Hurley does guarantee playing time. It’s quite literally direct evidence against your point.

I think it would be more accurate to say that Hurley guarantees an opportunity to progress as a player. Mahaney got more time than he would have if it were only about the team winning games. They made an effort to develop him, and gave him time to help him learn. He did develop over the course of the season, but too slowly to warrant many minutes in March.

 

[RuffRuff]

Probably best in long term that Adams decommited...because if an all american 'sits' the whole year it may scare off future all americans

May not matter anyway as the only AAs that really matter in their frosh year are top 4-5. This year that is kids like Boozer, AJ, DP and Ament. Even then those teams are unlikely to make a ton of noise without strong upperclassmen leading.

My guess is if this system continues, the movement away from frosh by top programs will be a thing. Pitino already vocal around it. Pearl is going juco and D2 instead. Theyre just not worth the $$ and headache.

 

[Milo65]

Give me a proven commodity over a highly ranked kid out of HS any day. Wish him luck.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I think it would be more accurate to say that Hurley guarantees an opportunity to progress as a player. Mahaney got more time than he would have if it were only about the team winning games. They made an effort to develop him, and gave him time to help him learn. He did develop over the course of the season, but too slowly to warrant many minutes in March.

A commitment id wish he would also make with a talented freshman. (not Adams)

 

[StllH8L8ner]

May not matter anyway as the only AAs that really matter in their frosh year are top 4-5. This year that is kids like Boozer, AJ, DP and Ament. Even then those teams are unlikely to make a ton of noise without strong upperclassmen leading.

My guess is if this system continues, the movement away from frosh by top programs will be a thing. Pitino already vocal around it. Pearl is going juco and D2 instead. Theyre just not worth the $$ and headache.

Maybe Pitino is onto something not bothering to recruit high school kids.

 

[Scoe]

Maybe Pitino is onto something not bothering to recruit high school kids.

We're not exactly going the Pitino route, if Adams were to get minutes off the bench this coming year, I'm sure he doesn't decommit.

 

[navery12]

May not matter anyway as the only AAs that really matter in their frosh year are top 4-5. This year that is kids like Boozer, AJ, DP and Ament. Even then those teams are unlikely to make a ton of noise without strong upperclassmen leading.

My guess is if this system continues, the movement away from frosh by top programs will be a thing. Pitino already vocal around it. Pearl is going juco and D2 instead. Theyre just not worth the $$ and headache.

That's just an insane take, you're gonna try and tell me Liam McNeeley didn't matter for UConn last year? Or Pettiford for Auburn? Or Knueppel for Duke? Or Queen for Maryland? Or Boogie Fland for Arkansas? The list goes on and on

 

[Husky Alien]

Maybe Pitino is onto something not bothering to recruit high school kids.

A great example is Walter Clayton,Jr. He needed time to develop into the player he became at Florida. He was a 3 star comming out of high school, do you think Adams could produce as a 4/5 star ranked player immediately? Good luck to him and hope that he is willing to be coached for 2 or 3 years if he stays with the school.that he chooses. Pitino, I hate to say it, is onto something, I agree.

 

[UCfor3]

A commitment id wish he would also make with a talented freshman. (not Adams)

Everyone knows how you feel on the topic by now.

 

[Scoe]

Freshman will still go to elite programs, and freshman can still develop here perhaps off the bench with playing time is more ideal now.

 

[yungdowork]

Auburn had Petiford. Texas Tech’s best player was Christian Anderson who wasn't even top 100. MSU had Jase Richardson. Bama had Phillip Labron.

Just named 4 teams without naming Duke.

Jase Richardson is probably the only one you could make a case for and even he shot 10% from the field in their tournament game vs New Mexico, pretty good postseason otherwise.

I will say that saying Christian Anderson was better than JT Toppin is straight up delusion. Toppin had 3 20/10 games and 4 double-doubles while averaging 2.5 blocks a game in the tournament

 

[Seamus84]

The transfer portal has completely changed the evaluation process and made Freshman-only rankings basically irrelevant. It’s now how does player A, regardless of class, compare to player B.

 

[Viet Vet]

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: 4-star G 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.

There is a lot of Hurley Hatred outside UConn Nation.

 

[superjohn]

Auburn had Petiford. Texas Tech’s best player was Christian Anderson who wasn't even top 100. MSU had Jase Richardson. Bama had Phillip Labron.

Just named 4 teams without naming Duke.

It's wild how you constantly make up stuff to try and prove these ridiculous arguments you keep hammering away at.

 

[Waquoit]

Why are you framing it like this when the situation was taking Brea at the cost of Ball leaving which was 100% the right choice.

Its okay to agree with me instead of doing weird stuff like this for the sake of trying to make me look wrong.

Nobody needs to do weird stuff to make you look wrong. You've got that covered.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He would have had the most boring name on the team, so no big loss.

I've already seen it spelled "Adam's" twice, and "Darious" was among the various ways it could have been misspelled. It's possible that you're right, but he still would have fit right in...in terms of having a name that could be mangled. We're very good at this.

 

[Rich]

I don’t know, man. I agree the game ain’t changed, just got more fierce. But-

Hurley just lost an entire freshman class, and now a top-20 kid from next year’s. He also has the Floyd/Diggins/Furguson (I think that was the center’s name) debacle on his record.

The two ‘chips are awesome and he’s a good coach. But when he misses on recruits he REALLY misses on recruits. And that ain’t good.

I think-my opinion only-there is some kind of issue with talent/character evaluation that goes beyond just needing to get ‘older’ per se.

 

[uconn_jack]

He's ranked too highly for what you would be getting next year in a player. It had been talked about a ton here by people who watched him. No knock on him and no sour grapes. He could possibly turn into a great player down the road but it would be incredibly surprising if he's a high level player next year.

We all kind of knew this. He was the first kid who popped for us and he's ranked right there

Adams may have a higher ceiling than Furphy, but I get the feeling that Furphy will be more ready to play this year.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

We're not exactly going the Pitino route, if Adams were to get minutes off the bench this coming year, I'm sure he doesn't decommit.

Agreed but if a McD’s AA and Top 20(?) recruit can’t get minutes over portal guys, it kinda makes sense to not go as hard after high schoolers and just wait for disgruntled college players each season of which there are plenty. You just need the cashola to dish out. I’m all for kids making money but the entire culture of college basketball is starting to suck.

 

[uconn_jack]

I don’t know, man. I agree the game ain’t changed, just got more fierce. But-

Hurley just lost an entire freshman class, and now a top-20 kid from next year’s. He also has the Floyd/Diggins/Furguson (I think that was the center’s name) debacle on his record.

The two ‘chips are awesome and he’s a good coach. But when he misses on recruits he REALLY misses on recruits. And that ain’t good.

I think-my opinion only-there is some kind of issue with talent/character evaluation that goes beyond just needing to get ‘older’ per se.

Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, and most other programs including the top tier ones have had highly ranked kids go into the portal or decommit. It's not Hurley, it's the current recruiting reality unfortunately.

And the fact that he was able to keep Stewart, Ball, Jayden, Reed, and Samson (last year), add 4 top HS recruits (even if one decommited), and two high demand transfers tells me that Hurley is much better at playing this current recruiting game than most.

 

[nomar]

I would have been VERY upset if Mullins or Reibe decommitted, and pretty upset if Furphy did.

I’m … not that upset.

 

[Gurleyman]

Jase Richardson is probably the only one you could make a case for and even he shot 10% from the field in their tournament game vs New Mexico, pretty good postseason otherwise.

I will say that saying Christian Anderson was better than JT Toppin is straight up delusion. Toppin had 3 20/10 games and 4 double-doubles while averaging 2.5 blocks a game in the tournament

Or Darrion Williams. Christian Anderson was TT’s fourth or fifth best player. Depending on how you feel about Hawkins and his 6.5 assists per game with poor shooting. The other guys were all transfers.

Pettiford and Labron had good seasons but were “fourth or fifth option” cogs on teams built around lineups loaded with basically all transfers. They helped but the team wasn’t built around them. Would be like saying our 2014 team relied on grad transfers because we had one.

It’s a new era. Our first two titles … and our fourth … were teams that gelled for 2-3 years before winning. The third was year 3 Kemba and new pieces. The nucleus of our fifth (Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins) gelled a bit, but then some veterans came in. Our last one was all guys who played 1 or 2 years, but we had some continuity with Tristen, Alex and DC.

It’s a new era. We had to wait a year for Cole to be eligible after transferring, so it wasn’t that long ago that you couldn’t find instant help. But now you don’t have to groom people for a long term run, since short term help is always there. And the people you groom might not even stay.

You don’t have to like the system now, but you better play by the new rules.

 

[Scoe]

Agreed but if a McD’s AA and Top 20(?) recruit can’t get minutes over portal guys, it kinda makes sense to not go as hard after high schoolers and just wait for disgruntled college players each season of which there are plenty. You just need the cashola to dish out. I’m all for kids making money but the entire culture of college basketball is starting to suck.

Ya I don't blame Adams but this does suck that kids have themselves in this predicament. He could still develop under Hurley and learn from our vets, and take that next step in year 2. It is what it is.

 

[jibsey]

Frankly I was surprised that Ross stayed even though he did get minutes. No one knows how this kid given adequate PT and development would turn out. Unfortunately the portal has just changed everything. He would have gotten some early season minutes in blowouts against cupcakes and if he turned out to be Superman in those games he would take minutes from our regular rotation. Hurley is going to find a helluva time getting minutes for the guys we have now WITH him gone as it is.