Did Uconn do enough to this off-season?

[AZHuskiePop]

The Biggest thing we did in the off season
is retained a solid core who have played in the system for at least a complete season or longer.
Having veterans like Disrra, Johnson,
Stewart , Ball , Ross and Sinegare ,maybe even Karaban , in this portal age ,
gives you a huge advantage . Your not rebuilding your filling in the missing pieces
I think any coach would agree having 6-7 new guys all from different cultures is daunting .

 

[Chin Diesel]

The short answer is get back with in April 2025 and I'll give you the answer.

 

[ec33]

Fanta has me convinced AK should come back. Top 20 might be a bit overstated, but solidly in the post-lottery 1st round area after Dan Hurley and LM make him an offensive centerpiece. Solid contributing player on a winner.

 

[willie99]

Does someone want to tell Dan he's not doing enough?

That oughta be a hoot

 

[Waquoit]

THIS IS NOT KIDDY BALL!!!!!!!!!!!

You know what's funny about that? The teams that won in Kiddy Ball were teams front-loaded by a coach that made the fathers of all the good players assistant coaches. Kiddy ball doesn't win unless your kid is a kiddy.

 

[metsfan2323]

We've done very well but the off season is far from over. If AK goes, we're obviously lacking some size at the 4, but that's been covered ad nauseum. I would've liked to have seen a top 20, 2025er come on board, but I'm obviously greedy.

I agree, If AK leaves we will need someone with some size, ideally someone who could play the 5 in a pinch too.

 

[metsfan2323]

Yikes. You actually don’t understand what actually wins titles do you? It’s about a hell of a lot more than solely bringing in the best players. If it was about that then the last 16 titles would’ve bounced back and forth between Duke and Kentucky.

Maybe when he says "bring in the best available players" the fit for our culture is implied. It doesn't really need to be spelled out every time. Our coach only brings in studs who fit the culture these days. Practice players for the end of the bench need not apply.

 

[aburks41]

Yes. Hurley and the staff could have gotten any single player they wanted in the portal. They specifically targeted Reed, Mahaney, and I’ll include McNeeley here too even though he’s not a transfer. They went 3/3 on those guys. They clearly think those guys are enough to run it back, so I do too.

 

[ddent68]

Bringing guys back and developing them is a cornerstone of Hurley’s approach. It’s part of the culture and the philosophy of this program. It’s a leap of faith by everyone concerned. The players have to trust the system. Bide your time, put in the work and be rewarded with more playing time and championships. The only way you get that kind of buy in is if you don’t chase every shiny object in the portal.

It’s a risk for Hurley too. What if the returners don’t make the leap? He has to have faith that he recruited the right guys in the first place. Personally I love it. I think it’s a recipe for long term success. Eventually he’ll miss and an addition from the portal or a recruit won’t be what we think they should be but I think he and his staff get it right more often than they get it wrong going forward.

 

[bjc42]

wasn't it also said in an interview that if AK stays in the draft Hurley would go pick someone up for the 4?

 

[NowInStorrs]

We'll find out. They did enough to give us a chance I think. Pretty impressive.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Heres the thing. I recently saw a clip of an interview with Geno where hes talking about how players are more athletic and skilled today than ever but you get those guys on a court with 4 other guys and a lot of them struggle. Which got me thinking about what has made these two national title winning teams so good. Sure we may not have five 5* burger boys starting but what we have had are guys who are talented who completely buy into the system and the culture. You add to that Hurley being a top tier coach on defense and is now running an offense ahead of what anyone else in the country is doing and these are the results you get. I think Dan Hurley and his staff are simply miles ahead of every other coaching staff and theyre all scrambling to catch up. Will the rest of the country catch up and figure out what Dan Hurley and start running their own versions? Sure but when? Even if they do it takes time to get it running to the level Dan Hurley has. I think this staff is simply better than everyone and until the rest of the country catches up Uconn will continue to be a force in March.

 

[Jimdish255]

We haven't come close to offsetting what we lost. That's not to say the new guys can't make a significant contribution. But you have to recognize how many games might have been lost without the heroics of Newton, Spencer or Clingan. Those three brought the mail for us. Gonna have to work like crazy to step up near that level.

 

[3rdbass]

wasn't it also said in an interview that if AK stays in the draft Hurley would go pick someone up for the 4?

Yeah he did say that. We are only at 11 players now if AK doesn't come back and you want to always make sure you have adequate depth in case of injuries. You also need good practice players to push the starters.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I’ll say yes because I’m getting brain damage trying to figure out which talented players have to come off the bench.

And I’ll trust Dan when he says Solo/Jaylin/Jayden are on breakout watch, he probably recruits over them if he doesn’t genuinely believe it.

 

[Huskybass]

AK causes huge uncertainty as he would be the most experienced returning player in terms of minutes played at UConn. His return would certainly make a threepeat a much more likely possibility.

 

[Kitaman]

All 5 starters are at the Combine including AK who may not return. Its impossible to replace that, especially them being Champions (some 2x). Its like removing and replacing the engine on a Championship race car, no one knows how it will finish even with a Championship driver.

The reality is Hurley may need a season or two to regroup. This fan's belly is full, so I will have patience and tolerance. But we will regroup!

 

[DRBackup]

We haven't come close to offsetting what we lost. That's not to say the new guys can't make a significant contribution. But you have to recognize how many games might have been lost without the heroics of Newton, Spencer or Clingan. Those three brought the mail for us. Gonna have to work like crazy to step up near that level.

You almost surely would have said the exact same thing a year earlier.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Don’t know, but it’s going to be fun to Watch these guys and find out. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it? If you told me now I wouldn’t get to watch the games and go through the emotions but we’d win, I’d say no. It’s not entertaining without the uncertainty.

 

[jibsey]

We have to expect growing pains and some failure as Hurley tries to put this together. About 8 weeks into the season we’ll have a clue. 3 peat talk is crazy at this stage.

 

[Horatio]

The Coaches did enough to build a great roster, top 10-15 team, for the next two years, after winning back to back championships. I’m not sure they did enough to win a third championship. They stayed true to their formula so that has to be factored in also.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Here's a question to add a bit of perspective:

Roughly 47 months ago, if someone were to ask you how would you feel if mid-May 2024 we would be questioning our ability to win a third consecutive title this upcoming season, how would you have responded?

HuskyHawk is correct in his statement, the fun will be in seeing how the season plays out and how well the players develop.

What we've accomplished the past two seasons warrants quite a bit of praise and provided an amazing amount of joy. Appreciate it for what it gave us. Yes, being in a position to three peat is rare, and in all candor, taking home another national title should be the goal. We absolutely should want this but there is no reason for anyone to lament over the idea that is doesn't seem as likely today as this past one seemed this past December or January.

 

[gtcam]

The best thing that has come forth since the 2023-2024 title game is that the staff stayed together. The sum of the staff is better than just one person at the head of the snake. Dan Hurley couldn't do this on his own. The staff is definitely world class in the NCAA.
As far as players are concerned - we won't know about the newbies until they play as a team. Someone said that it's good to have guys for 3-4 years but with the portal it will be awfully hard to convince a borderline starter to wait his turn when you do recruit over them. They can go to a team where they will definitely earn starter minutes. The future shows that the only 3-4 year guys maybe walk-ons.
This upcoming season will not look like 2023-2024 at all. It may be closer to the CV senior year where the team started to gel later in the season.

 

[Mr. French]

Here’s the good news:

1) less pressure to worry coming off 2 titles. I’m eager, not anxious, to learn how the pieces fit.

2) Hurley got every piece he (and I) wanted, so we’ll have to assume he’s confident. If he’s confident, I’m confident, and you are too whether you know it or not.

3) we are loaded with talent, and that isn’t stopping any time soon.

 

[80shusky]

UConn did enough to have a good team based on the information we have now. If Karaban stays or goes, they still have Stewart and Abraham at the 4. The way they play you could put McNeeley at the 4 also. Stewart I think will make a big jump this fall. I would guess if Karaban goes, the staff looks for a depth piece at the 4 as others have said. Letting your younger players develop without portaling over them is going to be key to building teams that play together and can win.