2025 Recruiting: Dwayne Aristode

[uconnbill]

I just saw this article about a top 20 Class of 2025 Will Riley and his final 10 schools. Duke, Kentucky, Arizona etc. The usual suspects and no UConn.

Top 20 junior Will Riley cuts list to 10 programs | Zagsblog

By CHARLIE PARENT Will Riley, a top-20 […]

www.zagsblog.com

He says:
Duke: “They’re obviously a great program. It would be a good spot to be. They really like my game and how I play. I could go there and play behind and with a lot of other great players. They like that I have a high IQ and that I can read the floor at my size.”

So Top 20 kids want to go to Duke to play behind other players? If I'm a coach, that's not something I want to hear a recruit say. You're Top 20 and talk about playing behind other players? That might well happen, but to say it before you even get to school?

No, not a Hurley player for sure with that attitude. So let him sit at Duke and be another Dookie

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I just saw this article about a top 20 Class of 2025 Will Riley and his final 10 schools. Duke, Kentucky, Arizona etc. The usual suspects and no UConn.

Top 20 junior Will Riley cuts list to 10 programs | Zagsblog

By CHARLIE PARENT Will Riley, a top-20 […]

www.zagsblog.com

He says:
Duke: “They’re obviously a great program. It would be a good spot to be. They really like my game and how I play. I could go there and play behind and with a lot of other great players. They like that I have a high IQ and that I can read the floor at my size.”

So Top 20 kids want to go to Duke to play behind other players? If I'm a coach, that's not something I want to hear a recruit say. You're Top 20 and talk about playing behind other players? That might well happen, but to say it before you even get to school?

I’m pretty sure that’s what’s expected here unless you’re a top 10 recruit like Castle.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I managed to

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I cannot really understand the point you are trying to make here, and I read it like 3 times…..but are you trying to say this thread could distract people actually on the team from their goal of winning the big east tournament?

Not precisely, but because I've been challenged to express myself more simply:

I suggest for us to imagine that the answer is yes, and correspondingly request that we conduct ourselves accordingly.

It worked out well last year when I expressed myself similarly toward skeptical, critical, and unbelieving fans in this forum. And I submit that it's well within the healthy range of ways that fans cheer for their favorite team's success one game at a time.

Go Huskies.

 

[Samoo]

And here I was thinking I'd click on this thread and learn something about recent or upcoming recruiting visits. Silly me; it's the bone yard. When will I ever learn?

 

[TerryBoyz]

And here I was thinking I'd click on this thread and learn something about recent or upcoming recruiting visits. Silly me; it's the bone yard. When will I ever learn?

Boneyard Rule #1: if you don’t find what you are looking for, check the pizza thread.

 

[jibsey]

I found great plumbers because of this board. There can be hidden gems in any thread here.

 

[mauconnfan]

I’m not claiming to know what he will look like next year, but players improve one year to next, usually and I expect him to. He is perfect for his role now, I agree, but I don’t expect us to be a top 25 team next year anyways, Hurley is the man but he can’t keep us in the top 25 every year. I expect next year to be more about our young players getting better and becoming studs so that the following year we can plug the holes and be at or in the top ten the following year. That’s why having Samson start and develop won’t be a stretch. Now if Hurley can plug all the holes next year and build a contender, then no he shouldn’t be a starter if we have solid pieces elsewhere, I just don’t think next year will be that kind of year.

I like SJ his improvement has been a big piece to our success. But again if he’s starting we didn’t get anything we wanted or needed. He’s had about 9 fouls in his last 15 minutes to top that off. He doesn’t rebound well and struggles to block out. He’s a bench piece and a solid one that’s it.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

I think a lot of posters in here are confusing - or at the least trying to combine - recruiting and high school recruiting. Half of the recruiting equation isn’t even available until the portal opens. That’s when we will get more visits.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Not precisely, but because I've been challenged to express myself more simply:

I suggest for us to imagine that the answer is yes, and correspondingly request that we conduct ourselves accordingly.

It worked out well last year when I expressed myself similarly toward skeptical, critical, and unbelieving fans in this forum. And I submit that it's well within the healthy range of ways that fans cheer for their favorite team's success one game at a time.

Go Huskies.

While I appreciate your fandom and superstition recruiting is 365 and the lifeblood of a program. If you think Hurleys not devouting hours each week into recruiting your mistaken. No reason we shouldn’t discuss the possibilities here, and using the idea that current players/staff could be distracted by this conversation I’ll remind you that Hurley stated last season that at the midway point ACTUAL COLLEGE PROGRAMS start reaching out to kids they are hoping will jump in the portal. I don’t think we need to worry about our little message board being a distraction

 

[Spaceman213J]

I think one of the things that is lost is that Hurley probably doesn't really give 2 cents about the number next to a recruit's name. One coaches most sought after player may not be at the top of the next coach's wishlist. I'm sure Hurley and his staff identify a group of kids they believe are best for their style of play and/or guys they can really develop into an asset in the near future. Also, this team has proven that Hurley can coach and win with different styles. As long as some pretty good talent is coming in, the program will be fine.
It's been said before, but Calhoun took guys he could coach and sprinkled in a McDonald's All-American here and there. I think he understood that with the exception of a truly special talent like Carmelo or AD, your not going to win a championship with a one-and-done being the centerpiece of the team. That's one of the things I love and respect about Castle. He has developed, but he doesn't have to be the go to guy as a freshman.
If UConn is going to be truly battle yearly for the top guys, then Hurley needs to keep putting guys into the NBA who have success (and pretty quickly). Then he can go to guys and say, "Yah, get your NIL money now from another school or make more in the long run with me and staff."

 

[UCTitleTown]

I’m pretty sure that’s what’s expected here unless you’re a top 10 recruit like Castle.

Like I said in my post, that's often the reality, but don't say it in an article before you even get to school...Defeatist attitude. Also, I just read a second article that says the kid is gushing over Duke and Kentucky when he hasn't been offered by either school and he's a 2025.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

This is the first year that Samson Johnson Is playing at the 5 spot. As everyone knows, he was brought in to play the 4 and that’s the position he practiced at for two years.

I don’t see it as a stretch that in his second year at center SJ has a chance to improve significantly.

 

[FearThePups]

I like SJ his improvement has been a big piece to our success. But again if he’s starting we didn’t get anything we wanted or needed. He’s had about 9 fouls in his last 15 minutes to top that off. He doesn’t rebound well and struggles to block out. He’s a bench piece and a solid one that’s it.

I just wish SJ had better hands for both rebounding and accepting passes not associated with dunks.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I will readily admit that I no longer follow behind the scenes details at the level I once did, and it appears that a few on here do take it further than I did when I was younger. I do however want to point out some things:

• If I remember correctly from the consternation by some on this board eight or nine months ago, we are one scholarship under the limit for this season.
• We have two recruits (Nowell, Abraham) set to join next year and two current players (Newton, Spencer) who will exhaust eligibility once this season ends, leaving us with a minimum of one available scholarship (we will have more as obviously players will leave early for the draft).
• As we are fully expecting four current freshman and two incoming recruits to be a part of our roster next season as freshman and sophomores, we will still have a sufficient young core to build form, even if we were to hit the portal in a manner similar to what we did two years ago.
• I will not speculate on players leaving beyond this: from all appearances, the odds of Castle not entering the draft are far less than 1%, Clingan maybe 1% and Karaban, who knows, leaving us room for either three or four additional spots.

We know our staff is very good at identifying players who can contribute to our unique and somewhat complex system that has requirements outside of pure athleticism and one-on-one basketball prowess. I fully expect to see a couple transfers who (similar to Newton/Calcaterra/Spencer) we currently know little about and due to system fit, will perform better here than anyone would have reasonably expected when the transfer was announced. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there is a current HS class of 24 out there who, while he may not make anyone’s top 50 lists, would fit well here.

I believe of greatest importance however, the levels we reach next year will be mostly dependent on the steps forward the current freshman make as sophomores, along with how well our incoming point guard can contribute as a freshman. They will have very large shoes to fill.

 

[Scrutineer]

There is no way anyone would predict a summer where Samson improves enough to handle a starting position. That rate of improvement would be unbelievable. At this point, we need to be wondering if Samson is even able to handle a bench big role. A quality big in the portal and a strong off-season from Singare need to be priorities.

We can hope SJ gets Hassan-ed in the off-season...............................
or maybe even Diarra-ed.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

While I appreciate your fandom and superstition recruiting is 365 and the lifeblood of a program. If you think Hurleys not devouting hours each week into recruiting your mistaken. No reason we shouldn’t discuss the possibilities here, and using the idea that current players/staff could be distracted by this conversation I’ll remind you that Hurley stated last season that at the midway point ACTUAL COLLEGE PROGRAMS start reaching out to kids they are hoping will jump in the portal. I don’t think we need to worry about our little message board being a distraction

This post, like others, wins much of the argument I haven't made, and does so, like the others, competently.

I wrote "not precisely" to avoid getting into discussion of particulars on players, and all kinds of minutiae.

I'll always look silly, naive, or foolish if I do that while alluding to the ineffable in a forum with no interest or patience for such buzz-killing froufrou bs. For money, I'd bet hard & heavy that I'll be met with impassioned arguments that (paradoxically) add up to, "Don't worry. Nothing we say here matters."

There is a decent amount good stuff in this thread. Nonetheless, multiple takes - from caring, knowledgeable posters with whom I predominantly agree - on any current player during a current season breed dissension & distraction in known & unknown ways, whether believed or not, and for no identifiable positive purpose beyond fitting into a "Well, it's true, other people think so, you're an idiot not to see this, we're free to do what we want, it doesn't hurt anybody, don't worry so much, grow up, get real, etc." box. ALL of those 'defenses' apply to discussion of recruiting in general.

In this instance, in this thread, I'm confident that my chosen emphasis on one dimension of the discussion shares more principles in common with the downside elements of discussing particular players (and potential for transfer, etc.) than it does with the thread title's curiosity about Visiting Recruits.

I'm also cognizant that my chosen emphasis will continue to be mischaracterized, misinterpreted, or ignored repeatedly, and seen (at worst) as an annoying attempt to abridge others' freedom of expression.

The timeworn pattern holds that more consensus will develop around the broad argument, inevitably crowding out the focused objection.

I chuckle in this moment, when I recall wondering several pages ago if the the thread would go off on an extended tangent when a poster first resisted the temptation to re-argue the past regarding a particular player, and then yielded to temptation when asked for more detail. I did not anticipate such vigorous support for arguing around a particular player regarding the future.

Game day: be here now.

That's the next frame of mind for me, and I have no ability to control others, nor do I bemoan this any more than is surmised by anybody's interpretation of my purpose or motivation.

Beat the snot out of the Friars, and consolidate all needed lessons to go to MSG and dazzle the fans.

Go Huskies

 

[runner11]

Maybe.

Then again, increasingly forceful arguments about the suitability or prospects regarding a player we'd like to perform as well as possible for as many as 10 more games has a relationship to the title "Recruiting Visits," but wasn't likely what anybody reading the OP came here with that conversation in mind.

It took nearly 2 pages before any such mention appeared, and nearly another page before it got comment, and thereafter it has become a greater object of interest and discussion than the initial comment about visits & staff efforts during a part of the season when the staff & team are identifiably focused on the game tomorrow, the pre-season goal of the BET championship, and the subsequent goals of winning the East Regional and the National Championship.

As usually happens here, posters with thoughts & opinions that range from casually optimistic speculation to strongly voiced certainty that the optimistic notions are foolhardy create the familiar self-perpetuating loop that responds to a greater felt pressure to apply more force to seek resolution on a matter that is tangential to the title Recruiting Visits.

In that sense, the discussion moves more closely toward transfer speculation, though from a reverse angle that has arisen from how significant the Transfer Portal has become to roster construction in an age of multiple recruiting avenues. That shouldn't be hard to recognize.

Those are some long sentences

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Those are some long sentences

Yeah, almost always suboptimal.

People & posters prefer pith & punch.

 

[UConnSwag11]

 

[Scrutineer]

I think one of the things that is lost is that Hurley probably doesn't really give 2 cents about the number next to a recruit's name. One coaches most sought after player may not be at the top of the next coach's wishlist. I'm sure Hurley and his staff identify a group of kids they believe are best for their style of play and/or guys they can really develop into an asset in the near future. Also, this team has proven that Hurley can coach and win with different styles. As long as some pretty good talent is coming in, the program will be fine.
It's been said before, but Calhoun took guys he could coach and sprinkled in a McDonald's All-American here and there. I think he understood that with the exception of a truly special talent like Carmelo or AD, your not going to win a championship with a one-and-done being the centerpiece of the team. That's one of the things I love and respect about Castle. He has developed, but he doesn't have to be the go to guy as a freshman.
If UConn is going to be truly battle yearly for the top guys, then Hurley needs to keep putting guys into the NBA who have success (and pretty quickly). Then he can go to guys and say, "Yah, get your NIL money now from another school or make more in the long run with me and staff."

Exactly. Calhoun told players the real money is in the second contract and the player development at UConn will assure the players are prepared.

DH is focused on the type players that fit his ideal of a team oriented offense and defense that overwhelms opponents.

How many of this year's 5 stars will be like Castle, be willing to be part of the equation and not the focal point, and grow steadily throughout the season and not just be a flash in the pan? Only those who want to win as badly as DH. Not many.

A friend who's a Florida fan, and who can't admit any other team is good, actually told me last week how impressed he is with DH (especially what he sees and hears from the look-ins into the huddles) and the Huskies, so if someone so biased sees what DH is accomplishing I'd bet it's universal and recruiting will not be a problem.

Just remember, Timberlake wanted the money and Spencer wanted to win.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Exactly. Calhoun told players the real money is in the second contract and the player development at UConn will assure the players are prepared.

DH is focused on the type players that fit his ideal of a team oriented offense and defense that overwhelms opponents.

How many of this year's 5 stars will be like Castle, be willing to be part of the equation and not the focal point, and grow steadily throughout the season and not just be a flash in the pan? Only those who want to win as badly as DH. Not many.

A friend who's a Florida fan, and who can't admit any other team is good, actually told me last week how impressed he is with DH (especially what he sees and hears from the look-ins into the huddles) and the Huskies, so if someone so biased sees what DH is accomplishing I'd bet it's universal and recruiting will not be a problem.

Just remember, Timberlake wanted the money and Spencer wanted to win.

I hope Timberlake is enjoying his 4 pts. per game and the most Big 12 losses Kansas has had since 1988/89.

 

[husky429]

I hope Timberlake is enjoying his 4 pts. per game and the most Big 12 losses Kansas has had since 1988/89.

250k is probably softening the blow

 

[banshee]

250k is probably softening the blow

He might not have gotten it if rumors are true or the car. He might have only gotten a sign on bonus of 25K.

 

[ctchamps]

I just saw this article about a top 20 Class of 2025 Will Riley and his final 10 schools. Duke, Kentucky, Arizona etc. The usual suspects and no UConn.

Top 20 junior Will Riley cuts list to 10 programs | Zagsblog

By CHARLIE PARENT Will Riley, a top-20 […]

www.zagsblog.com

He says:
Duke: “They’re obviously a great program. It would be a good spot to be. They really like my game and how I play. I could go there and play behind and with a lot of other great players. They like that I have a high IQ and that I can read the floor at my size.”

So Top 20 kids want to go to Duke to play behind other players? If I'm a coach, that's not something I want to hear a recruit say. You're Top 20 and talk about playing behind other players? That might well happen, but to say it before you even get to school?

This is the answer to your two previous posts:

Duke has gotten as many top recruits in 2024 than we have in the past 10 years. I honestly don't get it.


I like getting top recruits (can't miss ones) to boost our NBA roster numbers. If we can do that and win NCAA Championships, nobody will touch our program. NBA roster numbers are also good for one's program.

Kentucky and Duke are placeholders for those talented freshman who believe they will get into the NBA without having to apply themselves to demanding coaches like Hurley. It's the reason why UConn didn't get as many 5* while JC was here in spite of all his success.

What we lose out in the "players going to the NBA" hype we more than make up with getting above average college players who buy into the work ethic and system of our coaches. As a UConn fan my happiness is winning championships. I'd even say I have more pride with UConn's accomplishments because we did it without many of the best players. We just had the best TEAMS!!!