Inyatkin
Stairway to Seven
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"Junior college isn't really a college" would be news to a lot of people in junior college
Entering the portal - 2026
- Thread starter Blakeon18
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Do you watch a lot of JUCO ball? Not going to fault a kid for transferring up (like Stirtz). Not sure what's entirely funny about it. When I tune into D1 hoops and see AJ Storr or PJ Haggerty on their 4th high D1 team, nausea sets in. At least Yaxel was always upgrading competition.
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Much more curious as to who we retain in the current than who we're getting.
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You referring to Nowell? He was awful.
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HW611 comes from the school where you can develop anybody to be amazing.
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Nowell, Diggins, etc. it’s been 8 years. Would like for this to be the year we have a successful guard we’ve identified, recruited, and planned to play for us.
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Who cares with this developing PG stuff - Michigan just won it by finding someone else's bad goods at PG. Many ways to skin a cat and that way doesn't seem like the one that works most often, and it's not 2011 anymore. Imposing your preference for how it was done in an era long ago isn't called adapting, it's called holding on.
We came within 4 awful calls of winning a title with a new PG from the portal. Clayton, portal. Newton, portal.
Let's see how we do against Michigan here for what I would think is a real rim protector - haven't seen him, but 7'3".
Does this account mean anything? It has 450 followers
FfldCntyFan
Texas: Property of UConn Men's Basketball program
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What I find funny is the idea that you're holding up a kid who in six months could steal the line "seven years of college down the drain" as some bastion of virtue.
He spent three years at a two year (junior) college, then two years at another school prior to transferring Michigan.
Yes, it was completely allowable per the NCAA so I am not about to claim he did anything wrong. Claiming (as you did) that Michigan (unlike the brothels as you called them) didn't have anyone who played for three plus teams is completely disingenuous.
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The info is correct, but more so useful for sorting out players we’ve contacted via different sources. He has no insider info himself as far as I’m aware.
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Do up think he moved from JUCO to UAB for NIL? He's not some privelaged kid looking for the highest bidding on an annual rotation. If anything, he has a good story. His story is not Rob Wright's story - a Montverde kid going on his third High D1 school in 3 years.
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In year one? No, I don’t think I would be.
Got axed from YouTube by Synergy presumably.
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Yes, in year 1.
Then follow up that research to see how those guys who got on the court year one played the following year after having the chance to get their feet wet.
It’s a pretty consistent pattern. But guys have to actually play to be put in position to make that jump.
He's just aggregating.
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Was noted in multiple places - legit
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And so is the "Early bird catches the worm!"
Portal hoppers are already coming off the board. I'm sure some staff members were hard at work figuring out what Portal prospects would be good fits and likely available.
I would think our brand is sky high still after playing in the championship game.
Identifying prospects that fit what we need and our culture is one thing, landing them with so much competition and NIL money being thrown around is another.
Also, keep in mind what potential UConn returning players decide to do factors in with what the staff will prioritize as well as what type of competition for PT a prospective portal prospect perceives when making their decision.
While most program staffs have had their conversations with one another as well as their potential returning and departing players, UConn, along with the the other Final 4 programs were left little time to focus on this and have those challenging discussions with their players who still have eligibility left before the portal opened up.
Also note the time some of the players need to evaluate their situations. I'd imagine Mullins needs to...well...mull over his options, and it might take a while to gage the level of NBA interest and how high he could potentially get drafted in the upcoming draft.
I'm sure some of the others who have eligibility are weighing their options. Note I'm not suggesting or predicting what any of them will decide or what the coaching staff will do.
It's got to be an extremely difficult situation for all involved, coaches and players alike. Add to that the timing challenge, which I am responding to. I wish they had the following:
A portal entry start and end date.
A portal signing start and end date that doesn't start till a couple weeks after the portal opens up.
And a Portal close date that ends a little before the signing period ends.
I'm not aware what they have in place. A couple years ago we were fortunate to lose out on a player who chose KU over us and we ended up picking up afterwards Cam Spencer instead who was a late portal entry and we all know how that worked out.
FfldCntyFan
Texas: Property of UConn Men's Basketball program
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One thing everyone needs to realize is Dan Hurley is not going to cast a wide net.
His standard operating procedure with the portal is:
a) assess the team's needs
b) identify players who appear to fit those needs
c) seriously pursue a narrow, focused short list of players to add to the program
Our results have been borderline exceptional using this approach.
The only thing preventing it from being an immaculate track record is the result from recruiting Mahany. Dan Hurley basically stated that prior success (Calcaterra, Spencer) had him believing that he could target anyone of that profile and the kid would overperform once he got here. Fortunately for us, Dan Hurley has been very good (since the 2022 tournament) at identifying his own misjudgements and taking steps to correct them.
His standard operating procedure with the portal is:
a) assess the team's needs
b) identify players who appear to fit those needs
c) seriously pursue a narrow, focused short list of players to add to the program
Our results have been borderline exceptional using this approach.
The only thing preventing it from being an immaculate track record is the result from recruiting Mahany. Dan Hurley basically stated that prior success (Calcaterra, Spencer) had him believing that he could target anyone of that profile and the kid would overperform once he got here. Fortunately for us, Dan Hurley has been very good (since the 2022 tournament) at identifying his own misjudgements and taking steps to correct them.
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The portal is a feeding frenzy with sharks in the water. The share number of players entering the portal is like a frickin bate ball. I just don't know how the coaching staffs keep their sanity trying to figure out what they are losing, who they might want to add and who they can actually get and afford. It's absolute madness. I'm surprised more coaches don't just quite and find another profession.
I'm all for the players making money from their NIL. They should share part of the pie, but there has to be a better way to navigate all this.
What I do find fascinating is what you actually get based on what a players prior performance at their prior programs. My guess is Cam provided more than we and even the staff ever imagined. Similar with what Lendeborg brought to the table for Michigan, as an example. Some players under perform based on their past while others exceed.
When it comes to the portal it is buyer beware.
I'm all for the players making money from their NIL. They should share part of the pie, but there has to be a better way to navigate all this.
What I do find fascinating is what you actually get based on what a players prior performance at their prior programs. My guess is Cam provided more than we and even the staff ever imagined. Similar with what Lendeborg brought to the table for Michigan, as an example. Some players under perform based on their past while others exceed.
When it comes to the portal it is buyer beware.
Well said. Another hurdle for Dan/UConn during this year's portal period. He's got a coaching spot open vacated by Luke. Limits broadband on player searches/evals until filled.
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Last year, the portal was open from March 24 to April 22 with the national Championship played on April 7. This year, the portal is open from April 7 to April 21 with the National Championship on April 6. Thus, a more condensed time period to enter the portal.
Last year, Smith entered the portal on 3/24 and committed on 4/14. Demary entered the portal on 3/27 and committed on 4/3.
Last year, Smith entered the portal on 3/24 and committed on 4/14. Demary entered the portal on 3/27 and committed on 4/3.
Lendeborg was the #1 rated player in the portal. He would've been a 1st round pick if he had declared. Cam was a top 50, somewhere in the 30s out of the portal.
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I didn't realize Lendeborg was #1, so he is not a good example on my part. I do remember looking at the stats of a few of the portal transfers that did very well this past season and noticed some had moderate to low production prior to their landing spot. It's not exactly a crap shoot, but it's not always easy to translate what a player did at either a different level or in a different program to what they end up contributing for their new program. As it was pointed out in this thread, Hurley and his staff have done an excellent job of bringing in transfers that have fit and produced really well.
Mahaney was the exception where he was not physically or mentally capable of handling the physicality of the Big East. He really struggled keeping any players from driving right by him and couldn't seem to make the offensive part of the game slow down for him other than in a few games where he was productive. He never really seemed to be able to make decisive decisions in UConn's complex multi-action motion offense. I think one of the hardest capabilities for the staff to evaluate is how well a transfer will be able to process UConn's offense. Some players just struggle to learn what pass to make and when and where to go to either set the screen, run over the screen, flair out for the catch and shoot or cut back to the basket. UConn's offense is clearly the most complex one to learn in all of men's college hoops. Watching UConn the past 4 years it takes a while for most of the players to learn how to execute their part in this motion offense. Some executed better than others and some simply struggle to figure it out. Props to the staff when they bring in either a high school recruit or portal transfer that fits the culture and can handle the complexity of their offense and defense. I'm sure they'll do a great job again as long as there are talented players who fit the system that aren't necessary looking for the highest NIL payout.
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