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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.
