I have been following UConn basketball since 1963 and been a fanatic since the Bialosuknia teams. I have been on the Boneyard for more than ten years. After I moved from Connecticut it has been my primary information source. I appreciate you guys, or at least most of you. I never post but this signing drove me crazy enough to post. I am a big supporter of Ollie as coach. He frustrates me at times but so did Calhoun. So I am not one of those calling for his head. But I do agree that he has some things to prove next year. I am hoping we are consistently ranked in the top 25 next year and that we see the team grow as the season goes on and peak at tournament time, something we have grown to expect from UConn teams. I am rooting for Kevin and hope he can do it.
This all being said, I just don't get this signing. We had two scholarships available this year and next, assuming no one leaves early. We just used one up on a guy who is big but slow and seems less talented than Enoch. He doesn't complement Enoch. He has many of the same deficiencies. It would be one thing if we had five scholarships available. Then maybe you take on a project like this. But we are far from a complete team and now have only one scholarship left for 2018. I know some people assume Adams and/or Larrier are likely to leave early for the NBA but I don't think that is a high probability in either case. Larrier has missed two years of basketball and Adams is still a work in progress. I think they are both highly talented and glad they are Huskies but neither is close to NBA ready and likely won't be considered first round selections a year from now. If neither leave, we have room for one recruit. Let's say we have a legitimate shot at more than one of Jalen Carey, David Duke, Simi Shittu, Sidney Wilson, AJ Reeves and a few other blue chippers. We will have to pass because we used one of our two remaining scholarships on a guy who may not see much floor time and is mostly there for depth. Normally I don't second guess these decisions because I obviously figure Ollie and his staff are far more equipped than I am to judge talent and make these kind of decisions. But this is a real head scratcher. Is he overreacting to the short bench he had this year? Or is he really worried about Enoch's ability to fill that role next year and doesn't think any of the other options can provide valuable minutes. Or, as is my biggest fear, have we fallen so far that the coaching staff has no confidence that we have a real shot at bringing in the likes of Duke, Carey, Shittu, Wilson, Reeves, etc. I don't think this is the case but if it is this program has fallen a lot farther than most of us want to believe. Sorry about the negative post. It's not my style but like I said, I don't understand this signing.
