Fagnano and Bell are out for the Wasabi Bowl

[Coach J]

Boneyard/Urban myth… 2025 Army Football Transfer Portal

Got you, but right now they currently have nobody in for 2026. They must wait until after the bowl or the Army/Navy game to enter. How do they get out of there Army commitments?

 

[Bongo Fury]

I would like to think if I were in their situations that I’d play but they are heading into professional play. It could be risk of injury or advice from agents? I’m going barring any unforeseen circumstances and bringing any family members that can make it. The game is more like a soccer Friendly and we are going to enjoy the experience.

 

[metsfan2323]

I'm sure it's me, but I don't see an answer to the question. They played against FAU. It has been stated above (I'm still waiting to see something from at least a reporter before assuming it's true) that they're not going to play now. What has changed RELATED TO THE RISK OF INJURY? Yes, I know the coach has left but why does that increase the risk of injury beyond any of the games they were happily playing in?

Risk of injury is the same. Willingness to take that risk because a player is being loyal to his coach and teammates is long gone. It ended the day the coach left.

 

[businesslawyer]

Risk of injury is the same. Willingness to take that risk because a player is being loyal to his coach and teammates is long gone. It ended the day the coach left.

O.K. That’s an answer. As someone who did compete athletically for one year in Division 3, I can’t imagine a coach leaving having any effect on the team’s commitment to each other. But maybe that’s just me being old.

 

[uconndogs]

O.K. That’s an answer. As someone who did compete athletically for one year in Division 3, I can’t imagine a coach leaving having any effect on the team’s commitment to each other. But maybe that’s just me being old.

Biz, its changed a lot. Money drives all of this now and the kids are just carrying this through the way the schools, NCAA and coaches have acted for years. It's a big disappointment for me, but I get it.

 

[metsfan2323]

Imagine a Super Bowl team with a lot of pending free agents who could opt out of playing because they might get hurt.

I hope you can tell the difference between the Super Bowl and the Fenway Bowl. I think it is fairly obvious that if we were one of the playoff teams they would be playing. The better comparison would be the Pro Bowl. Do players opt out of the Pro Bowl?

 

[UCMB88]

My buddy is of a friend of a few guys on the team. The feeling is moreso, “ugh we did this last year why are we here again.”

So if the game was in a warm weather location against a decent P4 team, would these guys play?

 

[KryHavok]

I hope you can tell the difference between the Super Bowl and the Fenway Bowl. I think it is fairly obvious that if we were one of the playoff teams they would be playing. The better comparison would be the Pro Bowl. Do players opt out of the Pro Bowl?

Yes, granted today's Pro Bowl is much different than what what we were used to.
The dramatic reason why 23 NFL players dropped out of the Pro Bowl

 

[ATLDYKA]

Guess I'm in the minority,but I think this is good, gives us a chance to see guys like Evers and others to see what areas we need to improve on for next year.

 

[Bubba1957]

O.K. That’s an answer. As someone who did compete athletically for one year in Division 3, I can’t imagine a coach leaving having any effect on the team’s commitment to each other. But maybe that’s just me being old.

I agree with Biz. I played d III too. Only way I’d have left the team is if I flunked out.
Also too young to really appreciate money. Would have studied harder if that was the motivation.
Unless you are an absolute top tier player looking at gobs of guaranteed cash there are no certainties. In other words football is dangerous. You could go down in your first NFL practice and have nothing. Might as well create more memories with your brothers.

 

[psilotic]

Just heard both players will be skipping the Fenway/Wasabi bowl game.

Is there a release from UConn or a ct media report to substantiate this? It's completely believable, but would like something stronger than "just heard" to go along with it ... There were two fake news tweets saying Michigan fired Manuel yesterday. trust but verify

 

[cohenzone]

I hope you can tell the difference between the Super Bowl and the Fenway Bowl. I think it is fairly obvious that if we were one of the playoff teams they would be playing. The better comparison would be the Pro Bowl. Do players opt out of the Pro Bowl?

Of course the Fenway Bowl and 90% of the bowls are not particularly meaningful. Hey, are any Bowls very important? But more to the point, if for, arguments sake, UConn might be in a playoff potential but by week 9 they have 3 losses and are no longer a playoff possibility. Why should fans care if going to, at best, the Oshkosh Bowl is achievable? If a large number of players who might get us to 8-4 or 9-3 won’t play in the exciting Oshkosh, why should they play any remaining games if injury is the issue?

Why should fans care about sny more wins or losses if the team that goes to Oshkosh isn’t the team that won 8 or 9 games? Hopefully this year is an aberration in Storrs or more portal guys play in Boston This team without Fagnano and Bell and others ain’t the date that brung us to the ball.

 

[Mets1432]

Bell I can understand. He is probably a day 2 draft pick, can't raise his stock much and doesn't want to risk it.

Joe doesn't make any sense. He isn't getting drafted but does have a chance at signing as a free agent. Why not take this game as 1 last showing of your talent? Maybe sneak into the 7th round. I don't get the rationale.

 

[buddy]

BOTH of these can be true:

1. I understand why Fagnano and Bell would skip the Bowl to protect themselves for combine/draft
2. I am very disappointed I won't get to see two of our best players in the Bowl and it significantly lowers my interest, knowing it won't really be the same team we've seen all year

With the NIL era, Bowl games just don't have the same appeal. A swag bag is not enough compared to what a lot of these kids already bring in NIL.

In this new age of pay for play, then it would seem reasonable to me that any game not played the NIL should be reimbursed. For example, if the season is now 13 games, and a player opts out of a bowl, then they should pay 1/13 of their NIL money back. I don't think I have ever heard of a basketball player refusing to play in the NCAA tourney because they might get injured.
In this particular case with UConn, I could certainly see how the players feel given that their former head coach stabbed them in the back. But, it should be just a life lesson that no one can be trusted ultimately.

 

[king conn]

Of course the Fenway Bowl and 90% of the bowls are not particularly meaningful. Hey, are any Bowls very important? But more to the point, if for, arguments sake, UConn might be in a playoff potential but by week 9 they have 3 losses and are no longer a playoff possibility. Why should fans care if going to, at best, the Oshkosh Bowl is achievable? If a large number of players who might get us to 8-4 or 9-3 won’t play in the exciting Oshkosh, why should they play any remaining games if injury is the issue?

Why should fans care about sny more wins or losses if the team that goes to Oshkosh isn’t the team that won 8 or 9 games? Hopefully this year is an aberration in Storrs or more portal guys play in Boston This team without Fagnano and Bell and others ain’t the date that brung us to the ball.

Man I'm sorry to pick on your post because this is the majority opinion here.

What about those other hundred players. Aren't they your dates too?

Lets just boycott this whole thing. Show up with zero UConn fans. Lets show those p4 conferences we don't have any fan support and we are smarter than everyone else. That will show em

 

[UConnDan97]

Disappointing, but how cool would it be to see Evers or Farrar light it up in what amounts to a "showing Candle what I've got" game...

 

[cullaville]

Got you, but right now they currently have nobody in for 2026. They must wait until after the bowl or the Army/Navy game to enter. How do they get out of there Army commitments?

I think anyone (athlete or not) attending the military academies can leave after two years with no obligation for the future

 

[cohenzone]

L

Man I'm sorry to pick on your post because this is the majority opinion here.

What about those other hundred players. Aren't they your dates too?

Lets just boycott this whole thing. Show up with zero UConn fans. Lets show those p4 conferences we don't have any fan support and we are smarter than everyone else. That will show em

of course i would root for them. The point is let’s not pretend that we are the same team that won 9 games and can compete fair and square. Hey maybe the guys who actually play should have been playing more regularly or are better than the guys who opt to not play. One way or another, the guys who opt out are really not honoring the scholarship or their remaining teammates or the fans. Unfortunately, that is today’s world.

 

[Blue Huskie]

I can't imagine shelling out good money to go up and sit in the cold to watch a team that is a shell of what we were watching during the regular season. The system is just a mess in college now.

 

[Hoophound]

Disappointing, but how cool would it be to see Evers or Farrar light it up in what amounts to a "showing Candle what I've got" game...

I've been thinking this but then I remember we're playing Army and our D can't guard a chair. If we have any of our defensive starters sit out, this could get really ugly.

 

[Muddler]

I hope you can tell the difference between the Super Bowl and the Fenway Bowl. I think it is fairly obvious that if we were one of the playoff teams they would be playing. The better comparison would be the Pro Bowl. Do players opt out of the Pro Bowl?

How many football programs can truly win a football national championship? Maybe 15 schools? Now that the Bowl system is gutted, what is it that everyone is playing for all year? This system is so broke. What is the case for anyone giving UConn (and a bunch of other schools) NIL to players on a team that won't play in the season ending finale. I understand why the players don't want to pay. But I'd also ask what the value is of giving to a football player with so many people in need of support--especially when I'm not even sure what they are playing for. This model is not sustainable.

 

[uconnyankee]

Ah, I don't know, maybe, if they get injured, a chance for a multi-million $ professional contract...

Would you be willing to risk foregoing life-changing wealth to play in a bowl game that doesn't honestly mean that much?

So your contention is that the game against Army is some risk reward calculation that wasn’t there for the game?
where is the line drawn?

If you want to sell me on buying a ticket to a bowl game, have at least some semblance of the team actually play in the game. And by all means, don’t tell me it’s a meaningless game.

People used to say the bowls were a reward for teams having a successful season. If the players don’t care, why should I as a fan care?

 

[uconnric]

No because it would be used as an excuse to exclude the G5 forever.

Probably going to end up that way anyway. It practically is now. The P conferences won't want to give up any slots to the G programs. Hope we end up on the P side.

 

[Slick]

Man I'm sorry to pick on your post because this is the majority opinion here.

What about those other hundred players. Aren't they your dates too?

Lets just boycott this whole thing. Show up with zero UConn fans. Lets show those p4 conferences we don't have any fan support and we are smarter than everyone else. That will show em

Not sure if your being sarcastic?

 

[uconnyankee]

That last part is definitely true I get it but Bell has done a lot for UConn in this past year. Remember, he was a big factor in why Malachi Smith transferred over here. He shows up to basketball and hockey games too, I doubt it’s anything more than preserving draft stock.

I dont mean to diminish anything Skyler or Joe have done this year.
But if I’m being honest, it’s a bit disappointing to hear that they aren’t playing. Hard sell to pay for tickets to a game that might be a more formal scrimmage that doesn’t include some of the better players.

Curious if either play in Sr Bowl?