February 2021 UConn Recruiting Thread | Page 8 | The Boneyard

February 2021 UConn Recruiting Thread

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connboy77 said:
I would like to see one more quality Post to go along with Ice and then UCONN should call it a day!
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Me too. There aren't that many each year and I'd grab them when I could.
 
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Sluconn Husky said:
A bit of off-the-court info on 2023 Aalyah Del Rosario:


www.nj.com

Times of Trenton Student Athlete of the Week: Aalyah Del Rosario does it all at TCA

The 6-6 sophomore is ranked number 2 in the ESPN 2023 rankings
www.nj.com www.nj.com
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Slu thanks for posting this. Yet another reason COVID sucks I was hoping to get to a couple TCA games this season to see Del Rosario play. She is shaping up very much like a UCONN kid.
Work ethic check! " I don’t really care about rankings,” Del Rosario said. “I just care about putting the work in, getting better every day." "Every time I am at the gym, I put in extra time after practice. I stay after practice to put some shots up, do some layups, shoot some free throws." ​
Versatility check! "She is not just your average post up kid: she can come out and shoot threes." ​
Leadership check! "She is a leader on and off the floor,” Salmon (her coach) said.​
Academics check; Del Rosario is an excellent student. Even though English is her second language, she has a 3.8 GPA​
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Obviously the basketball skills are there it also very nice to know that she checks so many of the other boxes.​
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​
 
BobbyJ said:
Yes. That's why I want some insurance. I'd take Patterson if possible along with Brady too.
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Agree I don't understand why people don't understand that this is an arms race in which we need to be keeping up. Think about this for a second I'm very happy with Ice Brady, Amari, AE however consider the front court players that UCONN has lost to just Stanford alone:
Haley Jones, Cameron Brink, Luren Betts, & Okikiola Iriafen
 
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CocoHusky said:
Agree I don't understand why people don't understand that this is an arms race in which we need to be keeping up. Think About this for a second I'm very happy with Ice Brady, Amari, AE however consider the front court players that UCONN has lost to just Stanford alone:
Haley Jones, Cameron Brink, Luren Betts, & Okikiola Iriafen
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And SC has Rivers and Feagin coming in. There is no detente.
 
connboy77 said:
I would like to see one more quality Post to go along with Ice and then UCONN should call it a day!
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A shut down defensive guard who also can shoot would also be a nice addition much like Jefferson.
 
HopJim said:
A shut down defensive guard who also can shoot would also be a nice addition much like Jefferson.
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That would have been the aforementioned Rivers in 2021. In 2022 Rice and Bransford could help with that and in '23 Mikayla Willams is best equipped to fit that bill.
 
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CocoHusky said:
Agree I don't understand why people don't understand that this is an arms race in which we need to be keeping up. Think about this for a second I'm very happy with Ice Brady, Amari, AE however consider the front court players that UCONN has lost to just Stanford alone:
Haley Jones, Cameron Brink, Luren Betts, & Okikiola Iriafen
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Of course, and just because the ESPN gurus tell you that a 6-2 to 6-5 or so post kid is elite doesn't mean they are. The smart coaches that can get multiple bigs that pass their eye test will take them because they know there aren't that many really good ones out there. And even then some of them wash out for various reasons. Get 'em while you can.
 
Charliebball said:
Brady, Edwards and DeBerry up front in a couple of years is going to make things mighty tough on WBB...........so nice to see she has a bit of nasty to her game.......
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I actually think deBerry will rarely be up front. I see her in the high post passing/ face up most of her career and only rolling to the basket. I just don't see her banging down low. That's ok since we'll have multiple down low options.
 
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victor64 said:
I never understand why when discussing future bigs, Plath Gabriel is not part of the discussion. If she stays four years, she will be part of the rotation. She is too athletic not to be.
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I don't see it. Reality is there are many people ahead of her, and it gets worse before it gets better. Usually the natural pattern is players get better and earn more time as their college career evolves. Piath will probably show improvement too, but it certainly doesn't mean she will get more playing time.

She is currently the 5th big. She might be the second true center, but in critical time if Liv fouled out, Geno would rather use Aaliyah, Aubrey or Mir before Piath. Next year all of those players return and we add Amari, so on paper Piath becomes the 6th big.

It is a numbers game. Just improving a great deal doesn't get you there unless you pass probably two of the aforementioned players. It could happen but does not seem likely no matter which player you compare her to. After next year Liv leaves but Ice comes on board, and Patterson could be a factor up front if we get her. I hate to say it but her best opportunity for playing time might be this year.
 
oldhuskie said:
I don't see it. Reality is there are many people ahead of her, and it gets worse before it gets better. Usually the natural pattern is players get better and earn more time as their college career evolves. Piath will probably show improvement too, but it certainly doesn't mean she will get more playing time.

She is currently the 5th big. She might be the second true center, but in critical time if Liv fouled out, Geno would rather use Aaliyah, Aubrey or Mir before Piath. Next year all of those players return and we add Amari, so on paper Piath becomes the 6th big.

It is a numbers game. Just improving a great deal doesn't get you there unless you pass probably two of the aforementioned players. It could happen but does not seem likely no matter which player you compare her to. After next year Liv leaves but Ice comes on board, and Patterson could be a factor up front if we get her. I hate to say it but her best opportunity for playing time might be this year.
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I don’t think Geno offered Piath a scholarship as a short term solution as a backup that has resulted in about 2 minutes during garbage time. Aubrey, Mir and DeBerry aren’t 5s. ONO leaves
after next year. The only thing keeping her from getting meaningful minutes eventually as a Husky is impatience or injury.
 
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HuskyFan1125 said:
I see a lot of Patterson highlights on here. Are we in the hunt for her? I had always assumed she would end up at ND.
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I haven't seen any information on her recruitment, offers, finalists, or visits. Due to COVID I assume she hasn't met new ND staff in person but maybe she has gotten to other campuses pre COVID? And that could maybe help those teams. ND's play this year may have opened the door for some schools too.

If there was a player I assumed would end up at ND it was KK Bransford, I mean her high schools is even named Mount Notre Dame. Who knows, maybe the Miles and Citron signing don't make that a lock either?
 
victor64 said:
I don’t think Geno offered Piath a scholarship as a short term solution as a backup that has resulted in about 2 minutes during garbage time. Aubrey, Mir and DeBerry aren’t 5s. ONO leaves
after next year. The only thing keeping her from getting meaningful minutes eventually as a Husky is impatience or injury.
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I hope Piath makes a leap that throws her into the competition with top recruits. Aubrey and Mir are not C's, but they are still ahead of Piath on the depth chart. Liv plays about 25 minutes a game, so there are about 15 backup minutes available there. When she is out of the game Geno "chooses" to use PF's like Aaliyah, Griffin and even Mir as the C alternative rather than Piath. So even though they are not true C's, everyone of those players are reducing Piath's minutes.

Next year whether she is a 4 or a 5, Amari based on her top 5 rating is presumably ahead of Piath as well. Yes Ono leaves after next year, but Brady comes onboard and her rating and bulk indicates she could be a viable alternative to Piath at C too.

Playing time doesn't open up for Piath just because she is a true C. Geno goes small ball a lot, he is playing two natural point guards now, and one in Evina who was a PG at Tennessee at PF, so it doesn't get Piath playing time by concluding only Ono is a true center. To get significant minutes she has to beat out someone ahead of her. Aaliyah and Mir are ahead of her and with no transfers will be there for all of Piath's career. Aubrey will be here for the next two years. Amari will be competition for the next three years. Brady for two of Piath's years, we still are recruiting Patterson and 2023 bigs.

Is it possible Piath might be good enough to start at 90% of the division 1 programs but not good enough to get more than garbage time here? I think so. Clearly next year if everyone returns there will be at least three very highly recruited players (say top 30) that will be on the third team (11-15).

If you assume the current top 8 plus Azzi and Amari are in the top ten and the rotation, then look at who could be on the third team potentially getting garbage minutes. That team could include Mir, Saylor, Carolyn, Piath and Autumn. Now you can look at most of those players and say surely they will get more time than that. But it has to come from someone. If Evina leaves that opens up one more spot in the top 10, but after that who gets bumped down so they can play? Anna, Nika, Aubrey, Christyn? There are no easy choices here and some very good players are going to ride the bench.
 
rvwsleep said:
Amari has a somewhat similar body type, though she does have a little more meat on her bones. I'll retell an incident that occurred when Amari played for the USA in international competition.
I don't remember who they were playing but Amari hot smacked fairly hard and she thought it was intentional. When she got to the other side of the court, she posted the girl that smacked her down in the low post. Amari then clocked the girl with her arm when she called for the pass. The refs called it a flagrant foul but Amari made her point.
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OOooh. Is it bad for me to like that so much. Shades of Steff. I also heard her interview where she said one of the things she wants to do before she gets to UConn is 'get stronger'.
 
oldhuskie said:
I hope Piath makes a leap that throws her into the competition with top recruits. Aubrey and Mir are not C's, but they are still ahead of Piath on the depth chart. Liv plays about 25 minutes a game, so there are about 15 backup minutes available there. When she is out of the game Geno "chooses" to use PF's like Aaliyah, Griffin and even Mir as the C alternative rather than Piath. So even though they are not true C's, everyone of those players are reducing Piath's minutes.

Next year whether she is a 4 or a 5, Amari based on her top 5 rating is presumably ahead of Piath as well. Yes Ono leaves after next year, but Brady comes onboard and her rating and bulk indicates she could be a viable alternative to Piath at C too.

Playing time doesn't open up for Piath just because she is a true C. Geno goes small ball a lot, he is playing two natural point guards now, and one in Evina who was a PG at Tennessee at PF, so it doesn't get Piath playing time by concluding only Ono is a true center. To get significant minutes she has to beat out someone ahead of her. Aaliyah and Mir are ahead of her and with no transfers will be there for all of Piath's career. Aubrey will be here for the next two years. Amari will be competition for the next three years. Brady for two of Piath's years, we still are recruiting Patterson and 2023 bigs.

Is it possible Piath might be good enough to start at 90% of the division 1 programs but not good enough to get more than garbage time here? I think so. Clearly next year if everyone returns there will be at least three very highly recruited players (say top 30) that will be on the third team (11-15).

If you assume the current top 8 plus Azzi and Amari are in the top ten and the rotation, then look at who could be on the third team potentially getting garbage minutes. That team could include Mir, Saylor, Carolyn, Piath and Autumn. Now you can look at most of those players and say surely they will get more time than that. But it has to come from someone. If Evina leaves that opens up one more spot in the top 10, but after that who gets bumped down so they can play? Anna, Nika, Aubrey, Christyn? There are no easy choices here and some very good players are going to ride the bench.
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It seems you are assuming that Piath will not improve. It is said that it takes post players more time than other position players to reach their potential. I see some good things in Piath even in the limited minutes she has played. She came to UConn as a project. Well, I project her to be, at the very least, a very important back up post player and maybe even more by her senior year. Maybe she will play five years.
 
oldhuskie said:
I don't see it. Reality is there are many people ahead of her, and it gets worse before it gets better. Usually the natural pattern is players get better and earn more time as their college career evolves. Piath will probably show improvement too, but it certainly doesn't mean she will get more playing time.

She is currently the 5th big. She might be the second true center, but in critical time if Liv fouled out, Geno would rather use Aaliyah, Aubrey or Mir before Piath. Next year all of those players return and we add Amari, so on paper Piath becomes the 6th big.

It is a numbers game. Just improving a great deal doesn't get you there unless you pass probably two of the aforementioned players. It could happen but does not seem likely no matter which player you compare her to. After next year Liv leaves but Ice comes on board, and Patterson could be a factor up front if we get her. I hate to say it but her best opportunity for playing time might be this year.
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UConn was not the only school that recruited her. Most of the major suspects gave her offers, so quality coaches agree on the potential. Her skill set right now is raw and her confidence level is low, but if she had some of the confidence and fire of Nika, she has enough athleticism to be very useful today. Piath demonstrates a grace in her movements and soft hands that are rare in a lady of her size. Not this year and maybe a peek next year, but Junior year Piath will do two things as well as anyone on the team; rebound and defend the rim.
 
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