Flagg to Duke. Official

[QuickDraw]

Duke was Flagg’s childhood dream school

And what many here are forgetting is he is still a child by all accounts.
Onto 2025's with a lot of room opening up.

 

[AllHusky]

This would work if we weren’t rejected by our first option before cam committed

Was Cam even in the portal yet?

 

[TheHorde]

Hurley built this thing back up where we shouldn't have rebuilding years. Obviously not all years will be as good as the last but the goal is always to make the tournament and be able to do damage in it. With the portal there should be no such thing for us as rebuilding years.

I don’t imply a 15-15 season by saying “rebuilding”. But I don’t think it’s reasonable or realistic to expect a national title run with the addition of a couple or three portal kids in 24-25. Maybe a “bridge” year is a better way of putting it.

 

[Scrutiner]

How quickly we forget that to do it "right", it's a process. Remember back in 2020 when Hurley took a ragtag bunch of players into Philly & almost knocked off big bad 'Nova? "They better get us now...because it's coming..." And here we are just 3 years later as National Champs.

We wouldn't have gotten the time of day from a 5* Generational Talent even 1-2 years ago. Now, we are in that players' Top 2 list and (possibly) had a major part in that recruit cancelling his visit to Kansas after our visit.

Top 5 recruits are icing on the cake at this point...we can win at the highest level without them and developing recruits in the 10-50 range is a tried and true recipe for success in the best basketball conference and in the NCAAT.

I'll finish this post with a possible & tasty schadenfreude plot twist...

Scheyer & Duke underachieve again this year and Cooper realizes the "Brotherhood" isn't actually all that...decommits in the Spring and joins the real Blue Blood team for Fall 2024! Manifest this!

Now you're talking. Beat me to it.

 

[HooperScooper]

Duke's dept chart next year is gonna make no sense. They have 11 5 star wings/forwards right now (not actually 11) and are adding like 5 more so the way I see it there has to be quite a few decommits and transfers. Or maybe the bag is just too good and these guys are getting paid enough to not care about not playing

TJ Power, come on down. If he doesn't play this year then he probably won't next year either. Karaban can talk to Power about UConn. Northborough and Shrewsbury are adjoining towns so they can't live more than 5-10 miles apart. They played against each other many times also. Something to watch for.

 

[navery12]

I don’t imply a 15-15 season by saying “rebuilding”. But I don’t think it’s reasonable or realistic to expect a national title run with the addition of a couple or three portal kids in 24-25. Maybe a “bridge” year is a better way of putting it.

Not a national title every year, but we should be winning multiple games in March every season. And with the portal there's no reason not to next season. Thankfully Hurley is not immune to using the portal to fill out a roster despite some fans not being able to connect with the players as well. Hopefully they can get over it when we're winning games

 

[TheHorde]

Not a national title every year, but we should be winning multiple games in March every season. And with the portal there's no reason not to next season. Thankfully Hurley is not immune to using the portal to fill out a roster despite some fans not being able to connect with the players as well. Hopefully they can get over it when we're winning games

This staff is far too bright to waste time on the recruiting trail. They clearly had enough “buy” signals from Flagg and Ngongba to pursue them as doggedly as they did. They also clearly felt that they were culture fits, willing to be coached hard, and not in it purely for the NIL dollars. They likely also wanted to use this as a test case to see if the national title and putting kids in the lottery and the league would change the calculus again where players as highly ranked as a Donyell Marshall or Andre Drummond would again choose UConn. This time it did not. Perhaps that means a pivot will be forthcoming to targeting recruits more in the 25-75 ranking range again. We shall see.

 

[UConniki]

The worst part is seeing all the Dook fans online acting like this was some big coup for them and they pulled one over on us.....

If that's the case take it as a compliment that we were perceived as a serious viable option and they believed there was a real chance that they could lose the recruitment battle to us.

 

[Huskyhoops25]

It’s swinging and missing while other dudes we should be going for sit on the bench.

We should have not treated instate dream school recruit Tyler Betsey as an afterthought.

We didn't treat him as an afterthought. We gave him our pitch and he chose Cinci based on some prior relationship. Your harping on our recruiting failures is inane.

 

[Punkbo]

Not a surprise. The only people who thought he was coming here are clients of Walter White. Next!

 

[Dean Wormer]

Meh. He's Keith Van Horn with slightly better hops. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[husky429]

Perhaps that means a pivot will be forthcoming to targeting recruits more in the 25-75 ranking range again. We shall see.

We really haven't pivoted except for Flagg, and he was a unique case. Our 2024 class is still a couple of kids in that range, and Ngongba was until the last couple months when he rose up to 5* status.

 

[amishboy]

DH is 100% right; no one should be off the board now!

But when is someone on the board actually coming here? Why is a top 20-rated recruit coming to UConn almost unheard of? As best I can tell from 247, since we won our first NC, we’ve successfully recruited these top 20 guys: Stanley Robinson, Kemba, Ater Majok, Alex Oriakhl, Rudy Gay, Deandre Daniels, Daniel Hamilton, and now Stephon Castle.

That’s it, eight top 20 recruits in 20+ years (basically, the typical back-to-back results for Duke). All things considered, Hurley (and maybe even Ollie) should already have joined Calhoun in the Basketball HOF.

 

[thedude0416]

If Duke cleans up on that class they better win it all.

#1 Flagg (SF/PF/C)
#2 Harper (PG/CG)
#6 Edgecombe (SG/SF)
#15 Knueppel (SF)
#18 Evans (SF)
#25 Ngongba (C)
#60 Harris (SF/SG)

On top of the 2023 class of potentially returning:
#13 McCain (CG/SG)
#17 Stewart (PF/C)
#19 Foster (PG/CG)
#20 Power (PF)

Of course there may be other players staying from 2022 and 2021 classes and potentially COVID players, there could also be early entrants and transfers and there is no guarantee on Ngongba, Harper and Edgecombe but if they get those three and the 2023 class stays, it would an abject failure if they didn't win it all.

You are talking a two deep depth chart of ten five star top 25 players:

PG: Foster / Harper
SG: McCain / Edgecombe
SF: Evans / Knueppel
PF: Flagg / Power
C: Stewart / Ngongba

Poor Harris...he was their first recruit in 2024 too.

Harper is looking more and more like a Rutgers commit. Everything I've read recently seems to indicate he's going to stay home and Duke has backed off with an idea that one or both of McCain/Foster will be around next season.

 

[DogMania]

If Duke cleans up on that class they better win it all.

#1 Flagg (SF/PF/C)
#2 Harper (PG/CG)
#6 Edgecombe (SG/SF)
#15 Knueppel (SF)
#18 Evans (SF)
#25 Ngongba (C)
#60 Harris (SF/SG)

On top of the 2023 class of potentially returning:
#13 McCain (CG/SG)
#17 Stewart (PF/C)
#19 Foster (PG/CG)
#20 Power (PF)

Of course there may be other players staying from 2022 and 2021 classes and potentially COVID players, there could also be early entrants and transfers and there is no guarantee on Ngongba, Harper and Edgecombe but if they get those three and the 2023 class stays, it would an abject failure if they didn't win it all.

You are talking a two deep depth chart of ten five star top 25 players:

PG: Foster / Harper
SG: McCain / Edgecombe
SF: Evans / Knueppel
PF: Flagg / Power
C: Stewart / Ngongba

Poor Harris...he was their first recruit in 2024 too.

They could do the 5 off and 5 on line changes like they do in hockey. If they're that stocked with that amount of talent, they would need to win it all. Anything short would be considered a major disappointment.

Those type of rosters rarely lose against a program with less heralded players...oh wait a minute...didn't that happen in 1999 where the world was shocked when the the good guys beat the pre-coronated team full of burgerAAs?

As much as I like landing the most talented recruits out there, I enjoy watching our Huskies beat the blue bloods that usually have X number of more top ranked players.

Flagg was a rare talent from New England that had us in his top 2, so it made lots of sense to battle hard till the end for him. Ngongba made sense too since he fits our program and a position of need. It would have been good to have more irons in the fire with other top 100 bigs, but as many have pointed out we can fill some of the needs next spring via the portal or even International.

 

[DW1361]

I knew nothing of Flagg until all the hype started. It appears he was always a heavy Duke lean, but if UConn expects to recruit the best they have to make the effort for the best. I personally was bummed about losing out on a position player of need. I never quite understood how Flagg fit in. UConn won in my opinion. He never was coming here, but UConn got the brand name mentioned quite a bit nationally as a team competing for the #1 recruit in the nation. He was a luxury not a need. He gave UConn the courtesy of a visit because of who we are and personal connections he has here. It was a win for everyone and I wish him well. It will be so much sweeter beating Duke now!!!

 

[Hunt for 7]

I see 24-25 as a rebuilding year or a retooling year. I don’t mind being a young team that year. I just hope we don’t take the approach that some NFL teams in the past of putting together enough talent to go “8-8”, or in this case make the tournament, but not be a threat to go deep. I’d have loved to get an Austin Swartz for example and have 24-25 be a developmental year for a player like that. As a fan it’s easier and more fulfilling for me anyway to back a team with some level of continuity where you get to know the players in the community rather than constantly retooling with the portal. It’s terrific to have Newton here two years. I’d take kids like that all day long.

DH is 100% right; no one should be off the board now!

But when is someone on the board actually coming here? Why is a top 20-rated recruit coming to UConn almost unheard of? As best I can tell from 247, since we won our first NC, we’ve successfully recruited these top 20 guys: Stanley Robinson, Kemba, Ater Majok, Alex Oriakhl, Rudy Gay, Deandre Daniels, Daniel Hamilton, and now Stephon Castle.

That’s it, eight top 20 recruits in 20+ years (basically, the typical back-to-back results for Duke). All things considered, Hurley (and maybe even Ollie) should already have joined Calhoun in the Basketball HOF.

I wonder how many championships we have to win before some of these top ten recruits pick us as a matter of course not just the one off anomalies. I got skewered for my take on how the Flagg recruitment went down. And as much as that left me with questions, it was more about, when do we get considered by the best one and done players. Duke, KY, Kansas and UNC until recently seemed to be the only schools that consistently landed the top recruits. It just gets old….especially when you were raised on the saying respect is earned not given. When does our program get that same respect. Perhaps it is just not in the cards for us. Which I have to get comfortable with using the same old grind it out formula. Develop talent for two or three years then augment through the portal.

 

[TheHorde]

I wonder how many championships we have to win before some of these top ten recruits pick us as a matter of course not just the one off anomalies. I got skewered for my take on how the Flagg recruitment went down. And as much as that left me with questions, it was more about, when do we get considered by the best one and done players. Duke, KY, Kansas and UNC until recently seemed to be the only schools that consistently landed the top recruits. It just gets old….especially when you were raised on the saying respect is earned not given. When does our program get that same respect. Perhaps it is just not in the cards for us. Which I have to get comfortable with using the same old grind it out formula. Develop talent for two or three years then augment through the portal.

I have to remind myself that these are 16 and 17 year old kids making these decisions. Some are thoughtful while others objectively might not be wise. Is Duke the same dream school it was under Coach K? No. Does Calipari get too much credit for putting kids in the league that undoubtedly would have made it anyway? Yes. With that said some kids make good decisions and some kids make bad decisions. Do those schools also have strong selling points? Yes. Does UConn? Also yes.

 

[BlueMAB]

We should have not treated instate dream school recruit Tyler Betsey as an afterthought.

Can you quote where he called UConn his dream school? Every report i read said playing for the home team wasn't very important to him.

 

[DogMania]

As much as I and others here hate Dook, I wish Cooper the best. Seems like a great kid. Hurley and staff did a good job of closing the gap. I thought we had a good shot of landing him since he's from New England and a good program fit.

I wish we had more irons in the fire. But it doesn't seem there are any 2024-25 recruits interested in us.

Time to turn the page and move on.

 

[That Guy]

It's just not a better fit than UConn at all. Hurley is a far more experienced HC and has that fiery personality that would mesh perfectly with the type of player Flagg is. Hurley would squeeze every last bit of potential out of him in the 6 months he would be here, I don't see Scheyer doing that. He would be far more appreciated by UConn fans because we don't get those type of players often. He will now be just another 5* in a revolving door of them at Duke. I guess you and your grandpa being random Duke fans from Maine without any connection to the school is more important than actual fit for you as a player.

Yes, I'm salty.

 

[UConnJim]

If Duke cleans up on that class they better win it all.

#1 Flagg (SF/PF/C)
#2 Harper (PG/CG)
#6 Edgecombe (SG/SF)
#15 Knueppel (SF)
#18 Evans (SF)
#25 Ngongba (C)
#60 Harris (SF/SG)

On top of the 2023 class of potentially returning:
#13 McCain (CG/SG)
#17 Stewart (PF/C)
#19 Foster (PG/CG)
#20 Power (PF)

Of course there may be other players staying from 2022 and 2021 classes and potentially COVID players, there could also be early entrants and transfers and there is no guarantee on Ngongba, Harper and Edgecombe but if they get those three and the 2023 class stays, it would an abject failure if they didn't win it all.

You are talking a two deep depth chart of ten five star top 25 players:

PG: Foster / Harper
SG: McCain / Edgecombe
SF: Evans / Knueppel
PF: Flagg / Power
C: Stewart / Ngongba

Poor Harris...he was their first recruit in 2024 too.

First, they are not going to get all the players listed. Second, I don't think you understand the math. If you are a top 25 recruit and commit to a top program, after year 1 you either are starting, going to the NBA, or on to another school.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm sure he's a nice kid, but anyone who grows up in New England and decides to play for freaking Jon Scheyer went wrong many miles ago.

As an aside, this is why I've never understood how you can be a fan of both a college and a pro team. He probably grew up idolizing Jayson Tatum.

 

[UConnJim]

TJ Power, come on down. If he doesn't play this year then he probably won't next year either. Karaban can talk to Power about UConn. Northborough and Shrewsbury are adjoining towns so they can't live more than 5-10 miles apart. They played against each other many times also. Something to watch for.

I don't think so. Power has strong ties to Boston College and BC was in his final group of schools. Ever hear of Power Gym at BC? Named after his great uncle who was a basketball coach at BC for years. BC QB Mike Power? His uncle. And, he has other BC alums in the family. But, I think one family member went to UConn.

 

[HooperScooper]

I don't think so. Power has strong ties to Boston College and BC was in his final group of schools. Ever hear of Power Gym at BC? Named after his great uncle who was a basketball coach at BC for years. BC QB Mike Power? His uncle. And, he has other BC alums in the family. But, I think one family member went to UConn.

I think both parents went to BC. But what top kind wants to play in that mess of a program? It's probably why he's not there right now.